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2018-2019 Astros Offseason Thread

Planet Houston

By Planet Houston
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Planet Houston
Planet Houston

Well, it just wasn't in the cards this year.  A combination of great play by the BoSox, the injury bug, inopportune cold streaks and inability to put batters away with 2 outs resulted in an early exit

Seasick Sailor
Seasick Sailor

Thanks for the memories:

henrygandorf
henrygandorf

am i the only one having trouble understanding wtf this means?

ckhorn

ckhorn 208

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/02/06/mlb-players-union-discuss-rule-changes

Last month, Major League Baseball made a proposal to the players union suggesting a rule that required pitchers to face a minimum of three batters, reports The Athletic.

Also proposed was using a universal designated hitter.

Even if no deal is reached, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has the power to make rule changes. including the addition of a 20-second pitch clock and All-Star Game changes that would put a runner at second if the game is tied after the 10th inning.

According to the report, other proposals including expansion of rosters to 26 players, a lowering of the mound study, and bringing back the major league contract for two-sport athletes as an incentive to choose baseball.

The Associated Press has already reported that Major League Baseball has proposed a 15-day disabled list and increasing the time optioned players usually must spend in the minor leagues,

 

 

possible changes....the universal DH should be a no brain-er, it's time to stop playing two different sports

I really don't see a much of anything wrong with Baseball right now. Some people have to much time on there hands. FTOS.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9517

Posted
Posted

Timely discussion on the DH.
Here is Kaplan’s breakdown posted today:

Most of the intrigue of Astros spring training this year will concern the pitching staff. They have a wide open competition for their fifth rotation spot and at least two spots yet to be claimed in their opening day bullpen. Plus, manager A.J. Hinch and pitching coach Brent Strom will get their first extended looks at touted prospects and anticipated 2019 contributors Forrest Whitley and Corbin Martin.

But one spot in Houston’s lineup also remains somewhat in flux: designated hitter. The Astros’ primary DH of last season, Evan Gattis, departed as a free agent. (He remains unsigned.) They were outbid by the Twins in their pursuit to sign Nelson Cruz in December. And their projected starter at the position has yet to experience sustained success at the major league level.

How exactly the DH at-bats will be divided between Tyler White and the rest of their position players is one of the bigger unknowns entering spring training. It is somewhat dependent on who wins the final spots on their bench and might fluctuate throughout the season given the expected in-season call-ups of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez.

It is also one of the biggest spots at which the Astros could stand to improve from last season, when their offense regressed from its expansion era-best 123 OPS+ in 2017 to a 109 OPS+ that tied for second-best in the majors with the Dodgers and A’s and trailed the Red Sox (112).

2018 season AVG OBP SLG
MLB Average from DH spot .248 .325 .449
Astros DHs .240 .299 .451
Hinch, now in his fifth season with Houston, has long liked to mix in DH starts for some of his everyday position players as a way to keep their bats in the lineup but get them off their feet for a day. Last season, for example, 26 of the Astros’ 152 DH starts in the regular season went to one of George Springer, Yuli Gurriel, José Altuve, Carlos Correa, Tony Kemp or Brian McCann.

Astros DHs in 2018 Games started at DH Plate appearances at DH
Evan Gattis 106 433
Tyler White 20 85
George Springer 9 40
Yuli Gurriel 8 33
José Altuve 6 25
Tony Kemp 1 4
Carlos Correa 1 4
Brian McCann 1 2
Hinch will continue that flex strategy this season with Springer, Altuve, Gurriel and perhaps occasionally Correa and Alex Bregman. To what extent is uncertain. But if he follows a script similar to last year’s, it would leave a good 120-plus DH starts to the rest of the roster. Newcomer Aledmys Díaz could also factor in.

“It’s nice to have that flexibility and not be locked in to having one guy that you have to play every day because he’s ‘the DH,’ ” Astros president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow said. “Tyler White should get a lot of DH at-bats. Michael Brantley might get some. I’m not sure exactly how it’s going to shake out. But we certainly want to utilize that spot and maximize both the rest it provides for the position players as well as the output because we want to be able to hit some home runs out of that spot.”

There are several ways it could play out.

Scenario A: White is a regular at DH

This scenario is the heavy frontrunner, at least to begin the season. White could start roughly five of every seven games and cede the other two or so starts a week to the likes of Brantley, Springer, Gurriel, etc.

