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Astros GM: No Interest In Trading Alex Bregman

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Astros general manager Dana Brown spoke with reporters at this week’s Winter Meetings. Most notably, the second-year baseball operations leader emphatically shot down speculation about the possibility of moving star third baseman Alex Bregman.

“We’re not interested in trading him,” Brown said (video provided by Chandler Rome of the Athletic). “I think Alex knows that and understands that based on our conversations, so I’m not worried one bit about the articles and the rumors. At the end of the day, Alex is a pillar here. … We’re trying to win here.”

That’s a rather firm rejection of any suggestion the Astros could look to deal the two-time All-Star before his final season under contract. Bregman will make $28.5MM next year and hit free agency going into his age-31 campaign. Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote over the weekend that while the Houston organization wasn’t optimistic about the chances of another extension, they had no intention of trading him.

With Houston still firmly in win-now mode as they battle with the World Series champion Rangers (and perhaps the Mariners or Angels) atop the AL West, it’s an understandable course of action. Bregman remains an excellent player, hitting .262/.363/.441 with 25 home runs while appearing in 161 games last season. While his production has dropped from his MVP finalist level of 2018-19, he’s still one of the sport’s best third basemen.

Brown also discussed a few other matters. He noted the club received a fourth minor league option on right-hander Forrest Whitley (via Rome). The one-time top prospect is apparently being moved to relief, as he’ll compete for a bullpen spot in Spring Training. Brown indicated a few months ago that Houston would seek an additional option on Whitley, who has missed extended time in the minor leagues because of various injuries and a 2018 suspension for a violation of the drug program. Whitley has yet to make his major league debut despite being on the 40-man roster since 2020.

Upgrading the relief corps still seems a priority for a front office that saw each of Hector Neris, Ryne Stanek and Phil Maton hit free agency. Brown reiterated that bolstering the bullpen and adding a backup catcher remained offseason goals, although he hinted he might be cautious on the relief front. “I’m not interested in overpaying in the relief market,” he told the Houston beat (relayed by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com).

Astros, Diamondbacks Interested In Tucker Barnhart

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Veteran catcher Tucker Barnhart is drawing interest from teams in need of catching depth, per Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. Alexander adds that the Astros and Diamondbacks are among the teams with interest in Barnhart’s services.

Barnhart, 33 in January, was selected in the tenth round of the 2009 draft by the Reds and made his big league debut with the club back in 2014. A veteran of ten major league seasons, Barnhart has fashioned a lengthy major league career as a glove-first option behind the plate. Though he has never posted a wRC+ higher than 90 in his career and sports a career slash line of just .217/.289/.312, Barnhart emerged as one of the better defensive catchers in the league over his time in the majors. His +8 Fielding Run Value (per Statcast) in 2021 was tied for the third-best figure among all catchers that season, behind only Sean Murphy and Buster Posey. Combined with an 81 wRC+ in 2021 that was roughly average for a catcher that season, Barnhart had the look of a decent regular behind the plate when he was swapped from the Reds to the Tigers that offseason.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse for the veteran from there. Barnhart’s 2022 season was the worst offensive campaign he had delivered since his 21-game cup of coffee in the majors during the 2014 season. That said, Barnhart’s reputation as a quality defender behind the plate earned the veteran a two-year deal with the Cubs in free agency following the 2022 campaign despite his weak .221/.287/.267 slash line in 94 games with the Tigers.

That two-year pact proved to be a blunder on Chicago’s part, as Barnhart’s offense collapsed even further with a wRC+ of just 53 in 2023. Among players with at least as many major league plate appearances as Barnhart (123) in 2023, just 23 hitters posted a worse offensive season by that metric. Barnhart’s struggles and the emergence of youngster Miguel Amaya behind the plate in Chicago led the Cubs to designate Barnhart for assignment in mid-August. He caught on with the Dodgers on a minor league deal shortly thereafter but did not crack the club’s 40-man roster down the stretch, leaving him to return to free agency this winter.

