I’m sure that’s the case. It’s absurd. But whatever. I’ve made my peace with it. you can’t really point to any numbers that show Maldonado to be particularly good defensively. I’m not saying he’s not, but if it’s a skill it should be measurable. Maybe it is and it just doesn’t show up in the public metrics. we just traded for an above average defensive catcher that’s got a wRC+ 50 points higher than Maldonado and I suspect his ass will be nailed to the bench during the playoffs. it’s frustrating. It’s either a case of some really smart people having an obvious and gaping blind spot or they are so much smarter they know something that nobody else in the world can quantify. Shrugs.
The posters that think Vazquez isn't going to be doing most of the catching are the same posters that said Click wouldn't trade for an upgrade at catcher at the deadline. They may be right since Dusty's the manager.
If we really did add a starting catcher today and a starting 1B then I love the moves. I think you are being optimistic in assuming these guys will replace the guys who are currently here and much worse than them, but we shall see. Bell basically fixes everything tomorrow. So does Happ. Either way it makes the lineup have no holes in it if we play the right guys. Mancini having positional flexibility between LF and 1B really gives us 2 options to fix this thing 1-9.
"Unquantifyability is in the hands of the beholder. And you just don't know what people will do next" Tod Rundgrenn "Good night y'all" Blind Hogg
Which is all the average fan cares about. "If you care about winning, you will SPEND SPEND SPEND and GO ALL IN."
I am really happy with the Odorizzi - Smith trade It is giving me Rafael Montero vibes. The Astros have earned the benefit of the doubt on pitching projects. There is no doubt Smith has talent and history. Odorizzi needed to be gone. From my view ( in Idaho so nothing inside) I would not go so far as to call him a cancer but definitely the flu. He was not going to have a role moving forward once Lance returns and wanted to pitch 6+ innings every 5 days for his contract. Nothing wrong with that but he was a square peg in a round hole and complained via the media at least once. If Smith does not return to form the team still has plenty of arms to cover the innings. 5 current starters can be counted on to pitch 30 innings each turn. That leaves 15 innings every 5 days for Pressly, Stanek, Neris, Montero, Martinez, Abreu, Maton ( and Smith of course) And McCullers should be back in 3 weeks.
There are many things in this World which cannot be quantified but are real none-the-less. But splitting time between Maldy and Vasquez plus a few starts in alternative positions for Vasquez seems like a positive for all. Vasquez bats more than Lee did and Maldy gets more rest to be his best self in the playoffs.
Rodon from SF is an interesting name that has been brought up. Ge will very likely opt out of his $22.5M salary for next season in favor of a multi year deal, so he's a rental but easily as good as Castillo would be for this year. JV, Framber, Rodon, McCullers, Javier and Urquidy/Garcia make one hell of a rotation. Mike Yastrzemski could be an interesting CF option too. He has been exactly league average= .712 OPS/100 OPS+ but has a good track record and would allow the team to give Meyers the time he needs to get right. He has team control for 3 more years which is a plus with Tucker the only experienced OF that is a sure thing for 2023. The Giants will want to compete immediately so MLB ready talent is what they would want back. I would offer: Luis Garcia, Brandon Bielak, Enoli Paredas, and Corey Julks. Garcia SHOULD be enough by himself but that's not how the trade deadline works. So add a potential Yaz replacement that is having a great year at AAA but blocked by half a dozen other prospects, and 2 AAAA pitchers who could contribute for SF but are expendable in Houston. I chose Garcia over Urquidy because he is basically a 5+ IP starter now with better upside and trade value but Urquidy is a 6+IP more consistent innings eater and with Javier's occassional short outing and Lance's health in the rotation that is important. Roster: C) Maldy/Vazquez 1B) Yuli/Mancini 2B) Altuve 3B) Bregman SS) Pena LF) Chas/Diaz/Alvarez ( Brantley) CF) Yaz/Chas RF) Tucker DH) Alvarez/Mancini Util) Dubon. Rotation JV Framber Lance Rodon Javier Urquidy Bullpen Pressly Stanek Montero Neris Abreu Smith S. Martinez ( Maton)
If Reynolds and Mullins aren’t available and SF decides to sell, Yaz would be an interesting target. A blockbuster deal for Rodon and Yaz would be a HUGE balls out move. CF with project wOBA >.320 who might be available: Reynolds Yaz Varsho Mullins Laureano Happ Grichuk
I think that's because people don't recognize who Smith is. He's been an allstar. He's been closer for 2 different teams. He has perforned in the postseason. This is the first year in the past 5 where he hasn't been a dominant reliever and it appears to be due to mechanical issues with his curveball. If he's a lefty equivalent of Montero or Stanek then we did just fine. He does have a better track record than those two...
He's the backup catcher, he's going to play. The only question is will he play 20% of the time or closer to 50% of the time
Overall like the trades so far. They aren't drastic improvements, but help. Astros didn't give up too much to get them either. The Astros surplus value on FanGraphs farm ranking will actually go up slightly as they like Jayden Murray more than the guys the Astros gave up (They were really too low on Valdez).
I could see him being used once every 5 days or in a pinch hit situation. Even though he should be the starter.
Go look at what he did in the playoffs last yr against MIL, LAD and us in the WS. Tell me the trade "sucks ass".
