I am actually starting to come around on Dezenzo. Let me explain- I have always felt Dezenzo had potential to be a solid 4-6 year starter either at 1b or 3b for this team. Until now, I just felt he needed more time in AAA before that time started. However, if you hear the praise Dana Brown has for him and think about the Astros' situation, him making the opening day roster makes a lot of sense. 1) He is currently the best in house candidate at 1b AND 3b for 2025. 2) I do not see the Astros bringing in both a 1b and a 3b, especially with the OF needs. 3) Losing Tucker in 2026 is going to be a big blow. There is no way, outside of resigning him (which is unrealistic) to avoid that. So giving Dezenzo his adjustment year in 2025 so he can be close(r) to peak level in 2026 makes sense. 4) There's a lot to be said for the reduced pressure of having Tucker and a 1 year younger Altuve in the lineup while he is adjusting to MLB pitching and game.
Well - I can tell you that the Astros are more concerned about 1st base than the corner outfield spot. They are concerned about a number of positions - obviously 3rd is a huge priority, but none of this is in a vacuum. The cost for heavy production at third base is likely to be very high, so it is possible they have a marginal 3rd base bat and make up for it by addressing 1st and also add an outfield/DH type bat because the overall cost is less. We will see - maybe the Orioles and Rays and Giants all either move their 1st basemen elsewhere or they decide to keep them.... but 1st base is an easy position to get an upgrade at, and there are a LOT of names out there. I personally do not have confidence in Singleton as a hitter or as a fielder - but I am also not a GM or advanced scout - so my opinions are less informed and thus less valuable than what the Astros group.
Well - I don't like him personally at 3rd base, at least from what I have seen of him there. The Astros are getting him time in the outfield, that is what he is currently working on - seeing how he handles the corner outfield spots. With his power - he can cover a lot of sins, couple that with his ability to draw some walks - and he has some real upside.
Exactly, if Dana does this right and trades for an OF or two and adds a guy like Lowe at 1B, this will allow a young guy like Dezenzo to bat 7-9 in the order while he's getting his feet wet facing MLB pitching with less pressure on him to produce. If they bring back Bregs, I would do a 70-30 platoon split with Dezenzo/Singleton and add 2 OF'ers in trades/FA. I'm starting to get on board with trading Arrighetti for comparable OF prospect.
I appreciate this information. I always knew there was the chance he would end up in the OF (that's usually just a given for questionable glove college shortstops) but wasn't aware they were already there. I finally accepted that Whitcomb was there mid-season last year, I didn't realize Dezenzo was too. That's quite a blow if neither of them can be MLB infielders. Maybe he can end up a better fielding Teoscar Hernandez type RF when Tuck leaves?
If neither Dezenzo, nor Whitcomb can stick in the dirt, I am more convinced than ever that they must bring back Alex. Close your eyes, hold your nose and be the highest bidder
I don't know if the intention is to keep him there or if they just want to see what he can do out there. They gave him a good diet of 1st base reps in practice in the big leagues and he played some in games too. As for Whitcomb - Brown had already reached the conclusing Whitcomb was an outfielder before he ever stepped on the grass at MMP. The manager was the one that believed it could work - it couldn't, and it didn't. I get Brown wanting to let his manager manage, but he in hindsight probably should have smacked around the manager.
MLBTR list of non-tender candidates: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/2024-non-tender-candidates.html Guys I think could interest Houston: C: Garrett Stubbs (if Houston trades Caratini) 1B: Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets 3B: Brendan Rodgers, Josh Rojas OF: Akil Baddoo, Bryan De La Cruz, Austin Hays, Ramon Laureano, MJ Melendez, Mikey Yaz P: Paul Blackburn, David Bednar
Yeah the lack of positional versatility hurts. Like @panamamyers said, just a poor fit for most teams. If you aren't starting him, and he can't play anywhere but 1B (and isn't good there), when are you playing him? Is he the kind of impact bat that you burn a limited bench spot on? I think if he's not starting or in a platoon, he's just not on the roster.
Speaking of no positional versatility, Singleton was significantly better vs RHP than Altuve last year. Of course, Altuve was still 10% above average and obliterated lefties which is the difference. But it emphasizes a point that Jon's splits make him much more valuable to this team than many others.
