I think it’s fair to call it a win for the Dodgers in the short-term, sure. I can’t speak to the Dodgers’ needs in ‘16 or how Fields was deployed. But getting 117 innings from a RP with a 155 ERA+, during a stretch in which you went to the WS B2B years, for a 19-year old in rookie ball who was ~3 years away from contributing… Again, there’s a cost to improving the team, be it money, players, draft picks… but I think it’s disingenuous to look back nearly 10 years later and pretend hindsight is readily available at the time of the trade. If your focus is on the short-term, and the asset improves your team in that short-term…
He bats right handed, when he fields he throws left handed. Weak left handed throws. Jake Myers must be throwing 90 mph as a Right Hander.
Yusei Kikuchi performing Great with added negative pressure from fans and media. Yusei Kikuchi literally saved the Astros Front Office including Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Reggie Jackson, Enos Cabell.
Ultimately, this comes down to can that changeup perform in the playoffs. And we have those same questions about Verlander, Blanco, Framber, Brown, and Spagehtti. All above average pitchers doing their thing, but none of them strike fear in the contenders.
A player's career is constantly on the line - do you really think fans upset about a trade has any impact on them? It does not. I mean... none of those guys are the GM. If Kikuchi was terrible, Brown would've taken the fall for it, assuming there was any fallout. But, again, fans need to understand that a trade can simultaneously be a good idea (or, at least, defensible) that doesn't ultimately work out, and therefore doesn't fall into the "failure" category. You can't necessarily judge a trade merely on the results. The Astros desperately needed a healthy starting pitcher. Off the top of my head, four with any degree of quality were traded, including Kikuchi. So they landed one of the better arms that was readily available. That's a win. no matter how he pitches.
You guys are nuts. None of these guys are going to be stars. They are all AAAA to solid MLB players at best. We trade 3 players that are fringe MLB talent (that won't move the needle) for a guy everyone in the front office thought would move the needle in maybe the last season with all the boys in the band. There are no guarantees next season with Bregman potentially gone. I could see us give Yusei a qualifying offer for 2024 in hopes of signing to an 2 year deal. If he bolts for more money, we get a draft pick.
Yes; of course. I never meant to imply otherwise. Just that intent and execution are too often conflated. Jose Abreu is a prime example: he was, on paper, *exactly* what they needed: a middle-of-the-order 1B. Their pursuit of him made perfect sense. I don't think anyone can fault the intent. The execution, on the other hand... that was a disaster.
Lmao he has a curveball, it was his 2nd most thrown pitch before coming to the Astros. We told him to a scrap it and throw the change more often instead.
Randy Johnson is the best example of this. It didn't work out at all in terms of Astros success, future WAR, etc. But I don't think anyone regrets that trade or thinks its a was a bad deal.
It had very positive value early in the season and then just got shelled in the last few months. He's got 4 plus or better pitches (fastball, slider, curve and change-up) but they're not all on at the same time. The stros have tweaked a few things: -changeup usage (tunnels better with the FB) -FB usage and location. Less 4-seams and more to the outside corner than up. -I think more slider usage too.
Yep. You could cite Beltran, as well - though it could be argued, at least in the postseason, he was far more impactful (which is more everyday player v starting pitcher vis-a-vis team results; the '04 Astros won a series; the '98 Astros did not). Bottom line: every fan would redo those trades - even if we wiped out knowing how the prospects fared. Kikuchi isn't as good as Johnson or Beltran, obviously - but landing a not-bad, healthy starting pitcher was an immediate win for this team..
