MLB Chatter Thread

NoDak

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Murphy's Law in action. As soon as the Twins finally start pitching and their bats catch fire, they have to shut down for the All Star break. I'm sure they'll cool off and come back looking like a bad AAA team again.






Sure wish we could play the Rangers more... :unsure

:tippytoe
 

Jiggyfly

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Jayson Stark
ESPN Senior Writer


Sat with a bunch of scouts raving about Astros phenom Alex Bregman. And that was before the Futures Game. 3 innings into it, he's 2 for 2, with a 2B & 3B. As good a chance to be a star as anyone in this game.
 

Jiggyfly

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http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/texas-rangers-milwaukee-brewers-trade-deadline-ken-rosenthal-notebook-071116


• I asked a scout what stood out most to him at the Futures Game and he responded immediately: "(Alex) Bregman is ready." Another said: "I thought what he did on both sides of the ball showed that he won't be long."

Bregman, drafted No. 2 overall by the Astros in 2015, hit a triple, double and single in his first three at-bats. He started at third base, his likely position in Houston, then moved to his natural shortstop position in the sixth inning.

The surging Luis Valbuena currently is at third for the Astros but could move to first with A.J. Reed becoming the DH and Evan Gattis serving as a right-handed alternative to Reed and Jason Castro at catcher.
 

Cotton

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I love the All Star Game. It's the one time a year I can cheer for the players I don't like.
 

Carp

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Oh for fuck sakes...I hate cancer too, but I don't need this tramp to sing "Fight Song"...and she sounded like shit.

Cancer wins.
 

Rev

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[MENTION=38]E_D_Guapo[/MENTION]

You ready? I dont think I am but at least we have Perez and Hamels going. Saturday is still TBD but it might be Yu. The way that we have been playing doesnt give me a lot of confidence but maybe the rest is all that was needed after 36 games in 37 days.
 

E_D_Guapo

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[MENTION=38]E_D_Guapo[/MENTION]

You ready? I dont think I am but at least we have Perez and Hamels going. Saturday is still TBD but it might be Yu. The way that we have been playing doesnt give me a lot of confidence but maybe the rest is all that was needed after 36 games in 37 days.
I think the same thing happened to the Cubs. They played I think 27 straight days before the break and really did not play well during that stretch. They still have a 7 game lead over StL and 7.5 over PIT and have a really talented team so I am not worried. Plus, they will make a couple moves before the deadline to at least shore up the bullpen.

The series vs. TEX is going to be kind of important for two division leaders looking to get back on track. Arrieta needs to get right so I'm hoping some time off is what he needed.

I'm headed to Chicago tonight. Going to see a game at Wrigley next Wednesday at 1:20 PM vs. the Mets. Haven't been to a game there in a while so really looking forward to seeing the renovations that have been made to the stadium.
 

Kbrown

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Astros just signed a Cubano that the MLB.com article describes as a more athletic Jeff Kent. I like.
 

Jiggyfly

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Astros Add Yulieski Gurriel to Suddenly Crowded Infield
by August Fagerstrom - July 15, 2016

Luis Valbuena has a 157 wRC+ since the beginning of June playing third base for the Houston Astros. Super-prospect Alex Bregman is beating down the door with his performance at Triple-A. Perfect fits be damned. Try and tell a contending club it’s got too many good players. They’ll find some room.

Let’s get brought up to speed. Gurriel (previously spelled Gourriel) is 32, and he’s been considered Cuba’s best baseball player for about a decade. He’s primarily played third base, and also kicked around at shortstop and, more recently, second base. In 15 years between Cuba and Japan, Gurriel hit .335/.417/.580 with 250 homers and 121 steals. In early February, Yulieski and his younger brother Lourdes Jr., 22, defected from the island. In June, Yulieski was declared a free agent, able to sign with any club free of international spending limits. He’d been linked to the Dodgers, of course. The Mets had shown some interest. The Angels seemed to make some sense. Now, he’s an Astro.

BaseballAmerica’s Ben Badler worked up a scouting report on Gurriel last April in which he called him a plus defender at third with quick reactions, athleticism, a 70-grade arm, and the occasional mental lapse. He’s a complete hitter who bats from the right side, able to hit for average and draw a walk, and scouts see good bat speed that should translate to plus power in the majors. At the time, Badler drew comps to Hanley Ramirez and David Wright, which don’t sound so great anymore, but remember this was before the beginning of the 2015 season; Ramirez was coming off a 135 wRC+ at third base with the Dodgers, Wright was still Wright. Brian Cartwright does good work translating international player’s stat lines to MLB equivalents, and he projected Gurriel for a .283/.330/.458 line back in February, good for a .340 wOBA. There’s no expectation that Gurriel won’t hit.

