Gattis could easily be traded if that is the way they wanted to go. I would rather see him catch once a week and see if that gets him goin Keeping Sipp is a waste. He isn’t and won’t be out lefty specialist, that’s Devo. He rarely gets in games. Bring up Davis or White and give them consistent at bats at DH to see how they do, Davis never had a real chance earlier in the year and is doing the same thing at AAA that he did in Spring. Tucker will be here after super two, so that will likely fix LF. Main thing is they won’t panic and make stupid moves when they are winning Funny that some of the same people who complain about us not moving prospects at the deadline are the same people who complain about Hader/Santana/Teo and others
Moustakas signed for a similar contract prior to the season. Very doubtful Gattis can be traded without a little something to offset his contract.
I wonder what trade value he really has. The Astros aren't helping it by basically openly saying he's so terrible in the field that they won't play him anywhere but DH - not even LF where they have a 0.450 OPS guy a lot of the time. Who's going to trade for a 0.600 OPS DH? Sipp has been amazing this year against lefties - I think they are 1-for-14 or something against him? He's been wretched against righties though. He was good a few years back, so I could see him reclaiming the LOOGY role at some point if he can sustain it. They put him in during an important moment yesterday, so they might be more open to using him for now?
Did I miss something on his contract? Pretty sure he is a free agent at years end? He should have something like 5 million left on his deal right now, and that drops as we go. If we wanted to move him to open a spot for one of the guys at AAA, that isn’t the kind of money that would get in the way. I think that is unlikely though, at least for a while longer. He seems to be a big part of the clubhouse and I think the FO values that more now.
I would imagine they value Devo's flexibility and want to be able to use him when they most need, rather than hold him to deal with a lefty. Moustakas got a $6.5MM, 1-yr deal after hitting 38 HRs and an 0.830 OPS last year - plus he plays 3B. Morrison got a similar deal after 38 HRs, 0.800 OPS as a 1B. You'd likely have to pay someone to take a $6MM 0.600 OPS Designated Hitter off your hands. It's below replacement level, meaning you should be able to get that kind of production from a minor league minimum wage player, with the likely benefit that you're also not wasting a roster spot on a pure-DH. I can't imagine you'd have any trade partners for Gattis unless you can at least show that he can play the field *somewhere*.
He took that deal because he wasn’t getting a long term offer at a number he wanted and wanted another chance to be a free agent next year It will be very interesting to see how free agency plays out next year and where contracts go, if your point is that there was a huge change in the market last summer I wouldn’t argue with that at all. But moving a guy with a total of less than 5 million on his contract wouldn’t be tough at all. I also think someone trading for him would be as a catcher not a DH. He has hit better when catching. Yes I know he isn’t really good behind the plate, but look around baseball at the catching, it’s pretty bad. I also don’t think front offices react like fans to a bad 6 weeks. He hit .260 and drove in 55 runs last year in basically half a season, he hit 32 bombs the year before. If we were trying to move someone to bring back top prospects to restock the farm, no Gattis wouldn’t do that. But if we wanted to find a spot for Davis/White to DH, moving Gattis would not be tough at all
Sorry - my point was just to compare the #'s that people were getting, playing at a higher level and at useful positions. I'm just saying that there's no one that's going to want a Gattis for $5MM. If he can play catcher, I agree. But the Astros seem to be broadcasting to the world that they don't think he can. If the smartest organization in baseball won't put him out there, that seems like a red flag to any other organization. I agree in isolation and if he's being considered for other positions. But he's been bad his entire career as a DH. Those differentials are consistent every year of his career, so it doesn't appear to be randomness. I guess my question is who trades for him? Non-contenders have no need to trade for him, given that he'll be a free agent. It's doubtful any semi-decent team needs him as a DH - they likely have better players already there. And the Astros are basically saying he's not even a good enough catcher to be the backup catcher and he's so bad in the outfield that they won't even try him there, despite playing scrubs there most days in Fisher or Marisnick. So what contender trades for a guy like that? I agree his salary is not prohibitive in any significant way - I just think no one would have any reason to trade for him. I think he literally has negative value right now and is more likely to be released than traded.
Generally agree except first sentence here. If he made minimum, some team would take him to see if he could bounce back. At his salary, there were better options in FA and likely will be better options available on ~5 million contracts in trade at deadline. I think quite a few teams splurged in the offseason because of the depressed market. I'm expecting a weird trade deadline. Not sure exactly how it will go. Think it should be a good year to buy, and that buyers will be picky. Not sure sellers will sell.
I love Luhnow and our front office. Somehow I think other teams would evaluate whether they think Gattis would upgrade their catching situation on their own though, not just say “well the Astros aren’t letting him catch he must not be able to help us” There is zero chance he would be released. Again, I don’t think organizations zero out on a guy after a poor six week period like fans do I think you underrate how bad catching is in MLB. The Mets just traded for Mesoroco...a quick search of teams OPS from their catchers show a third of the league getting an OPS under .649 from the position, I know that’s just offense but it’s horrible. Over half of MLB is under .700. Before you point to Gattis sub .700 OPS this year.... 2018 all DH, .625 OPS 2017 Catching: .878 DH:.580 2016 Catching: .992 DH: .723 2015 all DH, .726 2014 (Braves) Catching: .843 1 for 12 as a DH It’s pretty clear there is a decent chance he hits better when catching. We simply believe we are better off with Stassi back there as the second catcher. We could also be giving Stassi a legit shot to see what he can do but keeping Gattis around in case Stassi looked overmatched knowing he could always start catching again if needed I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on this, cause I see zero chance we couldn’t move him if we were just ready to give the DH spot to one of our AAA mashers
What better catching options were available on the FA market last year, or better catching options at 5 million will be available this year (and if talking a deadline deal he would be owed less than 3) I agree buyers will be more picky, but I think that will lead to them not wanting long term salary. I don’t see Gattis in that deadline group though, if he were going to be moved it would be earlier to open a spot. By that point we wouldn’t be taking a look to see what Davis or White could do And again for the record I think there is very little chance we trade Gattis, i just know if we wanted him gone to open a roster spot, we could easily move him with today’s catcher market
Lucroy Realmuto Grandal will be close enough if Dodgers take one more critical injury. The other McCann Perez close enough this year plus has years left. If you "need" a catcher, and get Gattis, you did something wrong. That said, 5 million prorated can be used for other things as well. If Astros can trade Gattis without attaching a prospect, Luhnow will be applauded. Unless Yankees and Dodgers decide to exceed luxury tax, about 70-80 million is out of market.
My guess is it would take some promising lower level guys or a B level prospect. At the deadline the cost is hard to know because if we are still trying to move him, it means he still isn’t hitting. Honestly I think we get another good bat regardless. Just too much instability between Gattis, LF and Marwin.
Only one you can even compare is Lucroy, who is having a decent year Realmuto can’t be compared here cause he would require a major prospect haul Perez has about 40 million guaranteed left We can agree to disagree I suppose, cause it’s extremely unlikely the Astros try to get rid of him anyway. It’s just funny to me that people see a guy struggle for 6 weeks and think he couldn’t even be given away. Front offices understand the game better than that (well maybe not Purpura)
Still support calling up one of the AAA guys, at the expense of Marisnick, the super K machine. Gattis seems to be heating up, I guess he stays for the rest of the year, though not a fan of having a full-time pure DH guy, instead I think it should be rotated among the starters. Really believe in Davis and Kemp.
