Why sign Houck and Casas?

[notin]

59 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

PHI also has Painter & Luzardo.

SP couldn’t be a lesser need for that team.

However, they do need a setup guy who can throw the ball home without sailing it to the backstop…

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, notin said:

SP couldn’t be a lesser need for that team.

However, they do need a setup guy who can throw the ball Joe without sailing it to the backstop…

Since Dombrowski took over, that pen has been perfectly middle of the road (17th in ERA, 19th in WHIP, 12th in K-BB%). Even better than PHI could have expected from a guy who doesn't know how to build pens. 

[notin]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Since Dombrowski took over, that pen has been perfectly middle of the road (17th in ERA, 19th in WHIP, 12th in K-BB%). Even better than PHI could have expected from a guy who doesn't know how to build pens. 

I think the charges were not so much that he doesn’t know how to build bullpens, but rather that he largely ignores the task in favor of other areas..

[moonslav59]

54 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Duran at DH is not a waste to me, its depth and versatility. But again, I dont think Duran is a DH, he may DH 50% of games ,sit 25% and and play OF 25% with a full team (no injuries/slumps) but its gonna change when the twists/turns of the season start.

I see it as wasteful, in terms of his value being higher in the OF for another team than to us as a DH, where I can see Masa batting .775 in 2026. Masa+ Romy might out-OPS Duran as the FT DH.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Using the money for Bichette or Bellinger?

Or Realmuto.  Assuming he re-signs for $20M, then his tax is $22M, and the total Philly CBT is $77M, and total payroll about $360M.

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, notin said:

I think the charges were not so much that he doesn’t know how to build bullpens, but rather that he largely ignores the task in favor of other areas..

It took him four years, but I think he finally got it right by trading for Duran.  All the previous closers were too sketchy to rely on for a WS aspirant.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, drewski6 said:

I would love to upgrade the DH spot, but I guess one way to do that is to not trade an OF'er

FWIW, with the addition of Suarez, I am more open to trading Yoshida and making Duran the DH.  I still wouldn't mind hooking him up in a Paredes package, or even a good pitching prospect, but if we aren't spending $25M on a hitter, then upgrading our offense is the next order of business.

[FredLynn]

Well Bichette is now off the table. Just signed with the Mets. Henry is a crap owner. Not many good FA bats left out there. No improvement in the offense = no playoffs. Take it to the bank.

Disgusting bunch of losers running the franchise.

 

[notin]

36 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

It took him four years, but I think he finally got it right by trading for Duran.  All the previous closers were too sketchy to rely on for a WS aspirant.

And then he went and shattered my confidence in him by spending $22mil on Brad Keller…

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Well Bichette is now off the table. Just signed with the Mets. Henry is a crap owner. Not many good FA bats left out there. No improvement in the offense = no playoffs. Take it to the bank.

Disgusting bunch of losers running the franchise.

 

They weren't going to get a FA bat at this point. It was pretty obvious. It's going to have to come from a trade.

[mvp 78]

35 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

FWIW, with the addition of Suarez, I am more open to trading Yoshida and making Duran the DH.  I still wouldn't mind hooking him up in a Paredes package, or even a good pitching prospect, but if we aren't spending $25M on a hitter, then upgrading our offense is the next order of business.

Trading Masa should always be on the table, it's just hard to find someone to take him on.

[notin]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

Trading Masa should always be on the table, it's just hard to find someone to take him on.

I think it’s been Breslow’s white whale…

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Trading Masa should always be on the table, it's just hard to find someone to take him on.

Even when throwing in some money IMO.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

I think it’s been Breslow’s white whale…

[notin]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Even when throwing in some money IMO.

 Or Triston Casas, as it turns out…

[vegasbob]

Whether or not Masataka is tradable under any scenario will be a good debate this ST/season and by July 31 we will know. 

Assuming Yoshi's 2026 contract is just over 65% burned by 7/31, the Sox would need to throw in about $5MM for the rest of 2026 and probably take on another team's bad deal to cover 2027 or whatever happens to old contracts under the new TBD CBA for 2027 and after.

Think about what team would need a low power DH ?     It would have to be some team  with an injury situation, needing a DH or LH PH,  on the fringe of contending for a WC slot .    That may be a rare bird.

 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

Well Bichette is now off the table. Just signed with the Mets. Henry is a crap owner. Not many good FA bats left out there. No improvement in the offense = no playoffs. Take it to the bank.

Disgusting bunch of losers running the franchise.

 

Who said it was going to be a full week before the whiners started up again?  My under/over was two days.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

Or Realmuto.  Assuming he re-signs for $20M, then his tax is $22M, and the total Philly CBT is $77M, and total payroll about $360M.

Realmuto took $15M x 3.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Realmuto took $15M x 3.

Plus $5M incentives.

[Donnie Sadler was short]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Trading Masa should always be on the table, it's just hard to find someone to take him on.

I agree....can you imagine having to trade Duran becuse Masa takes up a spot?

What might be a reasonable expectation of how much someone will take of his salary? 3-4 mill per year?

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Donnie Sadler was short said:

I agree....can you imagine having to trade Duran becuse Masa takes up a spot?

What might be a reasonable expectation of how much someone will take of his salary? 3-4 mill per year?

BTV says his value is about $10M ($5M x 2). I think we might be lucky to find anyone to pay $8M of the $36M owed him ($4M x 2.)

We might get someone to pay $3-4M x 2 for Hicks.

[FredLynn]

19 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

They weren't going to get a FA bat at this point. It was pretty obvious. It's going to have to come from a trade.

