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2023 Official Astros World Champs Offseason Thread


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1 minute ago, TonyTexas said:

Opening day lineup? Yanier in left would be a surprise but I’m down for it, particularly with Framber in the bump  

 

Fucking Dubon on opening night sucks.  Oh well. I agree that Y Diaz in LF would be interesting on opening night.  I'm down for it. I wanted him to have a solid 3 weeks in September since we were playing for nothing, but Dusty wanted him to have 3 AB's instead, so here we are. If he played every day until Brantley came back that would make me happy. Can't play everyday unless you start opening day. 

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4 hours ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Fangraphs has him ranked #79 overall as a 50 FV prospect - meaning an average MLB starter. Their #39-100 are all considered 50 FV prospects, so that could be considered a tier, with the difference between any of them being very minor, perhaps negligible (but rankings get clicks).

I think that’s fair. He’s 25…top prospect lists are always going to be dominated at the top by the young, tooled-up guys or the highly-drafted college players who are big-league ready.

Anyway, one thing I really like about the Fangraphs prospect list is that they include a “probability of outcomes” chart for each guy, which provides more context (not sure how they’re calculated, but I’d assume it’s based on age, performance in minors across key metrics like K rate, etc). For Diaz, they have him as about a 25% chance of being a 50/55, 15% chance of being a 60/65 (all-star-ish), and about a 10% chance of being a 70+ (MVP-ish). That feels about right to me, and if you told me right now he’ll be an average MLB starter, I’d take it in a heartbeat. 

He grades out at least average defensively (and will be above average defensively once an electronic K zone is implemented), and profiles as an above average bat who will either be in the 110-120 wRC+ range or the 130-150 range depending on how his power and patience continues to develop.  If you pair an above average bat with average receiving skills that gets you a lot more than 2 WAR even platooning at C due to the massive positional adjustment that position receives.  Shit, Maldy managed to accrue positive value last season in spite of being God awful on paper both with his bat and his skills behind the plate.

IMO, you stick Diaz at catcher over 700+ innings in a given season and I don't see how he doesn't hit at least 3 WAR even in 2023.  At this point in his development, I would have 1-2 WAR over a full season be about his floor with his ceiling easily in the 5+ WAR range.  

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21 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Diaz over Lee in the only real position battle of the spring. 

That's really fucking interesting.  Diaz is the backup catcher. I didn't see it going down like that especially with Brantley missing a month?  Longer?  Thought for sure that Lee would be the backup catcher and Diaz would be the all purpose bat at LF, DH, 1B and maybe occasionally catcher if there is a PH. Or just PH period.  I'm pretty surprised honestly.  

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14 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

That's really fucking interesting.  Diaz is the backup catcher. I didn't see it going down like that especially with Brantley missing a month?  Longer?  Thought for sure that Lee would be the backup catcher and Diaz would be the all purpose bat at LF, DH, 1B and maybe occasionally catcher if there is a PH. Or just PH period.  I'm pretty surprised honestly.  

Sounds like you’re right if you listen to that video, except they want Lee to play everyday in AAA instead of ride the pine. Which explains Salazar (who?)

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2 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

Sounds like you’re right if you listen to that video, except they want Lee to play everyday in AAA instead of ride the pine. Which explains Salazar (who?)

Ah. I didn't realize Salazar was a catcher. I'd literally never heard of him before.  OK, that's less interesting and makes more sense now. 

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24 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

Tell me about Cesar Salazar because I’ve never fucking  heard of him. Julks on the roster is also quite the surprise. 

Altuve, on the 60 day, will open one 40 man roster spot. No clue on the other. 

Salazar is a 7th round pick from Arizona a couple years ago.  Defense first catcher who avoids striking out, also had a bit of a power breakout last season with 16 HR.  The exact type of unheralded catching prospect who ends up spending 6-7 years hanging on in the majors.  My guess is he made the roster because the pitchers said they liked him and they wanted a 3rd catcher so they could use Diaz in the lineup everyday until Brantley comes back.

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1 minute ago, Snake Diggity said:

Salazar is a 7th round pick from Arizona a couple years ago.  Defense first catcher who avoids striking out, also had a bit of a power breakout last season with 16 HR.  The exact type of unheralded catching prospect who ends up spending 6-7 years hanging on in the majors.  My guess is he made the roster because the pitchers said they liked him and they wanted a 3rd catcher so they could use Diaz in the lineup everyday until Brantley comes back.

