Singleton to be optioned to Fresno (to make room for Gomez)

Not that I'm a fan of Valbuena or Carter, but I'll note that those two combined have 20% of the team's RBIs and HRs. They each have a higher OBP than Gattis, who almost never takes a walk. But I think you're right, I doubt we'll see much of Valbuena and Carter in the same lineup anymore, barring injuries.

 

Agree. Once we started making moves for guys like Kazmir and Gomez, and it was clear we were going for it...I couldn't imagine Carter would have still been on the team after Friday afternoon, one way or another

 

He's hit as well as Valbuena and Singleton. Marwin hasn't hit much better. His RC+ each season from 2012-2014 was better than Marwin's 2015. He's sucked. I think we're getting to the point that he's probably worse than he was from 2012 through 2014, but really most of the season we should have been expecting an RC+ in the 110-125 range.

Considering the amount of data we have now in 2015, I think the Astros are looking at other in-house alternatives. Best options appear to be let Marwin be the 1B or platoon Carter with Valbuena or Singleton (pending roster spaces available). Neither option looks better than 2012-2014 Carter and neither option is a drastic improvement over what 2015 Carter is doing.

One of the Astros strengths this season is not having largely negative players.

 

Other problem with Carter is his defense

 

Could it be that Luhnow's plan was to insert some home run hitters, that were not very good, but would still draw fans?

A guy could hit sub 200 and belt 25 home runs, and he'll fit on a squad in the league. If he hits 35 home runs he's a star player. If he hits 450 home runs, we are talking about a super star.

Just like the McGwire vs. Sosa home run derby brought a lot of fans back, so to did the allure of home runs. But a funny thing happened, the Astros got heck of a good along the way. And now they don't need side shows to lure fans, they've got a competitive team. And now they realize they can raise ticket prices 20% based on winning.

Carter and Valbuena aren't here for the long term. And I am sure the Astros are trying to quickly replace them with superior options. But, one thing is that how much did they contribute to the winning culture. So a proper GM and coach need to be careful of not ripping a team's chemistry by too many rapid changing parts.

In the end, Carter gets HR and has a decent OBP. Both Carter and Valbuena play solid defense.

So changes aren't too critical, until Springer gets back. And that is when either Valbuena or Carter will find their way off the team.

 

Corrected the 450 HR, with what I meant 45 HR....

Could it be that Luhnow's plan was to insert some home run hitters, that were not very good, but would still draw fans?

A guy could hit sub 200 and belt 25 home runs, and he'll fit on a squad in the league. If he hits 35 home runs he's a star player. If he hits 45 home runs, we are talking about a super star.

Just like the McGwire vs. Sosa home run derby brought a lot of fans back, so to did the allure of home runs. But a funny thing happened, the Astros got heck of a good along the way. And now they don't need side shows to lure fans, they've got a competitive team. And now they realize they can raise ticket prices 20% based on winning.

Carter and Valbuena aren't here for the long term. And I am sure the Astros are trying to quickly replace them with superior options. But, one thing is that how much did they contribute to the winning culture. So a proper GM and coach need to be careful of not ripping a team's chemistry by too many rapid changing parts.

In the end, Carter gets HR and has a decent OBP. Both Carter and Valbuena play solid defense.

So changes aren't too critical, until Springer gets back. And that is when either Valbuena or Carter will find their way off the team.

 

I think the 2nd set of #'s is actually closer to his Oakland numbers than the first. Which suggests even moreso that those 2 months were the aberration (and I think we're all already on that same page)

 

But Singleton *is* worse. He was worse last year and he's been worse thus far this year. This is not a defense of Carter - but Singleton just hasn't taken the position. He'll get more opportunities in September and then I assume an opportunity in April again. But a 0.680 OPS Carter is still better than a 0.630 OPS Singleton, and even that is heavily influenced by one game.

Carter's 0.680 OPS is likely his floor, given his history. Singleton could actually just be worse - his OPS this year is basically identical to his longer stint last year. Singleton is getting on base at a slightly higher clip, but he's hitting for no power at all. Especially now in the 8 spot in the offense, I think the team would rather have a random power hitter in there that's going to hit a HR every 6 games or so. I suspect they would project similar performances at best out of them the rest of the season, but Carter is the vet so he gets the nod in the playoff race.

 

I agree long-term with the floor vs ceiling debate. But in a "win-now" situation, I think their primary goal changes from the higher ceiling to the higher floor. They are both black holes in the lineup, but Carter is less of one and they know what they are getting with him. In the 8th spot, not doing much except a HR every 5 or 6 games might be good enough for them.

FWIW, those games came up much earlier in the season when it was more of a feel good "ooh, we're winning" rather than "all in for a World Series", and proved themselves and earned playing time. I think the better comp is VV, who did well more recently and showed more upside than Singleton did, but still isn't proven enough where they instead are keeping Feldman around because he's more experienced and they know what they are getting with him.

 

Agree with your comment overall, but disagree with the pitching comp. VV and Feldman are both solid options. The fact that they're both close to average vs. what the team needs makes the conversation and considerations very different. Allows you to choose a conservative option (due to VV innings) knowing the fill-in is a capable MLB player.

If the 2 pitchers were Wojo vs. Lucas Harrell, I think it would be a relevant comparison.. lol

 

I like Valbuena's defense, but Carter is terrible.

 

Yeah, it was strange to me the other day when they had both Lowrie & Valbuena at the corners, but Lowrie was at 3B, I'd think that *if* Valbuena's in the game, he should be there and either Marwin or Lowrie or whoever at 1st.

 

Has either looked "bad"?

Lowrie/Valbuena seem pretty similar in terms of ability to handle 3B... so the tie goes to the veteran (in terms of "where" he would like to play).

 

Buena has the better arm. Lowrie missed a couple of balls last night that we have seen Valbuena come up with this year

 

Pretty much this.