I don’t see enough PAs for Loperfido in Houston this season with Abreu turning around and a stacked and deep OF. I think he will need to pull a Yordan and force a promotion for him to be a factor this season.
Tell me how Singleton is any better as a backup at first base. I just don't get it. I assume Singleton has nothing left to show in the minor leagues and Loperfido doesn't have much experience past AA and isn't on the 40 man. I imagine he will get a call up sometime this year while getting regular at bats in Sugarland.
I'm guessing Diaz will play some games at first when he needs a break from catching, but we still want to keep his at bats on the field.
Loperfido is in that zone in between an elite prospect that you make room for (Springer, Correa, Bregman, Tucker) and a fringey prospect who you’re ok with burning service time if they can contribute at all (McCormick, Julks, Meyers, Kessinger). So he needs time in AAA to either show he belongs in that elite tier or otherwise wait until a more significant opportunity comes available. If he were in an organization that didn’t have such a deep MLB roster, he’d almost certainly be given an everyday role at any of the 4-5 positions he can play.
Doubt Loperfido make the OD roster. He's won't get a ton of AB's, which is probably enough to justify keeping him in AAA to get that extra year. I suspect Singleton will be hitting down around .200 as usual and Loperfido will be in the majors pretty soon.
We are going to see Dubon and Kessinger at first, maybe even Hensley before we see Joey out there. I really don't see why everyone thinks he's a first baseman. He's a 5th outfielder in this system, but will need to prove in AAA that he's better than Julks for a spot. The competition isn't with Singleton.
I don't see Abreu going anywhere. But I do see Abreu playing only about 80% or less of the games at 1b in 2024 and maybe 70% in 2025. Plus there is always the chance of injury. Right now, of all the positions to suddenly lose the starter for a chunk of games, 3b and 1b probably have the biggest negative impact to run production and winning.
Agreed. I thought you where advocating Making Loperfido the full time first baseman. I believe he belongs in a versatile bench role that includes 1st and 3rd as well as the corner OF positions and DH once a week.
Singleton was once a top prospect. He has talent. I'm not expecting anything but he could have a Dan Vogelbeg type of sesson
Singleton is washed and will be DFA’d at some point - once we get past service manipulation timeframes.
Abreu is washed too. It’s just that he has a big contract. Otherwise, he woulda been DFA’d last year.
Did you watch the playoffs? Only Yordan was a better hitter in the playoffs for the Astros. https://www.mlb.com/astros/stats/2023/postseason-cumulative
I would agree with you had we not learned Abreu was playing injured for a significant chunk of the season. There was a marked difference in his production after he got healthy.
I would think so, but maybe they just make him a full time DH (as the fallback position when he doesn't catch) and don't mess with having him try to be a plus offensive player, plus learn the staff, plus play a different position.
Vogelfat I think is either unsigned or got like 1.5M or something stupid like that. I don't know why we didn't just shoot Singleton into the face of the sun and give 10pounds of **** in a 5 pound Danny the 13th position player spot. Maybe he can't even play 1b now.
