There's been some speculation in the industry the Reds might choose to hang on to pitcher Luis Castillo, but talent evaluators say Thursday morning that CIN is proceeding as if it is full steam ahead in the process of trading the All-Star, widely viewed as best available starter.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 28, 2022

As of Wednesday night, the Giants continue to convey to other teams that they aren't sellers, and at the moment, they intend to hang on to possible free agents Carlos Rodon, Joc Pederson. Given Giants' recent slide, other teams are monitoring San Francisco closely.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 28, 2022

redline248 said:

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Kicking things in another direction...I have a friend, not really a baseball fan, who thinks all check swings should count as swings.


I don't even know what to say...

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Yeah that would be dumb. Although the one rule I've always thought I'd change is I actually think that foul tips caught by the catcher should be outs. Even if it's not with two strikes.

Doesn't make sense to me. It hit the bat so IMO it's a legit foul ball

MosesHallRAB04 said:

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Not knowing what can happen injury wise it's hard to trade a starter without blustering that in return.

Remember there was a 1 month, maybe a little longer, period that Fiers was the best starter in 2017 and he ate a lot of innings.

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I'm pretty sure Fiers led the team in innings pitched in 2017.
Equally obscure is that I think Marwan Gonzalez led the 2017 team in RBI.

Charlie Blackmon coming to the Stros

thenational said:

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Charlie Blackmon coming to the Stros

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source?

https://skyboxcappingclub.com/sr/article.php?1=ggghb

W said:

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Blackmon is 35 years old...and has a $10 MM player option for 2023.

this would be a desperation move to fix the CF position.

away from Coors Field...he is not good ~ .700 OPS

but if Brantley is done for the year...it might be worth the gamble

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If they make this trade I've lost some faith in click.

Blackmon has played RF for last few seasons exclusively

and it means the club is not planning to resign Brantley

Looks like BS rumor. If club had announced it would be all over the news at this point

I haven't seen anything either. My buddy pointed it out, seems to be full of s***.. note to self

of course everyone should have lost some faith in Click...

upon looking back at his month of May statements about Yuli.

i.e. 'we're not concerned" and "he will be fine" and so forth

whoops...

thenational said:

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I haven't seen anything either. My buddy pointed it out, seems to be full of s***.. note to self

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All good, there are many false things out there this time of year, easy to get fooled

If Rodon was still doing roids he'd be worth a look.

Giants being sellers might make some interesting targets

Multiple teams are interested in Rockies closer Daniel Bard, per sources. It’s not a certainty that Colorado will trade the impending free agent, but the 37-year-old could be one of the more impactful rentals in this year’s relief market.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 28, 2022

I mean, pass.

From Wikipedia " Charles Cobb Blackmon, nicknamed "Chuck Nazty"

Farmer1906 said:

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I think because the focus on someone who can play "everyday" at 1st or C with some versatility to play LF potentially.

Happ can probably pick up first, but that may be tricky to take over midseason. He's another avg sized player. It helps to have a longer stretch and wingspan over at first.

And he's a 1.5 year guy so the cost is going to be higher than Bell or Contreras most likely.

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I think Happ undoubtedly makes the team better and would play everyday, it's just unclear at the moment where that is. I get why our "headline" needs are 1B and timeshare C, but Happ kills a few potential birds with one stone (this year and next)..

1) He's perfect Brantley insurance
2) We can work with him at 1B when Brantley returns and see if we trust him there
3) We can move him around in the regular season as needed to give guys days off
4) Worst case is he's significant upgrade over Meyers in CF when October rolls around
5) He deepens the lineup regardless of what position he plays

I wouldn't worry about his height/reach at 1B. He's basically the same size as Yuli.

You're right that the extra year of controllability will cost us more. My assumption is that Urquidy would be part of a deal like this. Urquidy > Happ in a trade IMO, so we'd likely be able to extract more assets.

W said:

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of course everyone should have lost some faith in Click...

upon looking back at his month of May statements about Yuli.

i.e. 'we're not concerned" and "he will be fine" and so forth

whoops...

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Well, based on the posters in the spring, we should have extended him then. Why wait?

Stros are heavily reliant on long ball

Could benefit from adding contact hitter/higher OBP/low K type

Stros have reached point where there's a few too many guys underproducing. Add to that the Brantley injury and the plan to continually rest starters and you end up with low offensive output games

Farmer1906 said:

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W said:

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of course everyone should have lost some faith in Click...

upon looking back at his month of May statements about Yuli.

i.e. 'we're not concerned" and "he will be fine" and so forth

whoops...

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Well, based on the posters in the spring, we should have extended him then. Why wait?

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Is Click up for a contract extension?

Surely y'all didn't click that link and think that's the website that broke news on a major trade

W said:

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and going back to Yuli...as a poster mentioned several days ago...

it's amazing for a middle-of-the-order hitter to have 29 doubles and only 27 RBI

statistically, that is far-end-of-the-bell-curve kind of stuff

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He's also only scored 32 runs. It's a function of this team having a high SLG and low BA. We don't hit enough singles or sequence like we have in the past.

Pitching staff plus long ball has given Astros a top 3 record.

The trade deadline needs to result in the AAAA guys disappearing. If Brantley is done for this season you need also a reasonably good replacement

Deluxe said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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I think because the focus on someone who can play "everyday" at 1st or C with some versatility to play LF potentially.

