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Post by thomasj13 on Jan 13, 2019 20:58:08 GMT -6
it's looking like the odds of Realmuto to Houston have increased somewhat, from 15% a couple weeks ago to maybe 35% today. With the Padres insisting they are no longer interested, and the Dodgers doing all right at C with Martin/Barnes, it may come down to the Braves and Astros. And Jeter would probably prefer not to trade with a division rival. I don't think it's essential to add Realmuto. Honestly, I think Stassi in 2019 is going to be better than most fans expect him to be, and I think Realmuto will fall short of expectations somewhat. In terms of pre-season projections, swapping Stassi for Realmuto would bring the Astros to about 52.2 total team WAR, so just a few tenths of one WAR behind the BoSox. It would definitely be a scary lineup as long as everyone stays healthy. It's not that is dislike Realmuto, he is a great player. I just hope we don't give up the farm to get him. We have more pressing needs. Here, here |
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 13, 2019 20:59:06 GMT -6
Fangraphs did an article today on how the Orioles are trying to imitate the Astros' approach to developing pitchers. blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-can-the-astros-secret-sauce-spice-up-orioles-pitching/ I wasn't aware that former Astros pitcher Chris Holt was part of the Baltimore organization. My main memory of Holt is from that nightmarish 2000 pitching staff when the Stros first moved into MMP. Or Enron Field, or whatever. I've heard rumors that Elias really likes Francis Martes, so who knows, maybe once Martes gets off the DL, he could be traded to Baltimore for someone like Mychal Givens. Tanner Scott is a young pitcher to watch in their organization. He'll be under team control for a long while yet though, so probably very hard to snag him from the O's at the moment. However, Givens ought to be available and would make an excellent replacement for Smith and part of McHugh's lost BP innings. |
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 13, 2019 21:03:27 GMT -6
Martes had his TJ surgery in mid-August, so it's conceivable a team might be ready to trade for him by non-waiver deadline this year.
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 13, 2019 21:14:34 GMT -6
In December, mlbtr had this to say about Givens: "The O’s do have one particularly appealing trade chip, however, in the form of presumptive 2019 closer Mychal Givens. He may not be an elite reliever, but Givens is a hard-throwing (soon to turn) 29-year-old with three seasons of club control remaining and a strong 10.3 K/9 mark across the past three years. His 3.99 ERA in 2018 was elevated a bit due to a bizarre plummet in his strand rate (64.5 percent in ’18; 76.2 percent career), but Givens does an excellent job of limiting hard contact and missing bats. With a $2MM projected salary in arbitration, he’s affordable for any club in baseball and represents a nice alternative for teams that don’t want to spend $7-8MM+ on an annual basis for free-agent arms. There’s a glut of relief options available for now, but the O’s would be wise to float Givens’ name later in the offseason if there are contending teams who missed their top targets and are underwhelmed with the remnants of the free-agent class."www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/12/offseason-outlook-baltimore-orioles-9.html Givens just agreed to $2.15 million for this season to avoid arbitration. Maybe the O's keep him till July but they could probably get more for him now. |
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Post by abregmanfan on Jan 13, 2019 21:16:16 GMT -6
In December, mlbtr had this to say about Givens: "The O’s do have one particularly appealing trade chip, however, in the form of presumptive 2019 closer Mychal Givens. He may not be an elite reliever, but Givens is a hard-throwing (soon to turn) 29-year-old with three seasons of club control remaining and a strong 10.3 K/9 mark across the past three years. His 3.99 ERA in 2018 was elevated a bit due to a bizarre plummet in his strand rate (64.5 percent in ’18; 76.2 percent career), but Givens does an excellent job of limiting hard contact and missing bats. With a $2MM projected salary in arbitration, he’s affordable for any club in baseball and represents a nice alternative for teams that don’t want to spend $7-8MM+ on an annual basis for free-agent arms. There’s a glut of relief options available for now, but the O’s would be wise to float Givens’ name later in the offseason if there are contending teams who missed their top targets and are underwhelmed with the remnants of the free-agent class."www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/12/offseason-outlook-baltimore-orioles-9.html Givens just agreed to $2.15 million for this season to avoid arbitration. Maybe the O's keep him till July but they could probably get more for him now. I like the club control part. |
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Post by abregmanfan on Jan 13, 2019 21:18:39 GMT -6
Realmuto news as of today Padres have not been in contact with the Marlins for weeks if not a month. Say the price is way to high not giving up Paddack. They say they are out of the running no matter what anyone says Are you a sports reporter? Work in the front office of some Mlb club? |
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 13, 2019 21:20:50 GMT -6
The O's would presumably use Givens as a closer, but he's really more suited to a setup role.
