At the GM Meetings in Carlsbad, California, Astros’ general manager James Click spoke to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle about the team’s shortstop vacancy, although he claims not to see it that way.
Most of Houston’s playing time at shortstop over the past seven seasons has gone to Carlos Correa, who is now a free agent. The club reportedly made Correa an offer before he hit the open market, although it apparently fell well short of the industry expectations surrounding his earning power. The five-year, $160MM offer was exactly half of MLBTR’s recent prediction of 10 years and $320MM, making it not terribly surprising that Correa didn’t trip over himself to get out his pen.
In the article, Rome opines that the offer is merely a way for the front office to claim that they made an effort, and then pivot to free agents that can be had on short-term deals, or no free agents at all, with the aim of keeping the position available to be claimed by prospect Jeremy Pena. Due to wrist surgery, Pena only played 30 games at Triple-A this year, but they went very well. The 24-year-old hit .287/.346/.598, for a wRC+ of 126. He comes in at #42 on the FanGraphs list of top prospects across the league, although he doesn’t crack the top 100 at Baseball America or MLB Pipeline.
Until his arrival at the big leagues, the club could consider the in-house option of Aledmys Diaz, as Click describes him as “more than qualified” to take the job. Diaz has a lot of time at shortstop on his resume, but not recently, just 14 games in the last three seasons. That lack of recent work at short and his roughly league-average offense over the past two seasons would certainly be a downgrade from Correa, who is elite on both sides of the ball.
One option not being taken seriously, however, is moving Alex Bregman from this base to shortstop. When asked about that option, Click said, “I would highly doubt it” and later added, “I don’t want to get too cute by half and try to jam a square peg into a round hole.” Bregman was primarily a shortstop before reaching the big leagues, sliding to third because of the presence of Correa. He saw some significant time there in 2019 when Correa was hurt, getting into 65 games, but hasn’t played there since. The move doesn’t seem to be totally off the table, though, as Click added that he “would have to talk to Alex about it.”
In a separate post, Rome speaks to Click about the pitching situation, with Click saying that the bullpen is a bigger need than the rotation. “I know that people have started probably mentally thinking of Cristian Javier as a reliever, but we don’t think that way,” Click says, “and having him as a starting pitching option is very real for us and creates a lot more depth.” Including Javier as a starter certainly does make the rotation look healthy, with Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy and Jake Odorizzi all on hand as viable options. The club also has an outstanding $18.4 qualifying offer in front of Justin Verlander at the moment, although based on the success of his recent showcase, the odds seem to be in favour of him declining and exploring the market. Click himself spoke positively about Verlander’s performance at the showcase, as relayed by Alden Gonzalez of ESPN. Odorizzi’s level of participation seems to be a question mark, however, as Rome details how the hurler wasn’t happy with his usage at times, displeased with the club’s hesitance at letting him face a batting order for a third time. He’s entering his final guaranteed year as an Astro but has a player option for 2023.
Elsewhere in Astros land, the club got some bad news regarding Jake Meyers, per Rome. Meyers left game four of the ALDS with a shoulder injury and never returned. He recently had surgery to repair a labral tear and isn’t expected to be playing by Opening Day 2022. That will hurt the club’s center field depth, as they had traded away Myles Straw at the deadline, in part because Meyers was ready to step up and take his place. The plan went very well before the injury, as Meyers hit .260/.323/.438 for a wRC+ of 111 in 49 games, along with a good showing in four postseason games. As long as Meyers is on the shelf, Houston’s top options in center will likely be Chas McCormick and Jose Siri, although moving Kyle Tucker from right to center is also on the table. “We have to decide, ‘Do we want to consider moving Kyle to center and then going shopping for a corner guy?’” Click said, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic. “‘Do we want to have Kyle in center and have Chas and Siri and Yordan and Brantley be kind of rotating through all those spots?’” The market for free agent center fielders isn’t strong, with Starling Marte representing the only true everyday option. The market for corner outfielders, however, has many more exciting options. If the club feels comfortable with Tucker up the middle, it could make sense to take that route. At the big league level, he’s only played five regular season games in center in his career, although he saw some time there this postseason after Meyers got hurt.
Move Bregman to short, and have Toro play 3rd…… oh wait.
Yeah Astros could really use a sub .700 ops bat out there
Nothing a can can’t fix. Or would that be Can Can? Toulouse
Toro had a few months of okay production after the trade bug he’s a backup infielder nothing more
Ian Desmond 2022
You know he retired right?
Was Click drunk? Or was he misquoted? Those sentences seem….a tad elementary:
“I don’t want to get too cute by half and try to jam a square peg into a round hole.” What?
Was thinking the same thing lol. I hardly ever see GMs or POBOs talk like this to the media especially about their opinions on individual players. Go look at the D-backs article posted earlier today and you’ll see a clear difference between the dialogue of the two. It’s night and day. Click’s feeling himself rn.
Too cute by half means someone who’s not as cute or smart as they think they are.
Bregman doesn’t need to play short. He should stay at third. With his hamstring and leg issues he can no longer play at SS.
