Well, the Astros and Angels are even in the loss column, but Houston has a one-game lead for the division. It’s a precarious lead to be sure, but I’ll take it.
Once again, the Astros are fighting to have a .500 month. Despite the losing streak before the All-Star game, Houston is now 11-11 in July. Kazmir takes the mound tonight against the Halos, and they finish out the month Friday night with the D-Backs in town.
Scheduled Analysis
As of right now, the Astros have 60 games left. Here’s the breakdown.
After the two games to end July, Houston will open August finishing the series against Arizona. Then it’s on the road for three against the Rangers, four against the A’s and two against San Francisco. The Giants series is sandwiched between a pair of off days, so that’s nice.
Then it’s 10 days at home with three against the Tigers, four against Tampa and three vs. the Dodgers. Three at the Yankees are followed by an off day and three in Minnesota. Watch for me in the stands on the 30th. The Astros finish August with the first game of a home series vs. Seattle.
Of the 28 games in August, only eight are in the division, and none are vs. the Angels. Though Houston does have an opportunity to end any hope the Rangers might have.
September starts with two more at home vs. Seattle, an off day and three at home vs. the Twins. Then it’s 10 games in 11 days on the road against the A’s (3), Angels (3) and Rangers (4). Then nine games in 10 days at home vs. those same A’s, Angels and Rangers. The Astros close out September with three games at Seattle.
So far, that’s seven games in Arlington vs. hosting the Rangers for three. Games in Yankee Stadium and Pac Bell. But home games against Detroit, Tampa and LAD without return trips to their ballparks. (We’ve already been.)
The Astros finish the season with three in Arizona.
The Angels have their own schedule problems. After leaving Houston tonight, they have six total against the Dodgers, three against the Royals, and in August face Wild Card hopefuls Baltimore (3), the White Sox (7) and Toronto (3). They end the season with four at Texas, and have fewer off days since they have two games to make up on the schedule. So that might help wear them out as well.
And Then What?
The trade deadline is Friday afternoon. After that, any pickups would have to clear waivers first … which means bit pieces at best.
The big rumor is the Astros are interested in Tyson Ross. I’d give up Tony Kemp and Akeem Bostick. Well, maybe not that much.
But if the Astros swing a deal, who is the odd man out in the rotation. Right now the Astros have Dallas Keuchel, Scott Kazmir, Collin McHugh and Scott Feldman with Lance McCullers and Vincent Velasquez in some kind of starter tandem to reduce wear and tear. So, does Luhnow sit Feldman? McHugh? Do the rookies go to the bullpen permanently as long relief?
I know, I know. When you think you have enough pitching, get more pitching. … But don’t the Astros have enough pitching? Is a two-month rental on Ross (or Andrew Cashner or Craig Kimbrel) worth it? At least Kimbrel I can understand. That’s for the bullpen.
Personally, I would prefer a bat. But tonight Houston welcomes back Jed Lowrie. Lowrie at third, MarGo at first. Makes sense. Then Houston just needs to get Springer back in about three more weeks. Is that enough offense coming back? He’d return in time either for that home series against the Dodgers or the road series against the Yankees. In other words, just when the team needs him.
Think This Through
1. What about that schedule? That’s some tough stretches, and September is all about the AL West. But the Angels are looking at a similar path if not worse.
2. If the Astros make another move, what do you want it to be? A starter? If so, who gets bumped from the rotation? I know it’s easy to say Feldman or McHugh based on ERA. But Feldman was lights-out his last outing and is often capable of that. And McHugh had six quality starts in his last eight outings, including some real gems (June 23, 8 IP, 2 ER vs. Angels; June 28, 8 IP, 1 ER vs Yankees). Is it the rookies who get banished? No offense, but I’d rather trot McCullers and even Velasquez out to the mound than Tyson Ross.
3. Would you rather see a bat? Do you want to throw another arm a la Kimbrel into Houston’s bullpen mix?
4. Should the Astros just stand pat and wait for Lowrie then Springer?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
178 responses to “Back on top, but how will Astros stay there?”
