Xander had a fluke of a season on the offensive side, he was never a big offensive prospect for a reason. Give me hosmer any day, dude would be a beast with the astros.
I disagree, i will give you the scouting from BA in 2013. 'Bogaerts has teh offensive potential to be an all star at any position, and taht position just might be shortstop. He's a confident, strong hitter who doesn't muscle up to tap in his plus-plus raw power. He has an easy swing with plenty of bat speed, and he does a nice job of keeping his weight back and using the entire field. Despite his youth, he has a feel for making in game adjustments" Let me tell you he was given a 70, Batting 60, power 70, arm 60 Let me compare you the numbers with Correa: he was given a 70, batting 65, power 60, arm 70 In 2012, in class a and double a he hit .302 and .326 with 40 homer in less than 500 at bats. Why you say he NEVER hit as a prospect, well, i have to disagree with that.
Sorry yes my bad, his defense was highly questionable coming from the minors. Do you want to make a sig bet whether he'll hit above .300 or not this season?
I do believe he will hit .300, again, as i saw him against our team and he could hit the ball to right field very easy. He had many good at bats against a very good rotation, hitting to all fields. Actually, the scouting from BA was dead on after i SAW him hit. I think he will hit for more power, later on. He is a very good hitter. The only surprised i had was his 11 errors, a very low number for a SS. He could win the Gold Glove this year. So yes, i think he will hit .300 this year, a very good right handed hitter.
Really? you saw him with alot of good atbats? He went 3-13 with 4 strike outs and no walks during that series at home and went 0-3 against Lance. What exactly did YOU see ?
Sorry to disappoint you, but he also played a series in Boston. If we count BOTH SERIES, he hit .310 vs the Astros, with a .375 OBP. Many hits to right field. You mentioned Lance, well, he was 1 for 3 in Boston. He was 9 for 29 vs the Astros.
Yes, and made 2 errors in WS eventough he is great defensively. Now, i would say this, i would take Hosmer in our team, he would be a huge improvement on what we have, but, he would not even be MY FIRST PLAYER selected in our team, i would take Correa and K before him. Also, would love to have that kid playing SS and moving Correa to 3b, IF he continues to play defense and improving from this year. If Correa plays better defense, his offense can carry a big stick at 3b anyway. He would be our ideal number 2 hitter as he hits to RF. As you guys know, i've said for a long time i prefer Altuve hitting 4th or 5th as he will always hit .300 and good with RISP, but his OBP can suffer as he does not get many walks and as a leadoff hitter he does not work the count. A lineup of: 1. Springer RF 2. Bogaerts SS 3. Correa 3b 4. Altuve 2b 5. Gomez CF 6. Reed 1b 7. Tucker LF 8. Gattis DH (ouch) 9. Castro C We really need to improve our DH spot, unless Gattis gives us an OPS of .820 or more next year.
I hate to break up the Hosmer v. Xander bickering, but as this is the Astros offseason thread, you bring up a good question. I personally take Lucroy. Both are great at what they do, but I think Lucroy, who is a top 3 overall catcher when healthy, would be ideal for this team. And the fact that he is signed to a team-friendly deal is even better, and you know that the Astros' front office has to love that fact.
The only problem is they are going to ask a lot for him, but yes, i would love to have him in my team. I think they are going to ask for Appel and others.
I include Appel in the deal for Lucroy. It is still way early, and I'm not necessarily giving up on him, but I am starting to think that Appel's greatest value to us would be in a trade.
I'd love to see us: 1.) Sign Alex Gordon or Jason Heyward. 2.) Trade young depth (P. Tucker + prospects) for Chapman 3.) Resign Castro, or sign Wieters, or, if possible, trade for LuCroy after we acquire a bonafide closer.
I'll admit I'm probably a bit biased on Wieters ... always been a big fan. I've been following his situation in BALT from afar all season and to me it looking like they will NOT offer him the QO. They like how the young C played in his absence (can't think of his name) and don't want to risk Boras taking the QO and getting stuck for $16M on a backup C. Not when they need every penny to lock up Davis, O'Day and others. I'd be totally down to make a run at Lucroy, but after already getting Phillips Domingo & Hader from us, could there be another 2-3 mid-level guys in our system that would get MIL to deal him or KRod? And what does that deal leave us to make a run at another closer? If I have to choose between Lucroy or Chapman/Kimbrel, I think the closer will make a bigger impact in OCT. Most responses seem to agree with you that upgrades at 1B, 3B & LF are more needed/likely than C ... I'd rather target the weakest position in our entire system (short & long term). Losing Nottingham bothered me WAY more than Phillips since he was our 1 true backstop prospect on any level. With Reed, Moran, Bregman, Singleton, Kemp, Davis, Gregor, White, Duffy and Fontana all finishing the past year at AA or above, I see a major logjam forming for playing time at the corners very soon.
