Kinsler was out in front of it. He mistimed it. Great pitch. Had kinsler held back a smidge, it was smashable. Great win. Get tomorrow too
Couldn't have been an easy clubhouse move to make, but his performance at the plate has been beyond unnaceptable. Wonder who's getting the call.
Didn't realize he could still be optioned. Kemp or Davis are the obvious choices. White is an outside choice. Tucker still likely too far from Super Two even with all the callups already.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23519497/houston-astros-sent-slumping-jake-marisnick-minors Hinch: "We want it to be a short stay in the minor leagues," Hinch told reporters, according to MLB.com. "He needs to get some at-bats. He hasn't really been right for most of the year. The swing-and-miss has been a struggle for him. He's a really good player that hasn't quite gotten on track. "I think it's been piling up on him in the last few weeks. He needs a run of at-bats he's not going to get here over the next 10 days or however long he's down there to get back to being a contributor again."
And Tyler White hitting .362/.485/.615 in 163 plate appearances. While it will probably be JD Davis, I'd like to see Gattis get sent down and have White get a chance at DH with some infield platooning. Not sure if Gattis has any options left, but he's had to clear waivers by now. He's still owed $5M this year, and no team will want that contract.
Depends. If said club thought they could get 2017 offensive numbers (.263/.311/.457) out of him and were in need of a 2nd catcher, its not inconceivable. We only make this move when we are prepared to let him go for nothing.
If a team claimed him, they would have to pay him the remainder of his contract. So that would be a $5M savings. And the Astros might be better as a result, with Davis and/or White getting Gattis' at-bats. Again, while it's possible that some team would claim him, I think it's fairly unlikely. He's an unrestricted free agent after this year, so if he turns things around with a new team, it's not like they would be able to flip him to another team.
How many teams carry a struggling $5MM backup catcher and would give up anything of value for that? If the scenario were reversed, would the Astros ever trade for a $5MM 0.600 OPS guy that they hope could play backup C and improve his bat?
I didnt say the Astros would do it The scenario I was thinking about was a team that has injuries at catcher and whose need is great without home grown options.