4.10 and 160+ IP repeat would be amazing from the 5 slot. But he's never really been that great of a pitcher... just a longshot as much as any of the young guys
Yes it certainly is good to see. While we aren't all in to win now, this organization is clearly serious about wanting to field a winning club this season with the moves they have made. A lot of us weren't thrilled with the Ryan Vogelsong deal when it was rumored. But now that it seems we have a little better understanding, it would seem that we were fully prepared to spend 4 million dollars on a glorified insurance policy. Likewise I think a part of the Gattis deal was to have a Singleton fallback. This team looks good, but still has wild cards. In years past if the wild card sucked, we just had to deal with it. This season we are prepared to replace them. Plus we went after guys like Lowrie and Rasmus, who have shown ability in the past well beyond their current salary. They could help us win and/or get prospects.
Definitely agree on the wild cards. I know I am bullish on Marisnick, but if he doesn't hit well enough his defense won't play. Singleton is a guy I think will come around, but there is still a huge chance he is nothing. Springer needs consistency. I do think the Gattis acquisition was more than just a Singleton fail safe. I think Astros really think his bat is going to play very well in MMP. In other words, even if Singleton bats well, Gattis is still probably better than one of Singleton and Carter.
The Astros survived Bourn's first season with them at age 25 where he posted a .588 OPS with 500+ plate appearances.
I didn't say that was all he was here for. Luhnow traded some of his lottery tickets for a proven major league talent. Gattis can produce and help us win games now, but if Singletons status was less in question, I don't think we trade for him. If Singleton hits, he is the everyday 1B, which means either Carter of Gattis will have to play LF. Both of them are catastrophes out there. IMO there is a zero percent chance the Astros enter next season with Gattis, Carter and Singleton penciled in. Either Singleton plays his way out, or we move one of the other 2, most likley Carter, but possibly Gattis.
Expect the Astros to look at guys that struggle against the low strike zone but thrive otherwise. MLB is going to change the strike zone to increase offense.
I think Astros make move regardless of whether Singleton hits. I know we disagree on this, but if Singleton hits, one of three 1B/DH may not be the best LF and be forced to sit. Granted, that means all of Singleton, Marisnick, and Rasmus are playing very well.
The franchise wasn't going to fold because of Bourn's bad production. They might have made the playoffs that season with better production in CF.
I don't know. I feel that if all 3 are hitting in spring training, and if Marisnick doesn't take the step up that we think or hope he will, he goes down to the minors, and we gladly put all 3 hitting machines in our lineup. I haven't actually seen Gattis in LF yet, so although I wouldn't project him to be amazing, I think calling his LF defense a catastrophe might be a little premature (but could very well end up true). Also, considering half of our games will be at MMP with the short porch in LF, their bad defense would be naturally mitigated anyway. I actually think all 3 hitting would be the best case scenario. I think the spring training battle that will determine the fate of all 3 is going to be Singleton vs. Marisnick. If one steps up, they get an everyday job, while the other continues their seasoning at the minor league level.
Chris Carter has been killed by the low strike, IMO. He takes a lot of low strikes that would have been called balls a few years ago. I think his walks would go back up with the change. On the other hand, I'm really worried about how our pitchers might be affected.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> in agreement on minor-league deal with Joe Thatcher.</p>— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCotillo/status/566288430410514432">February 13, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Thatcher gets $1M if on major-league roster with additional $1.3M available in incentives. Deal includes opt-out 5 days before Opening Day.</p>— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCotillo/status/566288753309020160">February 13, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Keuchel lives on the low "strike". He uses low pitches to get weak contact and was the ground ball leader last year. He might be the player most affected negatively by a change.
I wouldn't say zero chance. If Carter and Gattis both hit 35+ HR and Singleton goes over 25 himself, I'd say with our small LF they could definitely move forward with 95 HR from 1b/dh/lf I think Carter is going to really benefit if MLB doesn't call the low strike anymore, and could see Gattis having a big year not having to catch and playing in MMP...Singleton i'm just hopeful on, not confident, but hopeful
While I get the grins, it is the first offseason in some time where the moved in talent could get us somewhere in the standings. I think all the wildcard (this year) and playoff (next year) talk is just that. But I do think we could wean ourselves off of many folks laughable radar screen and be a midland to moderately competitive team this year or next.
One of the other things I like most about this offseason is that we're seeing that Luhnow (and to an extent, Crane) do exactly what he said he was going to do when he took over as GM. Break it all down and steadily build it back up. I got so tired of people saying things like "Crane/Luhnow are just trying to run the team as cheap as possible", or "we'll never have a payroll higher than $25MM because Crane is too cheap", or "dispicable way to run a team"....it's becoming clear to me that they had a plan all along and now we're just beginning to see some progress toward making the team competitive again.
This is a really good point. There were some that felt that Crane/Luhnow were being cheap and doubted the promises to spend more latter. Of course, Crane from the start spent money on the draft, on signing LA teenagers, on buying the AA team, etc The FA signings this year outpaced last year's. Next year if the team plays well and appears to be on the verge of a playoff run, I can see Crane green lighting a run at a top FA like David Price.
Astros need to stick to their plan. The tough part should be over. the minor league is going to get that much better after another draft. I think they will be competitive falling short of a playoff spot this year. Which will be in time for the next wave of minor league talents, Correa, Colin Moran, Brett Phillips, Appel, etc. A lot of reinforcement coming up.
