I’d like to see Houston trade for Jon Gray if he is made available. Seems like the most likely guy to be able to turn into another Cole. Matt Boyd is another option.
He banged up his knee earlier during the callup. In general, its easier to find a OF who can play decent defense and be an average hitter... vs. an elite DH who may or may not injure himself playing a below average OF. Him playing in the OF only serves as a luxury in case Hinch needs to give others a day off or let them DH. Otherwise, the team really doesn't gain that much by having him play the field... unless there's somebody even better than him ready to DH.
lol Where is the Rendon talk coming from, You know he getting paid gooood money and astros is not the team, stop it
And he will be projecting to make less than 10M (I think his projected arbitration number is around 7M) next year. Let’s ride with him until his FA time. Replacing Correa with Rendon sounds like a wishful thinking to me. Rendon allegedly turn down 7/210M from Nats. Scott Boras doesn’t believe in hometown discount, does he? My #1 wish for this offseason is to get Springer to sign an extension. Then a CFM/Miley type signing.
I’m assuming the Correa trade talk comes from people irritated with his injury history and his overall postseason performance this year doesn’t help. Personally, I don’t see how we end up improved with a Correa trade. Rendon is a pipe dream salary wise. Sure maybe we get a basket of prospects for Correa, but I’m not sure how much teams are willing to put up for a guy who hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Diaz would be the replacement for now, which is definitely a drop off. In any case, I think Correa is part of this core and will play a role is keeping the window open over the next couple seasons. We have a SS that can be great, if not elite, when healthy for affordable salary at this time. Yes, we probably lose him to FA after 2021, but unless he has another MVP type year in 2020 with minimal injuries, I’m not sure we get enough from trading him to make it worth losing him early. Also, the Zach Wheeler talk is intriguing, but I think the salary may be a bit too high for what the team is able to spend this off season.
The offense (despite being historically one of the best of all time) sucked and the 8th and 9th hitters aren't very good. Need dem dingers! I do want them to try Zach Wheeler. It also means one less pitcher the Yanks can obtain.
I asked around what the Astros will do and unlike last year after the loss to Boston, they are not dead set on a single path. The front office believes that they ran into bad luck in the post season, specifically against the Nationals and will that series the vast majority of the time. Still there were concerns voiced in the dugout for some of the situational hitting and also the long term availability of Correa. Also there are those in the front office that believe that Verlander and Cole were over pitched and their innings should have been cut more. The Astros have no reached out to Cole since he is a free agent and discussed what if anything will happen there. The issue isn't the amount Cole will make per season, it is the length of the contract that concerns the front office and ownership. They love Chirinos but think he will need to catch less next year if he is back, and think it hurt his bat some in the second half. Young players will be pushed into important spots for payroll purposes, more so for a few years from now, than this upcoming seasons finances. The Astros are open to improving their offense, targeting players with high batting averages (odd). As for my hunches or opinions..... I think the Astros off season can go a lot of different ways depending on what opportunities are available and at what cost. I think the vast majority of the Astros free agents will be gone and only be resigned if they do so at below market deals. Cole, Harris, Smith, Rondon, Maldonado, Chirinos, Miley, McHugh are all or mostly gone IMO. I could see the Astros paying close to the going rate for Harris but I think the others only comeback at below expected market costs. Marisnick I believe is trades and Sanchez is only back for the minimum on a two year deal if at all. I believe some of the bullpen issues will be addressed internally and then target players like Brandon Marrow, Drew Pomeranz and Jake Dikeman to see if they can get one or more at a solid price. I think the Astros will be aggressive on the catching front, especially if Chirinos gets surprising offers. Catching is one of the only spots that the Astros can make clear improvement at offensively. Right field is the other, but Tucker has earned the right to the job. I think in the rotation the Astros will go after Zach Wheeler and offer an amount that surprised Astros fans. If they fail to get him, I could see them target guys like Odorizzi, Michael Pineda, Homer Bailey or Rick Porcello. Also as odd as it sounds I think we will see the Astros work Tucker out in center field, Alvarez in the outfield and the Astros will reach out on Nelson Cruz to see what his trade costs would be. I know for a fact the Astros front office was not happy with the line up at the bottom of the order at various parts of this season....... why I believe Reddick will be gone, they could target a top hitting catcher and see if Alvarez can split time in the field.
I think the cat is out of the bag on Boyd so I don't see him being moved unless it's for an exorbitant return. I think Kyle Gibson is someone they might target.
He literally said the World Series Win was bittersweet because it wasn’t a World Series won for him and his hometown team. He referenced a win with the Astros as topping that. It’s pretty honest.
Catchers who hit over .270 last year who might be available: Christian Vasquez Wilson Ramos Omar Narvaez James McCann Tom Murphy I’d also like Willians Astudillo as a backup. Based on Nook’s post, a solid realistic offseason might look something like: Trade Reddick and Marisnick for prospects or just salary relief. Resign Harris and Chirinos. Trade for a catcher who hits for a high average. Sign Zack Wheeler and Drew Pomeranz. Resulting roster: CF Springer LF Brantley 3B Bregman 2B Altuve DH Alvarez SS Correa RF Tucker 1B Gurriel C Narvaez Bench: Chirinos, Diaz, Straw, Toro Rotation: Verlander, Greinke, Wheeler, McCullers, Urquidy Bullpen: Biagini, Devenski, Abreu, James, Pomeranz, Harris, Pressly, Osuna I really like that roster. Not quite as good as the one they ended the season with but there are no holes anywhere on that roster and there are quite a few young guys who could level up.
Don't see the Mariners trading their catcher to the Astros and you forgot Peacock. The more I think about it I think we will need rotation depth with McCullers coming back from TJ surgery, Verlander being overused, and having a young guy like Urquidy in the rotation. It makes me think the Astros will try to bring back Sanchez on a team friendly deal.
Good catch on Peacock. He and all the AAA depth (Whitley, Bielak, Ivey, Framber, Perez, Javier) serve as solid insurance for Urquidy and McCullers in the back of the rotation; James and Abreu could also probably be stretched out. They just need to make sure they get somebody they feel good about starting Game 3 in a playoff series. Sanchez is hurt and is unlikely to pitch at all next year.
"It's going to be a while," Sanchez said. "I could come back mid-next year is kind of what (the doctor) said .... I'll definitely miss the first part of next year but I will pitch next year." If he will take a cheap 1 year deal with possible incentives if he comes back and a team option for a 2nd year I would try that. He's only 27. If he comes back and we pick up that 2nd year option he would be 29 like Cole when he hits free agency. He would be stupid not to take that deal considering the Astros history of turning pitchers into studs.
