The Astros made an offer to the Tigers for right fielder Nick Castellanos prior to last July’s trade deadline, according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). Houston was known to be aggressively pursuing a big outfield bat last summer, even to the point of almost completing a trade with the Nationals for Bryce Harper, and also inquiring about Tommy Pham (then with the Cardinals) and White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia. Fenech suggests that Castellanos could again be a target for the Astros this offseason, and he explores in a longer piece for the Detroit Free Press that it is becoming increasingly likely that the Tigers will trade Castellanos due to a lack of extension talks between the two sides.
Castellanos would help the Astros as either a corner outfielder or, perhaps more likely, as a DH given Castellanos’ defensive limitations and the fact that incumbent Houston designated hitter Evan Gattis is hitting free agency. Since Castellanos is only controlled through the 2019 season, he would give the Astros a short-term boost in their quest for another World Series while also not serving as a long-term block to youngsters Tyler White, Kyle Tucker, and J.D. Davis.
More from around baseball…
- Now that Brodie Van Wagenen has gone from being Jacob deGrom’s agent to his employer as the Mets’ new GM, the transition has been “still a little confusing for me, I guess,” deGrom admitted to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. DeGrom (and Van Wagenen’s other clients at CAA) were kept updated throughout Van Wagenen’s negotiations about joining the Mets just so nobody felt caught off-guard by the former agent’s surprising career change, and deGrom said that “I’ve had conversations with him since [the hiring], and they’ve been good.” There haven’t yet been any talks about a contract extension between deGrom and the Mets, though most teams usually wait until later in the offseason to discuss in-house contracts. For his part, deGrom reiterated that he enjoys playing for the Mets and would be open to talking about a long-term deal. “If that was something that they wanted to do, and me and [my wife] Stacey felt like it was the right move for us, then we’d be willing to definitely explore that,” deGrom said. The ace right-hander is controlled via arbitration through the 2020 season, and it will be particularly interesting to see how extension talks develop, given deGrom and Van Wagenen’s shared history.
- In other Mets news, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman recently tweeted that Jim Riggleman will interview for the team’s open bench coach position sometime this week. Riggleman served as the Reds’ interim manager for much of the 2018 season, and he would add over three decades of coaching and managerial experience to Mickey Callaway’s staff. SNY TV’s Andy Martino offers the alternative suggestion that the Mets should consider former Phillies manager Pete Mackanin as bench coach, arguing that Mackanin is more well-versed in how to apply modern analytics to in-game management.
- Manny Machado is the third-greatest player to ever hit free agency following his age-27 season or sooner, as calculated by The Athletic’s Cliff Corcoran (subscription required) in a 13-player ranking. Bryce Harper, interestingly, ranks just 11th on the list. The players were compiled in regards to what they had achieved before hitting the open market, so it’s worth noting that both Machado and Harper (who are both only 26 years old now) had a bit less seasoning than some of the slightly older names on the list. Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds are the only names ahead of Machado on this list dotted with several all-time greats, though as with any free agent, past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Case in point, the fourth-best player on Corcoran’s ranking is Jason Heyward, who has been a significant disappointment since signing an eight-year, $184MM deal to join the Cubs.
Mets are a dumpster fire, but wish pple’d stop comparing Brodie to Dave Stewart’s two-year Diamondbacks’ tenure. Give this man a chance. Believe he will perform better than Stewart, with his eyes closed, even w/ the Wilpon handcuffs.
Isn’t this what Mets fans say about every GM and Manager they get? Every guy in these roles for nearly 20 years have started as saviors for the Mets, but then end up being chased out of town as exposed, overhyped idiots.
Steve Phillips
Jim Duquette
Omar Minaya
Sandy Alderson
Anything else need to be said?
Frank Cashen.
Cashen actually did some good, not to mention bring them the 86′ WS during his watch.
I’d love if Brodie could attain Cashen’s success…as it included ’86 and it should have also included at least one more WS. Right now I’m worried about Brodie being a mouthpiece for ownership and there to mostly take the metaphorical bullets aimed at Jeffy and Co. for being part of one of the worst ownership groups in all of sports.
And Jeter doing a great job for the 20 fans that come out to the games. You win a W/S 1997 and the lose 108 in 1998. Gave away a triple crown winner for Miller and didn’t keep Miller. Trade away last year MVP and this year MVP and get nothing back. Please just pray for your team..