While Barnhart appears to be a fringe option for even a backup role at this stage of his career, his decade of experience at the major league level and solid defensive reputation behind the plate could make him a worthwhile depth option for a club short on big league caliber catchers. Both Arizona and Houston fit that description, as each club has just two catchers on their 40-man roster with minimal depth in the upper minors. Barnhart is still owed $3.25MM from the Cubs in 2024 thanks to his aforementioned two-year pact with the club. That means that he could be a particularly valuable depth option for clubs as he would only need to be paid the pro-rated big league minimum for any time spent on the 40-man roster next year, allowing a payroll-conscious organization to cover for an injury to their primary catching tandem on the cheap.

Angels, Padres, Marlins, White Sox Have Shown Interest In Martin Maldonado

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TODAY: The Angels are also interested in Maldonado, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.  The Halos already have Logan O’Hoppe, Max Stassi, and Matt Thaiss lined up behind the plate, though O’Hoppe and missed most of the year due to injury and Stassi didn’t play at all due to a hip strain and time off for a family situation.  Conceivably, L.A. could look to trade from this catching surplus if they brought Maldonado into the fold.  Maldonado previously played for the Angels in 2017-18, making him a known quantity to the organization.

DECEMBER 1: The Astros have interest in a reunion with catcher Martin Maldonado, but they’re not alone in showing interest. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported last month that four or five clubs had shown interest in the 37-year-old, and Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports today that in addition to the Astros, Maldonado has received some level of interest from the Padres, Marlins and White Sox.

All three clubs are in need of some catching help, to varying extents. The Padres received a breakout performance from former top prospect Luis Campusano in 2023, as the 25-year-old turned in a stout .319/.356/.491 batting line in 174 plate appearances. That showing likely puts him atop the team’s depth chart, particularly following the Friars’ decision to non-tender veteran backstop Austin Nola, who’d been their primary catcher since his acquisition in 2020. Maldonado would represent a backup option — one whose acumen in terms of game-calling and game-planning would be particularly beneficial in a mentorship role for a young catcher like Campusano.

The ChiSox have a young catcher of their own, one who’s quite familiar with Maldonado: former Astros first-round pick Korey Lee. Chicago acquired Lee from Houston in the deadline trade sending Kendall Graveman back to Houston. Lee’s initial stint with the Sox went poorly, as he hit just .077/.143/.138 — albeit in a tiny sample of 70 plate appearances. Lee hit .278/.325/.386 in 82 contests at the Triple-A level last year, and the Sox will hope for something closer to that level of output in the Majors this season.

The Sox are also hoping for continued development from prospect Edgar Quero, acquired from the Angels in the Lucas Giolito/Reynaldo Lopez trade. Quero is just 20 years old and not yet on the 40-man roster, but he hit .255/.380/.351 in 101 games against far older competition at the Double-A level last year. He could be up in the big leagues at some point in 2024 or 2025. And even if his big league debut doesn’t come next season, he’d surely be in spring training with the Sox, where Maldonado could take both Quero and Lee under his wing.

Things are far more open in Miami, where the only catcher on the 40-man roster is defensive standout Nick Fortes. The Marlins non-tendered Jacob Stallings in November, and newly installed president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has already made clear that he could add multiple catchers this offseason. A pairing of Fortes and Maldonado wouldn’t do much for the Marlins offensively; Fortes hit just .204/.263/.299 last year, but he also has minor league options remaining. If the Fish were to add both Maldonado and another more seasoned catcher with superior offensive capabilities, they could option Fortes and relegate him to No. 3 on the organization’s catching depth chart.

Of course, it remains eminently possible — if not likely — that Maldonado stays put in Houston. The Astros organization has routinely extolled the veteran backstop’s intangible value to the team’s pitching staff, even as his framing grades and throwing numbers have deteriorated. The ’Stros love Maldonado’s work with their pitchers, his ability to help plan for games, and his actual game-calling skills. He still rates as an above-average catcher in terms of blocking pitches in the dirt, as well. Houston has already gone out of its way to anoint young Yainer Diaz as the primary catcher in 2024, but Maldonado could occupy a similar mentor role to the highly touted Diaz that he could offer any of his other suitors and their young catchers.