Well I know you.finished this long before the Gomez trade – so my only Gomez comment is I wish he would hurry up and get here because nobody we have seems to be able to hit today.
Ok I do have a second comment – I like the trade better after finding out Fiers is not a rental. Still gave up a lot but I like the idea of Strom helping Fiers.
I think it made some sense doing what they did – gives them a darn good OF that can field and hit and a pitcher when LMJ and VV are shut down.
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Glad you like it, Dan. Hope it works out. It makes me shudder to think what Luhnow would have given away for Hamels, though.
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AMEN!! I had visions of the entire pitching in Corpus! Bad enough that Phillips was traded! Luhnow said every team who he talked to asked for Phillips.
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Mr Bill I am more ecstatic about Castro’s walk off 3 run homer than the trade….
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I hope that turns things around for Mr. Castro. We could sure use some production from the catcher’s spot. Well done, young man. You have hastened the return of the Jedi.
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Of course – truth in advertising I was wondering why they did not pinch hit Conger…
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Not to be cruel, but it was a tie game and we needed someone that “might” keep a base runner on 1st.
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Good point ac45 but it felt like Castro had only 1 RBI all month before this. Oh right – he had..
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Dan, I commented to Mrs. 1OP that I was grateful the Angels had used the lefty already and chose to stay with a righty because nothing good was going to come from pinch hitting for Castro. I told her that Hinch was giving Castro a chance to break his funk. My girl told Castro to hit a home run so she could hit the sack. She had a long day with a surgical procedure in a hospital three hours away from where we live. We got home just in time to drop into our seats and watch another wonderful game.
Tomorrow we put the finishing touches on the team that will take us the final three months of the season.
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Man that Kazmir guy really sucks – he only wins one out of two starts for us…
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Chron commenter: “Why didn’t they trade Valbuena and Carter? Thumbs down on this trade.” You can’t make this stuff up.
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And that’s another reason I love Chipalatta. No idiots and we don’t go into a guy’s fWar with his left shoe untied. (I’m looking at you, Crawfish Boxes.)
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WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! WHAT. A. GAME.!!!!!
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WOW! And the fans go wild!
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as far as THIS year and going for the playoffs, this was a really good trade.
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As usual, I will withhold on fully evaluating this trade for a few years, but I am just enjoying having pennant fever back in Houston again. It has been a long time coming and I, for one, am very excited for the next 2 months of the regular season and, hopefully, an extended playoff run. Let’s go Astros!
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Best part about this trade: It’s July 30 and we’re buyers, not sellers.
As far as I’m concerned, that automatically earns “win” points for this trade.
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Was at the game tonight with my son who played with Scott in high school. Ran into a bunch of kids who played with us so the evening was a plus no matter the outcome but what an outcome. Kazmir was really good but was laboring in the eighth. What a job by Neshek to strike out Trout and then Gregerson dispatches Pujols on three pitches and makes him look silly. Gregerson with a four run lead; no thanks. Game on the line? Yes please.
I think it was telling this evening when Hinch pinch hit for Carter in the seventh. I fully expect Singleton to be sent down tomorrow despite his HR yesterday because its a logical move, gives him regular at bats for the month remaining in the minor leagues and allows him to come back in September and maybe have an impact. I don’t see Marisnick going down because we still only have three outfielders on the roster and he’s the perfect late inning defensive sub for Tucker. We almost have to shed a pitcher. With all of these starters there’s no need for 13 pitchers on the staff.
I’m OK with the trade. I’m glad Santana will get a chance elsewhere. Phillips may hurt but how long will it take him to get to be as good as Gomez? I still think the past few years of following prospects and taking joy in their progress because the MLB team sucked has made too many folks prospect hoarders. Gomez and Kazmir are proven commodities and SO MUCH better than who we have and who they replaced.
