As many of you know, I consider myself a quality conversation starter. While I often compose entries that are based on opinion, speculation or historical in nature, many entries are designed to either stir the pot of your mind or generate water cooler-like conversation.
Today is one of those water cooler conversations. Since the Astros have been dormant for a few weeks after somewhat of a whirlwind of activity, let’s take a look at some of the options still available, either through free agency or trade. Would these players fit? Do they make sense in 2015 for Houston? What might they cost?
Let’s get started.
Max Scherzer. 30 years old. RHP. Free agent.
- He appears here only because Houston has been mentioned — perhaps not prominently — as a possible landing spot. Yes, he’ll have a huge impact wherever he lands, but he’d cost the Astros about $200 million over the next several years, which just seems absurd, especially with the 2019-2020 financial bottleneck that will face Jeff Luhnow soon.
James Shields. 33. RHP. Free Agent.
- Talk about the epitome of a work horse who is durable. He hasn’t pitched fewer than 227 innings over the past four years, but at 33, he’s looking for a five-year deal at nearly $100 million. Yes, again, he’d have an impact, perhaps even more than Scherzer over the next two seasons. But — and this will be a theme with Class A free agents — is he worth the investment, especially at his age. As much as I’d like to say “yes”, the Astros should pass on Shields, at least at that price. By the way, Shields is said to already have turned down a $120 million offer from a team he’d prefer not to play for.
Ryan Howard. 35. LH 1B. Philadelphia Phillies.
- The Phillies are shopping him hard and would likely eat a significant part of the remaining $60 million left on his contract. They would also likely require little in return, which could tempt Luhnow to take a flyer and hope Howard could regain his swing. However, that “swing” resulted in 190 Ks last year and the Astros have plenty of those guys already on the roster. Here’s a “no”.
Cole Hamels. 31. LHP. Phiadelphia Philles.
- Interesting possibility here, but it would require a huge haul for the Astros. The Phillies will only laugh at low-ball offers, so this one would like require names like Carlos Correa, Mark Appel, Domingo Santana, Michael Foltynewicz, Josh Hader or others to be involved. Would probably take a couple of those players at least to be involved. Not to mention that Hamels has over $130 million due him through his 35-year-old 2019 season. Price tag is too high, but Luhnow should — and likely already has — investigate. He would bring the Astros instant credibility and perhaps poise them for a playoff role in ’15.
Johan Santana. 35. LHP. Free Agent.
- Could be worth a flyer. When he’s pitched over the past few seasons, he’s looked fairly decent and it’s evident he still has the “stuff” if he’s healthy. But that’s the operative phrase: “…when he’s pitched…” He wants a major league contract and his track record may get him one somewhere. Yes, I’d take a $1-$2 million flyer with higher incentives. It’d be worth it to bring him full circle.
Shane Victorino. 34. RH OF. Boston Red Sox.
- Boston is loaded with outfielders and Victorino may be the odd man out. Probably doesn’t make sense for Houston, but Victorino will need to prove he’s healthy after missing much of 2014. That said, he’s only one season removed from a Gold Glove and a .294/.351/.451 season in 2013. He’ll make $13 million in the final year of his deal, has some speed and makes contact.
Colby Rasmus. 28. LH OF. Free Agent.
- Ah, yes, a player with Luhnow ties in St. Louis; he was drafted in the first round back in 2005. He’s one of the better free agent options who has not yet signed. While he hasn’t necessarily been linked to the Astros — at least publicly — Rasmus had an off-season in 2014. He could get one of those team-friendly, one-year deals, so the Astros would do well to consider the option. Still plenty of time for him to rebound. If Houston could get him on a one-year deal for $5-$7 million, jump on it. Perhaps even an option year.
Yes, you don’t see any third baseman or first basemen (other than Howard) on the list. Frankly, most of the best options that would provide the Astros an immediate upgrade are already spoken for. Not to mention that there are a couple of options in the Astros’ minor leagues who could be ready soon. Doesn’t mean you want get an upgrade, just that the options are minimal and could be cost prohibitive, either in $$ or prospects.