In parts of six seasons with Houston, Maldonado carries just a .191/.273/.350 batting line. That lack of offensive production makes a backup role seem likely wherever he eventually lands but also speaks to the extent to which the Astros have valued him. He’s received nearly 1600 plate appearances and twice re-signed in Houston despite that dearth of offensive output, which only underscores how much Houston loves his work with their staff.

Astros Sign Kervin Castro To Minor League Deal

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The Astros have signed right-hander Kervin Castro to a minor league deal, per a report from Evan Woodbery of MLive. The righty won’t be a factor in Spring Training since he underwent Tommy John surgery in June.

Castro, 25 in February, has 20 games of major league experience, suiting up for the Giants and Cubs. He tossed a combined 25 2/3 innings in 2021 and 2022 with a 4.91 earned run average, 21.2% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and 40.3% ground ball rate.

He signed a minor league deal with the Tigers for 2023 and made 10 appearances in Triple-A before going under the knife and getting released. As mentioned by Woodbery, it was the second TJS of Castro’s career, as he underwent the procedure as a minor leaguer with the Giants back in 2017. Recovery from a second such procedure tends to be a little more challenging than the first, so it might be difficult for Castro to be a factor even in the latter half of 2024. Given those circumstances, it’s possible this is a two-year minor league deal, though that’s just speculation.

Throughout his time in the minors, Castro has racked up plenty of strikeouts though he’s also had control issues. He’s punched out 26.6% of the 815 batters he’s faced in the minors but given free passes to 10.8% of them. Once he completes his rehab, he could be a long-term depth piece for the Astros. He still has one option year and just a couple of months of major league service time.

Pirates To Hire Sarah Gelles As Assistant General Manager

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The Pirates are hiring Sarah Gelles to be an assistant general manager, per a report from Eno Sarris and Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic. Since 2019, she had been working for the Astros as director of research and development.

Not too long before the report of the hiring, Sarris had published an article at The Athletic which highlighted rising stars in the world of baseball, including coaches, front office personnel and analysts. Gelles was the first name on the list. “She received the most votes from our pool,” the piece says, “and those came from rival executives, analysts who have worked with her, and independent contractors who saw the value in her work.”

Joining the Pirates is a full-circle move for Gelles, as she began her career as an intern with the Bucs, per Sarris. A profile from Brian Murphy at MLB.com highlights that she then worked for the Orioles from 2011 to 2018, first as coordinator of baseball analytics and then as director of baseball analytics. As mentioned, she then went to the Astros in 2019 to be director of R&D for that club.

That decade-plus of front office experience has now led to a promotion in Pittsburgh, working in the front office of general manager Ben Cherington. Since the Pirates don’t run huge payrolls, analytics figure to be important to the club’s future as they look to find talent via the draft, international signings and in transactions with other clubs.

Astros To Promote Omar Lopez To Bench Coach

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The Astros are promoting Omar López to bench coach, as first reported by Chandler Rome of the Athletic (X link). He steps into the position vacated by Joe Espada’s promotion to manager.

López, 46, has spent nearly a quarter century in the Houston organization. The Venezuela native began as a scout in his early 20s following a very brief minor league playing career. By 2009, he’d been tabbed as manager of one of the organization’s rookie ball affiliates. López managed at various levels of the farm system for the next 11 seasons, topping out at Double-A Corpus Christi in 2019.

Going into the 2020 season, Houston bumped López to the MLB staff as first base coach. Initially tabbed under A.J. Hinch, he remained in that role following Hinch’s dismissal and the subsequent hiring of Dusty Baker. López has spent the past four seasons working on Baker’s staff (and alongside Espada) in that capacity. When Baker announced his retirement shortly after the ALCS, López was floated as a speculative candidate to replace him.

