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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?

Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6,315

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, BornOrange said:

And how are the Angels popular in New Mexico?

Maybe they accidently put the Angels icon instead of the Arizona Diamondbacks icon?

Yeah that's weird. The Dodgers are way, way more popular than the Angels here...Lasorda managed here, Hershiser, Pedro, Piazza all played here, etc. There are a lot of old-school Dodger fans around.  

But the Astros seem to be about as popular as anyone since Bregman has emerged. Pretty good Astros support when Fresno comes through too. 

Edited by Hank Chinaski
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formermav43

formermav43 4,606

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, msbesq said:

Depth to the farm system, they'll give Manea a shot in Spring Training to earn a catcher spot and all three could be future trade bait.

It’s not about trade bait or thinking an A ball catcher makes the big club. This is flipping a guy with no place to play here for younger potential talent.

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Seasick Sailor

Seasick Sailor 3,747

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Posted

Mets Acquire J.D. Davis at a Steep Price

By: Eric Longenhagen

On Sunday, the Mets continued an active weekend of trades designed to add bench-quality pieces to their big league roster, sending several low-level minor leaguers to Houston for power-hitting corner bat J.D. Davis. Here’s the whole deal:

The Mets get:

J.D. Davis, 3B/1B/OF
Cody Bohanek, INF

The Astros get:

Luis Santana, 2B
Ross Adolph, CF
Scott Manea, C

Davis is talented — he has plus-plus raw power, a plus-plus arm, and can play several positions, though none especially well — but it’s hard to see how he fits in New York without taking playing time from players who have greater long-term potential and might also be just as good as Davis is right now. He doesn’t complement Todd Frazier or Peter Alonso — the two players projected to start for the Mets at Davis’ primary positions — in any way. Like Frazier and Alonso, Davis hits right-handed and isn’t a good infield defender.

He does have experience in the outfield corners, an area where the Mets need warm bodies, so perhaps we’ll see Davis used as a platoon or situational corner outfielder as a means of getting him at-bats against left-handed pitching. Davis hit .348/.419/.583 against southpaws last year and .344/.401/.800 in 2017, with most of that production coming at Triple-A Fresno. He could get some starts against lefties in situations where the Mets can hide him on defense. They could mix him with Juan Lagares or Keon Broxton depending on if the game state dictates a need for offense or defense, which might move Michael Conforto or Brandon Nimmo to center field once in a while.

This assumes Davis, who turns 26 in April, can hit big league pitching, something he hasn’t done in a fairly limited sample; he owns a .194/.260/.321 line in 181 career big league plate appearances. Houston, an organization at the forefront at understanding how to implement swing changes, doesn’t seem to have been able to alter Davis’ batted ball profile in a way that would enable him to start showing his raw power in games. A power-hitting platoon outcome seems reasonable to hope for, though Davis’ true talent level is probably closer to a defensively-limited bench bat, one that’s easier to roster in the American League and isn’t a great fit on this Mets roster as it’s currently composed.

Cody Bohanek, also acquired by the Mets, is an interesting, late-blooming athletic flier who is probably just an org guy. He played safety and corner at Marist High School in Chicago and had college football aspirations until the University of Illinois-Chicago gave him the opportunity to play baseball. Two-sport, cold weather prospects are apt to improve later than their warm weather peers who play more baseball, and that’s what happened with Bohanek, who had a statistical breakout as a senior and impressed scouts at NCAA Regionals. He was a 30th round senior sign in 2017.
Bohanek split 2018 between Low and Hi-A. He walked a lot and has a proficient, versatile infield glove. He may be a bench infielder at peak and the two-sport, small school, cold weather pedigree makes him slightly mysterious and interesting.

I like Houston’s end of this deal. Tyler White, who lifts the ball consistently and has a track record of hitting for power against big league pitching, made Davis offensively redundant in Houston, as the team didn’t seem interested in exploring a two-way role for Davis, who closed in college. They add three up-the-middle defenders who have performed statistically. The best of them is 19-year-old Dominican second baseman Luis Santana, who is coming off a domestic debut at advanced rookie-level Kingsport where he hit .348/.446/.471 with more walks than strikeouts.

