Blue Jays fans starting to have Tulowitzski PTSD. That being said, Springer was always prone to a tweak/strain/tear here/there. He missed time in multiple years with Houston. He plays hard, runs hard, field hard, swings hard... as he gets older, his body simply will not be able to handle that day-in/day-out sort of stress.
Im sure the likelihood of increased injury risk for Springer as he ages was at least part of why Houston didn’t make him a more competitive offer. I think the same is true for Correa; SS that big with a history of back problems don’t tend to keep playin that position at a high level into their mid 30s.
I'd actually say Correa's problems have a better chance of stabilizing/improving vs. that of Springer (or even Bregman). As far as we know, nothing was structurally wrong with the back, had more to do with the sort of weight-lifting/training (or lack of proper training/stretching) more than anything else. And he's young enough... hence why a 6 year deal was proposed (with a lower AAV mainly due to expectation of either missed time or a generally lower ceiling than previously thought of). Yes, one more injury and that theory blows up in smoke... but Correa seems to be more like the Stanton variety (something will eventually get him, randomly, but if he plays a full season a lot of those concerns dissipate and the labels start to go away).
We will have to see how they approach Story and Baez to see if their lack of making a serious offer to Correa was due to Correa or because they simply don't want to make that kind of financial commitment to a single player. Even with $50 million to spend I wouldn't be surprised if they zero in on a second tier candidate like Semien or maybe even Simmons.
It would not surprise me at all if they went for a player willing to take a 1 or 2 year deal. It also wouldn’t surprise me if they avoided free agency altogether, and traded for a 3rd tier guy like Adames, Andrus, or Rojas. I speculated that a trade for Manuel Margot and Willy Adames from TB seems to make a lot of sense to me. A lot probably depends on how Straw, Leon, and Pena are projected by the end of this season.
Going to see the Salt Lake Bees - Reno Aces game tonight. Corbin Martin is the scheduled starter for the Aces and I'm hoping to see Reddick, Beer and Jamie Ritchie in the starting lineup. Humberto Castellanos is also on the opening day roster. James Hoyt on the Bees side. I'll report back what I see!
Mike Fiers gives up 5 runs in 3.1 innings. Springer to the DL, his team scores 9 runs in 6 innings Marwin Gonzalez goes 1-4 to RAISE his average to .207. Slugging around .290. Grossman goes 1-5. Hitting around. 200. Slugging around .310. Jordan Lyles gives up 3 in 5 innings and LOWERS his 7+ ERA. Jonathan Villar goes 0-3. Hitting around .230.
Mike Fiers (0-2), in his second start of the season, went 3 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out two.
Back to give thoughts on former Astros from the Bees game last night: Reddick: 0-5, same old Reddick. Easy pop flies and grounders into the shift. I don't envision he'll have much MLB opportunity anymore unless he goes on a hot streak, but he did not look anything above a fringe MLB player at this point. We did get some "wooos" from the crowd..interesting in SLC from the visiting team, people still recognize to do that. Corbin Martin: he looked pretty solid until he lost command in the 5th. Think he just allowed a few hits until he issued 2-3 walks in the 5th inning, and ended up being responsible for 1 run, gave up 2 hits, 4 walks and 8 strikeouts in 4 & 2/3 innings. This was his first live game since TJ surgery in 2019, so overall a pretty solid outing. Seth Beer: 3-4, 2 doubles. He looked very good, played 1st base, I didn't notice any suspect defense. This guy can hit, I hope we don't kick ourselves several years down the road for the Greinke trade. He hit the ball with authority.
I didn't really start paying attention to the Astros until the mid-90s. I never realized that Baggie's exaggerated batting stance, with the spread out feet and huge squat, wasn't really there as a rookie. At what point did he make that change?