Espada, who had held the #2 job on the Houston staff for years and interviewed for various managerial positions with other clubs, always seemed the likelier candidate for the top job. Indeed, general manager Dana Brown indicated that Espada would be the only internal option to receive an interview and officially hired him a few days thereafter. That opened the bench coach role for López to assume the highest position of his career. While he has no MLB managerial experience, he led the Venezuelan national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic in addition to his lengthy run in the minors.

Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports (on X) that Dave Clark will step into the vacated first base coach role. Clark, who briefly served as an interim manager for Houston back in 2009, had most recently been managing the Idaho Falls team in the independent Pioneer League. Meanwhile, McTaggart adds that minor league field coordinator Jason Bell will join the MLB staff as a quality assurance coach.

Mets Hire Kris Gross To Oversee Amateur Scouting

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After hiring Andy Green away from the Cubs for a senior player development role, the Mets are adding another name to their front office today. Per Joe Doyle of FSS Plus, the club has hired Astros scouting director Kris Gross to oversee their amateur scouting department. While Gross’s title with the Mets is not yet confirmed, Will Sammon and Chandler Rome of The Athletic suggest that he will be a vice president in New York, with Doyle suggesting his title is “believed” to be VP of Amateur Scouting.

Gross, 42, was a pitcher in the Cubs’ minor league system from 2003 to 2005. After retiring from his playing career, Gross began his scouting career with the Cardinals in 2009 before joining the Astros as a crosschecker in 2012. Gross was promoted to his most recent role of scouting director following the 2018 season. Right-hander Hunter Brown, catcher Korey Lee, and top outfield prospect Drew Gilbert are among the more notable names the Astros drafted under Gross’s watch, which coincided with the club’s loss of first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021 due to the club’s electronic sign stealing scandal. Brown has a career 4.60 ERA and 4.10 FIP with a 26.8% strikeout rate across 176 big league innings the past two seasons with Houston, while Lee and Gilbert were utilized at the trade deadline earlier this year to land right-handers Kendall Graveman and Justin Verlander, respectively.

Rome and Sammon note that although Gross was the person in charge of Houston’s 2023 draft, GM Dana Brown had more direct influence over the process than former GMs James Click or Jeff Luhnow did in the past. Brown’s involvement in the draft process was hardly a surprise given his background as VP of scouting with the Braves, and the pair note that Brown and Gross enjoyed a strong working relationship in 2023. Still, it’s possible that Brown’s hands-on approach to the draft could leave the Astros in better position to absorb the loss of Gross than may otherwise be expected.

In departing Houston, Gross heads to New York to join new Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, whom Gross overlapped with in Houston during Stearns’s years as assistant GM of the Astros. Sammon and Rome also point out that one of Stearns’s perceived weaknesses during his tenure in the top job with the Brewers was the club’s record in the draft, a flaw that the addition of Gross could help to assuage. After a difficult 2023 season that leaves the Mets’ plans for 2024 and beyond murkier than expected, Gross is set to join a Mets organization that has made clear their intention to prioritize bolstering the club’s farm system.

To this point, the club has gotten a solid head start on that goal and currently ranks seventh in the majors per Fangraphs. That being said, the Mets also watched top talents such as Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio struggle in their first tastes of big league action in 2023 even as young catcher Francisco Alvarez held his own while stepping into an everyday role with the club. The struggles from Baty, who was a consensus top-3o prospect entering the 2023 campaign but slashed just .212/.275/.323 in 108 games with the Mets this year, and others underscore the work still left to do for Gross and the rest of the front office.

Astros Have Discussed Jake Meyers Trades With Multiple Clubs

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The Astros have discussed various trade scenarios involving center fielder Jake Meyers with other clubs over the past couple weeks, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The 27-year-old is not yet arbitration-eligible and has four years of club control remaining. He’d be arb-eligible next offseason.

