Jose Altuve

A truly honest question...

What makes him "fun to watch"? He is not particularly flashy, he is not overly fast, out of the 149 qualifiers in OBP in MLB, he is 126 so he is not on base much, out of the 149 qualifiers in SLG, he is 141 so when he gets a hit it is usually a single, and he is 143 in OPS. He is a middle of the pack defensive player.

For some reason, his manager doesn't recognize his dismal offensive stats and keeps trotting him out there batting 3rd.

 

They signed that extension, so hes gonna be here for a while. He's been awful this year, no other way to put it. His WAR is now in the negative.

He flat out needs a new approach. The early sentiment was don't screw with him because you may mess up what he does well. At this point there is no risk because what he does simply isn't good enough. He hits for no power and never walks so he has to maintain a very good BA to be productive, which is hard to do when you swing at the first decent pitch you see.

They need to force him to start taking more pitches. Not only to draw a few more walks but more importantly to start waiting for better pitches to swing at. He's very easy to root for, and he gives them a viable name for fans to attach to, but as is he's simply not good, or even average.

 

I still think he can bring back a top 50 prospect straight up. His lack of height and athletism really limits him as an everyday player. Maybe bring Delshields for 2014 to compete for 2nd base.

For the Astros sake just bring top 10 prospects to spring training next season and keep the ones that are ready to play in the majord. Sprinkle that with a few key positionfree agents mostly middle relievers and bench player or two.

 

You're insane, we would be lucky to even get a fringe prospect for Altuve right now.

 

I'd send him to the minors. I'd rather have Jake Elmore or Jose Martinez as the every day 2B right now.

 

He sucks

 

Its not really an "extension". He was going to be an Astro those years regardless. It was just to get out of arbitration.

Even though he has been truly awful, he puts up high cumulative numbers based on the amount of AB's he gets.

 

Now we have to pay him no matter what. Small gamble though. Hopefully whatever it is, he'll figure it out, I just don't think it will be this season.

 

Well he hasn't reached DFA level quite yet, has he?

He'll get more time to figure it out... but if the Astros have somebody knocking on the door, ready to play, I don't think his "extension" should preclude that player from coming up and supplanting him.

 

No, but if he continues to struggle beyond this year and didn't have options remaining, I think the team would have non-tendered him.

 

He is 23. I don't know, because of his current approach, whether he can or will improve. But given his age, there's a decent chance that he will. I think the major problem is likely coming from the organization treating him like the face of the franchise and no one is telling him he has to improve. On the other hand, he has the contract and might not feel like there's any incentive to putting the necessary work in.

 

Because he's short. Fun for the average fan who attends games to watch and root for. It's the only reason he's still an every day player who never has to platoon or anything (yes, I truly believe that).

 

I understand why people root for him, but being "fun to watch" is what I do not understand, unless watching someone struggle offensively and get thrown out on the base paths as often as Carlos Lee is fun.

 

They think it's fun to watch a midget play in Major League Baseball games. You're over-analyzing it and making it harder to understand than it should be.

 

Everyone in the lineup outside of Castro are merely cheap placeholders awaiting to be replaced when the minor league cavalry arrives.

 

I think Matt Dominguez is a viable third sacker. He is in the top 15 in WAR at 3B, has a decent glove, and he is decent with power! At age 24, he has room to grow, and I think it would be a little much to put him in a easy replacement category.

 

Yeah, I was going to say Dominguez, and Carter as DH, and I'd imagine one of Hoes or Grossman will end up being a starter long-term.

Regarding Dominguez: if Correa ends up moving to 3rd, why not Dominguez as a potential 2B down the road?

 

A lot of guys have actually shown promise. The only guy in our lineup I think is clearly a placeholder is Barnes.

Carter, Wallace, Grossman, Hoes, Villar, & Dominguez have all shown some positives this season.

It is most accurate to probably say Castro is the only guy who clearly has a long-term future right now.