If they can find a taker for Reddick and they let all the FA walk, they’ll have ~$5-10M available to bring in a C and a RP. My guess is it’ll be a cheap C like Maldonado and they’ll trade prospects for a reliever still in minimum or early arb. Next deadline will definitely not be able to take on another big salary.
The only spot I worry about filling is catcher. Stubbs didn’t look like he was really even a capable backup option, so I think you need to pickup two this offseason. Id love to bring both Chirinos and Machete back, but that’s probably unlikely.
Dude. You wanted to trade Tucker for a back up catcher that can’t hit his weight. You don’t really even follow the Astros farm system, you don’t know how the Astros contracts are structured or when they expire. You don’t even know what the tax line is. Yet... you some how have a strong opinion about 4 minor leaguers the Astros dealt for a Hall of Fame pitcher under contract for the next 2.5 years. JBB has done nothing since we drafted him. At this point the general belief is that he will become a reliever if he can ever get his act together. CB had a serious injury and will likely miss all of next year. Even before the injury he didn’t show much when he pitched for the Astros. Also if he loses anything stuff wise from the injury, he could be in a lot of trouble. SB is going to hit in the big leagues. He is a natural hitter. However he is also limited to first base and he is incredibly slow. Hence, while I believe in him, his impact is 100% dependent on his hit skill. JR wasn’t even a prospect coming into this year. He is 24 years old already and there are serious questions about his position.
Ummm.. every OF we have on the 25 man is a better and more proven baseball player than Kyle Tucker is currently.
lol, you are a 100 percent right. But I've also heard that tucker is the next big thing for about 4 years now and he still hasn't made it to the big leagues, was pasted up by Alvarez. Do people here still think Tucker is great? To me, he will be possibly a hunter pence type, if that. Beer is shooting through the minors like a rocket, so yeah I have concerns.
First, how do you know if there were even talks for Bumgarner? Also, Tucker is head and shoulders above Beer defensively. Tucker is also still younger than Beer (albeit around six months). Even for all of Tucker’s struggles this year, he still as a .900+ OPS. Why do you say Beer is better than Tucker?
https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/27297396/law-breaking-price-astros-paid-greinke The Houston Astros have made yet another huge trade for a starter, acquiring Zack Greinke from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a package of four prospects, improving their World Series odds while the D-backs clear some payroll and boost an already-strong farm system. Greinke has pitched for the past two seasons with reduced velocity, but he has made it work because his command and control are so good, and because he has always been a master at adding and subtracting velocity to keep hitters off balance. There's some minor cause for concern in the increased contact rates he's allowing, although he has managed to minimize the damage he has allowed on contact this year and will be going from one analytically focused coaching staff to another. His skill set seems like one that will allow him to continue to be effective even as he gets older and loses more velocity with age. He's under contract for two more years, which helps the Astros fill Gerrit Cole's slot if he leaves as a free agent after the season, and can help if Forrest Whitley isn't ready next year after a disastrous, injury-plagued 2019. The Diamondbacks got four players coming back, although I'm slightly surprised Kyle Tucker wasn't among them, as the Astros seem to have decided to go in a different direction for their outfield. Arizona gets Houston's two best pitching prospects below Whitley in right-handlers J.B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin. Bukauskas is a former first-round pick who is consistently up to 97-98 with a wipeout slider, though he has a high-effort delivery that doesn't use his lower half well, and he might be a power reliever rather than a starter. Martin looked great in his MLB debut this year but blew out his elbow shortly afterward, requiring Tommy John surgery. He could be a fourth starter or better, depending on how he recovers from the operation. Arizona also gets first baseman/designated hitter Seth Beer, the Astros' first-round pick from 2018, a very patient hitter with power and no clear position. He has had some trouble with lefties in a limited sample this year, and that's something to watch going forward. Josh Rojas is the sleeper in the deal, a high-contact hitter with plus speed and good instincts at bat and on the bases; he can play multiple positions, probably stretched as a regular at shortstop but ideal as a multiposition guy who can play regularly. Of course, the best part of the deal for the Diamondbacks is getting out from Greinke's onerous contract, but they got two quality pitching prospects, a utility infielder (or better) who can play in the majors right now, and a patient power hitter with some question marks about his ceiling. The Astros, meanwhile, traded four prospects, three of whom were not going to help the MLB club this year or next, between Martin's injury, Beer's lack of a position, and players blocking Rojas and Beer all over the place. Only Bukauskas might have helped them in 2020, and the rotation spot that might have gone to him at some point goes to Greinke. Houston wasn't done, adding Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini from the Blue Jays for Derek Fisher. Sanchez needed a change of scenery a while ago, and his sinker has been completely ineffective for him as a starter this season. He could go right into the Astros' bullpen while they try to rework his delivery and get him back to the sinker/curveball guy he was a few years ago, when he looked like he had No. 2 starter potential or more; he shortened his stride not long after he reached full-season ball and has struggled to find consistent mechanics since then. He has also dealt with injury and blister issues. They could use him in relief now, as he wasn't effective enough as a starter to join their rotation, and try to work him back into a starter role in the winter. Biagini is a competent middle reliever without the upside of Sanchez but who helps the Astros now. Fisher was lapped by other outfield prospects in the Astros' system, but could still end up a regular or a quality fourth outfielder for the Jays. He has huge power and plus speed, with a long swing and some pitch recognition issues that at least improved a little this year after two stints in 2017-18 with huge strikeout rates. Despite the speed, he's a poor defensive outfielder -- it's confusing, but his reads on balls have never been good -- and may just have to play left, but he has 25-homer/25-steal upside if he makes enough contact to get to it. It's a shame that Sanchez never reached his potential for the Blue Jays, but at this point his trade value was probably pretty low, and the Jays at least got a potential regular and likely fourth outfielder in return.
We did give up some great talent but we didn’t give up who I assume Luhnow considers future all-stars in Tucker and Whitley. Rojas, Beer, and maybe Corbin would’ve been blocked at the MLB level so I assume that’s why they were expendible. Luhnow has been solid with evaluating talent so hopefully this last draft and international signings produced some future pro’s. I’m confident they can replenish the talent they gave up while still maintaining a World Series contender at the MLB level. I think this was a win for both teams.
The 2 time All Star who hit over 100 hr’s in under 5 seasons with the Astros...that Hunter Pence? Ok...sign me up. Tucker is 22 and has a whopping 65 ab’s In the majors. He plays a good OF. Be patient. Seriously...you’re just wrong. Maybe in 5 years you’ll be able to come back and say that Beer is better. But that’ll probably be after another ring or 2 so I’ll just have to live with that.
And for the Yankees, for the second time in two seasons, Luhnow outdueled Brian Cashman. It's not quite that simple: Greinke had a no-trade clause to 15 teams, including the Yankees, and reports say he never would have approved a trade to New York. So it's not fair to bash the Yankees for not getting Greinke. But it's perhaps fair to bash the front office -- and by extension, ownership -- for not adding a starter like Robbie Ray or even a reliever. The rotation has been in a freefall since April. The Yankees are good, but the Astros won the day. And just as Verlander beat them twice in the 2017 American League Championship Series, you wonder if Greinke will haunt the Yankees this October. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27297717/winners-losers-unexpectedly-wild-mlb-trade-deadline