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I’m up pretty late, and I might have some BIG news for you. The Padres and luhnow are in serious talks about Kimbrel AND Tyson Ross. Marisnick is in play as the piece they want……but expect more minor league guys to depart as well. When you get up to check out the moves, don’t be surprised at what you read!! Marisnick is going to be crushed when he sees his days here end. I love the guy, I just wish he could have kept hitting like he did in April. Stay tuned.
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It’s 8:00 still no word yet, but the pitcher the Astros are targeting is Kimbrel. The deadline is 3:00 central today. Keep checking.
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How exciting is it that the Astros are finally buyers? I agree with Dr. Bill that some have gotten use to prospect hoarding and can’t appreciate that the Astros are going for it. We have suffered long enough and deserve this. With Luhnow’s success in the draft I am confident he will find more gems in the years to come. If we can finaggle Ross and Kimbrell from the Padres and move LMJ to the pen we may just have the best team in the A.L., if not MLB. Luhnow, you crazy magician, do your thing.
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The Yankees are throwing a wrench in the deal for Kimbrel. I think the Astros have a much deeper farm, which concerns me. I don’t wanna give up any more pitchers for
A trade. The Padres want a center and a short stop…..think they would take villerror?
Lol!!! Had to laugh about that one!
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Becky, I can’t think rationally about this proposed trade. We gave up a lot for Gomez, but I think it was fair. Getting Kimbrel for a fair price would be fine with me. I question whether Preller will actually take what we fans would give up willingly, though. I like your idea of starting negotiations with Villar being involved as a deal breaker. Gotta find a 40 man spot somewhere…
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Hoe biog was that Castro Moment. A guy who a really stunk all year at the plate and hits a walk off Hr 2 Outs in the 9th. After me and the wife finished wahooing, I watched the celebration and I looked at her and said when things like this happen to a team , its like this could be a very special year, add Kazmir and Gomez to the mix, Springer (-:
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Definitely a turning point for this club!! We needed that sweep BIG TIME!!! Now on to the rest of the season. Getting very excited about today’s deadline for more trades!!!
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Phones HOW BIG
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I’m torn on another trade, to have JFSM as the 4th outfielder , Chemistry, ????
I think VV and LMJ can be a Kimbrel and less $$$$ and no more prospects.. I would send down Singleton, release Carter.
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Kevin, I agree. Let’s put Fiers in the rotation and move VV and LMJ to the pen. That’s the only upgrade we need.
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Oh, and yes, this was written about 3 hours before we had a sniff of this deal.
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The Astros are not planning to put Lance in the bull pen. McCullers and Fiers will tandem to monitor McCullers pitches. I suspect Feldman will move to the pen as the long guy, because VV has the propensity to walk too many guys.
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Don’t think we want to completely deplete the farm. Yes, we have a couple of holes but I think the chemistry of this team is the best that I have ever seen. I wonder if Appel’s name has been mentioned in any of these trades. Hate to lose some of the guys we have lost but that’s the business of baseball. It’s so much fun to see us at the top after the last 9 years and especially the last 4. Kudos to JL.
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Agreed!! I think losing Marisnick would really deflate the chemistry, he and Springer…are best friends. That’s something you can’t buy.
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LoL, Now if were talking Hoes, Villar, Carter Fontana and Valbuena Then I’m IN!
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Under the radar – Lowrie made one great play at 3rd. When he was pulled in he smothered a would-be double and got the out. In addition he worked an 0-2 count into a walk which helped eventually set-up the Castro heroics. And even though he made 3 outs previously, he did not strike out, which has to be considered a plus.
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Early in the week, there was discussion of the Padres and Astros flipping first basemen. Alonzo for Singleton. If there is something brewing at the deadline with the Padres, I’d sure like to see this as part of the equation.
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That would be an ideal trade. Alonso is an upgrade, in my opinion, from both Singleton and Carter.