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
65 responses to “Conversation starter: Would these guys fit on 2015 Astros?”
Chip i have to say no to all these guys.
Scherzer – too expensive
Shields – too expensive
Howard – way past his prime
Hamels – would require too much of a package to get
Santana – we don’t need another FA that will spend more time on DL than on field
Victorino – not worth 13 million AND the players it would take to get him
Rasmus – might be worth it for 5-7 million BUT he is a head case, do we really want another DDJ?
Most MLB players hit there best years at around 27 yrs of age, lets let someone else pick up players that are risks because of age or injury.
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their not there, spell check did that
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I have to agree with RJ. Ramsus is the only maybe, but with him and Fowler in the same dugout we would have to hire Dr Phil!
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Yes, gentlemen, I agree on most of the players listed. I assume you have no other suggestions? Maybe I should also have been a bit more specific in asking questions. WOuld you invest $100 million in any player? Would you consider giving up any — any — of the top prospects to make an upgrade, say either at third base, catcher or third base?
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The questions and observations were great Chip, sometimes long winded answers aren’t necessary. I think we are 2 years away from any big $$ deals
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I don’t think Scherzer makes sense due to the length of contract. Shields doesn’t fit because he’s asking for money not justified by his expected performance. His K rate has declined greatly over the last three seasons and as far as I know, Shields will only continue to get older. Howard doesn’t fit unless Carter is moved…and it would have to be in a different deal as swapping them is a net loss for Houston right now. I’ve never liked the flying Hawaiian that much. My perception is that Fowler is a better CF than Victorino. He would be an upgrade over Grossman. I’d pass unless Boston eats salary. Rasmus…might be worth a flyer.
That leaves us with Hamels. I say you take Correa and Appel off the list and make a deal if he’ll waive the NTC. Give them a huge package. We have a lot of guys who will be blocked and/or flame out. Their system is depleted…to be kind.
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I dunno Devin, there may be some out there who would haggle with your analysis of Shields on this point:
“…Shields will only continue to get older.”
On the other hand, I might be a player with your thought on a possible trade for Hamels (taking Correa and Appel off the list). But if I’m going to buy in with top prospects, I would also ask Philly to take on some portion of the remaining salary…
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It’s a lot of money. I might feel bad about Jim Crane having to spend it, but we had a $50 million payroll to start 2014. The only team lower was the Marlins at $45m. We could add on $20m to the payroll as posited earlier in the off season AND add $26m for Hamel’s to put us at ~$96m and that would have ranked 17th in 2014. Let’s say that we would have to add almost another $30m over the following years to keep our team. That wouldn’t crack the top 10 in 2014 team salaries!
Let’s be honest here:
$130m in salary: 10 teams
$100m – $115m: 6 teams
$90m – $99m: 6 teams
$80m – $89m: 4 teams
$70m – $79m: 2 teams
…and then we had HOU and MIA.
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Tell me what’s wrong with this picture:
The Astros are “aggressively” pursuing Evan Gattis. He’s yet ANOTHER catcher, who plays the outfield……”sometimes”. I don’t *get* it.
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Becky, I think it’s pretty simple. Luhnow and the Astros aren’t sold on Castro as the future catcher of the organization. Or possibly Grossman/Marisnick in left field. Or there are other things in the works. A Gattis/Conger might be what Dr. Luhnow is ordering?
Not to mention we don’t know what else Luhnow has cooked up. It’s likely the Astros have already had some $$$ discussions with Castro and he has simply over valued himself. Or perhaps they’re considering moving Carter and want Castro as a DH possibility? Or…
Who knows…but Gattis’ right-handed bat might play very well with the Crawford Boxes. Remember, Castro isn’t a Luhnow guy, FWIW.