White’s performance last season probably earned him the right to be the opening day DH considering the Astros didn’t acquire a prototypical DH like Cruz this offseason. Though his production waned late in the year and he struggled in the postseason, White compiled an impressive .276/.354/.533 line in 237 regular-season plate appearances in the majors after spending the early part of 2018 in Triple A.

White in ’18 OPS
June (19 PA) .754
July (33 PA) 1.001
Aug. (91 PA) 1.095
Sept. (94 PA) .667
White is out of minor league options, so the Astros can’t send him back to Triple A without first exposing him to waivers. He can fill in at first base but isn’t realistically a viable major league option at any other position other than DH. And if he’s on the roster and everyone is healthy, it probably means there is room for only one of Tony Kemp and Jake Marisnick.

Scenario B: White and Brantley split DH duties

White, a right-handed hitter, crushed lefties last season. The newly signed Brantley, a left-handed hitter, performed much better against righties. A soft platoon of White and Brantley is an intriguing DH option.

2018 OPS vs. RHP OPS vs. LHP
White .837 (165 PA) 1.010 (72 PA)
Brantley .889 (461 PA) .684 (170 PA)
The Astros signed Brantley in December to his two-year, $32-million deal with the intention of giving him most of his playing time in left field. But it’s not difficult to find lineup configurations against righties where starting him at DH and Kemp in left field appears to be the best option. In that configuration, White would represent their best bat off the bench.

This is where the rest of the roster factors in, as Brantley at DH works best on a roster that includes Kemp or, perhaps later in the season, Tucker. If Marisnick beats out Kemp for that last opening day roster spot, there is less of a need to play Brantley at DH. Marisnick would likely serve as more of a prototypical fourth outfielder who occasionally spells Springer in center field.

Scenario C: White is only an early season stopgap

By the end of the season, the Astros’ DH landscape could look completely different. They could supplement their lineup by acquiring a bat before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Or Tucker or Kemp might perform to a point where one warrants everyday at-bats in the majors, pushing Brantley to DH and White elsewhere.

Alvarez could also force the Astros’ hand at some point in 2019 with a strong performance in Triple A, where he will begin the season. But ultimately, the bulk of the DH job appears to be White’s to lose.

 

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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19209

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

Timely discussion on the DH.
Here is Kaplan’s breakdown posted today:

  Hide contents

Most of the intrigue of Astros spring training this year will concern the pitching staff. They have a wide open competition for their fifth rotation spot and at least two spots yet to be claimed in their opening day bullpen. Plus, manager A.J. Hinch and pitching coach Brent Strom will get their first extended looks at touted prospects and anticipated 2019 contributors Forrest Whitley and Corbin Martin.

But one spot in Houston’s lineup also remains somewhat in flux: designated hitter. The Astros’ primary DH of last season, Evan Gattis, departed as a free agent. (He remains unsigned.) They were outbid by the Twins in their pursuit to sign Nelson Cruz in December. And their projected starter at the position has yet to experience sustained success at the major league level.

How exactly the DH at-bats will be divided between Tyler White and the rest of their position players is one of the bigger unknowns entering spring training. It is somewhat dependent on who wins the final spots on their bench and might fluctuate throughout the season given the expected in-season call-ups of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez.

It is also one of the biggest spots at which the Astros could stand to improve from last season, when their offense regressed from its expansion era-best 123 OPS+ in 2017 to a 109 OPS+ that tied for second-best in the majors with the Dodgers and A’s and trailed the Red Sox (112).

2018 season AVG OBP SLG
MLB Average from DH spot .248 .325 .449
Astros DHs .240 .299 .451
Hinch, now in his fifth season with Houston, has long liked to mix in DH starts for some of his everyday position players as a way to keep their bats in the lineup but get them off their feet for a day. Last season, for example, 26 of the Astros’ 152 DH starts in the regular season went to one of George Springer, Yuli Gurriel, José Altuve, Carlos Correa, Tony Kemp or Brian McCann.

Astros DHs in 2018 Games started at DH Plate appearances at DH
Evan Gattis 106 433
Tyler White 20 85
George Springer 9 40
Yuli Gurriel 8 33
José Altuve 6 25
Tony Kemp 1 4
Carlos Correa 1 4
Brian McCann 1 2
Hinch will continue that flex strategy this season with Springer, Altuve, Gurriel and perhaps occasionally Correa and Alex Bregman. To what extent is uncertain. But if he follows a script similar to last year’s, it would leave a good 120-plus DH starts to the rest of the roster. Newcomer Aledmys Díaz could also factor in.

