Guy isn't going to suddenly turn a corner and be worthy of a spot with the expectation that he'll have any sustained production at the big league level. That opportunity has passed. Reed all but solidifies that. I'd give Price what he wants, bolster the bullpen (again), and add one free agent bat to play left. That and Reed (and maybe White?) are enough of an offensive upgrade until the trade deadline, and things can be re-evaluated then. I'm not even sure they will be willing to give Kazmir a lowball offer this offseason. He just proved unreliable when it mattered most. I don't see why they'd bother risking that again. Would be amazing if the White catcher experimentation lottery ticket hits, but it's a stretch. Hope they get aggressive this offseason like they did last season, but "level-up", if you will. A huge next step needs to be taken now. I think there's a good chance that they do, but there's still some doubt in my mind, and concern that they may just get a big bullpen arm, and marginal other upgrades, and call it a day.
now that the Astros have proven themselves as contenders it most likely will not be as difficult to convince another pitcher or two to play for the Astros this coming season. Perfect position to do more serious damage next year
Closer and a bat Promote a 1B from the minors. Anyone think our bullpen was gassed by Sept? Neshek has a <3.00 career ERA.
More bats... especially more efficient bats. Sure, lots of guys in the lineup can come up and hit that big HR. But how did we lose? An inning when batter after batter made contact with the ball. Sure, the bullpen struggled in one game. And in more games in the end of the second half. But I am comfortable enough with a Sipp, Harris, Greg combo with an added reliever or two, and middle relievers are easy enough to get. Just want to see guys making good contact. And seeing Gattis, Luis, Carter, and Castro strike out, ground into DPs, or pop up so much is maddening. Especially on the rarer occasion that the top of the lineup slumps and needs a pick up.
Only problem with that is your locking up roster spots with guaranteed money when there could be better talent forced to waste away at the AAA level. Plus there's really only 1 rotation spot available and that's if the Astros put Fiers or Feldman in the bullpen. I'd say still hold course with what you have. There's a second wave coming over the next 1-3 years that could rival the Correa, Springer, McCullers, P. Tucker wave. Reed, Bregmann, Cameron, K. Tucker, Appel, Fisher, etc
Keeping everything exactly how it is and counting on another youth infusion to put us over the top in a couple years is not how to optimize our chances of winning titles. They can sign FA's while continuing to file the prospects in.
Yeah, even with the young core there aren't infinite chances at a WS. The baseball playoffs are extremely fickle. You can assemble a 130 win team, and still be sent home very easily. I suspect we let the prospects handle 1B next season, but I fully expect us to go after another bat, possibly 2 if we let Rasmus walk. I personally would like to see the DH be a flex spot, not having it manned by 1 player all the time. I would go ahead and trade Gattis and Carter, possibly Valbuena as well. I don't think Marwin, Lowrie, Duffy and Moran is a step down from Valbuena. The rotation is a question mark. At this point the only type of pitcher that truly upgrades our rotation is an ace level guy like Price, and giving out big contracts to FA pitchers isn't something I expect us to do. We already have 5 solid MLB starters, the majority of available pitchers are gonna be lateral moves.
Agreed. This is not the offseason to go bananas and bring in a bunch of overpaid players. Shore up the bullpen, if you can find a dominant closer go for it, but otherwise I'm fine with somewhat under the radar acquisitions. Definitely need a solid contact hitter to plug in to the lineup though, ideally at 3B. Also want to see more of Preston Tucker over a full season - a combo of him and Rasmus in LF perhaps.
I fully expect this off-season to be pretty similar to last... except this time, they're going to target a little more high-ceiling type players. They'll make a run at free agents... but its going to take two to tango on that... and I highly doubt the Astros are going to outbid everybody and be the most desirable (living-wise) location. They'll look to unload some prospects for players with 1-2 years of arbitration left... probably more likely to be the 1b/DH/corner-OF type. And they'll still have enough in reserve to hold on to for next year's mid-season deadline (which usually is a better time to assess whether prospect for player trades are going to be worth it).
Some better posters. Maybe a few less posters would be good. I can think of a few that are going to make this off season unbearable.
I would love the Astros to find a Matt Carpenter-type at 3B (career .375 OB%) and a Nelson Cruz-type in LF. And then find some combination among Gattis/Tucker/White/Reed/Carter to man DH/1B. I'd also love for them to explore the idea of tearing apart and rebuilding their batting order; not be afraid to be progressive and unconventional. I hope they let Kazmir walk and I'd prefer they not chase a David Price. I actually think their starting pitching will be OK. The have an ace (DK), a budding ace (LMJ), 2-3 more capable arms (CMcH, MF) and some still young arms (VV. MF, MA). And I'd be OK if they reconstructed the bullpen from internal candidates. Build around Harris, Sipp, Neshak and Gregerson.
As for me, Kazmir is gone. Cut: Carter Gattis Valbuena Kazmir Castro - I know they won't but darn it learn to hit. Qualls Marisnick Singleton Keep: Tucker Rasmus McCullers ???: Conger Gomez Fiers What I mean by ??? is I'm not sure about these guys since they were meh to me. Astros need to find a true DH, 1st and 3rd base players with good batting avg's.
Why would you cut Marisnick. That guy has tremendous value as a 4th OF. There is ZERO chance Gomez and Fiers won't be back (unless they work a deal) - and they should be back.
Starting a thread like this on September 18th was such a jinx on the team it's not even funny. BAN THIS MAN. j/k Sorta.
Can someone with insider post this article please? http://espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office/insider/post?id=11596
