Ah…you’re right. I read that as 300 HR and 200 steals.
Rickey Henderson had 3055 hits, 510 doubles, 297 homers, and a million stolen bases.
And a .279 batting average.
Yeah, walked too much. .401 OBP ain’t bad.
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Kuhnel, DFA’d a few days ago, traded to BJs for cash.
NTTAWWT.
Today’s transactions:
- Kessinger reinstated from the IL.
- Jacob Amaya optioned back to Sugar Land.
- RHRP Alex Speas claimed off waivers from Oakland.
- Corey Julks designated for assignment.
Speas has gotten destroyed this year at AAA, but there’s gotta be some talent in the arm for the Astros to pounce on him like that.
Who saw the Astros picking up a pitcher of any type from the A’s this season via waivers as a credible possibility?
Brandon Bielak DFA to make room for Javier. End of an era.
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Probably not who I would have expected, but not surprising at the same time.
I guess they’re confident that none of these guys who are coming back are going to come up lame.
FYI from twitter:
Speas has a hell of a story. Broke his femur while rehabbing Tommy John right as COVID erased minor league ball. Quit and coached high school and Little League before re-connecting with Tread Athletics and making a comeback in 2023. Four months later he was in the big leagues.
Wow. Not quite sure that’s a great idea.
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I think it is very overdue.
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Yes.
I appreciate his time here but Brandon is a replacement level player. If another team wants him they can make a deal.
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Blair Henley is still on the 40-man, not sure how he’s a better option to do anything than Bielak would be. That’s why I said I was a bit surprised.
Could just be that they think somebody might claim Henley but wouldn’t claim Bielak
Edit: just noticed that the they didn’t need to clear a 40-man spot to add Javier. I’m surprised they didn’t option Arrighetti and keep Bielak on the roster
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That was my thinking as well. He’s nothing more than a swingman/spot starter. But given how paper thin the Astros’ pitching is right now, they need someone to do that (often). I just don’t really see anyone else who’d do it better than Bielak.
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While I will agree with you that Bielak was somewhat dependable when called upon, there was never any confidence that the Astros were likely to win a game he pitched.
Bielak has hit his ceiling and that is a perfectly serviceable AAAA pitcher.
Those guys help teams win, but also need to have options, as they need to be able to be changed out to keep the bullpen from getting over worked.
There are enough guys like Brown, Arrighetti, Dubin, etc who still have upside and options and fit this spot better than Brandon. And then there is France who basically the same pitcher, and hopefully not hurt too bad.
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I don’t think anyone questions moving on from Bielak, just the timing of it happening now. It could have happened when Urquidy comes back or if/when France comes back.
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Hopefully its a sign that Urquidy is close to returning and France isn’t hurt as badly as some are reporting (not to mention Lance and Garcia’s progress)
It is curious that the move is being made 4 games into a 29 games in 30 days part of the schedule.
Hopefully it means other arms have given Brown reason for confidence, and not just his reputation of valuing tools and high ceilings much more than high floors.
FTR I agreed with the Julks move, but thats another one that points to Brown ditching guys with solid floors and collecting risky and high variance toolsy players.