Meyers is nominally atop the Astros depth chart in center field, though he took on a more limited role late in the year as the Astros gave Yordan Alvarez  and a healthy Michael Brantley more time in left field and pushed Chas McCormick into center field duty with greater regularity. All-Star Kyle Tucker, of course, has right field locked down in Houston.

Brantley’s potential departure in free agency thins out Houston’s outfield mix a bit, although the versatile Mauricio Dubon surely played his way into more reps in the outfield with a solid showing at the plate in 2023 — .278/.309/.411 — much of it at second base in lieu of Jose Altuve when the All-Star endured multiple IL stints. With Altuve back from the injured list, Dubon spent the bulk of his time in center field late in the season, splitting time there with McCormick.

Meyers impressed as a 25-year-old rookie in 2021, hitting .260/.323/.438 in 163 trips to the plate and showing off strong defensive skills, but his penchant for strikeouts was always a red flag. A shoulder injury suffered during the 2021 postseason ultimately required surgery to repair his labrum, and Meyers’ 2022 season at the plate was nightmarish, to say the least. In his first year back from that procedure, he tallied just 160 MLB plate appearances and batted .227/.269/.313. His 2023 campaign was better, but still not close to his 2021 levels. In 341 trips to the plate, Meyers hit .227/.296/.382.

To Meyers’ credit, he remains a stellar defender in the outfield, and his track record in the upper minors is excellent. In 1499 career innings patrolling center field, he’s been credited with 12 Defensive Runs Saved and 20 Outs Above Average. Statcast pegs his range in the 95th percentile of MLB outfielders and his sprint speed in the 92nd percentile of all MLB players. In 474 Triple-A plate appearances, he carries a stout .330/.407/.556 batting line. Even in the big leagues, where his overall offensive output is subpar, he’s hit lefties at a quality .270/.316/.444 clip.

At the very least, Meyers could have appeal to other teams as a platoon option in center field, with standout glovework and an above-average bat against left-handed pitching. And, at 27 years of age, he may still be young enough that other clubs feel he could tap into the offensive potential he’s displayed in Triple-A and emerge as a viable everyday option in center.

Even if Meyers is viewed as “only” a glove-first, fleet-footed fourth outfielder who’s best deployed in platoon situations, that should still hold value to other clubs — particularly with four years of club control remaining and a pre-arbitration salary that’ll clock in just slightly north of the league minimum next season. The Giants are seeking more range in their outfield, for instance. The Twins could welcome an affordable alternative to free agent Michael A. Taylor. The D-backs have an all left-handed outfield. The Rays are discussing Manuel Margot with other clubs — the Yankees and Mets among them — and Meyers offers a similar skill set at a fraction of the price.

While a massive return shouldn’t be expected in the event that the Astros do ultimately strike up a deal, Meyers’ speed, defense at a premium position, production against lefties and pre-arbitration status are all appealing to various degrees.

Astros Select Kenedy Corona

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The Astros announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of outfield prospect Kenedy Corona. Barring a late additional move, it seems he’s the lone addition to their 40-man roster prior to tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft. Their 40-man roster is up to 38 players. Ari Alexander of Houston’s KPRC-2 first reported that Corona would be added to the roster.

Corona, 23, came to Houston by way of the 2019 trade that sent outfielder Jake Marisnick from the Astros to the Mets. He spent the bulk of the 2023 season with Houston’s Double-A affiliate, batting .244/.324/.449 with 20 homers and 31 steals in a generally pitcher-friendly setting. He drew a walk in 9.8% of his plate appearances and fanned at a 25.9% clip that the organization would surely like to see him pare down in the future.

Baseball America ranks Corona 14th among Houston farmhands, touting his plus speed, above-average power and range in center field. However, while he’s adept at not chasing pitches off the plate, his contact skills are described as fringe-average, and his right-handed bat was fairly pedestrian against right-handed pitching in 2023 (.244/.336/.426). Against southpaws, however, he turned in a much more robust .278/.313/.579 batting line.

