I doubt Varsho is available. But if there was one player in MLB who I think would perfectly fit Houston’s roster (looking at both this season and the future) it would be him. He won’t even reach arbitration until after next season. Arizona is only 2 games under .500, and they’ve been adamant about avoiding a full rebuild. So I’m mostly pipe dreaming. But it would be awesome if they could get him. I think your package is pretty spot on; I would be willing to give up Garcia, Leon, and Santos for Varsho and I think that would be a very good deal for Arizona.
Spit balling... To Giants Odorrizi Chavis To Astros Belt Prospect from Giants To Pirates McCormick Prospect from Giants Giants have a hole in their rotation and not much at 1b in the pipeline. Belt is getting older and off to rough start... his splits platoon favorably with Yuli. He can play a little corner outfield as depth if Brantley needs a night off. Chavis replaces Belt in their lineup and is a 26 year old upgrade. Pirates have a hole in the outfield McCormick can help with. Chavis has been good for them but at 26 he's getting paid before they are good again. They would get a quality prospect with McCormick while the giants send us a lesser one...
Put me down for Contreras and Benitendi move Tucker to CF. This team is giving me ‘98 vibes of outstanding pitching and an offense that won’t produce when it has to. I’m too spoiled from our offense these last several years but I’d hate to waste the pitching this season to risk losing playoff games 1-0, 2-1 etc.
Since people are talking about 1B options, what I love about Mancini is that in addition to 1B, he can also play both corner OF spots (and of course, DH). Unlike, say, Bell or Cron, who are pure 1B, and Cruz, who is a DH only. His career BA vs lefties and righties shows very minimal splits. If you're concerned about OPS and power, remember that he plays half his games in a park that recently made left field deeper and with a higher wall. He would crush it at MMP.
He's more of a temporary replacement than a platoon option. Even though he's a RH, he does better vs RHP than LHP. But the splits are close enough, he wouldn't be best as a platoon player. Just mulling him in the rotation: 1. R ALTUVE, Jose 2B 155 OPS+ 2. L TUCKER, Kyle RF 125 OPS+ 3. R PEÑA, Jeremy SS 138 OPS+ 4. L ALVAREZ, Yordan DH/LF 171 OPS+ 5. R MANCINI, Trey 1B 132 OPS+ 6a. L BRANTLEY, Michael LF/DH 130 OPS+ RHSplit 6b R GURRIEL, Yuli 1B/DH/3B LHP 91 OPS+ LHSplit 7. R MEYERS, Jake CF 107 OPS+ (2021) 8. R MALDONADO, Martin C 31 OPS+ 9. R BREGMAN, Alex 3B 114 OPS+ 6b. R GURRIEL, Yuli Platoon w Brantley OF McCormick 104 OPS+ IF Diaz C Castro Bregman OBP in front of the leadoff w/o the DP from Maldonado Before call-ups. If Gurriel is sent to Balt, Add Siri to the Bench and platoon McCormick 126 OPS+ LHSplit with Brantley. Maybe even with Yuli here. I believe Mancini has a $10M mutual option for 2023 to cover his final Arb year. If true, he woulnd't be a pure rental.
Mancini does have the option for next year you are talking about. Not sure if it’s team, player, or mutual but it is there. If I understand correctly, because he opted out in 2020 (when he beat cancer), the contract rolled and what remained at the time was pushed back.
Here we go - Captain Buzz Kill. I mean . . . I know we are want to open a new gift mid season . . . but I just don't see the front office doing much on the trade market this year. This seems like more of the year where they tinker with the fringes, like every year. Dubon for example. I could see a mid level lefty RP - but if they were really thinking Yuli isn't the solution this year, we'd see a little more evidence of testing internal options out. We have a glut now in CF and certainly are waiting for Meyers to get back and will likely stand pat there. Where else are you gonna add? I'm confident that THEY view the bats will eventually show some life. Until Lance is activated and throwing 4+ innings, I don't think Oddo is expendable, maybe Urquidi is . . . but he's not bringing in a haul.
I agree with you, and I’d be totally fine with a deadline resulting in adding one solid reliever and trading Urquidy for 2 high risk/reward 45 grade prospects.
I don't disagree with you. As far as "internal options" there really isn't much. Matijevic looked completely overmatched in very limited opportunity and Taylor Jones has been injured. Perez wasn't/isn't ready. Who else is there? Taylor Jones has 19 days left he can rehab and then must be added back to 40 man roster and activated or optioned. If I were the Astros I would find a way to give him semi- regular playing time leading up to the trade deadline to see if he can be the answer.
Exactly! Yuli will remain the option until someone internally can force him to the bench. Jones will be nice to have back and give him some rest. I cringe when they run Diaz out to first base, don't know why . . . just feels weird.
I'm thinking Ironically about the FA class after the season. Aaron Judge at DH, move Alvarez to LF. I'd love to take a Damned Yankee away from them for a change. Trade for Trout. Altuve 2B Tucker RF Trout CF Alvarez LF Judge DH Pena SS Mancini 1B Bregman 3B Contreras C (I know this is fantasy)
What the hell. Go for it. Only thing is that Judge is at least as good an OF as Alvarez is. Rotate Alvarez, Judge, and Tucker through LF, RF, and DH. Keep them fresh so Dusty won't decide to give each of them 40 games off.
Matijevic is 0 for 5. Doesn't matter how he looked. It's the smallest of small sample sizes. Bregman started 0-18 with 2 walks before he got a hit. Who else could get a chance? Well if Emanuel Valdez gets moved up to AAA and keeps hitting like he is in AA he could get a chance. Bregman only played 18 games in AAA before being called up. Corey Julks is another guy and he is in AAA. He hit .341, 10 HRS, and with a 1.157 OPS in May.
With the limited call-ups and 40-man roster crunch, there's no way he's in Houston this year barring a total disaster.
Not sure but he rejected a 7 year $213 mil offer(would have been 8 years $230 if you included the arbitration amount they offered for this year). With the season he's having now, I'm sure his asking price went up. There was a report but I can't remember if he wanted more per year or a longer term but he denied those rumors.
Taylor Jones had an .889 OPS in 550+ plate appearances in AAA as a 25 year old, then COVID happened, then as a 27 year old he had a 1.009 OPS in AAA. Over his last 45 plate appearances last year in the MLB he had 8 extra base hits and a .948 OPS. I think it's worth giving him another shot. It's hard to see how it would work roster-wise barring injury, however. I guess trading Diaz and moving Yuli to his role as the backup infielder?
I can't imagine a scenario in which they trade Diaz. His versatility is too valuable and Yuli's given his age, is too diminished. I, too, don't think they're going to do much this summer, trade wise. Unless there's a massive upgrade available (maybe Trout is just done with being on a sh*t team?...lol), I don't see much of anything happening. Depth is there in droves with the exception of C. If they could get a Varsho, that would be awesome. Would've been great to have Korey Lee ready to make the jump but that's not looking good for this season.