“It’s nice to have that flexibility and not be locked in to having one guy that you have to play every day because he’s ‘the DH,’ ” Astros president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow said. “Tyler White should get a lot of DH at-bats. Michael Brantley might get some. I’m not sure exactly how it’s going to shake out. But we certainly want to utilize that spot and maximize both the rest it provides for the position players as well as the output because we want to be able to hit some home runs out of that spot.”

There are several ways it could play out.

Scenario A: White is a regular at DH

This scenario is the heavy frontrunner, at least to begin the season. White could start roughly five of every seven games and cede the other two or so starts a week to the likes of Brantley, Springer, Gurriel, etc.

White’s performance last season probably earned him the right to be the opening day DH considering the Astros didn’t acquire a prototypical DH like Cruz this offseason. Though his production waned late in the year and he struggled in the postseason, White compiled an impressive .276/.354/.533 line in 237 regular-season plate appearances in the majors after spending the early part of 2018 in Triple A.

White in ’18 OPS
June (19 PA) .754
July (33 PA) 1.001
Aug. (91 PA) 1.095
Sept. (94 PA) .667
White is out of minor league options, so the Astros can’t send him back to Triple A without first exposing him to waivers. He can fill in at first base but isn’t realistically a viable major league option at any other position other than DH. And if he’s on the roster and everyone is healthy, it probably means there is room for only one of Tony Kemp and Jake Marisnick.

Scenario B: White and Brantley split DH duties

White, a right-handed hitter, crushed lefties last season. The newly signed Brantley, a left-handed hitter, performed much better against righties. A soft platoon of White and Brantley is an intriguing DH option.

2018 OPS vs. RHP OPS vs. LHP
White .837 (165 PA) 1.010 (72 PA)
Brantley .889 (461 PA) .684 (170 PA)
The Astros signed Brantley in December to his two-year, $32-million deal with the intention of giving him most of his playing time in left field. But it’s not difficult to find lineup configurations against righties where starting him at DH and Kemp in left field appears to be the best option. In that configuration, White would represent their best bat off the bench.

This is where the rest of the roster factors in, as Brantley at DH works best on a roster that includes Kemp or, perhaps later in the season, Tucker. If Marisnick beats out Kemp for that last opening day roster spot, there is less of a need to play Brantley at DH. Marisnick would likely serve as more of a prototypical fourth outfielder who occasionally spells Springer in center field.

Scenario 😄 White is only an early season stopgap

By the end of the season, the Astros’ DH landscape could look completely different. They could supplement their lineup by acquiring a bat before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Or Tucker or Kemp might perform to a point where one warrants everyday at-bats in the majors, pushing Brantley to DH and White elsewhere.

Alvarez could also force the Astros’ hand at some point in 2019 with a strong performance in Triple A, where he will begin the season. But ultimately, the bulk of the DH job appears to be White’s to lose.

 

I could see either scenario A or C, not so much B.

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Scraps

Scraps 13570

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

 

Luhnow's full comments: "The contributions of Dallas, Marwin & Charlie are part of Astros history forever & will always be appreciated. Without them we would not accomplish what we did. Gattis, Sipp, Maldonado were also important players at various times & I wish them all well."

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6315

Posted
Posted

Keith Law posted his Astros prospect summary today...some insight into his reservations about Alvarez...

Spoiler

1. Forrest Whitley, RHP (ranked No. 4)
2. Kyle Tucker, OF (ranked No. 17)
3. Corbin Martin, RHP (ranked No. 48)
4. J.B. Bukauskas, RHP (ranked No. 67)
5. Josh James, RHP (ranked No. 70)
6. Cionel Perez, LHP
7. Seth Beer, OF
8. Yordan Alvarez, 1B/OF
9. Luis Santana, 2B
10. Freudis Nova, SS

Cionel Perez gets the absolute most out of his small frame, with outstanding mechanics that allow him to sit 95-96 deep into starts with a slider that can get flat while sometimes showing enough tilt to be an above-average pitch. The Cuban lefty works with three pitches, including an above-average changeup, so he has the stuff to start, yet his size and some rumored elbow trouble from before the Astros finalized his deal have created lingering doubts that he could hold up in a rotation, and he's only thrown 178 innings in the last two years.

