I feel obligated to mention: Jose Abreu will be 36 years old next season. I'm a hard pass on him. My hope is that the Astros go hard after Masataka Yoshida (LF) & Willson Contreras - IF they think he can handle 1B - and then resign Brantley & Gurriel. I think you could find 350-400 PAs for each, and what a bench that would be.
I'm thinking two yrs max. In my opinion he's been declining every yr and it goes back to what I'd be willing to commit to JV (two yrs) given what's coming after '24 + '25 and having to try and resign Breggy, Altuve, Framber, Tuck and Javier.
I feel like Rizzo strikes out the most but hits most homers Bell is a switch hitter and can go for power or contact but man, so many double play balls Abreu seems like a literal yuli replacement but 3 years ago. Which I’m both for and against. I’m not going to complain about any of them. Until they suck and the other 2 are doing well, then I’ll riot on this board along with everyone else.
Rizzo put up the most infuriating at bats I’ve seen in a while. He’d be a lovely addition to the team.
And how much? Rizzo would be nice IMO, but not at the price that I think he's asking. Sure seems like he's looking for a 3 year deal at $48M. A two year deal would be more expensive. I would go with youth + Yuli at 1B and spend that money elsewhere, like on a catcher, or extending Framber and Cristian. Rizzo has been declining for a couple years now.
JV wants 300 wins and is going to need 4 to 5 years and a good team to accomplish. I don't think he accepts 2 years.
Yea he was annoying the way he grinded out ABs and their bats sucked during the playoffs but he was the one guy who had a very good postseason.
I get it. So if it's me, sign a two yr deal now (with a 3rd yr option with milestones he would need need to meet in '23 + '24), and after that contract expires they see if there's still a fit here. That's from my perspective. JV may look at things differently and try to get as much $$ guaranteed as he can right now.
My first choice to replace any player is to make sure to plan ahead and have internal options in place when the time comes. In our case that did not happen but there are a few higher risk internal options available. We have Joe Perez, Corey Julks, and Yainer Diaz who all have the skills necessary to play at first and at least one of them could be successful but a team looking for a second consecutive world series win does not have the time to deal with that. My second choice is to choose the player I want and to trade for him. I check in on Paul Goldschmidt. Then make a serious run at Christian Walker, Arizona 1st baseman. Offering SP J Murray and adding RP P Maton and possibly adding others such as DH,C,1st base Prospect Y Diaz as needed to get the job done. My last choice is to go to the free agent market and overpay for one of the leftovers there. If forced into this situation I look for the shortest term I can find.
Lol wut. Goldschmidt ain't going anywhere. He's MVP candidate on a playoff team. Similarly Arizona is not trading their 4.1fWAR first baseman with 2 arb years left a Yainer, J Murray, Maton package. People keep going to the Arizona well for Varsho/Walker/etc... trade possibilities but I don't see Arizona giving above average, cheap MLB talent for anything less than a package headlined by someone like Hunter Brown. Else, whats in it for them?
How about adding McCullers and Gilbert to the deal and Package Walker with Varsho. Getting to the magic price is easy as long as you are willing.
If I'm Arizona, i still don't make that deal either. You're asking for two players of the most expensive trade acquisition class: above avg MLB performers on club control/arb contracts. In return you're offering lower level prospects, a middle reliever and a talented but kinda expensive starting pitcher who might not outperform his contract. Beyond that schizophrenic trade package (prospects who are years away + current expensive MLers), that doesn't fit where Arizona is in their competitive cycle either. After bottoming out with a .321 winning percentage last year, they improved by 22 wins this year to a .457 percentage. They're a few additions from being a competitive baseball team (~.500 true talent level). Your trade takes away their 2 best position players on this years club and replaces them with McCullers, Maton and maybe Yainer on next years club. IMHO, that stalls if not majorly sets back their competitive window. That's why I think it'd take someone of Hunter Brown/Jeremy Pena's class to get them to change their plans.... or in general why they're not a great fit as a trade partner for the stros.
Glad we only have to convince Arizona and not you, that is an established starter that would fit at or near to the top of their rotation. An MLB ready starter, a valuable reliever, a great hitting prospect that can play 1st and catch, and a #1 pick in CF. While Arizona has more outfielders and first basemen than they can fit on their roster.
Much of what you are saying makes sense. However Arizona has Strom and a boatload of young controllable and prospect OF. Walker is a good trade candidate because he is already in arbitration and first basemen generally have low trade value and are easy to get/replace. I'm sure there are pitching prospects the Astros have like Tamarez and Endersby etc. that Strom worked with and would like/recommend. I'm not suggesting Arizona trade the Astros any player for leftovers or non tender candidates but I think there are some workable options.
