That’s a good deal for the Dodgers. $11M is meaningless to them and he has the upside to be a playoff SP. Yamamoto, Glasnow, Buehler, Paxton, and Miller is probably the deepest rotation in the league. Dodgers have a superteam.
My idea of the Astros ideal opening day roster. Starters 6 J Verlander F Valdez* C Javier J Urquidy JP France H Brown The rotation is just a matter of who wins the 5 or 6 man rotation debate. I prefer 6 but my opinion carries little weight. The sixth man will be France or Brown and good arguments can be made for starting either in Sugar Land. Relievers 7 J Hader* R Pressly B Abreu R Montero F Whitley D Cronin Bielak Hader, Whitley, & Cronin are new additions that make this pen as strong as any we have recently had. Bielak is a multi inning reliever that will be shopped and traded or released as he is out of options and is in the way of better options for the pen. Catchers 2 Y Diaz V Caratini Bench catcher, was Maldy. Caratini is a great addition. The only concern for the position is health. A long term injury to either player could force going out of the organization to get a credible third catcher. Infielders 5 J Abreu J Altuve J Pena A Bregman Kessinger IF Bench The infield is unchanged from last season. Abreu and Altuve are aging and will need to be spelled by the more youthful Loperfido and Kessinger often but both will prove adequate to the task. Hitters 2 Y Alvarez* Designated J Loperfido* Versatile Bench (IF & OF corners) was Dubon (middle IF & OF) who is traded. Dubon is coming off his best season and should be at his peak value for a trade. Loperfido is a better choice for the corners that will be an area of need. Particularly 1st base. Outfielders 4 C McCormick J Meyers K Tucker* K Corona OF Bench, was Julks but he lacked positional versatility and was limited to LF. Corona has the defensive chops to play all three OF positions at a high level and the offensive upside to become the starter if Meyers does not work out in Center field.
I have to say I'm amazed at how many on here continue to pencil in Whitley as part of the bullpen. Don't get me wrong I'm still pulling for him, however he's struggled time and time again to get minor league hitters out and now people are assuming (and counting on him) to get MLB hitters out?? I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong if he can turn it around, but until he does it and I see it with my own eyes there's no way I'm expecting anything from him with the Astros.
i think he gets a pretty long leash as the 7/8th guy out of the bullpen. He gets all the Seth Martinez ultra-low leverage innings.
Man, Snake is going to talk this man into existence and I'm all here for it. Whitley needs all the positive juju he can get at this point. lol Whitley owes this organization... he is the reason why the Astros didn't get Realmuto.
If the Mariners were to sign Matt Chapman and add one good RP, I would probably consider their roster on par with Houston’s.
If their rotation is as strong as it’s projected, they are going to be a tough team. Yesterday morning they were linked to trading for Cease. Woo was one of the pieces going out. I could be wrong but I expect Cease to get traded before the season starts. White Sox don’t want that distraction going on.
Much like the Julio Rodriguez deal and the now embarrassing Wander Franco deal. This is the best way teams are going to have to retain star players and not feel like they're necessarily 'overpaying' for past performance, but still taking a risk. Players taking a risk as well as they're locking into a fixed rate when contract values seemingly go up with each FA cycle (but they're also set financially for life, regardless of inflation). In an alternate universe, Carlos Correa and George Springer are not happy... even though both ultimately got decent paychecks. In a more local alternative universe, Yordan is questioning his agent right now.