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You guys must be dreaming………
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I think the lack of enthusiasm – on my part at least – about seeing so much of the best young talent in our system get dumped in trades representing minor to moderate upgrades at various positions that were not our weakest areas is that despite dumping all this talent we have not – as of yet at least – upgraded one smitherine at the critical positions that have been hurting us the most – i.e. at 1B, 3B, and C. I just would have hoped to see trades actually [a] address the most glaring holes we have in the team, and [b] return value at least roughly equivalent to what we are giving away. We have upgraded our SP with Kazmir, and I applaud that – but was SP one of our glaring weaknesses? We are better there now – [with Kaz at least; no evidence yet that Fiers has anything to offer over a healthy Feldman]. But irrespective of what Fiers brings, SP is a ‘luxury upgrade’ area, not a ‘necessity upgrade’ area. With regard to the CarGo acquisition we have, we are told – upgraded at the CF position. But [a] we are not upgrading with Mike Trout or Bryce Harper level talent, and [b] again, that position was not one that was producing for us at that much below league-average. The areas where we were intensely and embarrassingly weak before the trades – i.e at 1B, 3B, and C – we are still just as weak.
So when I see talk about a 1B upgrade – even if it is dreaming – at least my interest is piqued. If we can somehow get a 1B or 3B or C upgrade before the deadline, I’ll at least feel like we’ve accomplished something in dumping all the young talent with which we have parted. Otherwise, I will pray we are not the Oakland A’s of 2014.
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I mean, there is only one Bryce Harper. There is only one Mike Trout. BTW we have one – Carlos Correa. We aren’t getting that at every position.
I am no Gomez fan. I hate this trade. The guy is a big mouth, bench clearing brawl waiting to happen. He might bring a some fire though. He is not a moderate upgrade over Marisnick, he is a considerable upgrade over Marisnick.
I agree that 1B has been a hole. Third also. For his low average, Valbuena has had some moments and played good defense. He probably was never built to be an every day player. When you look at the pitches he was seeing before he got an everyday job, and after, you can see how pitchers in the league changed their approach with him. It worked. He is probably over exposed as an everyday player, but I think he brings value to the roster. Splitting time with Lowrie should be good for him, it allows Hinch to put him against guys he matches up with better and not force feed him into every pitcher. Long term, no doubt the Astros need to keep looking for that 150 game talent at 3B, but Lowrie/Valbuena platoon isn’t their worst problem.
The biggest hole this team had, IMO, was CF. Marisnick’s overall stat line may look about what was predicted, and some people thought they could live with, but it’s propped up by April. I don’t mind a gold glove caliber CF’er hitting .235 that can hit with a little power and run the bases well – what I don’t like is that .235 being a product of one incredible month followed by 3 months of complete garbage. He has been nonexistent in the offense for a LONG time. Longer than Grossman was before he got chased out. Hitters have to have a little consistency. Lament Carter all you want, I do as well, but when he hits .190 he does it month after month, he doesn’t hit .250 for a month and .120 the rest of the time, and he is always doing what he is paid to do – hit the little more than occasional homerun – and he draws a lot of walks. Plus we have other options at 1B – Singleton may not be what you want, but he is probably going to be given an opportunity. Reed will be with us shortly is my belief. No, CF was the biggest hole of them all.
It could have been filled by shifting Springer over. Then you just put your hole in RF. I don’t think Luhnow thought he could win with a 20 year old SS cutting his teeth, and Santana also cutting his teeth, and btw, Springer is still really cutting his teeth. Singleton is making his adjustments too – I loved the way he played in game 2 of the LAA series, offensively and defensively.
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Steven, are you implying we got Gomez to heat things up when we play KC in Oct?
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It’s going to make for good TV. The rest of the country isn’t going to watch a Houston/KC series, but in Houston and Kansas City they might just get a WrestleMania moment.
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The Blue Jays have made a gigantic splash in the trade market. The Astros have added Kazmir, and that has already been a big help to the home town 9. Without Kaz we probably did not win last night. We have also added CarGo and Fiers. Here is hoping that CarGo suddenly hits better than Bryce Harper and that Fiers becomes the next Clayton Kershaw. That would be great. Let’s talk about it in September.
Meanwhile next year and beyond watch out for the Brewers and the Phillies!
