I'm pretty sure he meant traditional BA and ball in play skills, not overall productivity. He's clearly not the 2nd most productive bat, but he's a career .286/.353 hitter with a 8% K rate which is easily better than anybody other than Tuve right now. Having said that, he's obviously a slap hitter, with nowhere near the value of other guys. I think we have some guys in Bregman, Gurriel and Correa who have the potential to be .290/.300 hitters next season.
So much fail this thread. I've seen Altuve batting 5th in this thread and springer maybe even 6th? Geez
Yeah, what's the fail? Springer isn't really a lead-off type player. 2-5 should be locked up by Bregman, Altuve, Gurriel, and Correa. They're our best bats. Honestly I wouldn't mind Springer being in the package for a top quality pitcher. I like him, but something has to give.
I am not sure Gurriel can be counted on to be an elite cleanup hitter. I would much rather see Houston add another good hitter or two to push Gurriel and Gattis down into the bottom half of the lineup. If Gurriel, Gattis, and Aoki are their "everyday" 7-8-9 hitters, then this lineup will arguably be the deepest in baseball. But that means adding 2 players that project for at least a wRC+ of 110.
How, exactly, is a guy with a career OB% of .360 not a "lead-off type player"? He strikes out way too much to hit, really, anywhere between 2-5. If he's not leading off, he's probably better suited to the back-half of your line-up.
I think the idea is to put a power hitter like Springer in a position where he has the maximum opportunity to drive in runs by putting him in the 4-5 hole. Why put him behind Gurriel? I don't understand that part...he hit .262 with not much power. I'd actually think about putting Aoki 9th to give Springer more RBI opportunities while giving Springer max ABs throughout the game.
Maybe I'm just annoyed at the last couple of months of the season. I don't think springer provided what was necessary up front. I think he strikes out too much and I just want someone to get on base early when guys like Bregman, Altuve, and Correa are up next. I'd rather see him in the back half where he can take advantage of his power and not worry about striking out. Also, I have faith in Gurriel and think his ability is closer to what he showed in his first ~20 games.
In an absolutely perfect world, Springer hits 5th or 6th, because he strikes out too much to be a leadoff guy and because there are 3-4 better overall hitters to put in front of him. Adding a legit leadoff man and another elite hitter would make the bottom half of the lineup pretty unbelievable. CF Fowler 3B Bregman 2B Altuve DH Encarnacion SS Correa RF Springer 1B Gurriel C Gattis LF Aoki
If the idea is to put power in the 4-5 hole, Altuve led the team with a .531 slugging %; 75 points higher than Springer's. In 15 - granted: international seasons, Gurriel posted a .417 OB% and hit .335. If, after a full spring training, etc., he can replicate... 2/3 of that on the MLB level, he'll be a better, more productive hitter than, well, nearly everyone not named Altuve.
At this point, Springer (most likely) is what he is, and he's going to strike-out a lot. Those Ks are, IMO, far less damaging at the top of the order than they are in key RBI/situational hitting moments, where balls in play - even if they're outs - can still be productive. I think Springer is an ideal lead-off hitter.
I have no idea who it will be, I have no idea where they will hit, but they need a lefty or 2 (Reed?) in the top 6 just to break it up...Altuve/Springer/Correa/Yuli/Bregman
What strike outs hurt more? When people are on base or when people are not on base? Batting Average is less important leading off than OBP. OBP is something only Springer, Altuve, Valbuena & Correa did well. I like the idea of Springer leading off with that lineup. If we acquire a good OBP guy like Fowler, I'd be all for Springer moving down and using his power to drive in runs.
Probably through trade since none of the FA pitchers will be worth the money. Any trade for the 1-2 front line pitcher such as Sales or Archer will cost Tucker. Build a nightmare lineup and trade your assets in the farm for star pitchers. However, I am all for signing Jansen or Chapman. Having a possible Harris, Gregerson, Giles, and Jansen/Chapman will be tough for any opponent.
Hard to peg what Fowler and Encarnacion will make, but I figure they could add those two, a lefty reliever, and a backup catcher and it would put payroll around $120M. Trading prospects (Martes, Paulino, K Tucker) for an affordable ace (Archer, Sale) pushes it to ~$130M. Not sure if that's what Crane has in mind but if they want to field the most talented, deepest team in the AL that is what it's going to cost.
I think that Encarnacion is going to cost nearly $30,000,000 a season over multiple seasons. I could see Fowler pushing $20,000,000 a season if there are some teams left standing with money to spend and need to appease their fans. I expect the Astros will have some money to spend, but they will go bargain hunting to see which supposed big name free agent starts to slip through the cracks. I hope they stay the hell away from Ian Desmond, he isn't as good as some think.
