JT Realmuto is a Huge Need, Starting Pitchers can really Respect, Realmuto will not shaken off on his play calls. Verlander, Cole will Respect a All Star Catcher in Realmuto, especially late in the Season, Late in Games, Critical Pitches being Thrown late in Games, Realmuto blocking Pitches in the Dirt, Throwing Out Runners, Pitch Signal, Signals given to the defense. Can make a Huge Impact in the Postseason.
Let’s do it. Trade Tucker for Realmuto. I’m all for win-now mode and worry about rebuild/semi-reload when that time come.
Springer Bregman Altuve Brantley Correa Realmuto Would be six bats that could all earn all-star spots + Reddick, Gurriel & Diaz/Chirinos could be another 50-60 homeruns
CF George Springer 2B Jose Altuve 3B Alex Bregman LF Michael Brantley DH Nelson Cruz SS Carlos Correa C JT Realmuto 1B Yuli Gurriel RF Josh Reddick Bench 2B/LF Tony Kemp CF Jake Marisnick C Robinson Chirinos The 3rd, 4th, 5th Spots in the Lineup especially has so much Responsibility in Having High Contact, Power, Hitting the Ball the other way, to Drive in Runs.
I’d hate for the Astros to part with Kyle Tucker, but with Verlander and Cole inked up for just one more season, this might be a true one year window to get this done. Realmuto is still young, either 26 or 27 who is a proven all-star. But he becomes a free agent in 2 seasons. I’m glad it’s Luhnow making the call and not me! However this would be an exciting addition and would keep the the Astros among the top 3 teams.
I forgot to add a Catcher needs to Study Scouting Reports against Hitters, which Pitch to throw, Memorize in English. Jeff Luhnow and the Front Office handing Scouting Reports to Brian McCann, Brian of course did a Great Job. JT Realmuto I think has those qualities.
If you trade Tucker (etc.) for Realmuto, you need to realize that Verlander, Cole, Springer, Reddick, Brantley & now Realmuto will all come up in the next two years. *That's* why some of us are bullish on dealing Tucker and/or Whitley (+ other top-ish prospects). And it's not just because we hope Tucker will be able to slot in as a 3-4+ WAR player (thought we obviously do) - he's also *dirt cheap* for the next six years (well, four until he reaches arbitration eligibility). So if you want to entertain any notion of a) resigning any of those guys (and you likely can't sign *all* of them); and/or b) signing other guys..... you *have* to sprinkle in cheap, productive players. This is the delicate balance of present/future. Sure, it's easy right now to advocate for a TRADE IT ALL approach - but that bill will come due and I guarantee you, many of the TRADE IT ALL crowd now will be among the loudest spewers of angry vitriol when the team is crumbling around Altuve, Bregman & Correa because most fans suck donkey balls. I'm all for the Astros finding a way to land Realmuto; but more than that, I'm all for them holding steadfast to their formula/valuation and not impatiently overpaying. And right now, Kyle Tucker feels like an overpay for Realmuto.
The Astros won 103 games with Max Stassi & Martin Maldonado handling the bulk of the catching duties last year. Explain how Realmuto addresses a huge need?
Guys, it's not going to be just Tucker for Realmuto. One trade proposal I saw on MLB Network was Tucker AND Josh James. Thoughts? To me that is a no. We are already thin at starting pitching.
My thoughts would be to laugh and tell them no thank you. Call back when you're sober. There aren't 15 teams lining up for him any longer. If they want to get any return back they are going to have to cut down on their demands or risk losing him for worse packages the closer he comes to Free Agency, unless someone wants to overpay at the trade deadline. I'm just not doing that deal in December.
I believe James is looked more as a reliever long term. Electric fastball, but average to below average secondary pitches.
It's hard to see this trade coming to pass. If you really want an elite catcher just go sign Grandal and be done with it.
Semantics. Regardless of whether you classify it as a “need” upgrading from Stassi to Realmuto improves the roster in a significant way. The Astros won the World Series with Mike Fiers leading the team in IP. So I guess that means we can deal Cole and Verlander for prospects.
It's not semantics nor is that an intellectually honest comparison, and you know it. There are..... 2, maybe 3 elite catchers in all of baseball? 4? The Red Sox just won 108 games and a WS with two catchers posting sub-.600 OPSs. Sure, Realmuto is an upgrade; unquestionably. But is upgrading the catcher position a *need*? I'd label it a luxury. If Robinson Chirinos is the everyday catcher... they're probably still going to win... 95+ games.
For me, I would require Miami to include a good lotto prospect with Realmuto, especially if they expect to get Tucker plus a meaningful prospect. Something like: Astros get: C JT Realmuto OF Brayan Hernandez Marlins get: OF Kyle Tucker C Max Stassi 3B Abraham Toro Unfortunately I do think if the deal goes down it will probably be Tucker plus one good prospect (JBB, Cionel, Beer, Nova, Martin) and an interesting throw-in. Which is still in the range of fair but obviously hurts Houston more. If Houston gives up Tucker AND another elite prospect (Whitley, Alvarez, James), they’re getting robbed and it could be another Carlos Gomez trade.
The Gomez trade was only bad because Gomez sucked, if Realmuto sucks it will be a bad trade regardless of what we give up.