A stocky, curvaceous 5-foot-8, Santana crowds the plate so much that he’s practically straddling it, and his idiosyncratic, low-ball swing enables him to impact pitches that cross the plate beneath his chest as he leans over it. It’s weird, but it works, and Santana looks like he’s going to be a plus hitter who also has a discerning eye for the strike zone, and whose plate crowding gets him hit by pitches so often that it actually matters. Santana has been hit in 4% of his 611 career plate appearances, which is nearly twice the career rate of active big league HBP leader Shin-Soo Choo (132 HBP, 1.9%) who became the active leader when Chase Utley (204 HBP, 2.5%) retired.

Athletically, Santana fits at second and third base. His body is pretty maxed out and he’s not likely to grow into sizable raw power, but he runs well, has infield-worthy hands and an average arm. The combination of his defensive profile and promising feel to hit make him a very intriguing prospect. He was slated to be the 10th ranked Mets prospect on our upcoming list as a 40+ FV player, and I think he’s the best individual talent involved in this deal.

The Astros also received Scott Manea and Ross Adolph. Adolph,22, is an interesting small-school sleeper who hit .322/.445/.654 as a junior at Toledo, then signed for $125,000 as a 2018 12th rounder. He continued to rake at short-season Brooklyn after signing, hitting .276/.348/.509 and swiping 14 bases (on 17 attempts) in 60 games.

He’s an above-average runner with good instincts in center field, and there’s a chance he can stay there. He could be a 50 bat with gap power who is playable in center, which would make him at least a viable big league fourth outfielder. He was going to be a prominent part of the Mets prospect lists’ honorable mention section. We whiffed on him pre-draft, but our sources who saw him in pro ball raved and I’m very interested to see how he hits in full-season ball next year because I think the industry’s error bars on small school bats are pretty large due to the quality of pitching they face.

Manea, 23, was drafted by Seattle out of high school but didn’t sign. He transferred to St. Petersburg College in Florida after his freshman year at NC State, but wasn’t drafted after his sophomore year despite being eligible. He had a good summer for the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League and was eligible to sign as an undrafted free agent, which he did with the Mets in late July of 2016.

He’s a heavy-bodied catcher with power who hit .261/.368/.432 at Low-A Columbia last year. Manea’s a below-average receiver who lets his target sag as his pitcher starts to deliver the ball home, which means he has to come back to that spot with his glove, creating a lot of unnecessary movement that isn’t great for stealing strikes. He’s also a well-below average athlete and thrower, so he probably can’t catch.

The Astros have, in several instances, traded players on the periphery of their big league roster (Teoscar Hernandez, David Paulino, Ramon Laureano, etc.) for prospects, and this is another example. I understand the Mets desire to add high-probability contributors to their big league roster, even if they’re low-impact players, but moving a prospect like Santana for the kind of role player readily available on the open market feels short-sighted.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6,315

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I'd imagine Fisher is another OF that is expendable. Seems that some non-contending club would have interest in him as a lottery ticket, given his athleticism, tools and minor league production. He's 25 and I don't see a spot for him in Houston any time soon. 

He could probably fetch a bit more than Davis did if we wanted to cash him in for prospects. 

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Seasick Sailor

Seasick Sailor 3,747

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1 minute ago, Hank Chinaski said:

I'd imagine Fisher is another OF that is expendable. Seems that some non-contending club would have interest in him as a lottery ticket, given his athleticism, tools and minor league production. He's 25 and I don't see a spot for him in Houston any time soon. 

He could probably fetch a bit more than Davis did if we wanted to cash him in for prospects. 

It's just speculation, but Jeff Sullivan mentioned in his most recent chat that the Braves could be interested in him.  

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9,517

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Austin-area Astros fans: Winter Caravan coming to Dell Diamond Tuesday, 1/22.
$50
Anyone going?

ROUND ROCK, Texas - Save the date! The Houston Astros Caravan, presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors, is coming back to Dell Diamond on Tuesday, January 22. Players, coaches and front office personnel scheduled to attend the luncheon, presented by Cody Pools, will be announced at a later date.

