If you recall, my original post was talking about the World Series run, which includes the season leading into the playoffs. And Stanek and Martinez, and others were a big part of that. They had good moments that helped the team win, but also allowed the pitching staff to be fresh and healthy which I contend is the biggest difference between 2021 and 2022. In the playoffs, those arms may not be needed, but during the 162 season they are.
2022: Per fWAR: 1) top 50 SP: Verlander 3, Valdez 10, Javier 32 2) 51-90 SP: Garcia 66 3) top 48 RP: Neris 15, Montero 22, Abreu 29, Pressly 30 4) 49-120 RP: Stanek 57, Martinez 121 5) Alvarez 185, Altuve 159 6) Bregman 132, Tucker 127, McCormick 109 7) Gurriel 83, Mancini 75, Maldonado 68, Dubon 56 * Brantley wasn't available despite top 11 in PA. DRS fielding bible rankings by position 8) Maldy 16th, Altuve 30th, Pena 1st, McCormick 21st ( Meyers 10th but not on WS roster) 9) Gurriel 20th, Bregman 19th, Alvarez 4th, Tucker 3rd.
YTD fielding award rankings C) Maldy 23rd 1b) Abreu 20th. ( Gurriel 29th, Mancini 30th) 2b) Dubon 6th 3b) Bregman 6th SS) Pena 6th LF) Julks 14th, Alvarez 23rd CF) Meyers 4th RF) Tucker 27th
Fair enough. Yeah- they are needed in the RS likely for depth purposes when the better players are down. Looking at the offense my bet is two 125+ isn’t good enough/ and seeing the Astros top Performers being so far above that kind of drives it home. I think your top 6 players need to be excellent (like 1 mvp candidate type and 1 cy young candidate type and then 4 guys performing at all star caliber level) After that I think you need 6 more above average guys (think 2-3 WAR) and probably 4-6 average guys on top of that. The rest of the roster needs to be playable/not horrible. 6-10 WAR- 2 4-5 WAR- 4 3-4 war- 6 2-3 WAR- 6 0-2 WAR- 6 Negative WAR (with some skill set that matters) -2
Yes I think I need a bit of an adjustment on that. I came up with it off the cuff and was intending this kind of interaction to trigger adjustments.
WAR doesnt do a good enough job with pitchers especially bullpen guys imo. So maybe some sort of war per inning or something like that might convey the point better. Also, with expanded playoffs that probably allows for shallower team construction as far as that goes, if your goal is to win 85 games it doesn’t take as many good players as to win 93, and if the top 16 players on your roster matter more in the playoffs then that’s something to note imo. Don’t know how impactful that is.
I will say I don't care too much about how a team wins. A team can be top heavy provided they have depth to cover injuries (i.e., you can't have the entire bench making Hensley look good like the Angels have recently). A team can have a bunch of great not MVP level players. I tend to think position players are less risky than pitchers such that from a roster construction standpoint, but if the pitching is healthy...tough to beat. I tend to think a lot of people overlook the negative WAR players. Right now, negative WAR position players have basically nullified all the good value Alvarez and Tucker have produced.
Yep. You can carry a couple of them for a specific reason as long as you don’t play them a lot (think- 3rd catcher like Salazar or the utility guy that can play anywhere in an emergency and plays 3 times a month.). Cool that has a value because it allows for some optionality. But only a couple with very limited Pt
Lol, that's exactly what it is. Any time a big league star plays a game in the minors it's gonna be made a publicity stunt.
I was thinking that too It's just super hard to find a 1-240 ranking for relievers. And doing that math, even for 60-100 relievers to get a ranking would suck!
I know the Astros are struggling offensively - but I wouldn't mind adding another arm for this year and possibly down the line. Brady Singer has a good arm. He has struggled this year but is under team control for 4 years. Lucas Giolito is a middle of the rotation starter that I think would benefit from the Astros defense behind him and the player development staff. He is a free agent at the end of the season, but he shouldn't be too costly in trade. The ideal target for me is Dylan Cease. He is under team control for 3 years. His raw stuff is very nasty, and he has the type of stuff that the Astros pitching coaches could help quite a bit. He also would benefit from the Astros defense and has the type of arm and talent to dominate in the playoffs. He would be a really good long term solution. He would be expensive in trade, but not like he would have been this winter. Yasmani Grandal is likely worth keeping tabs on. He is over paid and defense isn't his forte but he is okay at calling games and his bat is usually solid to very good for a catcher. If he is cheap enough around the deadline, he is worth it. Altuve Pena Bregman Alvarez Abreu Tucker McCormick Meyers Grandal
He had a good spring training and began the season on a high note, but then his last few starts were clunkers. Last time he pitched was 13 days ago, and they skipped his turn in the rotation last week. Is he hurt again?
