Blanco has been good so far.
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My money says Blanco and Bielak combine for more innings than McCullers and Garcia.
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I have zero confidence in Bielak.
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I wouldnât say I have zero confidence him. I think he is perfectly fine for what he is.
Thats a AAAA starting pitcher that can spot start half a dozen times per year but has no upside and best case is he pitches at a #4 SP level with the most likely resilts being closer to a #6.
He pitches better than his stuff and metrics say he should, but exposure is bad bad bad for those guys.
Thats fine in April if you have 4 solid healthy guys and a guy with a tweak that requires a 15 day IL stint.
Its a nightmare if you have 3 healthy guys and everyone else is questionable.
Career WAR - 0.5
2023 WAR 0.3
Heâs a guy.
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The embodiment of an average major-leaguer.
Heâs the very measure of an average major leaguer
There is information, quantitative, that shows that he is meager
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Iâm not sure Iâd go quite that far, but heâs a warm body and an arm when you just need an arm. I would not count on him for anything other than to eat a few innings here and there when everyone else is gassed. Which is handy to have around.
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I agree â More of an average replacement-level guy. He wonât hurt you too much, but probably will not help much either.
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Snell wants $66 mill for two years with an opt out, Nightengale says. Many of you do not trust his reports so who knows? We need Jimâs âfriendâ to weigh in on this.
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From âmy friendâ
Friday:I have not heard anything about them being close to signing him personally. The last I heard any Astros news was on Adam Duvall and I passed it on a day or two ago.
I know that the Astros and a group of teams have kept in touch with Boras, but that doesnât mean anything is imminent. The Astros also have kept in contact about Duvall and Taylor and other outfielders.
Having said that - Ken Rosenthal doesnât report non sourced news. If he says the Astros are trying hard to get Snell, then I believe him. I also know that Crane has made positive comments about Snell in the past.
I donât know how the Urquidy injury changes all of this as I have heard zero today on a signing.
I wish I knew more⌠but this isnât like Hader when I was told over and over again that Crane was going to try and sign Hader and he wanted him back after losing him.
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Not directly about Snell, but trying to reduce salary to make it more reasonable and less CBT impact:
Today: Okay I was told the Astros are talking to teams about Montero.
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Also today: I honestly donât even know that Snell is all that good. He is inconsistent and he doesnât pitch a lot of innings.
Also - like I said before, these 1 year deals with option years 2-3 for players are not great for teams IMO.
Yesterday or the day before Rosenthal reported the Astros were close on Snell. That isnât what I heard and I said so. Talking? Yeah but close? Not what I heard.
Now told Astros are seeing what the interest in Montero is around the league. Has to be connected to the tax although I wasnât told that.
I get the same line - âCrane and Brown both are obsessed with improving this team.â
Iâll be mildly surprised if the Astros get Snell. There are teams out there with more money - but I also think this highlights that Snell isnât as accomplished as he and Boras think. 2 great years and 4-5 years of âokayâ doesnât breed confidence.
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From ****'s mouth to your mouth to godâs ears!
I agree. Iâve never been a Snell fan. Iâd rather have Montgomery than Snell, but as crazy as this sounds, Iâd rather sign Lorenzen than Snell. Heâs cheaper and you wouldnât have to surrender the draft picks. I also think there would be about a 50/50 chance that Lorenzen would pitch just as well as Snell.
At any rate, I think the Astros need to sign one of the three.
I know it is spring training, and it means absolutely NOTHING, but I have VERY little confidence right now in Framber. Coming off a very shaky season, his spring hasnât been great. Heâs struck out 7 today, which is good, but has given up 4 runs, a dinger and has walked 2 in 3 innings plus. Letâs hope he just doing the proverbial spring training âtinkering.â
The Angels have had the best record in spring for like 3 or 4 years in a row. Taking anything, good or bad, from spring results is lunacy.
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Agreed. Spring Training is for players to work out the kinks and get ready for the season. Process matters more than results.
As for Snell, I wouldnât have an issue with an opt out after the season in the Astrosâ situation (maintaining flexibility to extend Bregman, Tucker or Framber), but $33M guaranteed is too much for five months of pitching at this point. If he wants the chance to pitch well enough to earn that $33M by achieving incentives, thatâs a different story.
Not to mention giving up 2 more draft picks to sign him. Already losing 2 because of the Hader signing.
Another good point. The Astros already need to rebuild their farm system. Losing four draft picks wouldnât help.
Snell to SFG. So much for that.
https://x.com/jonheyman/status/1769896956766388609?s=46&t=rkjPubVOfCnV-cZxzpUifw