You just know nothing will line up properly. Pitching will be lights out and the bats cold. Or the other way around
This would be great news for the team. Brown inherited a decimated farm and suffered through a season with the most injuries in major league history. He also has to work around Altuve’s untouchable stature (earned). I hope he is given several more years to re-build on the fly and ramp back up our minor leagues. I’ve been impressed with him so far.
If he has bad bats next to him in left and right, he's still perfectly fine, but the Astros have bad bats in left and right.
Javier's arm was likely never good enough to be a 6-inning pitcher. I loved Javier, but he was lucky to get 2 times through the order before he got hurt. Dusty got every pitch he could out of Javier in every start and then had him throw 15-30 more.
They are the same amount of glaring, but you are putting the deficiencies of others onto him as well. The team is worse. Not Meyers. Did Alvarez hit 0.250 because Maldy batted? No. Meyers's offense production does not change. It is a fan thing to want to ditch defensive value to improve offense any time anyone on the team sucks at offense instead of addressing the worst overall guys on the team. In this situation, it would the guys that can't hit in right and left. Meyers would likely need to revert to how he played right after the shoulder surgery for him not to be worth starting. If Meyers is the worst starter, the Astros are likely dominant. If the Astros suck, it will likely be because there are a few players worse than Meyers starting.
With the lack of proven depth, and a chasm for a floor in the current OF I think Meyers is needed to add some stability and "an adult" That said, there is something to be said for trading away a very low ceiling player when there are several high ceiling guys to fill the spot. It's a huge gamble. Much of it depends on what the team expectations are and exactly how low the floors of the youngsters are. I think in Meyers' case, he's still an Astro because of a combination of the Astros valuing defense and him in particular more than many other teams and the fact that replacing him with a player who flops would be catastrophic based on expectations. Still, Johan Rohas just got an 80 game suspension so the Phillies need CF depth badly. . .
I don’t have insider knowledge, but it’s pretty obvious that Crane is the GM when it comes to trades and free agency. Brown’s job is to identify and develop talent; and to put players in positions to benefit the team. There is no doubt Brown is elite at identifying talent and it seems that he has a good working relationship with the coaches especially on the pitching side. I thought it was Click who had the magic touch with relief pitchers, but it seems that Miller can make pretty much anyone with MLB talent serviceable to great.
No, I am not putting the deficiencies of others on Meyers. I am pointing out the reality that if the corner outfielders struggle, there will be more focus on Meyers if he is struggling. When a team is scoring a lot of runs, the tolerance for a glove first CF or catcher is higher. I don't think anyone believes that Meyers production changes. No, it isn't that simple. Also, teams were not exactly lining up to get Meyers for three seasons now. Either you don't understand what I am saying or I haven't explained well as this has little to do with what I said.
I get what you're saying about tolerance changing based on team offense, but don't agree. That’s more abouI fan perception than actual player value. Meyers’ value doesn’t change depending on how the corner outfielders are hitting—it’s the same player either way. The issue is when people start treating him as more of a problem just because others are underperforming. That doesn’t actually make him less valuable; it just shifts where the frustration is. From a team-building standpoint, it still makes more sense to upgrade the weakest overall spots first. If the corner OF guys are producing less total value than Meyers, that’s where the bigger gains are. And realistically, the Astros have had multiple chances over the past few years to move on from Meyers if they thought they could get better value at a reasonable cost—and they haven’t. That probably says more about his overall value than the way fans frame it when the offense is struggling. The Astros will replace Meyers if they can find someone better than Meyers. Having bad hitters elsewhere means it should be more cost-effective to upgrade elsewhere instead of CF. I don't understand how one sees having bad players at other positions as making it more cost-effective to upgrade over Meyers.
That isn't fan perception. It is shown to be true many times. Teams have been more tolerant of less offense at catcher or SS or CF if they are not getting adequate offense from other spots. I didn't say it makes him less valuable - he becomes less valuable or a priority for the Astros. Around the league his value is whatever it is. Of course - but they are not mutually exclusive. The Astros have been offered very little for Meyers. Going into last season, all they wanted was a reliever with some upside and no one offered them one. This off season they again tried to move him after a better season and there was very little interest. He just doesn't have a lot of value around the league, and the Astros have actively looked for players to replace him but haven't been able to make a deal. Right - yet after two off seasons the Astros have not been able to solve their outfield issues. At some point they will get someone, and the priority is to get a corner outfielder with a bat - but they have also spent multiple off seasons trying to upgrade in CF.