The Astros and Phillies actually seem like they would match up very nicely on a Carlos Santana trade.
I’m surprised that hasn’t been mentioned at all. I never understood why the Phillies went after Santana. His 2 years remaining fits well with Houston as a switch hitting DH
If I’m the Astros, I look at other options before I look at Santana. There are cheaper, comparable options. If they go after him, I’d clearly ask for Philly to take on some of that money to match what other comparable pieces are worth.
Agreed. I would prefer Nelson Cruz, Martinez of the Cardinals or some other lower cost out of place hitter.
Why do people want the Astros to add yet another RH bat? They need either switch hitters or LH bats to break up the 5 best hitters on the Astros are RH.
If Jason Heyward’s name is 4th on a list of anything regarding good baseball players, there shouldn’t be more than 5 names total on the list or else I am not going to take it seriously.
Someone obviously didn’t read the article.
Considering that everyone knew that Heyward was garbage, including his hometown Braves, Corcoran should not be worthy as a cited opinion, even for this article.
Yes everyone knew he was garbage. That’s why multiple teams gave up large packages and offered hundreds of millions of dollars to get him….
The braves didn’t get rid of up m because they thought he was garbage, they got rid of him because they knew they couldn’t sign him and Freeman both to long term contacts
Point in favor of the Braves front office.
I don’t know how anyone can look at Jason Heyward’s pre-Cubs stats and think that he is “garbage”. Not to mention his D and base running. People love their hyperbole around here
Someone obviously has no sense of humor.
Brodie was an agent who got the Wilson’s to spend money on his players. Imagine how much he might be able to get them to spend now that he is the GM.
Whether he negotiated as an agent or a GM the bottom line is you gotta sell it to the owner in order to write the check. I am actually scared of him as a Brave fan.
No worries. It’s the Mets. Since Frank Cashen, when have they gotten the GM position filled with the right guy? As a Marlins fan, I’m not worried about anything except the Mets beating us out for a higher draft pick until our rebuild is over.
Add steelerbravenstion to the list of people who incorrectly assume spending equals winning when all evidence points to most free agent signings of 100+ mil are awful.
Nothing to be scared of. Nothing.
Thank goodness old man Castellanos (26) wouldn’t be blocking youngster Tyler White (28).
Lol, got ‘em!
White could be one of the players that the Tiger would get.
Lol
Are these paywall plugs paid ads? I hope you’re not frustrating the crap out of your readers without at least getting paid for it.
Welcome to the internet dude
Pujols had better all around stats after his first 10 seasons. Also, I’d have to argue that Pujols made a larger contribution towards National league pendants, World Series appearances, and National league playoffs in general. Machado is an over the top player, but no comparison to watching a young Albert Pujols.
Agreed. The problem is that Machado is entering free agency quite a bit younger. I don’t get the wanting to pay a king’s ransom for him or Harper. While both have had a couple of seasons here and there that have been great, they’ve mostly been just good players with a lot of talent that people are hoping will lead them to many of the great years. Not sure if that’s wise to invest in considering that most guys don’t achieve hoped for numbers, and as the years go by, those great seasons end up looking like anomalies as the career moves forward. It also doesn’t help that both Machado and Harper have shown a lack of maturity with their prima donna personalities coming out here and there. Not sure if I’d invest in that. These guys aren’t like the likes of Buster Posey, or Giancarlo Stanton, or Aaron Judge, or Albert Pujols, or Miguel Cabrera, or Mike Trout, and a few others, that showed they were consistently great early on, and had the maturity to go with it.
I think people get confused between “maturity”, and having a vanilla personality. Posey, Stanton, Judge etc..all probably great guys, but we only assume that because they don’t generate headlines through being outspoken or quirky. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more mature.
I leave Pujols off that list because there’s every chance the guy isn’t even the age he says he is – which is probably something that undermines his character, yeah?
Buster Posey? Really? I like him, but not in the same sentence or paragraph as the others. Judge? He hasn’t put enough time in to be considered better than either Harper or Machado. Pujols, Trout… absolutely. Harper and Machado will see their paydays.
Pujols was even older than we thought we he reached free agency.
I wonder if the Astros could make a run at Bryce Harper again this winter.
I could see it, especially after not winning last year, and with the Yankees and Red Sox building powerhouses.