Tickets for the luncheon are on sale now through the Express ticket office by calling (512) 255-2255 or online at RoundRockExpress.com. Individual general admission tickets are $50 each and a reserved table of eight is available for $350. The event will start at noon, with doors opening at 11:30 a.m. There will be an autograph session for all ticketed attendees following the luncheon and presentation. Please note, fans will not be permitted to bring outside memorabilia to be autographed.

The Express open their historic 20th anniversary season on the road against the New Orleans Baby Cakes (Miami Marlins affiliate) on Thursday, April 4 before returning to Dell Diamond on Tuesday, April 9 for a five-game series against the Nashville Sounds (Texas Rangers affiliate). Season memberships and flex plan ticket packages are on sale now.


https://www.milb.com/round-rock/news/houston-astros-caravan-visits-dell-diamond-on-january-22/c-302436850?_wcsid=DC65C5DE4024AB4CC20CCEE8067DBF138550D9974BB589A8
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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29,194

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2 hours ago, UTexasFight said:

Perhaps but looks right now like a wise bet. He needs to get ~$70M wherever he lands to come out ahead.
Keep in mind, he turned that down shortly after wining the Cy Young and seeing Mike Leake get $80M and Ian Kennedy $70M for 5 yrs that same offseason.

yeah, he made ~22mm the last couple years so i think your math is right, but i think at this point he's more worried about the years, and possibly the team.  he could've been making $18mm per on the astros, when he knew we were on the rise and would be good for a while.  now he's gonna end up taking 4-5 years with cincy or somebody for 80-90mm?  i know most players only care about the dollars, but the way dk publicly calls out mgmt for not making the team better makes me think he doesn't like losing very much either.

i also don't see him as the type of guy who will take a shorter deal and "bet on himself".  i don't think boras would let him do that either.

go let him eat up innings for a middling nl team during the regular season.  i don't trust him in the al playoffs. 

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9,517

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Anyone listened to McHugh's new podcast yet?

Hmmm. I’ll probably give it a listen

For nine months out of the year, Collin McHugh engages in these conversations daily. They take place out of the public eye, whether in the Astros’ clubhouse, during a meal or on a flight to the next road city.

So with his new podcast, The Twelve Six, McHugh wants to pull back the curtain. Baseball fans hear players interviewed by reporters routinely but seldom are they privy to the discussions players have with one another. The Houston starting pitcher hopes to illuminate the sides of players not easily accessed by the public.

“We are people just like anybody else is. Fans know that theoretically, and every once in a while you see these bits of personality pop out of guys and shine through,” McHugh said. “As a baseball fan myself, I always loved that, when I was able to see a different side of a player.

“And so the goal is to be able to show that, to be able to have a conversation where you might already think you know who Lance McCullers is but hopefully this gives you another side of his personality, of him as a baseball player and as a person, and hopefully be able to enjoy him and his performance and the Astros and baseball in general even more.”

McHugh officially launched his new endeavor on Sunday with his debut episode, a wide-ranging, nearly hour-long conversation with McCullers, one of his closest friends on the Astros and his “resident pop culture guru.” McHugh, 31, was inspired to develop his own podcast after listening to The JJ Redick Podcast by the 76ers guard. The Twelve Six follows a similar interview-style format to Redick’s.

“The idea is just to have a conversation like I would with any of my teammates or baseball players or friends, whoever,” McHugh said. “There is obviously going to be some baseball talk in there because we’re baseball players and we talk shop just like anybody does about work. But there’s also a myriad of other interests that baseball players have that don’t always get showcased. As much as we are baseball players, we are equally, if not more so, other things.”

With McCullers, McHugh discussed baseball-related topics like their most dreadful major league starts, the mass appeal of Rob Friedman’s @PitchingNinja Twitter account and the sport’s current heroes and villains. On the non-baseball front, they touched on McCullers’ social media presence, his Fortnite addiction, his silver hair and his foundation, among other things.

