And these all seem like the versatile utility players that could step up into the Dubon role? I’d jettison any of those 3 over him.
Singleton had a nice AB in the ALCS but I’ll find it very disappointing if he’s still on the roster.
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Is there any update on Brantley? I assume he is retiring but don’t remember hearing if that was a done deal.
Not a done deal. I know nothing more than anyone else, but since he hasn’t announced anything yet, I have to assume he’s still at least thinking about playing in ‘24.
Interesting you focus on that while pitching blew that series.
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Dubon has the bat to play CF, which is the one outfield position he plays. If I’m the Astros, I’m not giving up one of the best utility players in baseball and one of the best defenders in baseball for an outfielder to platoon with McCormick in CF.
Framber and Javier pissing their pants in games six and seven (and Framber in game 2, too), Kyle Tucker being a zero offensively in the entire postseason and Baker’s slow-to-react managing are far more to blame for the Astros not making the World Series than that one at bat by Dubón.
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Is it possible to “like” things dozens of times?
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I completely agree, but I don’t think that post was suggesting that one Dubon AB was anywhere near as big a factor as the others you mentioned. Dubon was the topic of conversation, not the general bed-shitting in the ALCS, which was the work of many culprits.
And now having used the terms “bed-shitting” and “culprits” in the same sentence, I’m obligated to add:
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I hope you are right about his bat. It was just barely below avg in 2023 (97 wRC+ and OPS+) and unless he starts walking more than 3.9% I don’t see him improving that (but he could likely keep.it for a few years)
FTR I mentioned the players I consider options for that OF spot and Chas was not among them because I consider him a full time starter. My idea was to platoon him with Meyers
And FTR I think Dubon is very valuable on the bench for the Astros.
I just think that he is decidedly less valuable in the starting lineup more than 2-3 times per month, and its tough to pay those players $3M+ when the team has needs and no budget space available.
Also, on this roster, I think Yastrzemski would be much much more valuable. He fills a need while Dubon is insurance.
Sorry, but for me, if these 3 make up the bulk of our bench next season, then the front office seriously failed to improve our bench depth. Kessinger, I don’t mind taking another look at. The other two? No, I’ve seen enough.
Go sign Donovan Soloano or Kyle Farmer. Both have proven they can hit major league pitching consistently and play multiple positions. You’ll have an actual quality, big league hitter coming off the bench.
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You can never have enough pitching. I’d love to see the Astros sign Eduardo Rodriguez.
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The bench looks a lot weaker heading into ‘24 without Chas and Yainer on it.
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Dubón’s bat doesn’t play as a corner outfielder. As a utility player and part-time center field, he’s fine. Center field is a defense-first position. Also, the Astros’ starting outfield is set. Yordan in LF, McCormick in CF and Tucker in RF. Yordan will DH here and there, but the Astros have shown nothing that indicates they are taking him out of left field. Furthermore, Jake Meyers is not someone I would pencil in as a starter, and he’s not ahead of Dubón for me after last season.
Also, I disagree that a platoon outfielder like Mike Yastrzemski is more valuable than a good utility player like Dubón who plays above average defense at multiple positions. Injuries happen and having someone who can cover for them like Dubón is very valuable. If paying Dubón roughly $3 million breaks the Astros’ payroll ceiling, there are bigger financial issues than we all realize. Likewise, if the Astros are worried about paying Dubón $3 million, why would they take on a player in Yastrzemski that is projected to make more than double his salary in arbitration? That makes little sense when the Astros need to upgrade their pitching depth and have other needs, too.
There are other ways to find a left-handed bat than to trade your Gold Glove utility player making $3 million.
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The biggest single problem in creating runs against right handed pitching was Dusty insisting on batting Peña and Maldonado back to back. Another left handed bat is not a priority, especially with the issues on the mound.
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Yesterday I rummaged through some stats to see if Dubon was really as valuable as we act like he is around here. I’ll be honest, I went in expecting to find that he wasn’t. But the list of players who can play a legit SS and CF is not long, and very few in recent years have put up a season as good as Dubon’s 2023. I came away much more convinced of his value to this roster.
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I’d like to see him some more at 2B (his best defensive position, imo) with Altuve at DH.
eta to expound on this: of course guys need total days off, but I see no reason why they can’t use the DH as a half-assed day off for the vets more often when Yordan is in the field.
DH games '23: Abreu 7, Tucker 4, Bregman 1, Altuve 1; that seems ridiculously low to me
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Yordan is a perfectly fine LF but I do not see him ever being the regular starter there.
He started 40 games there last year, which was 16 fewer than 2022, and his results there were down across the board. He also had a scary-looking incident out there that looked like it resulted in a knee injury, but they dodged that bullet.
Yordan is a generational-type hitter who has been susceptible to injury and simply can’t be risked. His bat is too important to risk him playing more than 25-33% of the games in the field.
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This certainly was one of the problems, and may he the biggest, but certainly not the only big problem.
This team has only 6 players who were good vs RHP last year so, with 3 weak links its going to be tough to keep some from hitting back to back.
Altuve (161 wRC+), Bregman (138), Yordan (184), and Tucker (132) will all certainly hit among the top 5 and possibly be the top 4.
Abreu (81) could potentially be “hid” in the cleanup spot in front of Tucker.
The bottom 4 in the lineup project to be:
Chas (114), Diaz (150), Pena (82), and Meyers (78) or Dubon (84)
To me the biggest problem is that only 6 of the players currently on the roster were good vs RHP.
The numbers are meaningless to me out of context. You can’t just slide hitters around in any spot in the lineup and expect the same results. Baseball doesn’t work that way. Peña can be a productive hitter if put in a spot that allows him to be.
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