Yep. New manager, Maldy retires and Diaz becomes full-time catcher. Improve team somehow and get guys healthy again for next year. Hopefully Framber and Javier don't suck next year with some additional rest and no WBC.
One guy I never hear anyone mention is our hitting coach Troy Snitker. Maybe it would be a blessing in disguise if he left for the Cleveland Guardians. Rumors are that he is their top choice for manager. I think our guys need new eyes and coaching at the plate. We need someone who can find solutions that work, coach our guys out of bad habits and slumps, and figure out better ways to help them be their best. Tucker and Pena are perfect examples of young guys with plenty of proven talent at the plate, who have turned into shells of themselves under pressure. It's hard when you have golden glove type players so bad at the plate, especially when they've had moments of greatness. Maybe a better batting coach can turn those two around. The batting during these playoffs was pathetic. So much potential squandered on our home field. No coach can fix a broken spirit, a messed up head, or guys so superstitious that they just crumble under "the home field" curse that somehow got into their heads. That being said, better coaching, that gives them tools to fix what's broken, and gives them the skills for success, will give them more confidence to start consistently playing like they are capable of, pressure or not. Consistency has been our issue all year, even against the worst teams in the league. We need a new manager AND a new batting coach. We need two guys who can work together to put up our best and smartest lineups each and every week. We need coaches with Texas Hold'em mentality during game time with our batters and pitchers. They've got know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em. We had too many situations get out of control, too many players left on base, and too many losses on our home turf!
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1. Manager 2. Backup Catcher 3. Outfielder 4. Improved situational hitting. Over a long season slugging will result in best outcome but when you have guys in scoring position with 2 outs in a short playoff series you need to be able to put the ball in play or find the gaps if they are heavily shifting. 5. Pray for improved health with no WBC
To-do list: Major needs: 1. Manager (replace Baker) 2. Backup catcher (replace Maldonado) Minor needs: 3. Leverage RP (replace Neris) 4. Outfield bat (replace Brantley) 5. Elite prospects Luxuries: 6. Upgrade SP3 7. Upgrade SS I expect the first 3 things on that list to be done with underwhelming solutions. They also need to extend Altuve and explore what they can get done with their other controllable stars (Tucker, Framber, B Abreu). They’ve got a good depth of 3rd tier prospects and should have about $20M-$30M to spend in free agency. They could also feasibly trade from their BoR SP. We will see how far Crane is willing to stretch the budget and how aggressive Dana Brown is going to be. This has a chance to be the deepest, most talented team Houston has ever fielded, but they’ve got to be aggressive and smart.
Snitker did fix Abreu. We need a new training staff or at least strategy can help with injury prevention and rehab... all the starts and stops with rehab on multiple players was a problem, and this was already part of the Click plan if he stayed on board. Conditioning for Javier and Maldonado was not good... Pitching doesn't worry me that much if Garcia and LMJ show up at some point, but I don't expect Neris back, and Stanek is Click guy that can't find the strike zone. Overall depth is a concern... AAA was a mess without enough pitchers or position players unless someone was down there doing rehab starts.
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-free-agent-rankings-2023-2024 1) Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH 2) Cody Bellinger, CF/1B 3) Matt Chapman, 3B 4) Blake Snell, LHP 5) Josh Hader, LHP 6) Aaron Nola, RHP 7) Eduardo Rodriguez, LHP 8) Lucas Giolito, RHP 9) Jordan Montgomery, LHP 10) Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP I don't see any of these coming to Houston... so upgrading may be tough https://www.mlb.com/news/2023-24-mlb-free-agents-by-team Overall... I see the following possibilities... LHP Jake Diekman (Rays) UTIL Isiah Kiner-Falefa (Yankees) RHP Sonny Gray (Twins) 2B Tony Kemp (Athletics) C Tom Murphy (Mariners) RHP Collin McHugh (Braves) LHP Brooks Raley (Mets). OF Victor Robles (Nationals) RHP Vince Velasquez (Pirates) OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Diamondbacks) UTIL Kiké Hernández (Dodgers)
I think there's a decent chance all five of our pending free agents - Brantley, Maldonado, Maton, Neris & Stanek - will be gone. And I think their departure essentially charts the path of Dana Brown's offseason: - outfielder(s) - reconstruct the bullpen around Pressly, Abreu & Graveman - back-up catcher + I really think they need two starting pitchers, and maybe three if they run with my idea, which is - am I crazy? - to move Javier to the pen, where, for many reasons, he feels better-suited.
Do you guys think when Lance M. and Garcia coming back next season would help the rotation? Yes, Maldy needs to go....but once Yanier starts jellin' full-time with JV, Framber, and Javier, that should be a solid 5. I think JP wasn't bad, but Hunter and Urquidy need work or need to be converted as long relief.
A weighted average of the wRC+ in the postseason for the guys who should have started was 124. A weighted average of the wRC+ in the postseason for the Dusty Brigade was 49. Damn you Snitker for some of the good players struggling mightily while others playing great and not getting Maldy to hit.
After many deep postseason runs, this is great for them to get a start on recharging their batteries. Thank GOD there is no WBC either. The Golden Era is far from over.
Can you blame Snitker for players expected to hit being glued to the bench for weeks at a time? He can't work miracles on someone like Corey Julks.
Javier definitely needs to move back to the pen or be a part time starter. Oh and new manager, can't stress it enough.
