Much has been said and written about the Astros (among other teams) coveting J.T. Realmuto. Understood, appreciated and I think it would be great too. But the cost seems to be really high and many teams are slowly backing away from overpaying for the stud catcher. I really don't know if the Miami Marlins are serious about a trade or more concerned about fan reaction to yet another trade of a young very good player for something less than a great haul. In Miami, you need all the fans you can get... removing the funky monument from left centerfield was a step in the right direction. So my real gut feeling is that Miami isn't really interested in trading Realmuto until they establish for the fandom that they will only accept major league ready prospects... and more than just one... many and perhaps a good young player already in the bigs. So they are trying to prove something to overturn what they did last year with Stanton, Ozuna, and Yelitch. Fans and media alike did not think Miami did well in making those trades last year, especially the Yelitch trade. So I believe the Realmuto trade is directly affected by what happened last year and as the great baseball rock group "The Who" once opined "We won't get fooled again".
Bottomline, the Astros should not get sucked into the vortex of overpaying just because the Marlins need a great trade to make themselves fell better about themselves.
So one guy I'm looking forward to seeing this season in Round Rock is Garrett Stubbs. I've seen him play in some games and also some Spring Training games and I thought he looked really good. He has a good eye from what I've seen of him, never swinging at everything thrown. He makes pitchers throw him his pitch, meaning he works counts really well and when he gets his pitch, he puts good swings on the ball. The translates to a lot of line drives. As a left handed bat, he has a much more refined swing than Kyle Tucker, but he doesn't really hit with the uppercut (launch angle?) to get a lot of balls in the air. So he doesn't have a homerun swing per se, but man he hits the ball hard. As far as catching is concerned, he has a lean body type, so he's not in the same league as Buster Posey in body type, but he could fill out more if needed but I fear that would wear on his catching ability as it did for Posey who is now being considered for a move to first base. Stubbs has a very athletic build even though he's only 5'10" (again, think Posey) and runs well. I saw him once run down the third base line with all the equipment on to chase a foul ball that the third baseman was not going to get. He got there with his speed and that told me he's an athlete as much as a catcher. Pitch framing and calling a game... I don't know where he rates. I guess our Bus Ride folks can provide those scouting repots for us. But right now I think a combo of Stassi and Stubbs for the future is a good thing. Which will be the starter and which will be the backup is anyones guess, but in terms of what works for Houston's offense, Stubbs is a great fit. I thought the Astros lost a lot with McCann's injury last year. Stassi did well defensively and somewhat offensively, but he was not the patient hitter that McCann was who works pitchers into hitter counts. McCann just could not hit the pitches as well as he was used to so that became a hole in the lineup for almost the entire year.
Would it be wise to give Stubbs a chance at this part of the lineup next year? I dunno, hence why I figure he'll be in Round Rock and it's Charinos and Stassi to start the season, but do I believe Stubbs might get his chance next year? Yes I do. Like Tony Kemp providing that much needed solution at the bottom of the lineup last year (kind of negating the hole that was the lineup occupied by the catcher), be on the look out for Stubbs being the answer to some problems the Astros might encounter during the season at the bottom of the lineup.
BTW - Stubbs was included in the trade for Bryce Harper last year and sometimes it's not that you are traded because you're a bust but because somebody wants you. So let's see what happens with the young man, it's time to get him into the mix for the Astros.