Five years for a 32-year-old is perhaps a bit scary, and it’s a little more than what Dave Cameron estimated he might get last month, but Gurriel makes the Astros better now. Or, more accurately, in three weeks or so, which is when FOXSports’ Ken Rosenthal reports he’ll be ready to join the club. The Astros plan to keep Gurriel at third base, which creates an interesting positional logjam in Houston.

Valbuena deserves to keep playing. A.J. Reed is still a super-prospect offensively at first, and then there’s Evan Gattis. The most likely scenario here seems to be Valbuena shifting to first, with Reed and Gattis creating a nice little platoon at designated hitter. But then there’s the Bregman situation. The most common line of thinking’s been that the Valbuena-to-first, Reed/Gattis DH platoon would have begun in a few weeks anyway, but not because of Gurriel taking over at third — because of Bregman taking over at third.

ESPN’s Keith Law recently ranked Bregman the top prospect in baseball in his midseason update. BaseballProspectus had Bregman fourth. He’s ready to contribute now, perhaps as ready as Gurriel. And with a five-year deal, Gurriel’s here to stay. Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve aren’t going anywhere, which suddenly forces us to ask the question: does Alex Bregman have a future in Houston?

It’s still very possible. Probable, even. Maybe Bregman stays in Triple-A for the remainder of the season, given full health in Houston’s infield, and next year the Astros shift Gurriel to first, opening up third for Bregman. Maybe Bregman begins getting reps in left field and shares the position with Colby Rasmus — though that happening this year seems somewhat unlikely not only because Bregman’s never played the outfield (though general manager Jeff Luhnow did recently suggest the possibility) but because bringing him up to play the small side of a platoon doesn’t seem to make much sense. It becomes more simple if the Astros have faith in Bregman as a left fielder despite his inexperience.

Or maybe the Astros now have the ability to dangle what Dave Cameron just ranked as baseball’s 37th-most valuable trade chip at the deadline. Rebuilding clubs would pay a fortune in current major league talent for the rights to Bregman’s future, and if the Astros really want to push in on this season, Gurriel’s presence at third base might suddenly allow them to do that. The Astros could probably use some more pitching to be taken seriously as a World Series contender, or even favorite, in the American League. Who knows, maybe the Rays might be more willing to take a phone call from a Houston area code about Chris Archer all of a sudden.

What we know for sure: the Houston Astros just acquired a premium talent near the trade deadline and they didn’t have to give up any talent of their own, present or future, to do so. Within the month, a Cuban legend will take over at the hot corner for Houston, and they figure they’ll immediately become a better team because of it. What we also know for sure: the Astros now have some very interesting flexibility on their hands. They don’t have to trade anyone — the Rangers have done just fine holding onto Jurickson Profar, Rougned Odor and Elvis Andrus — but Houston now possesses the possibility of dangling an elite young infield talent on the trade market without having to worry one bit about the short-term or long-term future of their own infield. What we know for less sure: what Houston’s actually going to do. Rest assured, they’ve got a plan in mind. Now we just wait to see what it is.
 

Jiggyfly

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:towel
 

Carp

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The Gourriel is a big time get, but I am leery of handing a 32 year old guy 5 years and 47 mil. Seems like an odd signing...Balbuena has been good this year, Bregman is close to being ready...they seemed pretty set. I think I would have allocated that money to help a pretty shitty rotation.
 

Jiggyfly

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The Gourriel is a big time get, but I am leery of handing a 32 year old guy 5 years and 47 mil. Seems like an odd signing...Balbuena has been good this year, Bregman is close to being ready...they seemed pretty set. I think I would have allocated that money to help a pretty shitty rotation.
That's less than 10 million a year and most of it is paid over the 1st 3 years.

Valbuena is a FA after this year and will most likely get paid more over the same time period and he is 30 and is having a career year.

Gourriel can play LF, 3rd and 1st base there are 2 starting outfielders who are also FA, between Gourriel and Bregman they can fill those spots and have plenty of money for pitching.

Also by signing Gourriel they have the inside track on his younger brother who is the real prize.

And once again that's less than 10 million a year which is very reasonable in baseball dollars.
 

Kbrown

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The Gourriel is a big time get, but I am leery of handing a 32 year old guy 5 years and 47 mil. Seems like an odd signing...Balbuena has been good this year, Bregman is close to being ready...they seemed pretty set. I think I would have allocated that money to help a pretty shitty rotation.
I agree to an extent, but Luhnow's general philosophy has been to collect as much talent as possible with position needs being secondary. If Gurriel pans out, perhaps Bregman becomes a nice asset in a trade. If the Gurriel signing interferes with re-signing an Altuve or Correa down the road, I will be upset then.
 
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