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i have no clue about whats going on between astros and padres but looking at their roster knowing Hedges is their top catcher it seems they need one fast. so i will be glad to c a trade wich includes Stassi, Villar, Hoes, Cruz, Carter, MarGo even Castro. yeah yeah yeah i know he is been way better defensively but we have 2 or 3 minor leaguers that can play D. hitting wise why pay 4MIL to a .200 hitter. i rather have Conger, Stassi, Heineman or Pena play. im sure they all can hit .200 for a league minimum
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You are assuming a lot to assume the Padres want any of those players.
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im saying they might ask for a catcher
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Evan Gattis is a catcher.
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That’s kind of like saying Bud Norris is an Oriole, OP1!
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Singleton was sent down to make ròom for CarGo which is extremely frustrating because that means Kris Karter is still here. I agree Mr. Bill, we already had a fairly good crop of center fielders. If luhnow can get Kimbrel without giving up another 4 GOOD prospects I would be OK with that…..but are we willing to deal Tucker AND Marisnick?? I would be very upset with a move like that. Fine….send one of those two to Fresno, but I don’t wanna lose either one of them……
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Becky, remember that if you send Singleton down, you don’t even lose an option year on him because he spent most of the year there. If you drop Carter, he is gone. But the real kicker is that we acquired a LH hitting first baseman yesterday who is also capable of playing 2B, SS and 3B, whereas Singleton cannot. That first baseman’s name is Valbuena and he is a lot more adaptable than Jonathan Singleton is. Carter leaves a RH option to play 1B on days when you face a tough LH pitcher, like Clayton Kershaw, who the Angels face tonight.
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So, Kimbrel [or Chapman] is an upgrade over Gregorsen in ERA and K potential; a virtual wash in WHIP. But is the closer position a real weakness for us? Bullpen is one of our greatest areas of strength – and Gregorsen has exceeded everybody’s expectations. So . . . aren’t we just talking about like buying a Mercedes to replace our trusty BMW?
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Kimbrell has an option in his contract for 2018. So you get him for a playoff run in 2015, you have two more years of control(2016 &2017) and a club option. If you trade for him and get him in your bullpen for the playoff run this year, he gives you a big arm to ADD to your bullpen, not necessarily to replace someone.
Let’s say, the Astros get to the promised land with him. With the big arms we have coming up in the minors, you can keep Kimbrel until you are ready to recoup some assets and move him any time you like. Somebody will pay big prospects for him next year if he helped you get to the WS or even win it this year.
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But if we do not trade Gregorson and Feldman or VV for him, that means we probably have to trade some combination of Musgrove, Marte, Bostick, Paulino AND some combination of A.J. Reed, Tony Kemp, Jason Martin, and Colin Moran.
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I agree with Bill. Kimbrel rolls to the tune of 12 mil a year. It’s not good economics to replace our successful and cheaper closer with a slight upgrade for that cost, not to mention you aren’t replacing Gregorsen, you are just demoting him to highly paid setup man. We would have a VERY good BP, but easily the most expensive one in AL this side of the AL East.
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Mr. Bill,
I think you have to try to get better in whatever areas you can. And maybe in the next four hours, we’ll get word of something happening at first base. That Singleton – Alonzo discussion has appeared in print from several sources. Not my idea. And it might be nothing, but we’ll find that out soon.
And we just upgraded third base overnight with Lowrie coming off the DL. So assuming he settles back in and produces, that corner is no longer a glaring issue.
In the meantime, we did need help in the rotation. McCullers is at 100 plus innings now. So he’s probably got 40 to 50 max left before they take the ball away from him. I’ve almost forgotten what we paid for Kazmir. Heck, right now, he’s pitching as well as those marquee guys, Price and Hamels. And I think we’ll get him resigned. As much fun as we’re having now, this could be a heck of a squad in 2016 with a bit more tweaking. And one more thing about the pitching. I think we’ll end up being pleasently surprised by Fiers. He is not a throw in. Yep, he’s 30, but does not have a whole lot of mileage on the arm. He’s got a strike out pitch. And I think he can be better. And for Luhnows purposes, he’s a solid rotation guy under team control for several years. And if we don’t need him down the road, he’s valuable trade bait for that reason alone.