Noticeably absent was mention of McCullers’ recent Tommy John surgery, but there was good reason for the omission. McHugh taped this episode way back in May, during downtime from the Astros’ series at Chase Field against the Diamondbacks. He’s flirted with starting this podcast since last spring training but put releasing it on hold as the 2018 season intensified. Other episodes he has in the bag feature conversations with Charlie Morton, Gerrit Cole and Jason Castro, the ex-Astro now with the Twins.

McHugh, who spent last season pitching out of the bullpen, originally planned to get every member of the Astros’ 2018 rotation as guests on his podcast. He still hopes to get Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel, though getting the latter to sit down for an in-person conversation might be difficult logistically, depending on where the left-hander signs in free agency.

Realizing a weekly podcast would be ambitious to fit into a major league baseball player’s schedule, McHugh realistically hopes to release new episodes at least once or twice a month. Though probably his most frequent, teammates won’t be his only guests. For example, he said he’s interested in having on pitching coach Brent Strom and Astros president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow. Opposing players are possibilities, as well. Maybe during spring training he can lure three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, who he met at a players’ association meeting this offseason and whose Nationals share a Florida complex with the Astros.

Who is his dream podcast guest?

“I’d love to be able to sit down with John Smoltz,” said McHugh, a Georgia native and resident. “He was like my guy growing up. I’ve been able to talk a little bit of baseball with him when I’ve seen him come through with TBS or FOX or whoever he’s doing games for, especially in the playoffs. But to be able to really sit down and get into it with him would be cool.”

McHugh landed on the baseball-themed name for his podcast via a suggestion from a friend, musician Reuben Bidez. The pitcher’s studio will travel with him in spring training and during the season; it consists of only a recording device and two microphones. “I’ve got a backpack with some stuff in it and that’s about as high tech as I get,” he quipped. He handles some of the edits himself but outsources to more qualified friends the mastering of the sound. Despite his business background — last season, he balanced his baseball and family lives with taking online college courses toward a business finance degree — he has no plans to solicit advertisers to partner with him on the podcast.

“This is not here for me to make money necessarily, really in any way. I’ve got a day job. I’ve got a day job that I like a lot,” he said with a laugh. “This is going to be more for me and for the fans and hopefully, eventually when I’m done playing, I’ll be able to continue doing stuff like this in some capacity.”

 

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IDIOTsavant

IDIOTsavant 8,499

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7 minutes ago, ImGolfn said:

98 is a strong number to take the over, missing a catcher and couple starting pitchers.  I think 90+ but i dont think they get the over.

You can also make the argument that the Mariners will take a large step back next year. The Astros went 9-10 against them last year. They're also probably factoring in some regression by the A's. It's a big number, but I still think they get there.

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MAROON

MAROON 445

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58 minutes ago, IDIOTsavant said:

You can also make the argument that the Mariners will take a large step back next year. The Astros went 9-10 against them last year. They're also probably factoring in some regression by the A's. It's a big number, but I still think they get there.

Caesar's has the Astros winning the AL West by 14 games if you believe their O/U #'s for everyone. If that is the case, you keep your powder dry until you need it for the late season acquisition before the playoff run. 

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formermav43

formermav43 4,606

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3 hours ago, ImGolfn said:

98 is a strong number to take the over, missing a catcher and couple starting pitchers.  I think 90+ but i dont think they get the over.

Chirinos/Stassi are projected to combine for 2.2 WAR. That’s vs. 2.7 for McCann/Gattis in 2017, and 2.0 for Maldonado/McCann/Stassi last year. The catcher situation isn’t really an impediment to 100 wins.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9,517

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Posted
98 is a strong number to take the over, missing a catcher and couple starting pitchers.  I think 90+ but i dont think they get the over.

Give me the over.
How many 100 loss teams in AL are there going to be again in 2019? Someone has to be on the other side of that. And yeah, the rest of the AL West is going to be a mess.
M’s and Rangers rebuilding. A’s will regress mightily and the Angels will be on their 10th starter by May like usual.

In interleague, it’s the NL Central + 4 with the Rockies so not exactly murderers row there either.
110 isn’t out of the question if they avoid injuries and come out with the same intensity as they did last to start the title defense.

Give me 105 to be safe.
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