I think he's saying thus far in his career. Mazara is only 21, so he has a fair amount of room to grow. I think he's been about average offensively so far, but not spectacular at anything--esp for a corner OF. .280/.333/.421 fine but not great anywhere. K's a fair amount (17%). ISO is low at .140, and 0 SBs. His defense in RF is very good. OPS+ of 98
Oh ok, yeah I agree average as far as corner OF production. I worry he could turn into something special though. Hopefully not. I'd like to see Odor get tested for PED's. Some of the balls he hits out he makes look way to easy for a guy of his stature.
No thanks on Ramos. He'll likely be overpaid due his performance this year and this guy was a .220 hitter the previous year. Didn't even average a .300 OBP the previous three years before this year.
I mean, that line would be (at worst) the 4th best on our team currently. The fact that he's doing it as a rookie is phenomenal. Calling him "below average" is homerism of the finest degree.
I assume you're talking to the OP of that comment. But I agree it's good as a 21 year old. It's still not very good for a starting corner OF on a playoff team. The fact that the Astros would take it in a heartbeat doesn't change that...just reflects where the team is at with Rasmus, Gomez, Marisnick.
He has a 0.8 rWAR and a 1.5fWAR. It isn't homerism. He got off to a very fast start, but has really gone down. He remind me of Jason Heyward in a lot of ways. I think any team would love to have him, but right now he it is more potential than anything.
Random idea here... and don't flame me for it. What about Yasiel Puig? Would he pass through waivers and, if so, would we be interested? Say he doesn't pass through waivers (or isn't put on waivers) but languishes in the minors/on the bench for the rest of the year... wouldn't he be a great buy-low trade target for the offseason? From everyone here's perspective, should we be interested? My rationale is that we don't have a young, corner outfielder that will reach the show any time soon. With Gurriel and Bregman, we will have LF covered for the foreseeable. Springer is (IMO) a great center fielder. You put Puig in right and gamble on our positive clubhouse vibes, discreet local press, and the Cuban legend turning him around. 2017 LINEUP CF - Springer LF - Bregman 2B - Altuve SS - Correa 1B - Reed 3B - Gurriel RF - Puig DH - White C - Gattis We're righty AF, but... thoughts?
Reasonable to think about, but I want to stay far away from Puig. He really does appear to be a clubhouse cancer kinda guy. At least not a positive influence. Doesn't appear to take coaching well...which makes it harder to find a turnaround. I'd rather find a FA or go with a lesser "talent"
I understand that perspective and, honestly, that's my only reservation. I've been a fan of his (Puig) since he came up... just such a rare package of size, speed, strength, agility. He truly has 5 tools. But his descent the last three season is something that you can't just blow off. I'd be willing to gamble that the numbers will come back up, but only if he's not self-sabotaging with a bad attitude and unwillingness to be coached. Him and Springer in the same outfield still gives me warm feelings.
I think everyone agrees they have 6 hitters they are committed to (Altuve, Correa, Springer, Gurriel, Bregman, Reed). That leaves 3 spots (C, OF, DH) that they need to figure out, and I think the options are the same for all 3: 1. Roll with cheap internal options that would most likely be effective as a platoon. At catcher that means Gattis and either Heineman or Stassi. It means a R/L platoon at DH using some combination of Tucker, White, Singleton, Kemmer, and Moran. It means a CF (or LF) combo of Marisnick, Kemp, Aplin, Teoscar, and Fisher. 2. Go get a 2nd tier affordable stopgap solution. It could be via trade or free agency, but it would be similar in quality to their pending free agents (Castro, Valbuena, Gomez, Rasmus). Trading for Puig would fall into this category since there is so much downside. 3. Balls out. For OF/DH it could mean signing Cespedes, Desmond, Bautista, or Encarnacion. For C, it would have to mean a trade. Even if they go with internal options, the upside is there to have an elite lineup top to bottom.
I would like them to spend some money on one, maybe two, of the guys you mentioned and then trade for SP unless they think Martes or one of the other guys is ready to come up. I think we need a real veteran who has had success for more than a few years and can bring some playoff experience to the team. A guy like Encarnacion at DH/1B would be nice and hopefully wouldn't be prohibitively expensive because of his age.