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Well, Luhnow kept this one quiet. Even bringing Gattis into Houston for a physical before people were aware. Of course, the physical should have been a tip a deal was imminent.
Houston, meet Evan Gattis, the newest member of the Houston Astros. Gave up three prospects in the deal. Yet, the story isn’t posted yet on the Houston CHronicle. Interesting.
Holy mackerel! Astros gave up Rio Ruiz and Foltynewicz to get Gattis.
Folty was the #4 prospect for HOuston and Ruiz #9.
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Well, the Gattis trade (and the group of three prospects the Astros traded) signals that Gattis will be a huge piece of the lineup going forward. You don’t “pay” like that and have him as a small cog. See ya Jason Castro! Or maybe he’s the outfield piece? Or DH?
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Chip, I have to think he will mainly DH, but it does indicate something is in the works with castro, lets hope its a real good 3B. Looking at this deal on the astros site, i don’t particularly like it at first glance.
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Chip………at least Luhnow didn’t give up the FARM for Gattis, but this move pi$$es me off *BIG* time………grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
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Anytime you can pickup a slow, defensively challenged RHH who doesn’t walk and strikes out 23% of the time to be your fourth catcher, well, that’s a no brainer! OK, in seriousness, this doesn’t make sense until we know the next trade coming. He is cheaper than Castro and has similar offensive flaws…
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Test
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I just posted a lengthy reply that disappeared into cyperspace. Maybe it’s for the better. I’ll make this one shorter. I could puke right now. We got a lumbering, slow, defensively challenged marginal athlete and gave up two real potential cogs in the “plan” we keep getting reminded to buy into. Okay, Gattis can hit lefties. That’s it though. We lost a heck of a good athlete in Ruiz, with no guarantee that Moran is our future at third base. Third base sucks for us right now. We also gave up a kid that hits 100 on the gun. We don’t have many guys like that throughout our much touted organization. And we sure did not get to see enough of Folty to tell us what his future might look like. As far as I’m concerned, there is no plan. Luhnow has not provided any kind of a blueprint. And if Castro is on the way out, so be it, but this move, at this point, just diminishes his value further. I am totally disgusted.
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daveb: “…We also gave up a kid that hits 100 on the gun. We don’t have many guys like that throughout our much touted organization.”
—————————–
Dave, there aren’t that many pitchers who hit 100 on the gun in all of baseball, much less in the Astros’ organization!
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Just trying not to overreact Chip. It’s a good thing my initial post ended up in never never land.
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Devin and daveb…this about says it all. And, dave, I’m with you totally on Folty. I was hoping to see him pitch for years to come.
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Maybe the plan this week is to build an old fashioned American League team. I hate teams that can’t make contact. And all that rotation depth we had just six months ago……gone.
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Inconceivable!
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Wow Did I say Wow. I guess my evaluations of Folty and Ruiz were way off, another Chris Carter COOL
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Glad to see I’m not the ONLY one who’s disgusted with this trade. NOW…..Collin Moran had better get his sh*t together, because Ruiz was the heir to 3rd. base.
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No mas.
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Not the deal you were predicting. Apparently Luhnow is cornering the market on catchers like the Hunt Brothers with silver.
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Well apparently Jeff Luhnow did not think your post was enough a conversation starter – so he made this little trade.
I am real confused on the direction this organization is headed. If they were going to trade 3 prospects – 2 of which are highly thought of – I would have thought it would be for someone like Hamels. Thoughts:
– I was really sick of watching other teams bring in big arms into games and us having no one like that. We finally get s similar guy in Folty and buh-bye.
– We have big probelms at 3B and Ruiz has been very good on the way up thru the minors – but….buh-bye.
– I know we need more pop in the lineup, but is it in exchange for big defensive liabilities?
– So will he turn around and trade Castro and a prospect for a 3B or an SP?
– I know lots of timies prospects never make it and a guy who has proved it in the majors is worth 3 in the bush – but again is this the guy to give up 3 guys for?
