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2018-2019 Astros Offseason Thread


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2 hours ago, TonyTexas said:

As most of you know, I’m a huge Astros cheerleader but I’m a little worried . There have been big brain drain in the front office, scouting and analytics. I’m unclear on where Crane wants the payroll this year. Starting pitching, at this moment, looks to be going from a strength to a concern. Catching is a black hole. I welcome anyone who can talk me off the ledge.

 

They made the Cole trade in January. The winter meetings haven’t even happened yet. Your worry is extremely premature.

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4 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

You’re probably right. I might have been thinking about Mez. But you don’t need to tell me to chill the f out. All I did was point out concerns that most everyone has considered.

You literally said  “I welcome anyone who can talk me off the ledge.” Isn’t that what he was doing? And now you’re upset?

I think pointing out how early it is is the most reasonable response to make. I don’t understand why anyone would be remotely concerned at this point.

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there have only been two transactions that have affected the astros (since the diaz move that i like): we didn't sign eovaldi.  we signed chirinos.

while chirinos isn't a big deal, it's a little disappointing if it means we're not going after an actual "solution" type catcher.  and while they gave eovaldi more than i would've wanted us to give, he's a guy we definitely could use.

i'm not on the ledge, but sure, i would like to see less of us "linked" to moves that end up not happening, and more clues on what we're looking to do.  hopefully it'll come out of nowhere like cole.  the next month should be telling.

also, guys like corbin and goldschmidt going to teams that don't concern us, along with seattle's total dismantle project, are net positive for us, and make it more likely we're gonna make moves in july when we have a better grip on our situation.  i'm not worried.

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Yeah, I’m very happy we’re going to have our very own Baltimore Orioles in our own division next year in addition to our very own Texas Rangers.

At this point (yes it’s only dec 6 but), it would sure lean that the division race shapes up much closer to 2017 than 2018.
Because of that, I would not expect anything too big in the offseason if a deal doesn’t present itself. That may mean having to overpay in July if there are huge holes to fill then, but I don’t see moves being made just to make moves between now and Spring Training.

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58 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

You’re probably right. I might have been thinking about Mez. But you don’t need to tell me to chill the f out. All I did was point out concerns that most everyone has considered.

To be fair, I bitch and moan when we're losing in spring training games

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The main addition the Astros can make this year is a healthy, productive Correa. If you get more production out of Springer that would go a long way. 

Dont get me wrong I would love to add another bat and a SP but this team will still be very good with just a little correction from 2018.

Altuve, Bergman, Springer, Correa are as good as any 4 hitters on one team in the AL.

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2 hours ago, LebongJames said:

The main addition the Astros can make this year is a healthy, productive Correa. If you get more production out of Springer that would go a long way. 

Dont get me wrong I would love to add another bat and a SP but this team will still be very good with just a little correction from 2018.

Altuve, Bergman, Springer, Correa are as good as any 4 hitters on one team in the AL.

We will be much better offensively if they stay healthy. In Luhnow I trust. F the off season.

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Olney snippet from today:

Spoiler

On paper, Eovaldi seemed like the perfect fit for the Houston Astros, who have a history of taking pitchers with really good arms and making them better. But the Astros never really engaged on the right-hander, leading to one industry theory that Houston is more locked into the trade market than folks realize and looking to pluck one of the best available starters in a swap -- and right now, the best appear to include Kluber, Bauer, Zack Greinke and Noah Syndergaard.

My guess would be Greinke out of these guys - can't see CLE trading either of those guys to a direct AL competitor, and with the Cano trade in the books, don't see the Mets dealing Syndergaard. Greinke could be had for next to nothing (prospect-wise) if the Astros take on most of his remaining dollars, I'd imagine. Or we could send good prospects if AZ will pay for them (by eating $10-20 million). 

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3 hours ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Olney snippet from today:

  Hide contents

On paper, Eovaldi seemed like the perfect fit for the Houston Astros, who have a history of taking pitchers with really good arms and making them better. But the Astros never really engaged on the right-hander, leading to one industry theory that Houston is more locked into the trade market than folks realize and looking to pluck one of the best available starters in a swap -- and right now, the best appear to include Kluber, Bauer, Zack Greinke and Noah Syndergaard.

My guess would be Greinke out of these guys - can't see CLE trading either of those guys to a direct AL competitor, and with the Cano trade in the books, don't see the Mets dealing Syndergaard. Greinke could be had for next to nothing (prospect-wise) if the Astros take on most of his remaining dollars, I'd imagine. Or we could send good prospects if AZ will pay for them (by eating $10-20 million). 

Cleveland doesn't care about where they send Kluber with the assets returned are good enough. He's the guy the Astros should target. 3 years of team control, but it will likely take one of Whitley or Tucker. Frankly I'd give up Tucker in the deal. OFs are easy to find.