Latest On Astros, Alex Bregman

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The Astros and general manager Dana Brown have been open about their interest in signing extensions with infielders Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, but the former may be more likely than the latter. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, a high-ranking executive with the club said they want Altuve for the rest of his career but are highly skeptical of getting something done with Bregman as well.

Bregman, 30 in March, already signed one extension with the Astros. Going into the 2019 season, he and the club agreed to a five-year pact with a $100MM guarantee. He already had a 2019 salary in place, with that deal covering the 2020-2024 seasons. That leaves just one year and $28.5MM left on the contract.

When pen was put to paper that time, Bregman was in between his two best seasons. In 2018, he launched 31 home runs and stole 10 bases, leading to a batting line of .286/.394/.532 and wRC+ of 157. He got strong grades for his defense at third and even played a passable shortstop for part of the year, leading to 8.0 wins above replacement per FanGraphs and a fifth-place finish in the voting for American League Most Valuable Player. The next year, he only stole five bases but his homer tally jumped to 41 and his on-base percentage was almost 30 points higher. That was the “juiced ball” season so his wRC+ only increased slightly to 167, but he finished second to Mike Trout in MVP voting that year.

Since then, Bregman has settled in a bit below that level, still a very good player but not quite MVP caliber. The past two seasons have seen him combine for 48 home runs and a .261/.364/.447 batting line, which translates to a wRC+ of 131. He produced 9.8 fWAR over the two years combined.

Though that technically qualifies as diminished production relative to his 2018-2019 peak, it’s still excellent work overall. Only 21 position players had a higher fWAR tally in 2022-2023, with Bregman fourth among regular third basemen behind just José Ramírez, Manny Machado and Austin Riley.

As of right now, Bregman is set to hit free agency in advance of his age-31 season, which still lines him up for a solid payday. Marcus Semien was also an above-average infielder who generally produced a bit below MVP levels when he got $175MM from the Rangers two years ago. Bregman’s former teammate George Springer was able to get $150MM going into his age-31 season. Freddie Freeman nabbed an MVP award in 2020 but was a bit limited as a free agent since he only played first base and was going into his age-32 season, though he nonetheless got himself $162MM.

Something in that range should be attainable for Bregman but it may not be from the Astros. The club has generally avoided long-term deals that run deep into a player’s career, letting guys like Springer, Carlos Correa and others walk away and get paid elsewhere. That strategy has continued to work out for them so far, as they just made the ALCS for a seventh straight season, but there are some pivot points coming up. Altuve and Bregman are both set to become free agents after 2024, with Justin Verlander perhaps joining them depending on his vesting option. One year later, it will be Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez, José Abreu and others.

With such a significant chunk of their core nearing free agency, it’s not surprising that they want to pivot from their standard playbook in order to try to keep that mass exodus from coming to fruition. Things can always change but it seems the current feeling is that Altuve will get done but Bregman won’t. The club already has some significant deals for younger players on the books going forward, with Yordan Alvarez signed through 2028, Cristian Javier through 2027 and Lance McCullers Jr. 2026. Perhaps those deals, and a theoretical Altuve contract, don’t leave much room for Bregman. Or perhaps Bregman simply wants to test the open market after having already signed one significant extension and banking nine figures.

It’s unclear if there are any strict timelines on negotiations, with Spring Training being the most common time for extensions to be hammered out. At this time of year, clubs usually prefer to focus on bringing in new players from free agency and trades, before pivoting back to talks with their incumbent players in February and March. However, the Astros don’t seem to have a massive to-do list this winter, with Brown recently listing backup catcher and the bullpen as priorities. Perhaps that gives them a bit of breathing room this winter to have some detailed talks with Scott Boras, who represents both Altuve and Bregman, to see if anything can get done. Boras will certainly be busy though, as he is representing a pile of this winter’s free agents, including Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery and many more.

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