The Houston Astros, coming off a disappointing season, had a strong rightward tilt to the lineup as their main young guns, George Springer, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman as well as Evan Gattis all hit RH. They addressed that issue with 2 big moves today: 1. They traded a couple of young fireballing RHP's to the Yankees for what is left of Brian McCann. 2. They signed OF Josh Reddick to a FA contract worth 4 yrs/$52 M.
McCann lost his starting catcher job with the Yankees. He has 2 years and $34 M left on his contract with a vesting option for 2019. The Yankees will reportedly send a total of $11 M to the Astros to help pay McCann's salary. McCann is still probably worth 20 HR/season, but he is clearly on the downside of his career and he is a below-average defensive catcher.
Reddick is a good all around player when he's healthy, but has exactly 1 season with more than 600 PA's. His defense, once stellar, has slipped into negative territory, possibly due to an accumulation of injuries. He also is basically a platoon player who struggles against LHP's.
The Astros needed some LH pop to balance their lineup and they needed "veteran presence" for a very young core. McCann and Reddick give them that at a reasonable price, but with risks.
The Yankees come out smelling like a rose as they not only get to dump about 2/3's of McCann's remaining contract, they get a couple of pitching prospects who can hit the upper 90's and even triple digits on radar guns to deepen a rapidly strengthening Yankees farm system.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Reddick seems like an overpay to me. I wonder if this "sets the market" this season and starts an overpay for many players? That speculation on Hot Stove the other day with L.A. and the ChiSox has me a little worried.
ReplyDelete