2018 Astros Off-Season thread

[Preacher Man]

Brantley’s a good player. He would help us

[systemnt]

[systemnt]

Oh..a brantley deal is done

[gingib]

Brantley maybe a stud pickup if he stays healthy. Similar plate approach to Bregman and does not swing and miss much

[mr. buck]

with the acquisition of Brantley I may finally be comfortable using Tucker in a trade for Realmuto. As fun as the hot stove season is, does anyone feel our season will come down to Correa returning to mvp contention form? I'm confident a healthy Altuve will produce, just concerned Correa's back may be a chronic issue.

[systemnt]

Correas back will certainly be a focus point, but i have no doubt hes doin everything in his power to get right...
i dont think theres anything pointing to it being a chronic issue at this point... it was hurt..and it took time to heal.
Tuves knee will be under same scrutiny.

We'll see.

#StayHealthy should be the motto for the year.

[mr. buck]

I feel like the division is weak enough that Luhnow has the luxury of building a team to win in the postseason versus having to worry about building a team to win from day one. A post season rotation of Verlander, Cole, Whitley (fingers crossed) and a top end rental pitcher would suit me just fine.

[Preacher Man]

With the addition of Brantley, we have one too many outfielders. Unless they start Tucker in AAA. Or trade him. Or trade someone else. Going to be interesting for sure

[sideways]

Joe Smith ruptured Achilles’ tendon out 6-8 months


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[El General]

With the addition of Brantley, we have one too many outfielders. Unless they start Tucker in AAA. Or trade him. Or trade someone else. Going to be interesting for sure

Tucker will almost certainly start in AAA. He won't be up with the big club to be a fourth outfielder. When he comes up, they will want to give him everyday AB's. I seriously doubt that he gets traded even for Realmuto.

Even with Tucker in AAA, they still have one too many outfielders with Brantley, Reddick, Springer, Marisnick, and Tony Kemp. I think Kemp is out of option years and Marisnick will have the ability to refuse an assignment to AAA after a couple months service time.

So, it looks like one of those guys is going to have to go. Reddick is definitely on the block, but he is unlikely to be traded because of his contract. I think they will want to keep Marisnick for his defense and the occasional start against lefties. That leaves Kemp as the only tradeable guy with some kind of value.

Kemp isn't arbitration eligible until 2021 and is under team control through 2024. That, along with his production, makes him valuable to other clubs. I think they will exhaust all options trying to trade Reddick then possibly look to trade Kemp.

[systemnt]

POD makes McHugh a starter again...

[systemnt]

Mctaggart answers questions sent in about 2019 Stros..

https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/astros-inbox-who-will-be-in-2019-rotation/c-301927364

[systemnt]

Best of statcast for 2018 stros.

https://www.mlb.com/video/best-of-statcast-astros/c-2521474883

[zztex]

Cruz signs with Twins

[El General]

Cruz signs with Twins

For $14 million with a $12 million dollar option for 2020 and a $300K buyout.

Seems like an eminently reasonable contract, but my feeling is that the Astros would rather have the roster flexibility than have someone that only has value as a DH coming out of spring training. If they need a right handed DH only bat at the trade deadline, there will likely be several available, including Cruz himself, where they can trade prospects from organizational depth (pitchers).

They will give Tyler White a chance and also have guys that can DH like Yuli. JD Davis might get a shot at DH if there are some injuries.

They also have guys down on the farm that might need MLB AB's like Tucker in the short term, Alvarez in the slightly longer term, and Beer in the slightly more long term that roster flexibility can help give those guys AB's.