With Gomez, if I look at his work from 2013 on, I see one of the best centerfielders in the league, a guy that can run the bases, bunt, really do everything and also produce an .800 OPS. I wish that guy was JFSF, because Jake can do everything except the hitting part. We’re trading in a .500 OPS based on what Jake has given us since April and getting much more offense in return. I look for Gomez to bring the same intensity we got from Marisnick. And at least until Springer gets back, we’ll be seeing both of them on the same field some nights.
One place I don’t think you’re going to see any help from at this point is the backstop position. But I do think that with Gomez, Lowrie and hopefully Springer, we’ll have improved our offense enough to overlook the catcher spot for now.
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I agree, Dave, you improve anywhere you can, any time you can. But at what cost, for what level of improvement, and according to what sequence of priorities?
I also agree that catcher offense is the least important of the three critical areas I mentioned. 1B was by far the #1 priority; 3B was #2 on my priority list; and C was a distant third. I just think that all those came before SP, closer, or CF – and that the giving away the level of potential Astros we did for some help – and not superstar help – in areas of lower priority, was quite disappointing. To me, this was especially the case since I had been watching the holes in our minor league system being exposed even before these trades took a lot of the cream off the top. Ah, but it is what it is. It’s not my money – and it’s not my job on the line. And heck, over the next few months every trade we make may just pay off like the lottery, while over the next three years all the talented guys we traded away may turn out to be complete busts. All is well. And while nobody was watching, Joe Sclafani actually got to play and went 3-4 last night with 3 RBIs.
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I couldn’t argue with anything you said, even if I wanted to, which is something I like to do. 🙂 You make some great points, Dave.
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Now the Padres are trying to attach a second baseman Jedd goryco (spelling?) To any pitcher deals. Jeezy they either want to trade, or they don’t quit adding on different costs to a trade! This guy is owed a TON of money through 2017.
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Yep Mr. Bill, let’s see what happens. As I said last night, I really think Santana is going to break out soon. And yes, I also noticed that our friend Joe is up to .295.
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I think the thing that is most exciting to me is the job that Kazmir has done so far. He shut down the team with the best record in the AL and then he shut down the team we have been chasing all month in the AL West.
That kind of stuff is what you dream that a trade will provide. A LH starting pitcher who shuts down Trout and Pujols in a game that means first place in the division. We were going to have to wait for two years for Nottingham or Mengden to even prove they were going to make the majors, and we get Cy Young in the span of ten days in the middle of a pennant race.
Even better, our catcher of the present, not the catcher we were hoping would be the future, ends the night with the biggest hit of his entire career. That is sweet!
On April 6th, how many of us saw this coming? Nobody.
For us at Chipalatta, this is Disney World becoming real in our backyard. OMG, let’s go out and play! There’s even a roof that opens and closes!
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Do you think they will let me operate the controls?
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rangers to start hamels saturday. that means he won’t pitch in the series against us
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Did anybody notice the emotional fire in Castro’s face as he rounded first base after his homerun? I wish he would show that more often.
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It’s down to Chapman or Kimbrel!!! Can’t wait to see if we get one of those guys!
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MLB network is saying the Astros are going after Arolis Chapman. What is this all about?
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This is about the World series. It is also about SD trying to make the Astros take on a huge 2B salary, when they already have Altuve and Kemp. If you want to make somebody mad enough to make a huge move, try changing the stakes in the middle of the game.
Also, I just looked at Spotrac and even with the additions of Gomez and Fiers, the Astros payroll is still at $77mil, less than any of their AL West competitors. If Crane says here’s the money go get him, you go get him.
The Astros announced a big ticket price increase for next season this morning? Am I right about that?
Or the Chapman talk is to make SD come to their senses. We’ll see.
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Trade fever. It is Jeff Luhnow trying to be crowned as GM of the year. And he just might make it.