Happ can probably pick up first, but that may be tricky to take over midseason. He's another avg sized player. It helps to have a longer stretch and wingspan over at first.

And he's a 1.5 year guy so the cost is going to be higher than Bell or Contreras most likely.

---

I think Happ undoubtedly makes the team better and will play everyday, it's just unclear at the moment where that is. I get why our "headline" needs are 1B and timeshare C, but Happ kills a few potential birds with one stone (this year and next)..

1) He's perfect Brantley insurance
2) We can work with him at 1B when Brantley returns and see if we trust him there
3) We can move him around in the regular season as needed to give guys days off
4) Worst case is he's significant upgrade over Meyers in CF when October rolls around
5) He deepens the lineup regardless of what position he plays

I wouldn't worry about his height/reach at 1B. He's basically the same size as Yuli.

You're right that the extra year of controllability will cost us more. My assumption is that Urquidy would be part of a deal like this. Urquidy > Happ in a trade IMO, so we'd likely be able to extra more assets.

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He'll play every day as long as someone is resting/injured or he transitions to full-time 1B/CF. He'd be a significant downgrade defensively in CF and an unknown at 1B. Sure, he'll make the team better because it gives up depth and options, but why go that route when someone like Bell or Contreras can take over a position of need more seamlessly?

If we're ranking positions of need, C & 1B lead the way.

Deluxe said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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W said:

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of course everyone should have lost some faith in Click...

upon looking back at his month of May statements about Yuli.

i.e. 'we're not concerned" and "he will be fine" and so forth

whoops...

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Well, based on the posters in the spring, we should have extended him then. Why wait?

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Is Click up for a contract extension?

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His original deal was 3 years, I believe. So he's got 2023 at a minimum. I don't think anything has happen to not extend him.

My post was referring to Yuli though. He was crushing it in Spring Training.

I just went searching for it in the offseason thread, but found my hot takes predictions instead.

Quote:

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1. The Tucker and Yordan combo match Trout/Ohtani, Judge/Stanton, or any other high end duo.
2. Pena may not win the AL GG, but his OOA and DRS top Correa.
3. LuACE lives up to the name. His change-up and curveball become effective against lefties and his mid 3 ERA & FIP drop to borderline sub 3.
4. A blockbuster move is made at the deadline which leads to the Astros locking up a top 2 spot for the postseason
5. McCullers has a frustratingly short season, but recovers and is the ace of the postseason over JV.

1. Bregman cannot capture his 2019 magic. He's not bad, but he's the 4th or 5th best bat in the lineup.
2. Maldonado's defense and pitch calling no longer outweighs his black hole of a bat. Castro and/or Lee start to take over the lead role behind the dish.
3. No new minor league pitcher emerges as a true contributor.
4. Justin hits the market again this offseason. Astros must go over the top of the 25 M for 2023 to keep him.
5. Odo, Framber & Urquidy have frustrating up and down seasons. Not bad, just very inconsistent.

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1. Close, but Tucker isn't there yet.
2. Accurate so far.
3. LuAce has been good, but not that good.
4. We'll find out this week.
5. First part is right, now he's gotta be very good. Definitely underestimated JV.

1. Accurate.
2. Wrong about Castro and Lee, but I think right about the first part.
3. So far accurate, but I hope Brown proves me wrong in the 2nd half.
4. I think this one will hit still.
5. Wrong on Framber, right on the others.

Farmer1906 said:

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He'll play every day as long as someone is resting/injured or he transitions to full-time 1B/CF. He'd be a significant downgrade defensively in CF and an unknown at 1B. Sure, he'll make the team better because it gives up depth and options, but why go that route when someone like Bell or Contreras can take over a position of need more seamlessly?

If we're ranking positions of need, C & 1B lead the way.

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I guess when I'm looking for ways to improve the team, I do so a little bit more holistically than limiting options only to 1B and timeshare regular season C. Happ would undoubtedly make the team better and his extra year of controllability is a nice perk. How much more would we have to pay for that? Neither of us can really say.

I was fully on board with the Yuli hype train in spring training, but I don't think I called for extending him. I like his low risk 1-year tack-ons.

Wherever there are question marks and reasonably good alternatives in trade rental market you have to look at those. Just getting a more dependable veteran bat for the bench would do wonders for this team and come in handy in postseason.

The interest in Bell AND Contreras tells me Brantley isn't expected back.

If he is able to return then the bench just got stronger

Deluxe said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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He'll play every day as long as someone is resting/injured or he transitions to full-time 1B/CF. He'd be a significant downgrade defensively in CF and an unknown at 1B. Sure, he'll make the team better because it gives up depth and options, but why go that route when someone like Bell or Contreras can take over a position of need more seamlessly?

If we're ranking positions of need, C & 1B lead the way.

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I guess when I'm looking for ways to improve the team, I do so a little bit more holistically than limiting options only to 1B and timeshare regular season C. Happ would undoubtedly make the team better and his extra year of controllability is a nice perk. How much more would we have to pay for that? Neither of us can really say.

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It's not so much limited to those, but those are where we can have the most impact for the postseason.

Right now we have the #1 WAR for LFers with the current mix of Yordan, Brantly, Chas, and Diaz. Would adding Happ to that mix help? I would think almost definitely, but how much impact is that really going to have to the overall team improvement? It'll trickle down so Diaz backs up Pena more of often or Happ backs up Tuve and not Dubon. A more significant improvement would be to replace a negative WAR everyday player with someone near the top of the league at their position.