Just for fun and to piss everyone off: Sign Machado, trade Correa to the Yankees (who are going to sign him anyway someday) for Sanchez and Gray Move Bregman to short. Springer CF Bregman SS Altuve 2b Machado 3B Sanchez C Yuli/White 1b Yuli/white DH Tucker lF Reddick, RF SP Verlander Cole Gray James Whitley Bench Marisnik, Kemp, Diaz, Chirinos RP Osuna Pressley Peacock McCugh Harris Perez Valdez Sign Machado, trade Correa to Marlins for Realmuto. Move Bregman to Short. Trade Tucker, J.B., lesser prospects for Kluber. Springer, CF Bregman SS Altuve 2b Machado 3B Sanchez C Yuli/White 1b Yuli/white DH Kemp LF Reddick RF Bench Diaz, Marisnik, Chirinos, SP Verlander Cole Kluber James Whitley RP Osuna Pressley Peacock McCugh Harris Perez Valdez Rondon or Smith Or just sign Harper and Ramos and call it a day and trade for Kluber.
Honestly, none of those ideas are all that bad, although Miami would need to send a good prospect along with Realmuto for Correa.
I'd rather we look this way: Springer CF Bregman 3B Altuve 2B Harper(RF)/Brantley(LF)/Pollock(CF)/Cruz(DH)--in that order of interest Correa SS Grandal/Ramos(C)--in that order of interest Gurriel 1B White(DH)Tucker(LF)--depending on which bat we add Reddick, RF SP Verlander Cole Bumgarner Grienke McHugh Bench White/Tucker, Diaz, Chirinos RP Osuna Pressly Peacock Harris Smith Valdez James Rondon Trade away Devenski, Kemp, Stassi, Davis, Reed, Fisher, Martin for Bumgarner and Grienke. Sign any one of Harper(LF)/Brantley(LF)/Pollock(CF)/Cruz(DH) Sign either Grandal or Ramos Also, if we got Pollock or Harper or Brantley, I'd trade away Jake M once his options expire. Tucker could be the 4th OF and spell Reddick a bunch. If we got Cruz, put Tucker in LF as a starter. Use White as a backup and trade away Jake M once his options expire. I do love Marisnick. He's my favorite defender to watch; however, our lineup is lengthening and I think this is the year that Kyle Tucker knocks him off the roster.
Correa for Realmuto is atrocious too. Trading Correa is a really interesting idea. I'm not entirely opposed to it, but obviously the return would have to be stupid good. The biggest long-term worry with Correa is clearly his health, and who knows how legitamate that concern really is. Hopefully he doesn't fizzle out and break down like Tulowitzki...but I'm sure that's on Luhnow's radar. The only trade where Correa makes sense is either Snell or Arenando, and I have hesitations on both. Arenando is a FA after this year and will be expensive to retain, but a deal makes sense if we hammer out an extension and have serious concerns over Correa's health moving forward. Edit: as a side note, I don't think Correa is going anywhere. I think it's a bit telling that the mural at MMP has Baggy, Biggio, Altuve, Correa, and Springer. I think the plan is for the latter three to be Astros for a long time, but obviously anything can change. Always thought it was interesting that DK and JV were never on that mural...
Well looks like you were right since a post or two below had a tweet saying Abreu is going nowhere. Is that a good thing for the Astros though? Had interest but is he on the decline? Could be a blessing in disguise that they can't acquire him. I wonder if they could get Merrifield and Duffy. Kills two birds with one stone. Although not sure if anyone has interest in Duffy. Although I think Strom can help him bounce back.
I don't think we will be able to sign Correa IF he bounces back. That's why I was playing with how we could sign Machado who is better than harper and the same age and get a legit catcher. It was just for fun. I rifled through all the teams to try and find a trade partner for Correa that would net us a SP and catcher. Hard to do. Would like to hear what folks think we could get for Correa this year, if we signed Machado. Snell plus filler and sign Ramos would work for me. If we had Machado there would be no need for Arenondo.
Even in a "down year" Abreu was an All-Star and SIlver Slugger. He had gotten hot late in the year and might have gotten to 25 HRs and 100 RBis for the 5th straight year, but he had a freak injury...... testicular torsion. He's not Goldschmidt but would be nice in our lineup. Perhaps he will be available in July.
I'm not great at knowing other teams players well. I was just looking at his offensive production and the fact he is 25. In retrospect, I guess that was a pretty horrible trade idea. Not sure Correa for Realmuto is so bad. Potentially one of the best shortstops for the best catcher (who will command a big salary, but not as gigantic as Correa, seems like a decent trade if you had Macho.
Theoretically if we were to trade Correa (and boy do I mean theoretically) it would be a 3 team trade. We send Correa somewhere they trade prospects to a rebuilding team, and rebuilding team sends player to us. Other team would probably have to send something our way as well. We are not trading Correa for prospects, and no team trying to rebuild would want to acquire him. There's a reason contenders trading star players is so rare. A ton of logistical issues are involved in creating equal value at Correas level for multiple teams. I mean, we aren't trading Correa at all, but even if it's something we would be open to doing it would be hard.
Correa: 15.3 fWAR over 471 games; .032 fWAR/G Sanchez: 8.9 fWAR over 266 games; .033 fWAR/G They’ve been pretty comparable players in terms of productivity. Sanchez has been hurt a lot more. But he also comes with an additional year of control (and throwing in Gray has value). I probably wouldn’t do that deal unless NYY threw in a decent prospect (maybe Clarke Schmidt?), but it’s not as terrible as most fans would think at first glance.
I don't think we are trading him this year either. I think you have debunked the Correa for Realmuto because the Marlins aren't contending now. That really limits our trading partners to contenders that would need a shortstop after we sign Macho. LImit that further to contenders with a ToR pitcher and/or all-star OF they are willing to trade or delusional GM's that aren't tearing it down. Main point is sooner or later I hope we trade Correa before we let him walk and get nothing or arbitration blows us out of the water.
I don't think metrics come close to measuring catching correctly, and Sanchez is trash behind the plate (but still gets WAR credit for adequately playing a premium defensive position). I do think his bat will rebound and he would be a really good DH, but I do not want him behind the plate.
Correa matches: Yankees for Sanchez, Gray, and Andujar (Astros may have to toss in a sweetener) Pirates for Archer, Cervelli, and Moran Mets for Syndergaard and McNeil To me it is basically impossible to envision a trade like this coming together. Too much risk on both sides and too much impact on the clubhouse and fan perception.
If your an Astros fan, the thought of trading Correa doesn't even enter your mind UNLESS you have become wary of his health going forward. Until last year, there was no reason at all to consider it. But no matter how big a Correa fan you are, last year has to give you a moments pause. 2019 will be huge. Another year of missed games due to injury and struggling at the plate could seriously damage his value. On the other hand, a rebound to 2017 numbers and health will make most forget we ever doubted him. One also has to consider probably only one of Springer, Correa and Bregman can we afford to pay and retain long term. Prior to last year, Correa would have been my personal pick to keep. Now it may be Bregman. I may not be alone here. If not, then perceptions and projections regarding Correa may have already changed for some.
It would make no sense to trade Correa coming off a down injury plagued season. If luhnow really feels like he has little to no chance of signing Correa to a long term extension before he becomes a free agent it would be best to hope he has a bounce back season. If Jeff picks up the phone to engage other teams about Correa. The first thing they would do is question his long term health coming off this past season.... a healthy Correa would bring quite a haul though.