Unless they are just cheap or they spend big on extensions for internal guys, they should have the money to make at least 2 significant acquisitions this offseason. Of course not knowing what the trade options are, this is what I'd do: Re-sign Castro Sign Yoenis Cespedes Sign Aroldis Chapman Trade for a cost controlled ace That last one is impossible to guess so let's say they can't do it and are forced to roll with internal options. Here would be the opening day lineup: OF Springer 2B Altuve SS Correa OF Cespedes 3B Gurriel 1B Reed OF Bregman DH Gattis C Castro UT Marwin Plus 2 bench roles filled by some combo of Tucker, White, Moran, Marisnick, Kemp, Aplin, Teoscar, Kemmer, Singleton, Stassi, and Heineman Rotation: Keuchel, McCullers, McHugh, Musgrove, Fiers (or Martes, Rodgers, etc) Bullpen: Devenski, Feliz, Sipp, Hoyt, Harris, Gregerson, Giles, Chapman
While this would be great, I just can't see the Astros getting 2 high profile free agents like that. I don't think the Astros will be cheap going forward but they will make sure they sign someone for what they are worth and not overpay. Someone mentioned Steve Pearce in another thread and I like that idea because he can play multiple positions and be a mostly everyday starter. Don't think he can play RF thought at this point but maybe he can? Anyways, I do like this philosophy of Slugging OF with +0.900 OPS if possible, elite closer, and trade for a true ace that will not fade.
Not necessarily, you can merge your two sentences and throw big money at Wilson Ramos. That addresses a position in need, gets our catcher for the next 4-5 years, and allows us to trade Gattis for additional help elsewhere. I also like the Puig idea (I even emailed some friends about this very idea yesterday!). Perfect buy low candidate, should not take a huge acquisition cost to get him, and he is cost-controlled for the next several years ($8.2M for 2017, and $9.2M for 2018). For some reason I have a gut feeling that he could thrive in our clubhouse too. I think we'd be more open to letting him just be himself (within a little reason of course, haha!). The Dodgers team he joined had much more of a veteran presence, so I can see them being a lot more strict with him. Quite reminiscent of Colby Rasmus, where he just wasn't a good fit in St. Louis, but has had nothing but great things to say about the Astros, our club house, and the front office. Of course, I am sure there was some personal maturation there as well. But just think of the damage Puig can do if he's out there having fun with the guys, and being surrounded by Gurriel (maybe even both), Altuve, Correa, and Springer. If he doesn't change, and is in fact a clubhouse cancer, view it as a sunk cost, cut him, and move on. The potential benefit seems to greatly outweigh the potential cost. Oh yea, with Rasmus and Gomez likely not returning next year, we only can pencil Springer for Opening Day 2017 (either in CF or in RF). Our outfield can be a lot worse than Bregman in LF, Springer in CF, and Puig in RF.
I feel like we still need someone that's considered a true middle of the order guy. Maybe that guy is Bregman or Gurriel, but we need someone to do at least was Valbuena was on pace for before the injury. Ideally, we need someone to do what we thought Gomez was going to do. Personally, I don't like Cespedes because he's certainly going to insist on a multi-year deal. I think the back end of any contract he signs this offseason will look Caballo-esque. Trade candidates include CarGo (terrible splits) or Braun (expensive, cheater)... I guess we could give Bautista a go, but he's looking to get a multi-year deal, too. The more I think about it, the more I think we try to solve the problem internally.
While I agree Puig could possibly be a better fit in Houston - there's no way the Dodgers are going to trade a 25-year Yasiel Puig "low." Career slashline of .288/.362/.468/.831/132. Granted, that was built largely on his first two years; his past 1.5 has seen a steep decline. But his potential is still staggering and i would guess his price tag - if there even is one - would be tremendous.
It would be high, no doubt. But this is a guy that they'd currently rather not have around the major league team. When you're a guy that's that good and they don't want you on the big club, there's a serious rift.** That makes me think that, while we would have to part with at least one of our top 5 prospects, we wouldn't have to make a "Godfather" offer. **which should be a HUGE red flag to whoever trades for him.
