He's a guy who can hit better than a few OF'ers currently on the MLB roster. Which says something about the current roster more than Gamel's abilities. Gamel saved their bacon a few times last year.
He's a possible lefthanded platoon bat with some decent physical tools. Most likely just roster filler in AAA, it's not really a move worth being angry or excited about.
We will need an early season bench outfielder in AAA. He will either be much improved or gone by mid season.
MLBTR’s estimates seem more realistic. Estimates from their top 50 that I think would be good for Houston: Teoscar $60M/3yrs Kikuchi $60M/3yrs Walker $60M/3yrs Profar $45M/3yrs Heaney $24M/2yrs Hyeseong Kim $24M/3yrs (Houston would play him in LF if he can’t handle 3B or CF) Montas $22M/2yrs Jansen $20M/2yrs Conforto $18M/2yrs Scherzer $16M/1yr Buehler $15M/1yr Ha-Seong Kim $12M/1yr (I think he’ll sign for more) Verlander $12M/1yr JD Martinez <$7M Lance Lynn <$7M Charlie Morton <$7M (I think he’ll sign for more) Justin Turner <$7M Alex Cobb <$7M Max Kepler <$7M https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/2024-25-top-50-mlb-free-agents-with-predictions.html
He will probably make it through waivers if they need him to. He will probably be a platoon guy in LF and/or CF until/unless a better guy is brought in. He has a career 104 wRC+ vs RHP Chas is 96 and Jake is 76.