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You have a first base option. Either start teaching Preston tucker to shaggy balls, if that doesn’t work out (you need his bat) OR……bring A.J. Reed up and let him take it by the horns. Chris Carter is as good as gone, for me anyway. When you put in marwin to pinch hit for him in the 7th inning you know he’s lost his managers confidence.
We brought Correa up and McCullers……give Reed a chance to shine. OK I’ll get off my soap box. Does anyone agree with me?
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I knew a dude named Shaggy Balls who worked at the bookstore at my old college.
*ahem*
Seriously, though, I’m in complete agreement with you. Completely over Carter.
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I said release Crater oh here hours ago
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Ugh Carter Crater same thing
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No deal. Bit of a relief.
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Yup Im watching espn and the deals SD and Cincy wanted were nuts see ya
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Lowrie out of the line-up tonight. CarGo will bat 2nd. Tucker in LF and at clean-up. Gonzales at 1B, Valbuena at 3B. Castro behind the dish. No Chris Carter anywhere.
May CarGo find both the Crawford boxes and the train tracks to his liking.
May Carlos Correa hit for the cycle.
May Valbuena finally hit HR #20.
May Preston Tucker set a new personal single game RBI record.
May Gattis hit the flagpole and stretch that 3B stride into an Inside the Park streak.
May Jose Altuve get two doubles and two steals of third base [he’s actually followed by a right-handed hitter now!]
And may Scott Feldman throw his best start as an Astro.
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lol, yes sir mr bill a gattis inside the park home run would put a smile on the whole ballpark full of faces. i wish i was his agent—i see all kinds of endorsements coming his way. anything with speed associated with it.
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Walt Jocketty and Jeff Luhnow aren’t the best of friends, and that’s putting it mildly, so I was not surprised that Chapman would not be in a trade to us. I was however, pretty ticked off at A.J. Preller for changing the rules in the middle of the deadline. If he thinks the Padres can make the playoffs, go for it, but just in case he changes his mind about Kimbrel, I’m sure Luhnow will answer the phone.
On a BRIGHTER note………ALL of our great prospects are gearing up to play for US tonight! And Carlos Gomez is in OUR lineup tonight! I like him already!
Oh…….and everything Mr. Bill just said!
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I am fine that no other trades were made at the deadline. I would have liked to have added Chapman or Kimbrel to the bullpen, but it appears both the Reds and Padres were asking for the farm, literally. I am not comfortable with our closer being a pitch to contact pitcher, especially in the playoffs, but it is what it is and we still have a strong farm system. Gomez will be a nice upgrade offensively from our current CFer and we will have some options once Springer returns, including getting PTuck some ABs as DH.
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One thing to remind everyone – 2B, SS and C are traditionally the worst hitting positions. So I think we can carry poor C hitting when we have Altuve and Correa kicking butt at 2B and SS.
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Castro teased us with his offense in 2013 and we long for that but he is a much better catcher than then and that’s what matters most. I watched him work his tail off behind the plate last night. He did let one 55 footer from Kazmir get away but it was not from lack of effort. No high performing pitching staff will stay that way without a good defensive catcher. I think any offense Castro provides is gravy. I do like Conger’s offense, especially against RHP but he is way worse defensively. And correct me if I’m wrong but I think I’ve read that Castro is the superior pitch framer despite that being one of the supposed reasons we acquired Conger.
This is a good lineup tonight. If things go according to plan we get ahead late, Jake spells Tucker in the OF and a well rested bullpen does the rest. Glad to see Singleton sent to Fresno where he can get regular at bats the next six weeks and maybe fool some team into thinking he has some value. Would love to see the team get something for Carter even if its a lottery ticket or two. Just DFA-ing him may be addition by subtraction but we ought to try to get something more for him than just opening a roster spot.
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Things to remember for the future:
-AJ Preller is better at buying than selling
-In a high money market, it’s tough to move low production players.
-If you’re going to jump up and down about losing prospects in trades, you had better be ready to admit that a prospect you wanted to keep is not as good as you had hoped.