He's the sort of reliever who will give you 4 to 6 outs per appearance instead of the standard 3, and will keep opposing hitters to about a .220 avg with not a lot of XBH mixed in there.
That 3.99 ERA last season would have been around 3.00 if he had had a competent defense behind him.
He's not the best in the business, but just someone likely to be a real solid value.
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Post by abregmanfan on Jan 13, 2019 21:24:41 GMT -6
I remember when the Astros didn't have any African Americans. If we got him that will make those people happy.
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Post by abregmanfan on Jan 13, 2019 21:25:45 GMT -6
Those people as in the ones that talked bad about it. Not" those" as in African Americans.
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 13, 2019 21:37:20 GMT -6
I remember when the Astros didn't have any African Americans. If we got him that will make those people happy. I"m not aware if anyone has done a study of how MLB breaks down by ethnicity and which teams are under or over the average % in their organizations for each racial group. But it seems to me the Astros probably have more Latino players than most MLB teams (esp if we are taking into account the minor league teams too), mainly because Luhnow scouts so heavily in Latin America. A corollary of having so many Latino players is that there are fewer spaces for white, black, and Asian players. But the relative lack of black players in the Astros system in recent years must have a lot to do with the fact that young black athletes are more likely to try out for football or basketball than they are for baseball. They've just self-selected for those first two sports, for whatever reason. Seattle really tries to get the Asian stars; their fanbase seems to push them to do so, and the players themselves reportedly like the shorter flight home. In the past, the Orioles didn't want to spend much money scouting in Latin America because (I suppose) they thought it was unnecessary, that the USA has plenty of good ball players so why bother looking elsewhere. Looking at the W-L record, that was probably a miscalculation, but Elias will correct it. |
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Post by abregmanfan on Jan 13, 2019 21:41:22 GMT -6
I wish there was a draft for all baseball players. Not where some player from Cuba can go to the highest bidder. Put everyone in the draft.
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Post by olpapa on Jan 13, 2019 21:55:09 GMT -6
it's looking like the odds of Realmuto to Houston have increased somewhat, from 15% a couple weeks ago to maybe 35% today. With the Padres insisting they are no longer interested, and the Dodgers doing all right at C with Martin/Barnes, it may come down to the Braves and Astros. And Jeter would probably prefer not to trade with a division rival. I don't think it's essential to add Realmuto. Honestly, I think Stassi in 2019 is going to be better than most fans expect him to be, and I think Realmuto will fall short of expectations somewhat. In terms of pre-season projections, swapping Stassi for Realmuto would bring the Astros to about 52.2 total team WAR, so just a few tenths of one WAR behind the BoSox. It would definitely be a scary lineup as long as everyone stays healthy. I can’t help but wonder if Luhnow’s pursuit of Realmuto is encouraged by Verlander. I remember the game last season when JV and Stassi were walking off the field and JV appeared to be upset with Stassi. It was shortly after that when Luhnow traded for Maldanado and we didn’t see much of Stassi for the rest of the season. |
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Post by olpapa on Jan 13, 2019 21:57:28 GMT -6
I wish there was a draft for all baseball players. Not where some player from Cuba can go to the highest bidder. Put everyone in the draft. I agree. American kids are subjected to the draft while foreign players can sell themselves to the highest bidder. Seems like something is wrong with that picture. |
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 13, 2019 22:00:50 GMT -6
I wish there was a draft for all baseball players. Not where some player from Cuba can go to the highest bidder. Put everyone in the draft. I agree. American kids are subjected to the draft while foreign players can sell themselves to the highest bidder. Seems like something is wrong with that picture. Heck, the Dominican Republic should just sell Dominican passports to U.S. players for $500,000 so they can get into the big leagues that way. |
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talshill
Arbitration Eligible
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Post by talshill on Jan 13, 2019 22:37:10 GMT -6
Lets not forget that, last year at this time, Fisher was accounted untouchable by nearly everyone on this forum. We are now searching for him. ISWYDT |
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Post by ɮօʀȶǟʐ on Jan 13, 2019 23:22:36 GMT -6
Why do all of you former "In Luhnow We Trust" people not trust him when it comes to Realmuto and extending our core? Some of y'all are acting like we still have Ed Wade or Tim Purpura.
