The only plus bats on the Astros are Altuve, Fowler, Carter and Springer. You can only carry so many weak hitting defensive guys in the lineup. In particular you can't keep running out mediocre corner infielders.
The Astros know they have gotten weak offensive contributions from the corner infielders. They are not going to give up on Singleton yet and need to get him at bats. Dominguez is just a place filler for Moran and Ruiz.
I'd bet even money that Luhnow starts flipping some of these "assets" and heralded prospects for established players... some may even be seemingly over the hill players. We know there's no way a team can be ultra competitive with a bunch of home grown players and filler... you need a great mix of talented youth + experience that has been successful at one point. You could always try and make a go of it (with all homegrown players), and hit reset if it doesn't work... but before you know it, you will be the Pirates and the Royals. The thing is, when will be the "right" time to make such a move... basically go Morey on the Astros and say "this is it, we're going for it."
Who is on the give Tomas 100 million bandwagon? Who is on the give Chase Headley a one or two-year deal bandwagon? Headley is a very good defensive 3B, had an ops in the 770's with the Yankees after getting out of Petco, and 3.6 bWar total between the Padres and Yanks this season. Who is on the sign the Korean 3B Jeong Choi bandwagon? What about the Korean SS Kang who is going to be posted and who hit almost 40 bombs in the KBO? Would anyone give up a pick for Sandoval, Hanley, or Melky? What about a short-term deal for Aramis Ramirez? Will Luhnow bring Rasmus in on a short-term deal? Should they wait and spend big on a position player after the 2015 season (Justin Upton, Heyward, and Cespedes)? I think getting Stanton after the 2016 season in free agency is a long shot so maybe try to trade for him if he rejects the multiyear deal the Marlins are going to offer him soon? Any pitchers out there that y'all would like besides the big guns (Lester, Scherzer, Shields)? Liriano? Hammel? McCarthy? Masterson? I think next offseason's pitching class is stacked (Fister, Kazmir, Kennedy, Latos, Leake, Lohse, Medlen, Porcello, Price, Simon, Samardzija, Cueto, and Zimmerman) so it might be a better idea to wait until then to address the front of the rotation. I'd try to get Headley. I wouldn't mind them taking the plunge on Tomas or one of the Koreans either. They came so close to getting Abreu last offseason apparently. I wanted him bad. Oh well. The future will be bright. Go Astros.
I also wonder if the Astros have much interest in Japanese RHP Kenta Maeda??? He is said to be more MOR than FOR.
Can you just imagine a lineup with Kang, Altuve, Springer, Correa (maybe Singleton & Carter)? That's 1998 lineup type stuff right there. Bagwell, Biggio, Alou, Everett, Berry, Hidalgo, Bell. Well probably not that good but it'd be awesome. A pipe dream for sure, as the Yankees will most likely go all in.
If we can get Fowler to move to LF, I would be fine going into next season with the same lineup we have now, with Springer added in. If Fowler insists on staying in CF they have to move him and go after a LF bat. Moran will be here some time next year possibly early, with Ruiz on his heels. I see no reason to invest anything in a 3B. Considering Correa is likely gonna be a late callup at the soonest, investing in a stop-gap SS might be a good idea. Alexei Ramirez is a target I like personally. By the trade deadline next season we should have a much better feel on our guys. Carter, Castro, Marisnick and Singleton are all guys that may or may not be good moving forward. I wouldn't go wasting assets until our long term needs are a little more defined.
I love your optimism but ... Moran has a .755 OPS average over two minor league seasons and only 122 ABs in AA ball. Ruiz has proven himself in A+ for a full year, has earned the right to start next season in AA, and thus likely will force Moran to start in AAA next year. I don't think Moran has earned the right to start next season in AAA. He really did not dominate AA. If he had dominated AA, I would agree with you that he would pushing to make the MLB squad next season.
I think teams view AA and AAA as being very similar levels of competition. I expect keeping both guys at 3rd will take priority and Moran will start at AAA.
Don't forget Greg Vaughn and Jim Leytritz. The Pads lineup did enough damage to beat Randy Johnson twice and Mike Hampton once. The Astros were lucky they weren't swept...
A friend of mine who follows these players closely...including travelling multiple times to see both...thinks Ruiz projects out better than Moran. We'll see.
Wouldn't surprise me... Ruiz has posted similar (if not slightly better) ML numbers and is a year younger (seeing what he does out of Lancaster will be more telling). You also have to consider why the Marlins would be so willing to give up on a top 10 first round pick from just a year ago... that would have filled a position of potential need for them. Sure, he's still likely to be a MLB player, but will he be a "special" one? There's still a helluva lot of unknowns with the prospects at the middle levels.
Still can't believe Alou got thrown out at 3rd by Tony Gwynn Spoiler And to make it even worse, the winning pitcher in Game 3, none other than the Missle, Dan Miceli. He'd continue to torment Houston fans as an Astro in the 2004 NLCS.
I'm reading some Josh Donaldson trade rumblings. A's might be looking at a hard overhaul. Beane and Luhnow are like minded, but they are also in the same division. I guess the only real question would be could we get him without giving up Correa. Would a package anchored by Appel, Ruiz/Moran and probably another to 10 prospect or 2 be enough.
Assuming you can sign him to some type of long-term deal, you do that deal in a heartbeat if it's really available - this is exactly the purpose of having a deep farm system. Springer, Donaldson, and assuming at least one of Altuve/Carter prove for real is an awesome center of your lineup - the heart of your order would be set for the next several years. If both Altuve and Carter turn out for real, those 4 players are one of the best 4-somes in baseball and should give you an above average offense if the rest of the players are even decent.