Seth Beer is listed here as an outfielder, but he's more likely to end up a DH, demonstrating literal fall-down range in the ACC tournament last spring. The good news is he can hit, gets on base a lot (a combination of true selectivity and having pitchers pitch around him some in a weak Clemson lineup) and has above-average power. Yordan Alvarez isn't all that different, also big-bodied, lumbering in the outfield, below average at first base, with a low motor and not much athleticism or youthfulness to his movements, but he has 70 raw power and has posted solid contact rates (despite fringy bat speed) through Triple-A. He's a soft regular for me, while Beer has a chance to be above average if he carries his college performance into pro ball.

Luis Santana just came over in a deal with the Mets for J.D. Davis, moving from one top 10 to another. He's small (5-foot-8) but strong for his size with exceptional zone control and the wrist strength to make solid contact against good pitching. He's second base only and probably not going to hit for any power, but there's a chance he hits his way to everyday status. Freudis Novasigned in July 2016 for $1.2 million, more for his bat than his glove. He's probably going to end up at second or third, but shows above-average game power now and could grow into an average hit/plus power package.

Right-hander Manny Ramirez (11)sits 95 mph, running up to 97-98, with a high-spin, power curveball, but is still short of average control. His arm is very quick and he's a little undersized, so he has some reliever risk, but that fastball/breaking ball combo gives up big upside if he can start. Outfielder Alex McKenna (12) was their fourth-round pick last year, a former high school quarterback who's very athletic with plus raw power, an above-average to plus arm and at least average running speed. He didn't show the power at Cal Poly, where coaches emphasized putting the ball in play, but scouts saw it in BP. With all the swing optimization going on around baseball, and the Astros among the leaders in utilizing such data, McKenna seems like a good candidate to take off in pro ball.

Lefty Framber Valdez (13) has big stuff, with a plus fastball with life, a grade-70 curveball with high spin and a changeup with two-seam action to it, an arsenal that would seem to make him an elite prospect. He doesn't have the command or control to be that guy, perhaps because his arm action is so short that it's tough to repeat, so he seems like a good multi-inning reliever candidate or maybe a twice-through-the-order starter at the back of a rotation. Right-hander Jayson Schroeder (14) was the Astros' second-round pick in 2018, was up to 94-95 in the spring, reportedly up to 97 once or twice, with a slider and curve that are both unfinished. He's shown he can spin the ball and the Astros like his delivery and arm action. He's already big and physical, so any projection here comes from repetitions, as he's a northwest kid who hasn't pitched a ton.

Shortstop Jonathan Arauz (15) came over with Ken Giles from the Phillies and fell off the map a bit after a positive drug test for a banned stimulant and some mediocre performances, then hit .299/.392/.471 in the first half of 2018 as a 19-year-old in low-A. The Astros promoted him to high-A, where he somehow managed to lose half his BABIP, going from .350 in low-A to .180 in high-A. I find it hard to believe he forgot how to hit it where they ain't, although I do believe he needs to add strength to continue to hit better pitching. His hands are good, he stays back on the ball, can switch-hit and should either be an average shortstop or above-average second baseman, as long as his body keeps getting stronger. Right-hander Bryan Abreu (16) saw his velocity tick up last year to 94-97 and he has a plus curveball with a huge spin rate. He struck out 42 percent of batters he faced last year, advancing out of short-season leagues for the first time, and ended up on the Astros' 40-man roster this winter.

Jairo Solis (17) saw his velocity improve by 5-7 mph from the start of 2017 to the start of 2018, but then blew out his elbow, had Tommy John surgery and will miss all of 2019. He does have huge upside given his velocity and arm speed, but he was also a long way from a finished product when he got hurt. Right-hander Rogelio Armenteros (18) should get a crack at someone's fifth starter job. He's succeeded up through Triple-A, even in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, with a plus changeup, barely-average fastball, command and deception. The Astros may not have a job for him, but he'd be the Orioles' third starter.

Ronnie Dawson (19) dropped some weight last year and gained running speed as a result, enough that he might be playable in center and should be above-average in left, with plus power and probably too much swing-and-miss to make him a regular. Tyler Ivey (20) is 92-95 with a classic curveball and some riding life to his four-seamer. He had a solid year at both A-ball levels in 2018, working mostly as a starter, but his delivery is herky-jerk and tough to repeat, so he's probably a reliever in the long run.

 

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Fozzz

Fozzz 152

Posted
Posted (edited)

PECOTA loves it some Ted Tucker.

