Not sure where to put this, but here is a summary of the Astros 40 Main Roster/FA/Rule 5 status: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/do-teams-have-exploitable-40-man-crunch/ Houston Astros Current 40-man Count: 44 Pending Free Agents: 5 (Michael Brantley, George Springer, Josh Reddick, Yuli Gurriel, Brad Peacock) Must Add Prospects: 4 (Forrest Whitley, Jairo Solis, Tyler Ivey, Jose Alberto Rivera) Current 40-man Fringe: 7 (Jack Mayfield, Taylor Jones, Andre Scrubb, Joe Biagini, Chase De Jong, Humberto Castellanos, Brooks Raley) Prospects on the Fringe: 7 (Chas McCormick, Luis Santana, Freudis Nova, Peter Solomon, Angel Macuare, Juan Pablo Lopez, Kit Scheetz) We could see a lot of roster turnover here, and lopping off the bottom of the 40-man would help enable Houston to add more homegrown pitching to their 40-man. I know Solis hasn’t pitched in a while due to TJ and the pandemic, but some clubs have huge grades on him and I think he’d be popped in the Rule 5, even if they’re not entirely sure what they’re getting. From the Fringe Prospects group, I think Santana, Nova, and Macuare are excellent prospects without sufficient experience to be plucked in the Rule 5. McCormick is the kind of outfielder who Houston has typically shipped to Toronto or some other rebuilding club, but he might be added if most or all of the pending free agent hitters are not brought back. How Houston decides to address the 1B/DH/OF situation will play a role in how their crunch shakes out.
Said this before but I’d love to swing a deal to get one of Mountcastle, Vaughn, or Toglia for 1B. They are the future of that position in MLB, IMO. Mountcastle will be tough to get but we can eat some of Davis’s money since he has just a year left I think. Vaughn maybe the Sox will listen for Greinke Toglia we can give them Gurriel (to be their DH, or the Rockies can move Murphy to DH) and offer to eat Desmond’s $$$. Or offer Sneed for bullpen help. I know they’re all highly unlikely but since this is already a largely fantasy thread.
Davis has two years remaining after this year. At 23million per. If we could do a Reddick, T. Jones and a couple PTBNL'S for Mountcastle and Davis with the Orioles taking 5m in 2021 and 2022. I believe they would jump on it they would be free of that very bad contract and we can play Davis the rest of the year at DH.
Reddick and Peacock will certainly not be re-signed and are very unlikely to be replaced externally. I don’t see any way De Jong, Biagini, or Raley stick on the 40 man after this season. So that puts the 40 man at 39. Unless Verlander is expected to be out next season I would expect any other changes to the pitching roster to be 40 man neutral. They will have some tough choices to make as they will have to make room for Smith, Martes, and Emanuel along with any pitchers they need to protect from the Rule 5. Whitley is a lock to be added. I would consider Ivey extremely likely. The only other Rule 5 pitcher risks would be Peter Solomon, JA Rivera, Jairo Solis, Chas McCormick, and Freudis Nova. I just don’t see any way Macuare or Santana get picked. Couple dark horses are Jake Meyers and Bryan De La Cruz. Current 2021 opening day 40 man projection: C (3): Maldonado, Stubbs, Garneau IF (8): Altuve, Correa, Bregman, Diaz, Jones, Toro, Mayfield, Nova OF (6): Tucker, TBD, TBD, Alvarez, Straw, McCormick P (23): Verlander, Greinke, McCullers, Valdez, Javier, Urquidy, Pruitt, James, Paredes, Devenski, Smith, Taylor, Pressly, Whitley, Bielak, Abreu, Martes, C Perez, Solis, Ivey, Scrubb, N Rodriguez, Sanabria Non-tendered: Biagini, Osuna, De Jong, Raley DFA: Armenteros, Bailey, Sneed, Emanuel, Castellanos MLB.com Top 30 Prospects Exposed to Rule 5: Jose Alberto Rivera, Luis Santana
https://theathletic.com/2029653/202...work-might-tell-us-about-teams-making-trades/ Houston is interested in Arizona’s starter Robbie Ray — along with several other clubs — and also inquired on Boston’s Matt Barnes.
If they think we can fix him really quickly.... If not, he's pretty worthless. Barnes is a low risk guy for the rest of the year, and you keep him or trade him in the offseason.
I agree. Ray is an impending FA, but we've had interest in him before. Is having a terrible year but had great years in 2017 and 18, was decent in 16 and 19. Still has high whiff numbers, and excellent velo and FB spin (sadly not curve spin though). If anyone can get the best out of him, it's Strom. I've always said he'd be borderline elite if he gets his walks under control. Hard hit balls have bugged him this year, but (not to make excuses) could be because of the weird offseason. Also, does this mean that they're pessimistic on JV returning? Would also like to target Moreland from Boston. Rather have him at DH (with Yordan out) and Brantley/Springer/Tucker all in the OF.
I have watched a couple of Ray's starts this year. It is worse than when Framber was a walk machine the previous seasons. Ray's last 3 starts he walked 6,5,6 and 2 of those starts were only 5 innings and the other start was 4 innings. Unless they are basically giving the guy away I don't want him.
I heard teams asking for Ray were thinking about using him out of the bullpen. Astros one of those teams or Astros will use him as a starter?
That is wierd. Lol but could work. I dont think we need a SP . I think its more a Closer and maybe a middle guy. But we also need a 1B DH guy for the future and acouole OFers for the future
They makng it really hard to watch with this dumb protesting. Any other job these dudes would be fired and replaced. Js. They are really taking this stuff for granted
I would give up almost nothing of value for a rental. I don’t trust this Astros team to go far with so many injuries. I do think it would be smart to target players with at least one more year of control, especially in the outfield.
Agree. I'd love 1B Ryan O'Hearn from the Royals. Should be able to get him for a Sneed/Bailey or 20-35 org prospect as he's blocked and likely won't get much interest. Good plate discipline, 340 BABIP, a lot more power potential than the 1 homer he has so far (26 in 477 MLB AB's prior to this year; a pace for 33 in 600). Really strikes me as someone who can break out with real lineup protection. I've always liked Andrew Heaney from Anaheim, and he just had an impressive performance today. After the LaStella trade we know they're open to trading intra-division. Lefty with one full year of control left. Always been impressed with his K and whiff ability, walks are an issue but I think fixable by Strom. Like a much less extreme Robbie Ray. Solid curve spin and, wait for it....... high fastball spin! I'd prefer him to Ray.
Angels might have been willing to trade a rental within the division in a year where they have no shot to win, but a player with another year of control might be a different story.