Well – maybe – the next trade is Castro, Singleton (to take Howard’s spot) and Santana for Hamels. I know it is probably not enough – but I don’t know where we are headed here.
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Sorry about the typos but there was crap in the window blocking my view of half of what I was typing.
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So, I think it is safe to say that nobody has guessed what Jeff’s secret plan is for constructing a major league roster? Defensive shift where half the team plays behind home plate? That will prevent runs scored due to passed balls. Or he has inside knowledge that MLB is going to institute an outfield fly rule? Any ball hit in the air beyond the infield is an automatic out unless it goes over the fence. Secret plan to clone Keuchel and McHugh of last year so can trade all young pitchers that have made major league debut? I have to say, I have reach the point of being slightly amused and extremely curious to see how this all works out. But I gave up setting high expectations about 3 years ago.
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Folty was a key cog in the 2017 plan. Hard to see Gattis being a key cog in the 2017 plan.
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Folty wasn’t a bonafide major league pitcher, yet. The jury is still out on him because of his command. It is my personal opinion that if Folty could have been happy here, Strom could have helped him become successful. If Folty wasn’t happy here he has a better chance to be successful somewhere else.
If Gattis has a couple of good power years here with Houston, he could be a big part of Houston’s success in 2017, either as a player for us, or as a 28 year old power hitter who could be used as a trade for the one position on our team that we missed out on with our prospects, or had an injury take out a player we were counting on.
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Well ladies and gents. In the last year, Luhnow has traded a virtual starting rotation of young, up-and-coming prospects. Prospects who, at one time or another, were high on the board with a lot of upside. All four will likely be pitching at the major league level next season…for other teams.
Of course, none of them may pan out and all may flop eventually, but I think we’ve seen enough of some of them to realize they will likely be serviceable MLB pitchers going forward.
* Jordan Lyles (for Fowler).
* Jarred Cosart (for Marisnick/Moran).
* Foltynewicz (for Gattis).
* Nick Tropeano (for Hank Conger).
And to think all four of those players could be pitching in Houston this season.
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yeah chip i really thought folty had a good shot at being our #5 starter or a closer type. i guess since we got gregerson and neshek he wasn’t slated for the pen and maybe they think appel, wojo, white, peacock, jake not from state farm, velasquez or feliz can do the job. this is still a head scratcher for me. i am thinking (hoping) there is more to it with another trade coming down the pike.
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Im hoping you knew my Cool was Sarcastic !
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You can add Thurman to that list of [pitchers who are gone. He was a high draft pick of Luhnow’s. So, four pitchers who were here before Luhnow, are gone and Luhnow’s second major pitching booboo(Appel being the first and Aiken being the third, Nix the fourth and Marshall the fifth.) is gone. This guy really knows pitching.
Folty and Thurman become the latest in a line of Astros pitchers who are finally happy, somewhere besides here. Good for them.
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My initial reaction was a four-letter word — not “Cool!” — and I’ve barely come down from that.
A couple of thoughts:
1. Come on down to Smiling Jeff’s Used Catcher Emporium. We’ve got pitch framers, former All-Stars, quality backups and up-and-comers. You need backstop help, Smiling Jeff has the right model for your needs. Credit available, Se Habla Español.
2. We are trading from positions of depth. Ruiz is just Colin Moran with another year of development needed. Folty is probably a 4-5 starter or a bullpen piece. We’ve got plenty. Thurman is a prospect who is of marginal value, especially for a deep system like Houston’s.
3. I do NOT want to see Gattis playing left field, but if he does, that means Grossman or JFSF is expendable.
4. This CANNOT be Luhnow’s last move.
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Brian, now we hear the deal is not complete…not complete because there are more players involved. We also hear, indeed, that the plan is for Gattis to play mostly left field. At least with the short porch, he may not have to do a lot of running with those bad knees and back.
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Are the Braves throwing in a minor league catcher?
