Correa, Springer, and probably Altuve are the only guys pretty much off limits (nobody is 100% off limits, but nobody is going to pay their price for those 3). We have a surplus of OFs, and once Lowrie returns, we don't really need him, Valbuena, and Marwin. I still think we should trade one of Castro/Conger and Carter/Gattis/Singleton at some point.
Honestly, I don't think they care about "areas where the team is decidedly terrible" like patience, drawing walks, etc.... I think this front office simply views the value a player has overall, and doesn't worry about having players with specific skill sets in particular parts of the lineup. The skill set that was available this past offseason was power, overall in baseball there seemed to be a shortage of power, and Luhnow jumped on that. I would be extremely surprised if we saw Luhnow start to target specific areas (skill wise, not position wise) when building a roster. I honestly thinks he just wants the best players he can get overall. There used to be a debate (long time ago) about building a lineup, is it best to have an on base speed guy 1st, a guy who handles the bat well and hits behind runners and can bunt 2nd, your best 3rd, power 4th . .and so forth OR, should you just put your best hitter 1st, next best hitter 2nd, next best 3rd . .and so forth...with the idea being your best hitters would get the most at bats If it came down to choosing one or the other, i'm pretty certain Luhnow would choose the second option there
Oh, I think Correa is 100% off-limits. No, 1,000,000% off-limits. I sincerely don't think they'd deal him for any other player in baseball. Springer is probably 99.5% off-limits. If someone blew their socks off... they'd at least think about it. But I honestly believe they could be pushed on dealing Altuve if the right deal presented itself. He's not their prospect, his overall body of work is not terribly impressive ('14 excepted, of course), and they seemingly have a slew of guys (including potentially Lowrie this year) who could man 2B and post at least a low .700 OPS. I can't fathom why Carter is seemingly entrenched ahead of Singleton. My only logical guess is that they plan to deal Singleton and don't want him here flailing again, potentially wrecking his trade value.
It's very possible. This FO certainly doesn't *seem* to subscribe to more conventional thinking. Having said that, I would be shocked if they didn't value players who can consistently get on base.
Correa may not be available for 1 player, but teams can trade multiple players for 1. Altuve's problem is it would be negative PR and possible chemistry problem to trade him. Carter is a proven MLB player, while Singleton isn't.
Sure; but any deal for Correa would have to built around a legitimate superstar plus a gaggle of promising prospects. So which superstar do you move Correa for to acquire more prospects? I sincerely don't believe the Astros would trade Correa for any other player in baseball. I really don't. I've said this repeatedly myself - and it likely still has some validity. But every single day, Correa's stranglehold on the face-of-the-franchise mantle grows tighter. And with a legitimate PiC (Springer) already in tow, I think the Astros are quickly reaching a point where trading Altuve for a legitimate TOR pitcher (as opposed to a gaggle of prospects) would be understood/accepted. If the Astros don't think Jonathan Singleton is capable of slugging at least .397 in the Majors, they need to move on.....
Astros expect Carter to slug at least 0.397 going forward and aren't going to hold a small sample size against him when his larger work shows different story. That said, one of Singleton, Carter, and Gattis is likely gone by deadline. I believe Singleton is the only one that can be in minors until then.
He's actually got enough of a sample size that says he struggles a lot too. July 1st is the date he reached rock-bottom last year. Truly a polarizing player.
His larger work suggests generally average 1B production, augmented by an egregiously tremendous outlier of a stretch last season, and too often surrounded by stretches of flat-out terrible production.
There is nothing wrong with an average 1B still on arbitration pay grade (a.k.a. being paid significantly less than what his value would be on the open market) Data you've sighted this year has routinely ignored his prior seasons work focused on the worst month in the last three years. Subsequently to that month, he's looked like his old up and down self. In season data is typically not very representative of true talent level for batters, much less guys like Carter, except for stats like K% and BB% that suggest he's the same guy as last year. I will stick with my notion that he's likely a slightly below average everyday player. Surround Correa and Springer with a bunch of slightly below average players and a couple of ToR starters and you have a well above average team in the playoffs.
Reject it. Dodgers must have found out that Kershaw has an nearly undetectable version of Aiken's Disease that will blow up after throwing his next 11 pitches.
Nah... Cerrano had better career numbers. Pedro Cerrano - RF Cerrano hits directly behind Dorn, and is known for prodigious power coupled with a propensity for strikeouts. With Dorn (and Hayes) hitting before him, I am sure that he had plenty of RBI opportunities. .256/.310/.495, 76 Runs, 35 HR, 105 RBI http://fonzieforever.blogspot.com/2012/11/made-up-stats-for-players-in-major.html
[rQUOTEr]MINUTE MAID PARK: THE NEXT SHARK TANK? The Astros remain interested in White Sox right-hander Jeff Samardzija, among other available starters, according to major-league sources. And while the White Sox have not yet indicated a willingness to sell, that day could be coming soon. Samardzija, averaging nearly seven innings per start, would be a particularly interesting complement to Astros left-handed ace Dallas Keuchel. True, Samardzija’s 4.53 ERA is well above the major-league average. But the White Sox’s defense is partly (largely?) to blame. The Astros rank fifth in the majors in defensive efficiency, the White Sox last. Remove defense from the equation, and Samardzija’s fielding-independent pitching mark (FIP) is 3.64. His opponents are batting .341 on balls in play; the major-league average is 2.95. The Athletics’ Scott Kazmir, a native of Houston, also would make sense for Houston — heck, any of the available starters would. The Astros almost certainly would prefer a potential free agent such as Samardzija, Kazmir or the Reds’ Johnny Cueto; the acquisition cost for a pitcher under long-term control would be higher.[/rQUOTEr]
