I don't like that strategy for us any more. We are getting to the point where the organization has to make tough decisions with who to play where and how often. Once you've established depth, you need big time prospects.
That's what I was saying. By the time we hit the Wandy trade, we weren't so hard up on depth. We should have gone for the higher upside prospects in that deal.
Depends. Look at Stephen Strasburg & Chris Sale (who we passed on for George Springer). Chris Sale made the majors the year he was drafted, and 2 years later is arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Those guys are special, while plenty of other guys make it just as quickly, few actually meet their potential. Bauer is in the majors after being drafted last year, and Hultzen is pitching well in AAA. Say we draft Appel, you'd expect him to be starting in the majors by the end of 2014. Obviously the team needs more than one pitcher, but we may already have those other pieces.
I don't think it'd be a pattern. The logic to doing it in Altuve's case would be how completely barren the franchise is at the MLB and AAA levels. It's starting to turn around at AA and below, but it's going to take years for that talent to develop and become productive at the MLB level. It may be that Altuve's price tag is prohibitive by the time this team is ready to contend. Same reason it made sense to deal Pence/Bourn a year ago. Keep in mind, the worst thing you can do in building a true MLB contender is overpaying for mediocrity - i.e. giving $7 mil/year deals to the likes of Kaz Matsui. Your free agent signings/veterans need to be true impact guys, with your farm system filling in the depth positions on the cheap. Now, if you think Altuve is a legit impact guy, then you keep him and pay whatever it takes. But I'm not completely sold. He was never a top prospect, and his performance this year (.775 OPS) is good but certainly not great. It's also trending downward. I trust Luhnow, and if he's sold on Altuve as a cornerstone, he'll keep him no matter what - and I'm fine with it. But if he's not, and some other team values Jose more and is willing to give top young talent... it would make sense to do a deal now, based on the timing. It wouldn't in four years for Correa or anyone else.
Upside isn't the right word, but yes. Upside with a high chance of reaching it. You certainly shouldn't be turning down Starling Marte (who could come in and be our starting CF right now, with tons of potential) in favor of the 3 guys we got.
Altuve is legit. Nobody is untouchable, but Altuve will be an above average player. If the Tigers said Turner & Castellanos for Altuve, I'd have made the deal.
Absolutely not. Not claiming he did either. It was a for example using the Pirates system, since the trade was with the Pirates.
I don't think those types of prospects were on the table. I'm talking about rolling the dice on high upside C level prospects instead of high floor, low ceiling B level prospects.
High upside C level prospects are usually the kind you get as a large package. Much like the Blue Jays deal. Usually you are talking whether 3 C guys are worth a B guy. In the case of the Wandy deal, we got 3 Cs, all with good chances to be solid, but unspectacular players.
I just don't understand how people are writing off Grossman as unspectacular his OPS has remained through the roof, his BB/K ratio is as great as any prospect we have. His power numbers are steadily increasing. How can anyone right him off now as a "high floor-low ceiling" guy or a 4th OF when he's still developing
I think we have enough C prospects. If ever given the choice (in the future) between 3 - C's and 1 - B, I surely hope we take the the later. I think we have flushed most of the D's and F's out of the system by now haven't we?
He's almost 23 and has been playing minor league ball for 5 years. He's probably not going to develop that much more. His tools are his tools. Baseball is basically the only sport where non-traditional players/tweeners aren't valued highly. High OBP/low power doesn't play in corner outfield positions. If he can stick in CF then he could be an everyday player, otherwise he'll be a strong 4th outfielder. He's like a better, power-version of Austin Wates.
Why do we need immediate impact on our team? We are rebuilding, We are going to follow the rays path, which means losing season for a couple of more years.
Guys look at who we traded. We have traded Wandy, Lee, happ, Myers, etc. these players are not going to get top prospects back in return.
Sale was in the 2010 draft. Springer was taken 11th in the 2011 draft. The Astros took Deshields Jr over Sale.
We are no longer in the steroid era. I don't think we will see 2nd basemen putting ops in the 900s. His is 6th best for 2nd baseman in the majors not too far from no3 Brandon Phillips. He doesn't walk, but he has hit at every level.
We've been losing. I'm talking about losing for 2 more years, then bam. We are following the path of the Rays, who drafted David Price number 1 overall and finished 2nd in Cy Young voting 3 years after being drafted. Was in the majors 1 year after being drafted.