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Scherzer- No, because the money doesn’t fit our team’s owner or GM
Shields- No because I think we have a top 2 in Keuchel and McHugh, and we will get a #5 from one of our other guys(Folty, Wojo, Weiland, Buchanan, Deduno, White. I can’t see giving up top prospects and money for
Howard-No because he is a 35 year old Singleton
Hamels-Only if they will accept Ober as part of the deal, because we don’t need 3 LH starters in MMP
Victorino-Yes, if Boston would throw in 3 mil. If an outfield of Victorino, Fowler and Springer has us in the middle of a pennant race, we would love that. If we aren’t in the race at the trade deadline, they might both bring us something and their salaries would be taken over by the team that trades for them and Tucker, Santana, Aplin, Marisnick, and Kemp would all be more ready by then.
Johan Sebastion Santana-My heart says yes, but my head says no.
Rasmus-I’d try him at a 5 note for a year, but would rather have Victorino because of the OBP and leadership. So, if the Astros don’t handle third base, Victorino just pushes Dominguez and their non-hitting catchers farther down in the batting order, which is a good thing.
Seems to me that a Fowler, Altuve, Victorino, Springer, Carter, Lowrie, Singleton, Castro, Gonzalez batting order gives you some runs.
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Well that post is wasted with the trade. How about those Braves!
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yep Brian i keep trying to make sense of this, but as a stand alone i find it hard to figure out let alone stay positive about. on the 40 man roster we now have castro, conger, corporan, gattis and stassi. stassi will go to the minors, but that still leaves us with 4 count em 4 catchers. that means two have to go. well unless gattis is going to split time at 1B, DH, LF (god help us), and emergency catcher. so who goes? i doubt they traded for conger to turn around and trade him, so that leaves corporan and castro. i have to think its castro because he would bring the most back especially in a package deal. but maybe they like castro more than we think. i think i may need to visit colorado now.
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rj, gattis is slated for most of his ABs in LF…But that means that Grossman or Marisnick or Fowler are moving on…
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Im reading this trade is not done yet. Knee and back issues Gattis maybe
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Thurman was disappointing. Luhnow thought that he was close to maturity when he drafted Thurman and Emanuel has turned out to be a better pitcher. Plus, one of our two top5 draft picks is bound to be a college pitcher, as the draft is heavy with them.
Folty frees up the 40-man spot for Gattis. Folty was going to be wasted in the BP this year and probably was just too wild to be #5 starter, so he would have ended up in Fresno. He is the sacrifice for Gattis’s power bat being inserted into the lineup right now. This is a win-now move.
I like Ruiz but there was never going to be room for three top 20 prospects at third base. They liked Moran’s glove better than Ruiz’s and Moran was not as slow on the bases as Ruiz. Ruiz was graded a 30 on speed and Moran was graded a 40. Moran’s Bat for Average was rated a 65 vs a 55 for Ruiz. Moran is a year older and a one league higher than Ruiz.
But the big difference in the two 3B prospects is that the Astros have a majority of their top 20 prospects who bat from the left side. Singleton, Ruiz, Fisher, Reed, Phillips, Fontana, Kemp and Tucker are all LH batters. They needed to have their 3B prospect of the future hitting from the right side, especially in MMP.
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Good reasoned analysis sir.
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Hey all, the consensus seems to be that Gattis, indeed, is coming to Houston, but that the three aforementioned Astros’ players may not necessarily complete the deal. Here are the possibliities out there:
1. Gattis comes to Houston, but the three players may not necessarily be Folty, Ruiz and Thurman.
2. Gattis comes to Houston for those three players, but another player joins Gattis coming over from Atlanta (Chris Johnson?).
3. Gattis comes to Houston, but due to the scope of the physical, the deal is re-worked.
Any which way you cut it, it appears Gattis is in Houston and will not be flipped to a third team.
Stay tuned, it doesn’t appear we’ve heard the last of this deal. Indeed, Luhnow could/should come out of this better than we presently know! Definitely maybe.