I see 2 very recent, good comps for Springer as young OFs buying out multiple years of Pre/Arb before they had really ‘proven anything’. Both at the time they signed extensions (like Springer now): - had less than 2 years MLB experience time - were still 2 years away from ARB eligible - were still 5 years away from FA 3/27/2014 – STARLING MARTE Extension Years: 6 Total: $31M (5.2 avg) Salary Y1 2014 (age 25): $0.5M Sal Y2 15 (26): $1.3M Sal Y3 16 (27): $3.3M Sal Y4 17 (28): $5.3M Sal Y5 18 (29): $7.8M Sal Y6 19 (30): $10.3M Sal Y7 20 (31): $11.5M (club option) Sal Y8 21 (32): $12.5M (club option) At time of Extension - Age: 25 Service Time: 1.070 1st ARB: 2016 1st FA: 2019 G / AB: 182/677 BA / OBP / SLG: 274/332/440 H / 2B / 3B / HR: 186/29/16/17 BB / K: 33/188 R / RBI: 101/52 SB / CS: 53/20 oWAR / dWAR: 3.4/2.3 4/17/2015 – CHRISTIAN YELICH Extension Years: 7 Total: $49.75M (7.1 avg) Sal Y1 15 (23): $0.6M Sal Y2 16 (24): $1M Sal Y3 17 (25): $3.5M Sal Y4 18 (26): $7M Sal Y5 19 (27): $9.75M Sal Y6 20 (28): $12.5M Sal Y7 21 (29): $14M Sal Y8 22 (30): $15M (club option) At time of Extension - Age: 23 Service Time: 1.069 1st ARB: 2017 1st FA: 2020 G / AB: 206/822 BA / OBP / SLG: 285/364/400 H / 2B / 3B / HR: 234/42/7/13 BB / K: 101/203 R / RBI: 128/70 SB / CS: 31/7 oWAR / dWAR: 4.4/-0.1 Here is what Springer has accomplished to date - Age: 26 Service Time: 0.166 1st ARB: 2017 1st FA: 2021 G / AB: 180/683 BA / OBP / SLG: 256/354/463 H / 2B / 3B / HR: 175/27/3/36 BB / K: 89/223 R / RBI: 104/92 SB / CS: 21/6 oWAR / dWAR: 5.3/-0.1 I can see Springer wanting a shorter deal (5 years) since he's already 26, which would have him hitting FA in the same age window (30-32) as the other 2. With nearly a year less in service time, and being oldest of the 3 at 26 already, plus having yet to stay healthy for a full season ... I don't see Springer being in a position to demand significantly more now than either Marte or Yelich got then. I'll slot him right in between the other 2 at $6.2M per season for average salary. Here's what this might look like: GEORGE SPRINGER Extension (proposed to be signed this offseason) Years: 5 Total: $32.5M (6.2 avg) Sal Y1 16 (26): $1.5M Sal Y2 17 (27): $4M Sal Y3 18 (28): $6M Sal Y4 19 (29): $9M Sal Y5 20 (30): $12M Sal Y6 21 (31): $15M (club option)
If Springer does decide to wait out ARB (2017-20), he will hit FA (2021) at age 31. For reference, that is the route Jason Heyward has taken to finally reach FA this offseason after 6 full years in the majors. Unlike Springer, he debuted in 2010 at age 20, so he is hitting the market this year as the premier OF available, AND just entering his prime at age 25. Springer is older right now than Heyward, despite having 5 fewer seasons of accrued service time. I very seriously doubt he wants to earn only $15-20M over the next 5 years in ARB, during his prime years from age 26-31, then wait to 'cash in' as a 31 year old FA for the first time. Here is what Heyward has earned to date going the ARB route: 2010 (20) - $0.4M 2011 (21) - $0.5M 2012 (22) - $0.6M 2013 (23) - $3.65M 2014 (24) - $4.5M 2015 (25) - $7.8M After his 1st season (where Springer is now), Heyward earned a total of $17.05M over the next 5 seasons of ARB as he waited out his turn at FA. That's only $3.4M per season on average. By accepting my proposed extension now, George can nearly double his earnings over his next 5 seasons ($32.5M) as compared to what he can likely expect to earn over the same time doing it through ARB like Heyward. For a guy whose service clock started so late at age 26, and who has yet to make it through a full season healthy in 2 attempts .... that security at fair market value should be way too tempting for him to pass up. I get rejecting a Singleton type of low-ball deal last season, but my proposed would be a very competitive, fair offer IMO. Is there some other factor I'm missing here as to why Marte and Yelich would agree to extensions the past 2 seasons, but Springer would not accept a similar deal? Seems like, if anything, he has MORE incentive to take an extension now then either of the other 2?
