Still not enough. Reddick I'd like to see unload. I don't think he's bad AT ALL, I just think the money could be more wisely be spent elsewhere. I see no room for both Brantley and Tucker. We're not the Yankees, and we're DEFINITELY not the Federal Government, who can just print unlimited amounts of cash.
I don't believe that is their plan to resign Cole..... at least not Luhnow's plan. That would be a Crane decision. Luhnow doesn't give out long term contracts to pitchers. The longest free agent contracts I can remember him giving to pitchers were Feldman and Gregerson at 3 years each. Luhnow is willing to go longer on positional players like Reddick getting a 4 year deal and Gurriel a 5 year deal and of course extending Altuve. I expect Cole to be pitching in California in 2020. He's a California guy and has Boras as an agent. That usually means high bidder wins and I expect the Angels, Dodgers, and Giants to be after him.
The Astroline interview told me that Luhnow was going to be patient, to say the least. There is no urgency to overpay. I would like them to have another established starter locked up, but he deserves the benefit of the doubt. However, losing Gonzales, McCullers and Keuchel will hurt the team and nothing on the roster, or farm system will make up for their production next year.
Diaz is Marwin pt.2. If Pollock or Brantley are asking for more than expected, Marwin could be re-signed for LF & DH duties..the infield is stacked with six capable & proven IF’s..Diaz & White off the bench. I’d bet Whitley could have McCullers #’s if inserted into the rotation. Id bet on McHugh’s era being similar to McCullers. They can find an upgrade of Keuchel with a trade. Bauer’s name being tossed around with the Astros attached is intriguing. Kluber, Grienke are among Astros radar
With Diaz on board, Marwin is unneeded. There are many hitters out there I’d rather have than Marwin...sentimentality aside.
Of course. But does that mean that those players who have already gone to other clubs that we thought would fit well here were overpay deals? Or are we being high-balled by other clubs?
If this is all we are going to do, I will be SEVERELY disappointed. Not aggressive enough, I'm not sure why we haven't won the 2019 WS already. I wish our front office tried every once in a while.
So if we also lose Keuchel, Gonzales, in addition to already losing Morton, do we get a comp pick for losing these free agents? Can't remember how it works.
Ah ok, would that be at the end of the 1st round in the 2019 MLB draft? I would think Luhnow is all over that.
Losing Morton is the first legit step back I think we've taken. Diaz is probably a lateral move from Marwin, and Peacock/McHugh could replicate what LMJ and Keuchel did last season, or at least come close. LMJ has wipeout stuff, and keuchel has the Cy Young rep, but their actual performance was just a high 3 ERA. That's replaceable.
Hard to tell what Luhnow is thinking. Verlander, Cole and McHugh are clearly the top 3 in the rotation. Then we have a mix of talented but inexperienced young pitchers who can slot in (Whitley, Josh James, Framber, Corbin Martin?), and about whom we likely need information so that Luhnow can make decisions about next season. The range of potential outcomes for that group of youngsters is really broad. I know the plugged in folks in this thread have said Luhnow wants a TOR rotation SP, and that makes sense to me. Grienke makes a ton of sense because it gives Luhnow some certainty about having a No 2 (Don't think Grienke is a true No1 anymore) going forward. Absent a move like that, I could see Luhnow just signing an inning eater type who can serve as insurance for either the No 4/5 slot, or insurance against injury to Verlander, Cole or McHugh. We want to give the kids some run this year, but I can't imagine Luhnow going into 2019 without another established SP in the fold. That's putting the 2019 run too much at risk, and he has money to spend. Lastly, I really really want to upgrade our offense to what we had in 2017. Sure, we could let Tucker have LF, White continue as DH and hope for they perform up to their abilities, but just like with the SP, I think that puts the 2019 season too much at risk. IMO, we need to get Brantley or Nelson Cruz into the fold. Sure, White could outperform Cruz and Cruz could be a waste of money. And sure, Brantley could get hurt or Tucker could outperform Brandtley at a fraction of the cost. But we need talent on this offense.
The way I look at it: Chirinos = McCann/Maldonado Diaz/Kemp/Tucker = Marwin (with risk and upside) White = Gattis (with upside) F Valdez/C Perez = Sipp (with risk) McHugh/Whitley = Morton (with risk and upside) James/Martin/Bukauskas = McCullers (with risk) So basically the only major need in order to be as good or better than last season is to replace Keuchel. But I am also confident they will do more than that. I still believe 2019 will be the most talented roster yet.
While true, keep in mind you also have to replace what Peacock and especially McHugh did in the bullpen. Combined, that's 140 innings, almost 200 strikeouts, an ERA in the mid 2's, and a WHIP of a little over 1.
Full seasons of Osuna and Pressly should mostly cover it. A backend of the BP of Osuna, Pressly, Rondon, and Harris should be very strong. Devenski, Deetz, and any of their young starters they want to break into the majors provide a lot of upside as well.