Do you think Diaz is ever going to be a catcher?  I'm not getting the vibe at all from him that is ever going to happen.  Unless his bat just fails to be really good and he HAS to catch to justify a lineup spot. 

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8 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Do you think Diaz is ever going to be a catcher?  I'm not getting the vibe at all from him that is ever going to happen.  Unless his bat just fails to be really good and he HAS to catch to justify a lineup spot. 

I think Diaz will be the primary backup C and take all the starts at catcher on Maldy’s scheduled days off.  But on days Maldy is set to play, they want to be able to keep Diaz’s bat in the lineup without risking losing the DH if Maldy needs to come out in the middle of the game.  I think it is possible both Diaz and Salazar go down when Brantley comes back, with Lee coming up to serve as the traditional backup C.  

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48 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Salazar is a 7th round pick from Arizona a couple years ago.  Defense first catcher who avoids striking out, also had a bit of a power breakout last season with 16 HR.  The exact type of unheralded catching prospect who ends up spending 6-7 years hanging on in the majors.  My guess is he made the roster because the pitchers said they liked him and they wanted a 3rd catcher so they could use Diaz in the lineup everyday until Brantley comes back.


Salazar over Lee is a surprise 

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50 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

I think Diaz will be the primary backup C and take all the starts at catcher on Maldy’s scheduled days off.  But on days Maldy is set to play, they want to be able to keep Diaz’s bat in the lineup without risking losing the DH if Maldy needs to come out in the middle of the game.  I think it is possible both Diaz and Salazar go down when Brantley comes back, with Lee coming up to serve as the traditional backup C.  

After watching that clip of Brown explaining the moves, it seems like with Diaz expected to get everyday play (taking backup C and some 1B/DH duty), the 12th and 13th position players are pretty unlikely to get much time.  Julks will likely be used as a pinch runner and emergency OF, with Salazar serving as the emergency C.  Dubon/Hensley will get all the 2B and backup IF duty.  If Diaz hits over the next few weeks, when Brantley comes back they could keep Salazar as the emergency C and send Julks down, resulting in Diaz effectively being the backup at C, 1B, DH, and LF.  Diaz finishing in the top 5 of the ROY voting this season would not surprise me at all.

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So Lee has to do what exactly at AAA to get called up? Is this a Super 2 deal? I guess they can’t throw him in the deep end with such a young pitching staff. Maldy probably needs to play a lot. I do hope this is his last year. 

I’m agnostic on the OF moves. Myles is Dusty’s new Straw. He’s going to keep getting chances as long as Dusty is here. I hope Jake gets off to a good start and keeps the seat warm for Gilbert. 

 

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12 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

After watching that clip of Brown explaining the moves, it seems like with Diaz expected to get everyday play (taking backup C and some 1B/DH duty), the 12th and 13th position players are pretty unlikely to get much time.  Julks will likely be used as a pinch runner and emergency OF, with Salazar serving as the emergency C.  Dubon/Hensley will get all the 2B and backup IF duty.  If Diaz hits over the next few weeks, when Brantley comes back they could keep Salazar as the emergency C and send Julks down, resulting in Diaz effectively being the backup at C, 1B, DH, and LF.  Diaz finishing in the top 5 of the ROY voting this season would not surprise me at all.

Brantley should never start against a LHP.  If Diaz hits and doesn't shit the bed at catcher I could see something like:

50 games at C, 20 games at 1b (I know Abreu is an iron man but I bet the Astros rest him and maybe even invent a trip to the DL) 50 games at LF/DH against LHP (he should be the regular there- with Yordan manning the other spot depending) and about 500 AB's. If this actually happens that's a really good use of a roster spot. 

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21 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I’m agnostic on the OF moves. Myles is Dusty’s new Straw. He’s going to keep getting chances as long as Dusty is here. I hope Jake gets off to a good start and keeps the seat warm for Gilbert. 

 

That’s the same guy. Who are you referring to?

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In case anyone is wondering Whitley is shoving tonight. 3 innings. 1 hit. No walks. 5 strike outs. I’m going to be an internet millionaire when I sell my Whitley stock when he wins a CY Young in 2025. 
They call it "Cy Young" in the Austrailian League too? Huh figured it would have a different name
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