It’ll definitely be a sellers market, but there will be names traded. I think Bieber, Giolito, Lynn, Corbin, Smyly, and Stroman will all be traded. I also think Grandal, Laureano, and Bellinger will be traded on the position player side. Of course there will be a ton of smaller trades for bench guys and relievers. And there’s always a surprise team who decides to sell last minute and a star under long term control who nobody thought would be available who gets moved. I think Paul Goldschmidt is a dark horse to be traded.
Since there's virtually zero chance they are gonna let Diaz catch meaningful games adding Perez would be my top offensive target. Somebody with his resume is virtually the only chance we have of supplanting Maldonado, and I'm not even sure it would happen. I imagine Dusty would just DH Perez a lot and still have Maldy catch over half the games. I would be extremely reluctant to trade Diaz for anything but a team controlled star. His quality of contact numbers are crazy good, and he looks to have the tools for catcher, at least part time. Just because Dusty refuses to let him play this season doesn't mean he won't have impact moving forward.
Yea I will go ahead and take it a step further. I've been kind of down on the idea of trading for Perez. Just not sure the Astros would take on the salary and upset Maldonado. If Dana Brown traded for Perez and Chapman then cut Maldonado I'd want Brown in the Astros HOF immediately. This is an entertainment business. Watching Maldonado isn't entertaining in the least. I know it won't happen but it would be amazing. One of the reasons I was big on the Astros adding a bunch of offense in the offseason is because last season I didn't watch near as many regular season games as I normally do. Until the playoffs I didn't find it that much of a fun watch. This year it is even worse. Give me an offense like the 2019 team where 9 guys had an OPS north of .800 and a few more were knocking on the the door with a .780-790 OPS.
If Click was GM still, he's agree to a trade for Perez with KC taking Maldy to give Maldy some dignity and remove the temptation from Dusty. Granted, Crane would probably veto it based on Dusty's advice.
I guess the news on Urquidy is positive. To me that means that only a potential playoff calubur starting pitcher makes sense. There are enough starters to get through the season. As for hitting, it's all about Brantley. The team has Altuve, Bregman, Pena, Yordan, Meyers/McCormick platoon, and Tucker who are everyday players and doing fine. Diaz has shown enough that I do not want another catcher brought in as long as Maldy is healthy. Maldy is going to start. Period. Even if he loses some to a guy like Salvy Perez, he will just take all playing time from Diaz Abreu is an albatross but nothing can be done about it. Even if he does not improve he will still get at least 1/2 the starts at 1B. As long as Maldy is healthy and won't be benched, I like the idea of Diaz taking any starts that Abreu doesn't. That just leaves LF/DH as a way to strengthen the weakness vs RHP. If Brantley is healthy and back by trade deadline then he is basically a trade acquisition. He can take Julks spot sharing LF with Chas and occassionally DHing when Yordan plays LF and RHP starts If Brantley is not healthy then this team needs a run producing bat to help vs RHP.
Hearing the Astros are looking at a lot of different options, and for the first time am hearing a lot of new names. I have heard......... James Paxton, Eduardo Rodriguez, Aaron Civale, Marcus Stroman, Alex Cobb and Zach Wheeler. The White Sox are telling teams they don't want to sell right now, and could end up even being buyers - it is up to the owners son. I have also heard......... Joc Pederson, Josh Naylor, Cody Bellinger (yes I am serious), Spencer Torkelson (no idea why) and Teoscar Hernandez I find it interesting because some of these guys have a background playing first. Naylor and Torkelson surprised me. The White Sox being non-comital, along with the Giants possibly standing pat has constricted the market. It is possible there is some bad blood between the Cubs and Astros - there was with Click for sure. With DeGrom being out for basically ever, I am sure the Rangers are going to be active for someone at the top of the pitching market. The Phillies are not talking trade, but that could change. Their top two pitchers are close to free agency. If the Phillies decide to move some rental pitching that helps the Astros as well. The inclusion of Cody Bellinger and James Paxton are certainly risks, but being expiring free agents may dampen any real cost. The Red Sox front office and ownership are at odds on the direction of the team. The front office wants to rebuild. Last interesting tidbit is the Astros have asked the Braves about some of their minor leaguers.
It’s a shame there’s bad blood/personality conflict with Bellinger and the Astros, as he’s a very good fit for the roster with his ability to play all 3 OF spots plus 1B. The fact that he bats lefty also helps. Fwiw Joc Pederson has played 21 games at 1B in his MLB career.
From what I can tell, the bad blood isn't something that will keep the Astros from looking into getting Bellinger. I think that he has as good a chance ending up in Houston as anyone else. He plays CF and 1st base. He gives the Astros a lot of options. People would get over their issues.
In the end, everyone has the same goal. Win the World Series. If he helps, I'm sure Astros players will be happy to have him and Belinger has a shot at another title and would probably be fine playing for Houston. And he can leave after the season so doesn't need to stay long term. As a fan, for me, yes I think he's a douche but if he can help and no issues between him and the team(2017 players) then I would cheer for him.
edit The Astros only have 3 guys left from 2017, Altuve, Bregman and LMJ I don't know if I like adding Bellinger for on field reasons given the mess he has been the last few years, but i don't see the 2017 hangup being a big deal.
Thanks as always. I don't love the pitching names other than Stroman and Wheeler. Torkelson is a weird name unless it's a buy low reclamation.
2B Altuve SS Pena DH Alvarez 3B Bregman RF Tucker C Diaz LF/1B Bellinger CF Meyers 1B/LF Abreu/Brantley Bench: Maldy, McCormick, Dubon That’s a DEEP lineup
I read where the Astros are supposedly interested in Jorge Soler. My first thought is that it is a really odd choice… but they are interested in a similar type player in Eloy Jimenez. Jorge would have to be a DH for the Astros. His glove in the outfield is simply too terrible to spend any real time in the field. As far as I know he isn’t an option to play first either. Soler strikes out a lot and doesn’t really hit for average. He also has a player option, which isn’t something the Astros typically like either. So why Soler? Well the first thing is he does bring elite power. He has hit nearly 50 homers in a season before. So bat him after high OBP guys and he likely will get RBI. The other thing that stands out about Soler is that he absolutely DESTROYS left handed pitching. He isn’t good like Chas is good against lefties - he is on another level. He may have the most power in the league hitting off lefties. I am skeptical the Marlins will want to move him, they are trying to make the playoffs - but even if the Marlins decide to trade Soler, the cost shouldn’t be very high.
Bellinger really checks all three spots where the Astros need help. And wouldn’t command a big return on a 1yr deal.
Can let him know that a Cannabis company bought out 8th Wonder brewery… that should appease his concerns.
A lot of production at a low financial cost and is under team control for 5 years - so he may cost more in trade than you would think. The other concern with him is that he doesn't have a track record, so he could really slow down.
