Jones was a tremendous defensive player early in his career. Edmonds is a good example. Not that he wasn't a good defensive player, but he was never great.
I am sure that Correa could play MLB SS better than some MLB starters right now. He will get better. Most organizations are waiting to bring guys up until they are closer to their peak than previously as players are not improving as much in the majors as they did ten years ago. I assume part of this is that teams are very concerned with getting as much of the peak value as they can under club control, but also think players are peaking earlier without the aid of steroids. I was thinking Correa would not be an Astro until two weeks into the 2016 season prior to spring training. He's not overwhelmed which is surprising for a guy that hasn't played above A+ in the regular season. I am trying not to get my hopes up about seeing him in Houston this season.
Reading around, it's seems virtually everybody with any opinion seems to believe Hernandez is gonna start the year in the rotation, this is a joke to me. He sucks, he's always sucked, no reason to think he's gotten better. Wojo is better. If the Astros keep him down for 3 to 4 games, just to get a possible extra year in 2021 I won't be thrilled. For a team that is screaming how much a priority winning is this season, to keep a scrub like Hernandez over a promising, and deserving guy like Wojo makes no sense.
Woj has clearly won the job based on Spring performance, and even if they wanted to go the veteran route, Sam Deduno is every bit as qualified for a 5th the cost, while also being younger. If they keep Woj down, I think it would be for flexibility rather than arbitration reasons. I wouldn't be happy about that though given how handily he has won the job.
edit. Looked at wrong schedule. Still looks like 1 maybe two games Wojo would need to miss to retain arbitration. The Cubs are saying Bryant was sent down for defensive reasons. Wojo is being sent down for defensive, I mean, flexibility reasons.
Apples to oranges. Bryant is a potential star at a team with a need at his position. I don't think they would give Roberto Hernandez $2.65M to potentially save a year of control on a guy viewed as a back of the rotation starter.
We were scheduled to face Cosart tomorrow, but he has developed a "blister". <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Cosart is dealing with a blister and will not start on Friday at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> Brad Hand will start for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Marlins?src=hash">#Marlins</a></p>— Joe Frisaro (@JoeFrisaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeFrisaro/status/581104036801282049">March 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Looks like the Marlins were dealt a ......Brad Hand Saw that in the comments, I LOL'ed
I don't think the Astros view him as a typical BoR guy. I am an idiot (I can't stress this enough), but I see a guy with good control that prevents strong contact that is starting to strike guys out in a small sample size. Spring K% is sometimes an indicator for a breakout season as K% stabilizes pretty quickly. Sometimes it isn't. The Astros are treating Wojo like his ability to miss bats is legit. Granted, as I said..I am an idiot. He will probably revert back to being a guy fighting for BoR starts. I will watch him closely when he makes his regular season debut after a short wait. Woj has definitely earned the opportunity to show what he is. I am cautiously optimistic. Edit: On Hernandez, I don't understand why it is him and not Straily that will likely break camp with team. Astros must think they can trade him as an injury replacement to someone. I am not sure that is a good bet on Astros part. Granted, if they can get a Grossman level prospect, that would be worth a lot more than 2.65 million dollars.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Hinch said it's down to Wojo and Hernandez for 5th starter. Deduno would be in long relief.</p>— Brian McTaggart ⚾️ (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/581124824497537024">March 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Deduno officially out of it Even if all that is true, wouldn't you just go with Deduno for those 2 starts rather than paying $2.65M for Hernandez to make 2 starts?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The Astros have traded IF Dan Johnson to the Reds for a player to be named later or cash considerations.</p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/581155948271665152">March 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The special ones make it up early... going all the way back from Babe Ruth to Mike Trout. If he's ready, he should play... but I think this year is more about him making a full recovery from the foot surgery. If he hadn't had that injury, and went on to dominate AA last year, i'm sure the time-table would have been moved up accordingly.