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4 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Cleveland doesn't care about where they send Kluber with the assets returned are good enough. He's the guy the Astros should target. 3 years of team control, but it will likely take one of Whitley or Tucker. Frankly I'd give up Tucker in the deal. OFs are easy to find.

Maybe. But they're built to win now, with Lindor and Ramirez entering their primes and with the pitching depth they have. 

Then again, I am not sure what Cleveland's objective is - they have starting pitching depth, so I understand if they want to swap that to fill holes in the OF or elsewhere. I guess they are trying to shed payroll while remaining competitive, but that's tricky (they'll win their crappy division easily, but they should be looking to remain competitive with HOU, BOS, NYY). Maybe a Tucker-Kluber deal makes sense because Tucker seems more or less MLB ready. 

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3 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Maybe. But they're built to win now, with Lindor and Ramirez entering their primes and with the pitching depth they have. 

Then again, I am not sure what Cleveland's objective is - they have starting pitching depth, so I understand if they want to swap that to fill holes in the OF or elsewhere. I guess they are trying to shed payroll while remaining competitive, but that's tricky (they'll win their crappy division easily, but they should be looking to remain competitive with HOU, BOS, NYY). Maybe a Tucker-Kluber deal makes sense because Tucker seems more or less MLB ready. 

Their division is shit, and they understand that all the other 4 teams are doing complete rebuilds, and in 3 years, all will be better than them when Carrasco, Kluber, and Bauer are all FAs. They will have to pay for Lindor and Ramirez as well. So by trading one of their 3 guys, they can probably recover enough in terms of prospects so they can continue to have a competitive team built around Lindor/Ramirez while still winning the division in the next few years.

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10 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Rosenthal article today said Cleveland might be looking to attach Encarnacion onto a Kluber or Bauer trade, since he's owed $21M next season. 

Would obviously involve taking on a lot of money, but the prospect cost would drop significantly, and you solve your needs at both SP and DH.

 

I like it.  Say Encarnacion is $15M underwater, Kluber has $55M in surplus value, giving them an aggregate ~$40M in value.  I think Tucker and a 3rd tier pitching prospect like Armenteros would get that done pretty easily.  I’d be cool with that.  Maybe throw in Tyler White and have Cleveland eat $5-10M.

Edited by Snake Diggity
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1 minute ago, runthebone said:

Like I said for an earlier proposed deal, might as well include AJ Reed and offer to pay for his food

Ha.  If/when Houston adds another position player, either White or Kemp will no longer have a roster spot, and since they are out of options, it makes sense to try to include them in a trade.  Reed is essentially out of hope as far as his future in Houston, but he still has an option remaining so he can be stashed in AAA (and is more likely than White/Kemp to pass through waivers if DFA’ed).

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There are plenty of examples of bat only prospects who followed Reeds basic trajectory and still ended up having big league success.  In the short term, guy like Luke Voit, Ji-Man Choi, and Peter O’Brien all were good prospects whose stock fell after initial big league struggles, but at age 25-27 project to be everyday big leaguers in 2019.  He just needs to dominate AAA and either hope a 1B/DH in Houston suffers a major injury or a rebuilding team makes it worth Houston’s while to give him up.

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On 12/6/2018 at 9:38 AM, Scraps said:

Eovaldi hype is overrated

Sorry to rehash, but just saw this tweet.  

Blind FA starting pitcher resume from 2018:

Player A) 111 innings, 3.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 8.2 K/9. 28 years old.

Player B) 110 IP, 3.76 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 8.2 K/9. 30 years old.

Player A... Nathan Eovaldi. Player B... Trevor Cahill.

 

Therefore we just need to sign Cahill and we will win the WS!

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2 hours ago, Snake Diggity said:

There are plenty of examples of bat only prospects who followed Reeds basic trajectory and still ended up having big league success.  In the short term, guy like Luke Voit, Ji-Man Choi, and Peter O’Brien all were good prospects whose stock fell after initial big league struggles, but at age 25-27 project to be everyday big leaguers in 2019.  He just needs to dominate AAA and either hope a 1B/DH in Houston suffers a major injury or a rebuilding team makes it worth Houston’s while to give him up.

Or lose about 40+lbs

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Reed's biggest problem is that he just didn't really improve last year.  His DRC+ at Fresno has been almost exactly the same from 2016-2018.  White made a big jump in performance in Fresno this season and deservedly got the PAs at 1B/DH when they became available.  

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57 minutes ago, Mez2 said:

you kid, but i think we make a serious play for harper with an opt out option after 4 years

We won it all two years ago and came close this year. I have no problem if our only off-season move is to use all available cash on Harper. He makes us better offensively and we keep all our prospects. There's no way he doesn't rebound this year. 

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