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The prospects named only bother me in that we can’t trade them for someone else if we traded them for Gattis. Gattis bothers me in that he can’t really improve us at catcher, so he must be either LF, 1B, or DH. I don’t see the gain as LF being huge due to negative value on defense, poor BB rate, and uncertainty as to whether he can play enough innings out there. DH only makes sense if Carter is moved…and that would have to be evaluated on its own merit. 1B is interesting as it provides a safety net for Singleton, but we have no guarantee his defense will allow it.
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Folty K/BB rate was not good and, even if it improved some, he would still be a back end of the bullpen piece. I see his ceiling as Kyle Farnsworth in his prime. FB is very flat and limited out-pitches. I really don’t think Folty will ever be more than a decent set-up/closer. For me, Ruiz is the best prospect lost here, but Moran is farther ahead in his development and a better defensive 3B. With Gattis in the lineup our 3-5 hitters could hit 90-100 HRs. I don’t think the trade is that bad and, honestly, I do not want Chris Johnson to be included in the deal.
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What I don’t like about this is losing Folty. Ruiz I can live with if Moran looks like the real deal.
What I do like about this is this … with everyone’s 2014 OPS:
1. Fowler, CF, .774
2. Altuve, 2B, .830
3. Springer, RF, .804
4. Carter, DH, .799
5. Gattis, LF, .810
6. Conger/Castro, C, .648/.651
7. Singleton, 1B, .620
8. Lowrie, SS, .676
9. Gonzalez, 3B, .727
That’s three OPS over .800, two more over .750, one more over .700 and three sub-.700. Of course, those sub-.700 ones come from a pair of catchers who can, frankly, hit better, a SS whose career OPS is .741 and a first baseman who is statistically due for progression (low BAbip and LD% last year were historically low for Singleton). That’s a combined OPS average of .743. Um, that’s a murderer’s row. Heck, if you just look at 9 through 5, that’s six straight hitters that could just wear out opposing pitching.
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And break the ML record for team K’s. And overall, a poor defensive club. And slow. And unless better things are on the way, a club with less pitching depth. I’m not buying into our “rebuilt” pen as of yet. And as illustrated above by Chip, we’ve compromised our rotation depth considerably. Like I said yesterday, there is no plan.
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The deal is on the Astros website, so it’s done. They got the minor league throw-in pitcher along with Gattis.
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For whatever reason, the thing about this that upsets me the most is that we now have ANOTHER player who is allergic to a FULL season of baseball. He hasn’t played more than 108 games in a season. While 108 is my favorite number, that’s ridiculous for someone we just paid a hefty price for.
Hopefully I’ll wake up in the morning and read an article about Luhnow’s surprisingly brilliant follow-up move. Zzzzzzzzzzz
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Can someone explain to me why the majority feel Mike Foltynewicz is a big loss? Maybe I am missing something in his advanced metrics that projects him to be a TOR starter, but nothing I have seen shows me this. Is it simply because he can touch 100 on the radar gun? What else is out there that I am missing? Again, what I see him reaching is Kyle Farnsworth at his peak. Farnsworth had a decent career as a set-up/closer, but never reached the success many projected for him. Help me out here.
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Tim, can’t obviously respond for everyone, but here are some thoughts. I’m not sure if the bigger question revolves around Folty, but perhaps more about what Luhnow is using the prospects for in trade. In other words, the package that went to Atlanta on Wednesday is a pretty strong package. Does Evan Gattis warrant that package from Houston? Atlanta fans are chagrined, I’ll tell you.
Apparently, many of the scouts see a lot of upside in Folty. He was ranked #3 and #4 in the Astros’ system according to the people who do that for a living. Did he have some “issues” (e.g. control, etc.), sure. But he’s one of the few pitchers on the planet who can hit 100 mph, and that is something you just can’t teach.
