No, some of it is that Maldonado has a really good zone rating, he gets to a lot of balls that other catchers do not get to - and as a consequence he lets some get by him. He also has had some injuries that he plays through.
Agreed. Right now we have one guy, Alvarez for two positions, LF/DH. We need another above average bat. Give Conforto the two years.
I'm aware of that, but in Maldy's case its an outlier... Grandal is probably more hitter than catcher.
Rodon wants 7 years now... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022...ven-year-deal-luxury-tax-yankees-red-sox.html
lol...come on Yankees, it's only a number. So the Astros can put that out to pasture. Sounds like we are fairly zoned in on Benintendi and Conforto. I can see some logic in going Benintendi + Brantley if your plan is: Yordan 50% LF - 40% DH Brantley 0% LF - 60% DH Bentendi 50% LF - 30% CF McCormick - 0% LF - 70% CF The expectation should be that one of those guys will be injured for the playoffs, so the "who plays" question is probably a moot point. If they are all healthy, then you have Brantley as your pinch hit bat.
Why are so many people interested in Rodon? He cannot stay healthy, pitching is not a need, and oh yeah his contract will 100% be albatross in 3-4 years if not sooner. Would rather pay who we have.
I think he tries to frame pitches he has no business framing and they get by. He tries to leave the glove in the strike zone while the ball isn't in the zone.
If this is true then passed balls go way down when robo umps take over. Probably too late for Maldy, but it's another thing that could improve a catcher with passed ball issues.
ToRs are exceptionally difficult to sign and/or trade for. Reasonable to explore it. Right now we have 2 ToRs (Valdez and Javier), 2 potential ToRs (McCullers and Brown) and 2 very solid MoRs (Garcia and Urquidy). You could even argue Garcia might be a fringy ToR. If we get to July and things haven't gone our way, we can make a run at a rental like Ohtani or Stroman.
So? You brought up Grandal's passed balls as a reason not to get him. I pointed out that Maldonado lead the league in passed balls last year and has a history of passed ball issues. I'm not even taking a position on trading for Grandal, I don't know enough about his injuries.
BTW - if there was ever a guy to break the no long contracts rule for, it's Ohtani. Wish there was some way to get him and convince him to stay here.
Because he was one of the 3-4 best pitchers in baseball the last few years. His stuff is dominant and he is only around 30 years old. I wanted the Astros to go hard at Kevin Gausman last year for the same reason. When you can lock up an ace, especially one that not from your organization, and it is at a good price - you do it. The difference with Rodon is that he is the last one standing with multiple teams having money and he wants to see if he can get 6-7 years... that is too long for my blood.
Seattle, LAD and NY are the teams that are expected to have the best shot to sign him. I suspect if he has a strong year next year, he can get a 5/250 deal.
Sign Senga and Fujinami. Have them recruit him next year. No idea if Ohtani cares about having Japanese teammates but have them talk highly of the organization, city, fans etc. Win World Series again since he wants to go play for a winner.
What about Justin Taylor? I think the Kris Bryant deal could turn out real nice for us, but I obviously don't know if those talks have even been brought to the table.
I'm thinking 10/500. I think we will see our first 400 million plus contract for sure next off season. Just as I typed that this article came out: https://bleacherreport.com/articles...soto-primed-to-land-mlbs-first-500m-contracts
