Who would you have them sign? Snell and Montgomery are the only 2 good free agents and they will cost $30M/yr. I’d be down for that if Crane wants to ball out, but I think that’s expecting a little much. The other FA don’t project to be much better than Houston’s internal options like Bielak and Arrighetti.
We got is Bielak. And blanco. And spaghetti. And France. In addition to those two guys you mentioned coming back. It’s plenty of depth that’s major league capable. And just like o said with our bullpen it’s fine unless you want to sign Hader to make yourself a lot better for the post season- we are fine- unless you want to sign Snell for the post season. But depth for the regular season? Yeah man- it will be ok. We have 10 guys healthy right now that won’t embarrass themselves as ML starters and 2 on the path back.
I dont know man, I thought we were one SP short last season too.. which we also went into with what was supposed to be a lot of depth, then it turned out there wasn't, even after getting JV back.
So answer this question- do you think we are one short to have enough depth to get through the regular season or one short to be studly in the playoffs? We missed 3 guys last year for most or all of the year and still won the division so we did have enough depth to survive a 3 mile island but not a Chernobyl. But, didn’t have enough to get us through the finish line. I see this staff the same way. Fine in depth pieces and for the regular season, potentially lacking in horses for the post season, especially of one of Garcia, LMJ, Brown or Javier isn’t super sharp and ready to kick ass as a 3rd guy in the playoff rotation.
Both..it's a compounding thing. Lack of depth in the regular season last year led to our main guys running out of steam come playoff time and made them less effective down the stretch (e.g. Framber and Javier). Assuming our main guys are in top form come playoff time this year, we are still one solid SP short. In my opinion you need to have 4, in 2022 we had JV, Framber, McCullers, and Javier...with Garcia, Urquidy, and Brown starters available to come in relief (Garcia pitched 5 scoreless relief innings against Seattle in Game 3, a HUGE advantage). I know there is the possibility we could have those exact same top 4 guys available this year in the playoffs, but 1) we need to ensure we have solid SP depth to make sure all four are still fresh come playoff time, and 2) I do not trust Lance's health, and I want some top stuff insurance there. I do not want France, Urquidy, Brown, or Tommy John Garcia starting playoff games, I just don't.
Looks like Pedro Leon went to the Frances Martes off season eating camp. I don't want to say he is fat - because he isn't, he is ripped and thick - but lets hope he doesn't put on another 10 lbs this season.
Who? Right now they have Verlander, Valdez, Javier, Urquidy, France, Blanco, Bielak and possibly Arrighetti, that are capable of starting. Then they have McCullers and Garcia coming back in June/July. Snell is a really big risk because his performance varies so much from year to year, plus the Giants and Yankees have interest. Clevinger? He is going to go where he gets the most money and can start for sure - he is also a really bad person. Lorenzen? He was similar to the guys we already have in the rotation performance wise last year. Johnny Cueto? Well he gives you innings and sometimes is good and sometimes isn't at his age. Domingo German? He is a drunk I would have supported signing Danny Duffy, but he is with the Rangers.
Montgomery and Snell, in that order, and assuming Crane is able to do so. We are trying to win another WS while Bregman and Tucker are still under contract aren't we? If not those guys, of the four Astros you mentioned, two are out for a long long time, and France has been ailing this ST already, so I would say anybody healthy and decent that can start games right away (Ryu? German?). Bielak is not a guy a care about, he is a pre-2017 Brad Peacock, at best.
The only reason to sign a starter is if he will be a top 4 in the rotation and help in the postseason. Snell and Montgomery are really the only 2 that fit that mold. A case could be made for Vince Velazquez but he is injured so would not meet the goal of helping the rotation in the first half. Other than those, there is no FA available who would be enough of an upgrade over: Bielak, Dubin, or Blanco to justify the expense or taking away innings from guys who could use an opportunity to prove themselves or gain experience. Arrighetti should be in the opening day rotation if any of- JV, Framber, Javier, or Brown can't be. France is already questionable for opening day but he was fighting Urquidy for #5 anyway. I also think it's highly unlikely that both Lance and Luis don't return in the 2nd half.
Teams with significantly more glaring pitching depth issues haven't signed Snell or Montgomery, why do you think that is? There's no reason to confidently think German will be noticeably better than Bielak. Ryu signed in Korea.
I know Chas isn't a big boy But he was a better hitter last year than Alex I'm not going to waste my time debating whether or not Chas is as good as Abreu or not at this point of his career
Velasquez and Boyd are the only guys that might interest me, but only on a very cheap deal with the understanding that they would most likely end up in the bullpen but could vie for a rotation spot if injuries opened one up. That’s assuming they’re healthy which I doubt. Snell and Montgomery are too expensive, Lorenzen doesn’t move the needle enough to justify the cost, and none of the other available arms are as good as Bielak/Arrighetti/etc.
162 games in the season. Projection w/o considering injuries (I'll add that to the bottom) The Astros will do everything possible to get JV 140 innings and trigger his option because the Mets are paying so much of it among other reasons. Fangraphs projects 26 gs Fangraphs projections: Framber 30 gs Javier 29 gs Brown 25 gs McCullers 9 gs Garcia 3 gs That's 122 games. So between France, Urquidy, Arrighetti, Bielak, Blanco, and Dubin they need to cover 40 starts. France and Urquidy can handle that alone. Let's say Lance and Luis never return: that leaves Arrighetti, Bielak, Blanco, and Dubin to cover 12 starts or 3 each. This team has plenty of depth to start 162 games. This rotation is everyone they had in 2023 + a full season of JV + Arrighetti + Lance and Luis expected back at some point. WITHOUT LOSING ANYONE.
Lineup spot aside, Chas wasn't used last year in a way to maximize his abilities at all There were many times he would sit against a LHP and then the next day start against a RHP. I'm confident that he will be used in a much more efficient way this year, I would guess that if fully healthy he won't sit against a LHP this year. I know a lot of people think last year was his peak and he can't fully repeat it on a per game basis I think being used correctly, there is another level
If you think Chas was a better hitter than Alex last year then you are just looking at the surface. Yes Chas had an 842 OPS (130 OPS+) while Alex's was 804 (122). But: 2nd half: Chas 874, Alex 901 Postseason: Chas .748, Alex .932 RISP: Chas .828, Alex .910 man on 3B: Chas .237, Alex 1.679 on 3B <2 outs: Chas .551, Alex 1.455 2 outs RISP: Chas. 744, Alex .896 bases loaded: Chas .825, Alex 2.116 I say Alex was better last year.
Chaz actually had the best platoon advantage of his career last season at 30%. By comparison Bregman who played everyday was also at 30%. If Chaz is gonna be a everyday player, and I think he will be, he will see lefties at basically the same clip as Bregs did, maybe even less because Bregs spent some time sandwiched between Yordan and Tucker From a platoon perspective Meyers really got the shaft at only 23%, which was the lowest on the team. He is the guy with the most to gain from being played correctly. He should be up over 35% as a partial platoon this season.
The Astros faced a LHSP 49 times last year and Chas started 41 (84%) of those games. It's not as much of a difference as you think. He started 67 of 113 g vs RHSP (59%) He was league average (100 OPS+) vs RHP last year so if he had started 8 more g vs LHSP but also started about 85% of the g vs RHSP his overall OPS would be about the same. But his cumulative stats would be great because he had a very good season as it was.