-Trading prospects to NL teams means they won’t come back to haunt you as often as ones traded to AL teams. And trading them to Oakland means that they might haunt you for a little while but then they will be traded away to another team before they get expensive.
-The Royals are serious about winning the World series and now know they have the Astros to contend with.
-To win the World Series, the Astros have to beat only one National League team. Make sure our starting pitchers get some batting practice. Of the Giants, Dodgers and Cardinals, only one will make it to the World Series and they won’t have home field advantage in it. The second most important thing for the Astros to do is win their division. The most important thing to do is to win tonight, in front of a big crowd on fireworks night.
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wooo hooo op. aint it fun to be in the race. and looking at the teams before the trades and now after – i am happy to say i think the astros are the favorites to will the division!! gomez will make a difference in our lineup and play good defense as well. kazmir and fiers add quality depth and flexibility to the staff.
hamels starts sat for the rangers so will miss us this next series. i think our moves help us more than any team in our division.
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Did you know that the Dodgers payroll sits at $301 million. That’s $112million over the tax limit
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After pondering today about the trades, I would like to add one thing about our prospects. They are like your kids bringing home a dog or a cat. Once they have “named them” – you are in trouble. I believe during the drought, we learned a lot of “names” of our prospects. So we do not want to give them up.
I think that probably the best trade(s) that JL made at the deadlines were the ones where he said “No way.” I am sure that some of these earlier trades will look bad in 2-3 years. (Yep, that is a poke at Tim for no good reason 🙂 ). But for what this team might accomplish in 2015 – the team got a little better. Let’s hope it gets to the post season for a least a game or two.
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Well, Gomez is 0-4 with an error tonight so that trade is looking bad in 1 day. 😅
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As 1OP pointed out our payroll is at 77MM. Dodgers at an astounding 301MM. Looking ahead we’ll need some big bucks to keep Correa, Altuve, Springer, Keuchel, McCullers, Kazmir, and who knows who else in a few years. I’m sure our payroll will balloon big time but for the time being, I’d say we’re in the catbird’s seat, and I like that.
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WHo is this guy posing as Jason Castro?
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Marwin loafed to first and then napped at first, taking the bat out of Castro’s hands. I don’t expect to see that out of our guys.
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Yeah, but that loss is on the pitching staff. You gave them the big home runs and a 4-1 lead and the pitchers gave it right back. Diamondbacks weren’t impressed with our pitching or all our little high fives and water throwing BS. They came to play and we need to remember to keep our pitches down. Our batters looked at first pitch soft stuff all night long and were constantly in the hole because they were fastball hunting. I would bet that the Astros looked at twenty called strike changeups and ten of them were first pitch strikes.
Astros were thinking that momentum would win that game and Arizona came to play.
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I thought it was a good, flat team loss. Gomez blew a ball in right center that he is supposed to make a play on and will next time. Marwin looked rough at first. It’s not so easy over there that you can just give a guy a glove and expect him to be effective. The pen remains a concern. Except for a couple of Crawford box shots, the offense was asleep. Maybe a bit of a hangover from that nice three game sweep of the Angels. And OP1, I agree. The during game celebration stuff makes me cringe a bit. It’s premature and serves no purpose other than pissing off the guys in the other dugout. It’s time the guys start acting like they’ve been there before, even if they haven’t.
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Well OP1, the pitchers – especially Feldman – had a little help. Take a look at the replay of Wellington Castillo’s ‘double’ [per the scorer] in the 6th, that led to the D’back’s 2nd and 3rd runs. See: http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/140304326/carlos-gomez-endures-rough-debut-with-astros
Feldman had the out. Our new CF – not so much.
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Mr. Bill, Feldman was solid. The Gomez play should have been ruled a two base error. Instead it set up the inning that got them right back in the game. And all night long, Feldman was throwing grounders that beat the shift. Just turns out that way sometimes. It was not his loss.
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Thank you, Dodgers. Helped us out tonight.
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