Cant see it, especially after too cheap to QO Morton
Too cheap or they just knew Morton wasn’t going to seek the highest bidder? Morton has said he either wants to stay in Houston or close to his home.
He could be the left handed bat they need to break up altuve, Correa and Bergman
And Springer and Gurriel
Astros need to invest in their own. Save up…Bregman, Springer, Correa, and Cole are not too far away from their paydays.
Not sure why the rebuilding Tigers would trade a 26 year old piece that is pretty good, without checking about extending him first.
As for deGrom, not sure what to think about his relationship with the new GM. If the hiring was due to re-sign deGrom, it’s clearly a short-sighted decision considering that deGrom is on the wrong side of 30. What happens if the GM signs him long term due to the previous client agreement, then deGrom declines (which what are the odds of him having another season like 2018) and/or gets injured? Does that seem like a good plan then? Mets may regret hiring this agent and may regret not having traded deGrom last season.
Castellanos is arguably Detroit’s biggest trade chip right now, trading him could net a pretty decent return for a rebuild. That’s really the only reason, not an ideal situation for Detroit but if it helps speed up the rebuild then they should pull the trigger.
Castellanos has little trade value. He is a hitter with no position. DH is not a position that creates high demand, as they are a dime a dozen. While he is an elite hitter, his unwillingness to discuss a contract extension, puts the
Tigers in a position where they have to move him. He’s a rental, plain & simple. It would be a surprise if anyone of value came back for him. Unfortunately.
Castellanos is not good enough to build around. He STINKS defensively too. Won’t miss him.
So if he STINKS and isn’t worth ‘keeping around’ why would anyone trade for him? Or are you suggesting nontendering??
Lets get creative
Any trade scenarios that involve Acuna lol
Acuna for Trout and someone else. LOL LOL LOL
getting creative maybe we can build off this
Braves fan btw
wouldn’t have guessed that…
“…. arguing that Mackanin is more well-versed in how to apply modern analytics to in-game management.”
–
Callahan is extremely knowledgeable about analytics. Used them with the Rays and Indians as well as the Mets last year. Very probably knows as much about using them as Mackanin, if not more.
Analytics. Sabermetrics. Stats. Shamerlitics. Like it’s a new thing in 2018. They’ve been around MLB for over 20 years. It’s as common as operating a computer. The issue with all data is how an organization analyzes it. And long ago MLB franchises hired people in their front offices to do just that.
Jeez. What’s next? Is some computer association supposed to certify users?
“Very probably…” May want to give the brain a rest.
Castellanos blocking youngsters JD Davis & Tyler White? Davis is only a year younger than NC & White is 2 years older so there’s that little important tidbit of lost info…
What did the Astros offer the Tigers for Nicholas Castellanos? i suspect it wasn’t much.
I dunno why they would be interested in him given the Astros lineup is nearly all RH as it is and Nick can’t play a position
The Astros wanted Nicholas Castellanos because he’s a better hitter than most everyone else on their team. Also, he has played LF, 3B, RF. None of them very well but still, he played them. Its his attitude toward defense. Its not about the team or his pitchers, he doesn’t feel he will be personally rewarded for it. (During a radio interview, he bragged that he was lazy and didn’t like to work on defense. “Its not my game…”)
Unless the Tigers get a large haul for Nick there should be no reason to sell on him now. (Fulmer & Boyd as well).
He’s gone after 2018 anyway. He’s more valuable as a utility to a current contender than he is to rebuilding Tigers. Sell NOW.
Who in the playoff picture would give up a haul for him? He would get similar value as the Leonys Martin trade if traded now. Wait it out. He’s better than what the market is suggesting in today’s terms.
Why not sell Castellanos? If you can’t reach an extension and he is gone after this year then you need to move him while you can get something for him. His value for half a season at the deadline will be less than it is now.
Is Nick bad defensively? Sure, but there’s similar players who are valuable (some in the NL even) without being much defensively. I’m not sure that I understand this narrative that Nick isn’t that good of a hitter. He is entering his prime and was a silver slugger finalist.
The Tigers aren’t going to compete so you might as well move Boyd too. Fulmer’s value has cratered from last season due to his injury so you probably need hope that he can pitch well and healthy.
I mean if that’s the goal why not sell everyone and not even play until 2020? Save money on everything. Meanwhile Cleveland is looking to trade Kluber and can squeak into the playoffs with a cool .500.