I think Dana is doing a good job, especially in the draft But you can't make any type of judgements in any way based off of his comments on anyone or anything. Dana will say sh*t anytime for no real reason it seems.
That's the biggest problem I have with him, his unplayable at 1B because his defense is abysmal. Altuve is barely holding on at 2B, Pena has throwing problems because he gets to so many balls but doesn't have a + arm, and who knows what we are going to have at 3B next year. We definitely need to upgrade the defense at 1B with a guy that can upgrade offensively as well.
My take on Singleton/1B is that because Singleton is a good hitter against 70-80% of the pitchers in the league, it doesn’t make sense to replace him with a non-superstar. Example, Christian Walker posted a 123 wRC+ against RHP last season, while Singleton posted a 124. So you’re going to tie up $60M-90M for an upgrade against lefties and some better 1B defense? To me that’s not a good use of resources. It also doesn’t make a ton of sense to me for Houston to spend significant money on a platoon bat for him, because I think Whitcomb or Dezenzo or Caratini or Hummel or Dubon would be worth taking a look at in that role if it will save $10M+. If they can find a guy that crushes lefties for <$7M then that makes sense. I think they’d be better off adding a good bat in LF and having McCormick compete with Meyers for the everyday CF job. The longer we go into the offseason and the more I look at the options, Houston needs a good 3B, plain and simple. They should pay Bregman and if they don’t do that then they need to make a trade.
Man, I am so tired of hearing the word "platoon" in this thread. "if we platoon this guy with this guy...." If you have to platoon players, then you are weak in that position and should look to upgrade.
Ok, smart guy, then find the Astros a good balanced hitter at 1B, SS, 3B, LF, and CF, because those are the positions where Houston has a hitter who is weak against at least one side of pitching. Theres simply not enough resources for Houston to field a complete hitter at every position, and “platoons” are one way to dramatically mitigate that issue.
Just get really good, well rounded players at all the positions where you don't have good players. Man, why hasn't anybody thought of that sooner.
The point is, Astros have too many weaknesses in the lineup to fix. Platooning won't get you there. Maybe that works for one position, but only if all other positions are strong. You are right they don't have to resources to fix them all at once. The reality is the roster is flawed and I am not sure how Dana and co. will be able to fix it. Signing Bregman would be a start.
You are right. . . But it's complicated. 1) There are very few players who are above average vs both L and RH pitching, and don't have another major weakness like bad defense, extremely high K rate, don't play positions needed, etc. Those players are either not available, or extremely expensive financially or in trade capital. 2) You have a budget issue, as the team is less than $10M under the CBT before any signings. 3) You currently have players on the roster who are very good at some things, but weak at others. That makes them just good enough to be an option but not a great one. Because of this, their value and the teams that may be interested are very limited. So. . . Finding complete players is expensive and you have limited money and even more limited trading capital. Finding player who have obvious weaknesses but also have strengths is pretty cheap and easy. The players you currently are looking to upgrade have limited value. That value is too much to just dump but not enough to get back players who don't have the same or different issues you are trying to solve.
I’ve already outlined many times in this thread how the Astros can use platoons to field an incredibly deep lineup against all pitchers. Yes, they have to sign at least one hitter who can hit both lefties and righties, and 3B is the ideal position. Houston already has an excellent lineup against LHP, as Pena, McCormick, and Meyers are all good, giving Houston 7 above average or better hitters in their lineup; as it stands, Caratini and Whitcomb would be the other two hitters against lefties and they project to be below average to average, with Whitcomb having upside to be very good. Houston’s current roster would field one of the 5 best offenses in the league against LHP, without spending a dime or making any moves. If Houston trades Caratini, Dezenzo would be the option at 1B against LHP and he projects to be a bit below average but not terrible, and he comes with a lot of upside. So really Houston just needs to address their lineup against righties, where they only have 5 good hitters (the big four of Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, and Diaz, plus Singleton). McCormick was average against RHP prior to 2024, so he’d be fine at the bottom of the order. Pena has consistently been pretty bad against RHP, but it’s very very difficult to envision him not playing, so put him 9th. To summarize, Houston cannot contend without platoons, and the shortest way for them to field a truly contending lineup is to add a 3B and an OF who crush RHP.