Chris Taylor can play SS and CF and will cost a lot less than they were willing to spend on Correa. He might be the best fit for what Houston needs.
Or Semien makes a lot of sense for them since they can land him for same years and 35-40 million less than they offered Correa.
Stay away from Semien! Please!
Heck no, fuq that guy
I like Kyle Tucker in CF more than Bregman at SS. I know he was a Dodger, but Chris Taylor would be a great fit. He can play both SS and CF depending on the biggest need. He’s gritty and he can hit.
Trevor Story a Texan at SS.
Story also comes with a lower price tag. The reservation I have with him though is that he isn’t the greatest defensive player, also he had a down year offensively. Historically he has not hit that well away from Coors Field.
Story is a very good on defense. You have no idea what you’re talking about
When you say something like “you don’t know what you’re talking about” you’re attempting to inflame the situation. It doesn’t need to be that way. I do know what I’m talking about I simply disagree with you
When you say things that are blatantly wrong, it is reasonable to expect someone to say “you have no idea what you are talking about.” Your retort to Zonedeads only further proves his statement.
Well spoken (@mute)
He had a career high in errors (14) this past season, and that’s what comment was more directed to. He’s trending in the wrong direction. If he signed to a five-year contract, it’s unlikely his defense will be better at the end of that contract.
His dWAR was 1.6, higher than 2018. When you factor in things like having Cron at first (who’s not great defensively) and not having Arenado at 3rd (which likely means he ha more work to do) I don’t think he’s gotten worse. He might not win a GG, but he’s still better than most and you can count on him to play 140+ games unlike Correa who has averaged about 120 (excluding 2020). Plus, he didn’t cheat and get away with it
it’s unlikely his defense will be better at the end of that contract.
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No free agent in history will ever be better on defense at the end of 5 years, so that point is mute. In the past five years, the Fielding Bible has Story ranked 5th, 3rd, 4th, 13th and 5th.
He has hit 3 HR’s in 8 career games at Minute Maid Park so there is that. I think Story would hit just fine in Houston in terms of power, taking aim at the Crawford boxes.
Story at one year is a great idea for Houston. Would not sign him long term without proving worth post-Colorado
Trashtros
Bregman plays “this” base?
Astros should do following:
1. Sign T. Story to play SS, if he passes use combination of Pena and Diaz
2. Trade for R.Grichuk to play CF or L. Gurriel to LF from Toronto. If Gurriel then Tucker plays center with Meyers spelling him and Brantley (who needs days off).
3. Sign 1 of Kershaw (he can limit innings in HOU, Rodon (he hates Astros), Ray, or Rodriguez.
4. Resign Graveman and Y. Garcia.
Why in the world would they trade for MORE outfielders?
The rest of that looks like a solid plan.
Centerfield was a weak position last year. Meyers tore his labrum, M. Brantely missed a number of games due to injury and is likely to take the field even less in 2022. Really only have one above MLB average everyday player we can count on at this point (Tucker) who is really a corner outfielder. We really lost our mojo in the WS when we had to put J. Alvarez in the outfield. He is a pure DH. Adding a CF like Grichuk solidifies CF while Meyers heals, Brantley can split LF with Chas or Siri and Tucker can hold down RF with Chas or SIri spelling him and Grichuk on occasion
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They didn’t get stuck putting Alvarez In Lf. They chose to in order to keep his bat in the lineup.
Adding a CF doesn’t change that.
If Rodon “hates” the Astros why would he sign with them?
I don’t think Rodon will sign, but you never know until you make the offer. He could limit his innings to around 140 with the Astros and be strong for the playoffs.
More likely a Red Sock as I see Sale going to bat for him.
I’d rather the Astros sign Andrelton Simmons for a 1 yr deal and further develop Peña/Leon/Nova.
Simmons brings no offensive value
They would be better off letting one of the rookies learn on the job
How much offense do this team need from 8 spot? And Diaz is a more than serviceable backup.
And Houston starts service time late.
How is offering to pay a guy $32 million a year “merely a way for the front office to claim that they made an effort?” I’m not criticizing MLBTR, just saying that offering a guy who is hurt often that contract is more than fair. We’ll see if someone signs him for more, but I’d be floored if he beats that AAV.
If you offer a guy a contract and are 100% sure there is no way he will even consider it , much less accept it, because it is so far below market value and what peers have received.
Then it is reasonable and even likely that it was offered only as a way to appease the fans and say they tried.
There is more than AAV that impacts if a player will accept a contract offer.
If a player is 27 and has stated that length of contract is more important than AAV. And it is widely accepted that he wants a 10+ year deal, then offering a short length,high AAV offer will not work.
It’s perfectly fair, but not going to accomplish anything.
I could see Javy Baez replacing Correa in Houston and doing very well there
As a Mets fan, I would welcome that move as it will ensure Mets will not sign Baez
Story is from the Dallas area, I think he will look hard at the Astros and Rangers.
Correa cheater.
So is your wife
Can you hit a 90+ fast ball even if you know it’s coming? I’ll wait…..
No you can’t.