I doubt we will get a good bat through trade either. Too expensive for the cheapskate owner. I was shocked that he paid Suarez. Guess his wallet is empty now.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

I doubt we will get a good bat through trade either. Too expensive for the cheapskate owner. I was shocked that he paid Suarez. Guess his wallet is empty now.

Didn't you say, just recently, we are not signing any FAs to a big contract?

Okay, you were shocked, but would signing E Suarez and then dumping a salary like Bello of Sandoval really be all that shocking?

I'm not saying the odds favor this, but how many times must we be shocked before thinking it's at least possible?

We were shocked when we signed Bregman, last winter. Some were shocked we extended Devers, Crochet, Anthony, Campbell, Bello and Rafaela. Some were shocked we spent over $40M AAV on FA pitchers, last winter (21 Buehler, 10 Chapman, 9 Sandoval and 2 Wilson)

IMO, I'd be fine with a trade for a big bat infielder like Paredes. I would not be shocked, in the least. All I hear down here in HOU is that cannot trade Walker, Altuve, Pena or Correa, so Paredes will be traded. I'll be shocked if he's not traded somewhere. The Astros need an OF'er badly and every team needs pitching. We have logjams in both areas, so the odds seem to favor we can match up.

[moonslav59]

17 hours ago, Donnie Sadler was short said:

I agree....can you imagine having to trade Duran because Masa takes up a spot?

I don't think it's that simple.

I think the equation looks like this, assuming Duran becomes the DH, because we don't trade any OF'ers and all stay healthy all season:

DH: .790 Duran with some power and a lot of speed vs .770 Masa with little power and slow as hell. That is a gain, for sure.

Now, weigh this with...

3B: .825 Paredes with power vs 2B .725 DHam vs R and Romy v L

(I think we can get a RP added with that Duran trade, too.)

Which one looks better?

Duran + DHam/Romy

or

Paredes + Masa (and Romy could platoon w Masa)

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Didn't you say, just recently, we are not signing any FAs to a big contract?

He says the same thing every post.

• JH is cheap.
• The Flops are a disgusting organization.
• We're never going to sign anyone.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

.can you imagine having to trade Duran because Masa takes up a spot?

We're not trading him because of Masa.  There's not a single person on the planet that thinks 'The RS have Masa so they have to trade Duran'.

Before the Suarez signing, some of wanted Duran traded for a #2 SP, because we felt that a #2 SP was far more important than a #4/DH.

Now that we have Ranger, some of want to trade Duran for a 2B/3B type because we feel that a 2B/3B is far more important than a #4/DH.

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

He says the same thing every post.

• JH is cheap.
• The Flops are a disgusting organization.
• We're never going to sign anyone.

Then, he's shocked, but rinse and repeat.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

We're not trading him because of Masa.  There's not a single person on the planet that thinks 'The RS have Masa so they have to trade Duran'.

Before the Suarez signing, some of wanted Duran traded for a #2 SP, because we felt that a #2 SP was far more important than a #4/DH.

Now that we have Ranger, some of want to trade Duran for a 2B/3B type because we feel that a 2B/3B is far more important than a #4/DH.

It's hard to find a match for Duran and a 2B/3Bman.

I really like Paredes, and I think we are a better team with Paredes at 3B and Masa at DH than DHam/Romy at 2B and Duran at DH, but it's too much of an overpay to do it one-for-one. If the Astros gave us Brian King and catcher prospect Janek, I'd do it. (I might trade Duran for just Paredes & King.) The downside is heightened by 2 yrs of Paredes for 3 from Duran, but King has 5 years of control.

I don't trade Duran for 2 years of Donovan. I'm not sure what STL could add to Donovan to get me to a yes.

4 yrs of Vientos or 1 year of Hoerner? Not for any of our OF'ers, except maybe Campbell.

1 yr of Gleyber Torres (NOPE) or pre-arb Matt Shaw? (not on for one)

MN wont give us Keaschaal for Duran, but maybe a 3rd team can get us to yes.

3 years of Royce Lewis? (Maybe if they also give us 1 year of Jeffries, who is not good at C defense.)

 

[JoeBrady]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The downside is heightened by 2 yrs of Paredes for 3 from Duran, but King has 5 years of control.

I'm not sure it's quite fair, but given that we need a 3B and an RP, I would do it.

[FredLynn]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Didn't you say, just recently, we are not signing any FAs to a big contract?

Okay, you were shocked, but would signing E Suarez and then dumping a salary like Bello of Sandoval really be all that shocking?

I'm not saying the odds favor this, but how many times must we be shocked before thinking it's at least possible?

We were shocked when we signed Bregman, last winter. Some were shocked we extended Devers, Crochet, Anthony, Campbell, Bello and Rafaela. Some were shocked we spent over $40M AAV on FA pitchers, last winter (21 Buehler, 10 Chapman, 9 Sandoval and 2 Wilson)

IMO, I'd be fine with a trade for a big bat infielder like Paredes. I would not be shocked, in the least. All I hear down here in HOU is that cannot trade Walker, Altuve, Pena or Correa, so Paredes will be traded. I'll be shocked if he's not traded somewhere. The Astros need an OF'er badly and every team needs pitching. We have logjams in both areas, so the odds seem to favor we can match up.

Yes I’d be shocked. The history of this team is that the owner is a tightwad. Sure it’s possible. It’s possible that Duran will win the batting title this year, but I wouldn’t bet on it. That said I would be delighted if we acquired the pieces we need to become the contender that we currently are not. 
PS: I’m not trading Bello. Use other players in a trade. Maybe we can finally get rid of Rafaela.