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Post by blcoach8 on Jan 14, 2019 0:44:26 GMT -6
Why do all of you former "In Luhnow We Trust" people not trust him when it comes to Realmuto and extending our core? Some of y'all are acting like we still have Ed Wade or Tim Purpura. could be because he did a good imitation of them at the 2018 trade deadline........we needed a bat.......he sat on his ass and got nobody......Yeah, i know he had a "deal on the table" for Bryce Harper. But, Bryce Harper wasn't on the only damn fish in the creek and he didn't catch any of them. He made a great trade in getting Osuna for Giles,but, that didn't get us the bat we needed. He did great in signing Brantley, made a good trade for Diaz, and signing Chirinos was a good move, but, we still need pitching. |
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 14, 2019 1:41:13 GMT -6
it's looking like the odds of Realmuto to Houston have increased somewhat, from 15% a couple weeks ago to maybe 35% today. With the Padres insisting they are no longer interested, and the Dodgers doing all right at C with Martin/Barnes, it may come down to the Braves and Astros. And Jeter would probably prefer not to trade with a division rival. I don't think it's essential to add Realmuto. Honestly, I think Stassi in 2019 is going to be better than most fans expect him to be, and I think Realmuto will fall short of expectations somewhat. In terms of pre-season projections, swapping Stassi for Realmuto would bring the Astros to about 52.2 total team WAR, so just a few tenths of one WAR behind the BoSox. It would definitely be a scary lineup as long as everyone stays healthy. I can’t help but wonder if Luhnow’s pursuit of Realmuto is encouraged by Verlander. I remember the game last season when JV and Stassi were walking off the field and JV appeared to be upset with Stassi. It was shortly after that when Luhnow traded for Maldanado and we didn’t see much of Stassi for the rest of the season. It could be... Stassi really cooled off at the plate in the second half which probably played a role in him playing less towards the end of the season too. Between Stassi and Chirinos, I'm not sure which catcher most Astros pitchers would prefer throwing to. Stassi is probably the better catcher defensively but that doesn't necessarily mean he is the better game-caller. Gattis always seemed to call a great game behind the plate but unfortunately he didn't have the receiving skills to go along with it. For some reason Stassi hit great on the road but not at MMP. I wouldn't mind seeing Hinch play Stassi in about 2/3 of road games and Chirinos in 2/3 of home games. Or even take it up to a 3/4 ratio. Chirinos has been one of the AL's Top 20 hitters at MMP over the past few years so Hinch might as well use that to the team's advantage while letting Stassi hit more on the road, where he thrives. |
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marshall
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Post by marshall on Jan 14, 2019 2:05:34 GMT -6
I remember when the Astros didn't have any African Americans. If we got him that will make those people happy. That's odd. I've been watching since 1965 and I never remember them not having at least one African American. Some may not have liked Houston at the time, but they were here. Bob Watson immediately comes to mind. |
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 14, 2019 5:11:02 GMT -6
I remember when the Astros didn't have any African Americans. If we got him that will make those people happy. That's odd. I've been watching since 1965 and I never remember them not having at least one African American. Some may not have liked Houston at the time, but they were here. Bob Watson immediately comes to mind. At the moment, the team has Tony Kemp, Josh James, and Michael Brantley, all of whom probably identify as African-Americans. I think one of Springer's parents is of African descent, but I can't remember if it's his mom or dad. And then there are a few players on the 40-man from Latin American countries who are substantially of African descent: Armenteros, Guduan, Valdez; maybe a couple others I'm forgetting. The only Astro I've met in person is Jimmy Wynn, who came to a church function where my family attended Sunday services in 1982. His skin was pretty dark as I recall. I had never heard of him before, having grown up in Memphis where there was just a AA team at the time. But the adults in the room were sure impressed by him, I remember that. That was around the time cable TV was just getting started and WGN from Chicago and TBS from Atlanta were broadcasting Cubs and Braves games all over the country. Kids in Memphis like me knew a lot of the Cubs and Braves players as a result, but we were pretty clueless as to who played for the Astros. |
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marshall
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Post by marshall on Jan 14, 2019 6:31:34 GMT -6
That's odd. I've been watching since 1965 and I never remember them not having at least one African American. Some may not have liked Houston at the time, but they were here. Bob Watson immediately comes to mind. At the moment, the team has Tony Kemp, Josh James, and Michael Brantley, all of whom probably identify as African-Americans. I think one of Springer's parents is of African descent, but I can't remember if it's his mom or dad. And then there are a few players on the 40-man from Latin American countries who are substantially of African descent: Armenteros, Guduan, Valdez; maybe a couple others I'm forgetting. The only Astro I've met in person is Jimmy Wynn, who came to a church function where my family attended Sunday services in 1982. His skin was pretty dark as I recall. I had never heard of him before, having grown up in Memphis where there was just a AA team at the time. But the adults in the room were sure impressed by him, I remember that. That was around the time cable TV was just getting started and WGN from Chicago and TBS from Atlanta were broadcasting Cubs and Braves games all over the country. Kids in Memphis like me knew a lot of the Cubs and Braves players as a result, but we were pretty clueless as to who played for the Astros. Jimmy Wynn is the "Toy Canon." He was nicknamed that for being a little guy who hit prodigious home runs. I remember he had a seat in the upper deck of the astrodome where one of his shots hit. They painted a Canon on it. Another was of similar distance which was hit by "the Rooster" who I believe was Doug Rader. They painted a rooster on it. Altuve wasn't our first little guy. And Cesar Cedeno was from Venezuela long before the current fad of international development.