Quote

So nothing remarkable about his PECOTA projection, fantasy or otherwise. Except when you run every PECOTA projection through my fantasy valuation model on a per-plate appearance basis, PECOTA has Tucker projected to be the 12th-best fantasy hitter per plate appearance in 2019. Better than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Better than every Astros hitter other than Jose Altuve. A first-round fantasy player if he gets playing time. Twelfth. Tough for that not to catch your attention. —Rob Silver

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/46994/the-lineup-card-13-noteworthy-pecota-projections-2019/

From the Law article, this is someone I'm going to be following closely this season:

Quote

Right-hander Bryan Abreu (16) saw his velocity tick up last year to 94-97 and he has a plus curveball with a huge spin rate. He struck out 42 percent of batters he faced last year, advancing out of short-season leagues for the first time, and ended up on the Astros' 40-man roster this winter.

 

Edited by Fozzz
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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29194

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

I could see either scenario A or C, not so much B.

i would prefer b or c, but a is the likely scenario until proven otherwise.  i think b is a little incomplete though.  it has brantley and white alternating in a "soft platoon" where brantley would dh and put kemp in lf vs righties.  while i don't think kemp would ever be our everyday leftfielder vs righties, i also think brantley will play plenty of left vs lefties while white dh's.  the way they wrote it suggest brantley wouldn't be in the lineup those days vs lefties.

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Fozzz

Fozzz 152

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Interesting. The general projections that FG displays have him around a 110 wRC+. Do you have a preference among the projection systems? 

I prefer Depth Charts (combines ZiPS and Steamer), but imo, there's not a huge difference in accuracy between ZiPS, Steamer, and PECOTA.

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Amos Moses

Amos Moses 795

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Fozzz said:

PECOTA loves it some Ted Tucker.

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/46994/the-lineup-card-13-noteworthy-pecota-projections-2019/

 

Just curious ... did anyone see major league at bats from Tucker last year that live up to that projection?  I hope he makes the leap, but man ... I didn't see that with my eyes last year.

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Fozzz

Fozzz 152

Posted
Posted

He only had 72 PA last season, and his DRC+ and xwOBA were both significantly higher than his wOBA.  I don't think he was overmatched at all.  He also showed significant improvement in the PCL after being sent down.  Further, he's still very young and you expect someone of his age to make much more improvement the following season versus and older prospect in their mid-20s where they are already nearing/at their peak.

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Amos Moses

Amos Moses 795

Posted
Posted

Thanks Fozzz ... I appreciate the data.  In an effort to respond in kind, I went digging for "advanced stats" hoping to find something to better explain what I think I saw last year.  Here it is (I think):

Batted balls: 51

Barrels: 2

Barrel %: 3.9

 

OK - so that's one thing.  Then, I saw these two:

Exit velocity: 90.7

Hard hit %: 45.1

 

So much for that theory.  What I saw last year is a guy with a looping, slow swing that hardly ever made solid contact.  Seems to be the case, but he still manages to hit the crap out of the ball.  

 

So, who knows?  Only way to find out is more ABs.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6315

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Amos Moses said:

Thanks Fozzz ... I appreciate the data.  In an effort to respond in kind, I went digging for "advanced stats" hoping to find something to better explain what I think I saw last year.  Here it is (I think):

Batted balls: 51

Barrels: 2

Barrel %: 3.9

 

OK - so that's one thing.  Then, I saw these two:

Exit velocity: 90.7

Hard hit %: 45.1

 

So much for that theory.  What I saw last year is a guy with a looping, slow swing that hardly ever made solid contact.  Seems to be the case, but he still manages to hit the crap out of the ball.  

 

So, who knows?  Only way to find out is more ABs.

Yeah, too small a sample to read much into it. Agree that he wasn't overmatched - his K% and BB% were not bad. He wasn't AJ Reed or Singleton striking out 40% of the time. 

He can't hit the ball on the ground as much as he did in his very brief appearance last year, but again, way too small of a sample to even call that a tendency (hasn't been an issue in the minors). 

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mycox

mycox 582

Posted
Posted
43 minutes ago, Amos Moses said:

Thanks Fozzz ... I appreciate the data.  In an effort to respond in kind, I went digging for "advanced stats" hoping to find something to better explain what I think I saw last year.  Here it is (I think):

Batted balls: 51

Barrels: 2

Barrel %: 3.9

 

OK - so that's one thing.  Then, I saw these two:

Exit velocity: 90.7

Hard hit %: 45.1

 

So much for that theory.  What I saw last year is a guy with a looping, slow swing that hardly ever made solid contact.  Seems to be the case, but he still manages to hit the crap out of the ball.  

