Gives me Everett, Ausmus, Pitcher Spot vibes from the mid 2000s. It will take lights out pitching and lots of 2-1 wins to make the playoffs, let alone make a deep run.
After looking at his stats, I'm intrigued. Talented guy, maybe as Nook has mentioned, swing ****ed up by Coors Field to a degree. I guess it won't hurt to take a flyer on him. Could provide some needed pop in the OF that we might not get otherwise.
That's why players earn/negotiate no trade rights. Good for him (good for the Astros) I'm not one who thinks he would be bad in Houston. Not that I think he would have been goid either. I just think the team is better served letting youngsters get playing time. As it turns out, it was Brendan Rodgers who will get that playing time. Younger and cheaper than Nolan at least.
It’ll be interesting to see how each player the Astros pursued plays. Bregman, Arenado, Polanco, Santander, Rodgers.
I'm not necessarily talking about starting. But I would feel better today about Bregman walking away if Dezenzo or Whitcomb had 200+ PAs last year and one or both had been able to put up over 100 OPS+/wRC+ with promise of improvement. Just speaking about the offense, there would be more hope of it being less top heavy and shallow. To continue competing over a long period, young cheap players need to be continuously worked in and given an opportunity.
Didn't we pivot to Walker when Arenado said no? I would take that everyday. Maybe I am mis-remembering the sequence.