While it took our city some time to get over "separate, but equal' that did not apply to the Astros. |
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marshall
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Post by marshall on Jan 14, 2019 6:35:57 GMT -6
That's odd. I've been watching since 1965 and I never remember them not having at least one African American. Some may not have liked Houston at the time, but they were here. Bob Watson immediately comes to mind. At the moment, the team has Tony Kemp, Josh James, and Michael Brantley, all of whom probably identify as African-Americans. I think one of Springer's parents is of African descent, but I can't remember if it's his mom or dad. And then there are a few players on the 40-man from Latin American countries who are substantially of African descent: Armenteros, Guduan, Valdez; maybe a couple others I'm forgetting. The only Astro I've met in person is Jimmy Wynn, who came to a church function where my family attended Sunday services in 1982. His skin was pretty dark as I recall. I had never heard of him before, having grown up in Memphis where there was just a AA team at the time. But the adults in the room were sure impressed by him, I remember that. That was around the time cable TV was just getting started and WGN from Chicago and TBS from Atlanta were broadcasting Cubs and Braves games all over the country. Kids in Memphis like me knew a lot of the Cubs and Braves players as a result, but we were pretty clueless as to who played for the Astros. How could I forget, Joe Morgan started here before becoming a part of the Big Red Machine and returned here later. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2019 6:57:28 GMT -6
I wish there was a draft for all baseball players. Not where some player from Cuba can go to the highest bidder. Put everyone in the draft. Here here! |
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 14, 2019 7:05:25 GMT -6
Phil Niekro was pitching for the Braves in the early 80s so it was fun to see that his brother pitched for the Astros when I got to start seeing games at the Dome.
But Memphis had some interesting players most people would know coming up through their AA team in the late 80s and early 80s: Tim Raines, Tim Wallach, Terry Francona... if OPS points were ever awarded to a player based on his name alone, though, Razor Shines would have been Memphis's batting leader in those days. Shines never could manage to make an impression in the big leagues, though he got some ABs with the Expos. I think eventually he served a brief stint as a 3rd base coach for the Mets.
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 14, 2019 7:09:34 GMT -6
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talshill
Arbitration Eligible
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Post by talshill on Jan 14, 2019 7:32:37 GMT -6
At the moment, the team has Tony Kemp, Josh James, and Michael Brantley, all of whom probably identify as African-Americans. I think one of Springer's parents is of African descent, but I can't remember if it's his mom or dad. And then there are a few players on the 40-man from Latin American countries who are substantially of African descent: Armenteros, Guduan, Valdez; maybe a couple others I'm forgetting. The only Astro I've met in person is Jimmy Wynn, who came to a church function where my family attended Sunday services in 1982. His skin was pretty dark as I recall. I had never heard of him before, having grown up in Memphis where there was just a AA team at the time. But the adults in the room were sure impressed by him, I remember that. That was around the time cable TV was just getting started and WGN from Chicago and TBS from Atlanta were broadcasting Cubs and Braves games all over the country. Kids in Memphis like me knew a lot of the Cubs and Braves players as a result, but we were pretty clueless as to who played for the Astros. Jimmy Wynn is the "Toy Canon." He was nicknamed that for being a little guy who hit prodigious home runs. I remember he had a seat in the upper deck of the astrodome where one of his shots hit. They painted a Canon on it. Another was of similar distance which was hit by "the Rooster" who I believe was Doug Rader. They painted a rooster on it. Altuve wasn't our first little guy. And Cesar Cedeno was from Venezuela long before the current fad of international development.