 

So, who knows?  Only way to find out is more ABs.

Do you know who else sucked his first 200 at bats? Alex Bregman

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29194

Posted
Posted

tucker is in an ideal situation where he can hit near the bottom of the lineup and won't be heavily relied upon for offense.  hopefully we can give him an extended shot and see where he lands.

i know bregman is the recent example of slow starting, but i always think about phil nevin.  i remember hearing terry collins telling a story about nevin bitching about being sent down his rookie year.  he was like, "here nevin is, coming at me, bitching and moaning, and i'm like dude, you're hitting 80 (.080, but he said eighty)."  hopefully tucker ends up more like bregman and less like nevin (with the exception of his steroid breakout in sd).

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ckhorn

ckhorn 208

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

tucker is in an ideal situation where he can hit near the bottom of the lineup and won't be heavily relied upon for offense.  hopefully we can give him an extended shot and see where he lands.

i know bregman is the recent example of slow starting, but i always think about phil nevin.  i remember hearing terry collins telling a story about nevin bitching about being sent down his rookie year.  he was like, "here nevin is, coming at me, bitching and moaning, and i'm like dude, you're hitting 80 (.080, but he said eighty)."  hopefully tucker ends up more like bregman and less like nevin (with the exception of his steroid breakout in sd).

I just hope he is still eligible for ROY. Because he going to win it. Close 2nd is Whitley. I don't think this will be far off.

Bring it own.

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Gourmand

Gourmand 7774

Posted
Posted

Tucker raked at every level throughout the minors after periods of adjusting to the higher caliber of opponent pitching-- I don't think there's any reason to believe he won't adjust and become an All-Star level hitter at the ML level. The kid can hit. He really hasn't had a sufficient opportunity to get into a groove and prove himself.

I expect him to be a force in 2019.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9517

Posted
Posted
This is great news, but I can't pull the trigger for $44.99/month. Might as well get cable.
I'll pay for the MLB package and use pay $5/month for a VPN. I watch the Rockets with Reddit streams even though the quality sucks.

Yep.
I’ve done that the past two years and doesn’t look like there is an option out there to keep me from making it a third.
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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19209

Posted
Posted
On 2/7/2019 at 8:33 PM, Seasick Sailor said:

Realmuto to the Phillies:

 

Question for all of you dudes that follow the minors closely, to me it sounds like they got Realmuto for our equivalent of Bukauskas or actually a little less.  Agree or disagree?

It doesn't seem like the Marlins got anything close to what they were originally hoping for in any deal for Realmuto... kind of like everyone outside of Derek Jeter's head expected.

 

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formermav43

formermav43 4606

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Question for all of you dudes that follow the minors closely, to me it sounds like they got Realmuto for our equivalent of Bukauskas or actually a little less.  Agree or disagree?

It doesn't seem like the Marlins got anything close to what they were originally hoping for in any deal for Realmuto... kind of like everyone outside of Derek Jeter's head expected.

 

I’d say that’s overstating it, not that I follow the minors that closely. Sanchez is in the top quarter to top half of most top 100 prospect lists. Bukauskus is at the tail end or missing it entirely. Both are undersized and have been hurt, but the consensus regards Sanchez more highly.

The catcher they got is a decent player too, if he can ever cut down on his strikeouts.

They definitely didn’t get the return they wanted with a Tucker/Whitley level prospect (or young MLB player like Bellinger), you’re right there.

But if Bukauskus could have headlined a Realmuto package, he’d have already been traded.

Edited by formermav43
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HtownHorn

HtownHorn 14755

Posted
Posted
22 hours ago, formermav43 said:

I’d say that’s overstating it, not that I follow the minors that closely. Sanchez is in the top quarter to top half of most top 100 prospect lists. Bukauskus is at the tail end or missing it entirely. Both are undersized and have been hurt, but the consensus regards Sanchez more highly.

The catcher they got is a decent player too, if he can ever cut down on his strikeouts.

They definitely didn’t get the return they wanted with a Tucker/Whitley level prospect (or young MLB player like Bellinger), you’re right there.

But if Bukauskus could have headlined a Realmuto package, he’d have already been traded.

The Astos also didn't have a player at Alfaro's level either. A 26 year old catcher under control for 4 more years projected to have a .751 OPS is a pretty good return to go along with Sanchez.

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