I’m not even sure Brown is a starter long term in the big leagues. I think he is likely a late inning reliever. Brown has several issues he is working through. Cease obviously has his own issues as well.
Fans are always biased toward their own. It's understandable after 2022 that we all had ( have) hopes that Brown would be the next TOR all star but plenty of knowledgeable people from around the country had reservations then he put those at the forefront last year. He still could be, but it's no sure thing. McCormick is a very good player, but a classic high effort overachiever. He's at his ceiling and peak of his value. He is the kind of player who wins games, but need to be willing to give up to get higher ceiling players that improve the team as a whole. Leon has been passed by several players in the organization and likely to never cut his Ks down significantly. He is a prime change of scenery candidate and with White Sox Cuban scouting it makes sense they would want him. Matthews is a very athletic player but is too early in his career to know what he may be. It's 50/50 that he could end up being a borderline star, or Chris Burke. Certainly not enough to worry about including him in a deal to get all star level player(s) during the win now phase. Urquidy is Urquidy. Solid innings eaters are important, but he will never be a TOR or even MOR guy and is always 10th or lower in a deep playoff staff. If Robert OR Cease come back for those guys I consider it depending on who else is included. If both are then I jump at that deal.
Seems like, barring a big trade/acquisition…2024 is the first year since Correa’s rookie year where we may not have a high/elite impact rookie (or even a spot for them to get a lot of ABs/innings)… Who is the best bet to carry on the Stros good fortune of having a great rookie campaign?
From strictly a fit perspective, the only position player who seems to have a current fit for opening day, or close to it, is Loperfido. Leon is kind of redundant with Tucker, Meyers, Dubon and Chaz. If I had to pick one name with the best odds it would be Spencer Arrighetti. He hasn't been able to put it together consistently, but he's already in AAA, has swing and miss stuff and seems to be the type of guy that could put it together and be a weapon for us.
An OF staking claim to the CF or LF job is probably the best bet. That means Corona or Loperfido or Leon. Otherwise Arrighetti or Gordon coming up early next year and surprising is the other potential way.
2023 season stats: Brown: 79 DRA-, 103 FIP-, 4.27 xERA, Cease: 102 DRA-, 83 FIP-, 4.10 xERA. Brown got killed by the longball last season, but otherwise was better than Cease. Cease also lost some velo last season as well.
Brown got killed by a BABIP northh of .330 and a LOB% of like 70%. His XFIP was 13th in The league for guys with 120 ip or more.
He did get legitimately hit hard this past season, but imo, that’s less predictive than the stuff he was good at. I think this is why DRA and SIERA like him a lot. I would be a lot more worried about him had he walked a bunch of ppl last year.
I truly hope they drain their entire farm, sign all these players, win 100 plus and get smoked in the first round of the play offs lol. Please baseball gods.
Glasnow has been sort of like McCullers here. Meadows finished top 20 in MVP voting twice in Tampa. Baz is still a top prospect. Archer did nothing productive in Pittsburgh.
From what I gathered, this is a big deal. I have to assume Dana Brown has someone planned for the role.
Stearns knows all these guys who are still here when he was here. Obviously they don't have any ties to any current front office or GM member. Makes sense to make a move now if they're being recruited by former colleagues... especially if its for a promotion.
Considering this was the role Dana Brown made his biggest impact as prior to becoming a GM... hopefully he knows what to look for.
It is significant. When I found out I was not happy about it. However, part of the reason Gross left was because Brown was extremely involved and hands on.