These things have a way of working themselves out over time and we won’t know the complete results of the trade for a few years likely. However, either Folty or Ruiz could cause Luhnow a lot of heartache, just like Cosart or Tropeano.
I do think the working theory on this blog is that readers believe Luhnow could have brought a bigger return for the players he’s traded since he’s been here.
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I don’t see Folty as a loss because he was traded and we got two players in return for him and two others. I don’t view trades as a loss when they happen because our GM agreed with their GM on value.
When you let someone go for nothing and then they immediately begin to produce far above the level they ever produced for you, that’s a loss. JD Martinez was a loss for us and a win for Detroit. Collin McHugh was a win for us and a loss for who he left.
The Gattis trade is about a team wanting to get better now and a team wanting to get better for the future. in four years we look back and see who won or lost, and both teams can do both.
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OP, understand you don’t see Folty as “a loss”. But when you’re talking about the #3 prospect in an organization that is considered among the Top 5 in the majors, you might hope the return is greater than Gattis, who is Dave Kingman-like. If Luhnow was willing to trade Folty, Cosart, Ruiz and others, perhaps he could have gone for broke in a big trade that would have resulted in fixing one of the on-going issues in the lineup.
I’ll adopt the wait-and-see attitude you’re suggesting, just a little concerned about Dave Kingman possibly hitting #3, #4 and #5 in the Astros’ lineup.
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Chip, I hear you. Folty made comments about Luhnow’s tandem system, which Drellich talked about in yesterday’s (spit) column. Do you know what happens to pitchers who do that?
I see your point about the Kingman comment and three right handed power/high strikeout guys in the middle of the order concerns me, too. That is why I am hoping we decide to keep Fowler for this year and use someone like Carter in a trade to acquire a real 3B, thus knocking Carter and Dominguez out of the high strikeout lineup and solving the current 3B dilemma.
I totally get Luhnow talking up his players and not criticizing their performance from 2014. How are you going to convince other GM’s that Dominguez or Castro are worth trading for if you badmouth them, and what better way to convince other teams that Carter is desirable than settling on an arbitration figure that was higher than projected? Wow, Carter is worth more than we thought!
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I think I need to go and sit in the “silent corner” with Bopert. I could easily type something that would be criminal in Texas and 14 other states. I will say this – if and when we make the playoffs – apparently Gattis can hit then. I love ESPN saying that Houston got a “Slugger.” In 2014 Gattis is 100 + TBs short of Altuve. Of course Altuve padded his stats by dressing for every game except 4. Guys you can praise JL all you want. But when you have excess catchers and OFers – then go and get some more – hard for me to see the “silver lining”. I don’t care who the Astros gave up – did you improve your team this year and next.
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This would have been very interesting IF Chip had posted this about 1-12-15 with # 8. What do you think of trading Folty, Ruiz, & Thurman for Gattis?
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Another comment on the above. Same song second verse. We continue to say things like “what happens to Grossman/Marisnick?” Don’t forget we have Presley at $1 Mill for some reason. And if Gattis is the catcher of the near future, what roles does Conger play? There may be future deals. Let’s hope so, but at times it appears that when JL gets a base hit, he runs to 3rd base.
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In the first half of last season, before the bulging disc and leg injuries, Gattis was hitting over .290 with a .340 OBP and an OPS just shy of .900. I think Luhnow sees that potential in Gattis. Now, if healthy, and that is a big ‘if’, would you take 140 games of 30 HRs, .270 BA with .325 OBP and .825 OPS and consider the prospects given up fair for this production? 30 HR players, post PED era, are not easy to find and the Astros will have 3 in their luneup.
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*lineup
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Luhnup?
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That is what I was thinking when I first read my typo.
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Finally, I think you are getting more than a Dave Kingman clone in Gattis, and as a young boy growing up in upstate NY I was a huge Kong and Tom Seaver fan. Of course, I was only 9 years old and didn’t understand the intricacies of the game. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1006939&position=1B/OF. Here are Kong’s fangraph numbers.
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