While it took our city some time to get over "separate, but equal' that did not apply to the Astros. Cesar Cedeno is from the Dominican Republic. |
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talshill
Arbitration Eligible
Vini, vici, pavori.
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Post by talshill on Jan 14, 2019 7:37:40 GMT -6
Why do all of you former "In Luhnow We Trust" people not trust him when it comes to Realmuto and extending our core? Some of y'all are acting like we still have Ed Wade or Tim Purpura. Because he's become contented and is now apparently "sitting on his ass". Try to keep up. |
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Post by olpapa on Jan 14, 2019 7:40:07 GMT -6
At the moment, the team has Tony Kemp, Josh James, and Michael Brantley, all of whom probably identify as African-Americans. I think one of Springer's parents is of African descent, but I can't remember if it's his mom or dad. And then there are a few players on the 40-man from Latin American countries who are substantially of African descent: Armenteros, Guduan, Valdez; maybe a couple others I'm forgetting. The only Astro I've met in person is Jimmy Wynn, who came to a church function where my family attended Sunday services in 1982. His skin was pretty dark as I recall. I had never heard of him before, having grown up in Memphis where there was just a AA team at the time. But the adults in the room were sure impressed by him, I remember that. That was around the time cable TV was just getting started and WGN from Chicago and TBS from Atlanta were broadcasting Cubs and Braves games all over the country. Kids in Memphis like me knew a lot of the Cubs and Braves players as a result, but we were pretty clueless as to who played for the Astros. How could I forget, Joe Morgan started here before becoming a part of the Big Red Machine and returned here later. Don Wilson was another. He pitched two no-hitters for the Astros. Concerning Joe Morgan, one of the rumors at the time was that the Astros FO wanted to separate him and Jimmy Wynn because they partied together and the team didn’t want them getting into trouble. A dumb reason, if that was true. |
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Post by astrosdoug on Jan 14, 2019 7:48:17 GMT -6
I'm sure Biggio and Bagwell never partied together on the road.
Those guys should have been separated immediately.
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talshill
Arbitration Eligible
Vini, vici, pavori.
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Post by talshill on Jan 14, 2019 7:51:06 GMT -6
At the moment, the team has Tony Kemp, Josh James, and Michael Brantley, all of whom probably identify as African-Americans. I think one of Springer's parents is of African descent, but I can't remember if it's his mom or dad. And then there are a few players on the 40-man from Latin American countries who are substantially of African descent: Armenteros, Guduan, Valdez; maybe a couple others I'm forgetting. The only Astro I've met in person is Jimmy Wynn, who came to a church function where my family attended Sunday services in 1982. His skin was pretty dark as I recall. I had never heard of him before, having grown up in Memphis where there was just a AA team at the time. But the adults in the room were sure impressed by him, I remember that. That was around the time cable TV was just getting started and WGN from Chicago and TBS from Atlanta were broadcasting Cubs and Braves games all over the country. Kids in Memphis like me knew a lot of the Cubs and Braves players as a result, but we were pretty clueless as to who played for the Astros. Jimmy Wynn is the "Toy Canon." He was nicknamed that for being a little guy who hit prodigious home runs. I remember he had a seat in the upper deck of the astrodome where one of his shots hit. They painted a Canon on it. Another was of similar distance which was hit by "the Rooster" who I believe was Doug Rader. They painted a rooster on it. Altuve wasn't our first little guy. And Cesar Cedeno was from Venezuela long before the current fad of international development.
While it took our city some time to get over "separate, but equal' that did not apply to the Astros. One of my kids won an Astros scholarship. They held an award ceremony at the park and I got to meet Wynn, Reed Ryan and some other folks. I met Joe Neikro and Dave Smith at a concert at the SFA Coliseum in Nacogdoches years ago. One of my brothers played college baseball with a guy who was a bat boy for the Astros in the late 70's. Through him, we got to meet and and spend time with Jeff Leonard, Enos Cabell, Art Howe, Craig Reynolds, Danny Heep and Terry Puhl. I saw Howe about 5 years ago at the ballpark and he claimed to remember me. I didn't believe him until he started citing particulars. |
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