Chris Carter NL HR leader with 41. 40-homer upside and dirt cheap. Shoulda re-signed him. Would've been a difference maker.
The fact White and Reed, especially Reed, were hot garbage didn't help. In other news, Giles is still Giles'ing. Dude is an XBH magnet when contact is made.
such a problem. He's great when he's on, and great when he isn't but still gets K's. But I'd really like him to be able to understand how to induce softer contact on his really bad days...not doubles and homers to hell when those days happen.
Giles will be fine going forward. His FIP this year is 2.83, his xFIP is 2.60 (career FIP-2.18, career xFIP-2.63). His home run rate has gone from 2.8 and 3.3 percent to 15.1 percent. That will go down in all likelihood. Hopefully his groundball percentage will tick back up a bit to 44 or so. This year it is 40 percent. The 14.06 k per 9 and 3.34 bb per 9 both work for me. All in all, the bullpen isn't a worry of mine going into the offseason. Would I mind a guy like Chapman, Melancon, or Jansen? No, but they are far from a necessity.
Yep, he should've been re-signed. I get what they were trying to do with White and then Reed. They wanted to go in a younger, cheaper, and possibly better direction but it didn't work out at all. At least not this year. Do you try Reed etc. again or do you go after a free agent like Morales or Encarnacion? Or do you even try to trade for guys like Votto or Freeman? Carter isn't a great all-around player by any means and the strikeouts irritate the heck out of all of us but he produces bombs and some walks. His production at first would have helped.
Then trade for and sign good starting pitching. If it's one of the best starters in the market and he has a 1st Rd tag, do it anyways if Luhnow thinks it's worth it. Need to win a chip before Springer leaves via free agency.
They absolutely made the right call on Carter. It made perfect sense to go with one of the prospects. Just because your hindsight is so clear and Reed/White didn't pan out this season doesn't mean it wasn't the correct thing to do. Carter had about the same season as he did last year with the exception that he got to play more for a terrible team.
Don't agree with playing the scrubs. Rodgers and Reed will have zero trade value by the time this one is done.
Looking back now. That month of April ruined the season. 7-17 was the dagger. If the Astros could've had a 12-12 or 14-10 then they would still be in the Wild Card right now.
Had they not made a full recovery by July, would tend to agree. The 2 week stretch after the trade deadline, after this team had gone to 10 games over .500 only to go back to .500 was the true dagger. This stretch coincided with Valbuena's injury, Bregman's callup and immediate slump, Harrris' continued 9th inning troubles, and the lack of acquiring trade deadline help at pitching and for the lineup.
Go out and get gritty vet like Edwin or Kendrys, please. Preferably Edwin, though I know he'd cost more. 3 year window starts now. Need some battle tested vets to join club and lead this team to next level.
Encarnacion would be a fantastic add to this lineup. Then you can have Gurriel DH. But the main focus has to be on SP. They can't go into 2017 assuming this was just a down year for the entire rotation. They have to upgrade even if it costs some prospects.
Let's face it. With Carter, Villar, and Grossman, the Astros would be preparing for the playoffs this week. It was a calculated risk to go with younger options, which did not pan out. Reed needs to get himself in better shape if he wants to be relevant.
