Into the Woods
The popular Stephen Sondheim musical and subsequent 2014 film with an all-star cast provide the perfect backdrop to describe the state of the Houston Astros lately. The story follows a witch tasking a baker and his wife with gathering magical items from other fairy tales to alleviate a curse put on a family tree belonging to the lead couple. Similarly, Jeff Luhnow and the Astros front office are being tasked with gathering up all the players they need before the upcoming trade deadline in order to get them back to the World Series.
They already made their first trade yesterday, getting Martin Maldonado from the Los Angeles Angels. Clearly, it was an insurance move in the wake of Brian McCann having knee surgery and the recovery that is following it. Early reports indicate that BMac won't be ready to go until at least September when rosters expand. To make room on the 25 man roster, they designated Tim Federowicz for assignment, essentially, sending him packing. Max Stassi is still on the roster as starter for now, but depending on how Moldanado handles the staff, those roles could switch at any time.
No surprise, the trade deadline makes everyone in the fan base some kind of armchair GM, thinking that they know everything. As per usual, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis, has once again become a target for people to say demote or trade. Completely disregarding his stellar month of June, "fans" seem to use only the stats from his most recent slump to justify either not needing him anymore or somehow upgrading the DH position with some magic bat that's out there somewhere.
This sentiment couldn't be further from folly. El Oso Blanco is still 2nd on the team in both home runs and RBI, only trailing All-Star MVP, Alex Bregman. Additionally, Gattis is second on the team in slugging percentage and 5th on the team in OPS for those with at least 250 AB's. That's not really shabby, when you consider everything else in the grand scheme of things.
Where was Carlos Beltran at this point last season when the team won it all? Well, I'm glad you asked that question, because I happen to have the evidence below. It is my job as a journalist, after all, to uncover the real truth and smoke out the spin. So here goes: Carlos Beltran had the following slash line by July 27th of last year: .234/.288/.405/.693 with 12 HR and 41 RBI. Gattis, by comparison has a .234/.298/.478/.776 with 19 HR and 63 RBI. Yes, their averages are similar, but Gattis is clearly slugging way better and doing exactly the kind of job that the organization wants him to do.
The point here is this. No matter how much fans want it, there is no Edgar Martinez style DH out there in the league that will be some magic upgrade. Quite frankly, there is already far enough production from other positions that they can be more lenient at the DH position without it costing them wins. Far from it, the Astros still sit 30 games over .500 and with a comfortable 5 game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West division.
It's well known that the organization is gonna make the moves they need to. However, it is just plain gullibility to think that a player that has shattered franchise records is somehow going to just be sold off to another team. The front office knows instinctively that Evan Gattis wants to stay in Houston, and how hard he is working to earn his spot. The real issue as of late is the relief pitching, so that's where they are going to focus next and with the utmost of urgency. All the troubles with Ken Giles and the taxing of the other relievers will be front and center in what and who they trade for.
Evan Gattis doesn't need to be included anywhere near that. He is a huge part of this championship team chemistry, and everyone knows that. The armchair GM's, who are likely critics, doubters and haters, will have to get over themselves and accept that the bear isn't going anywhere. He's here to stay, and the Astros will continue reaping the benefits of it.
They already made their first trade yesterday, getting Martin Maldonado from the Los Angeles Angels. Clearly, it was an insurance move in the wake of Brian McCann having knee surgery and the recovery that is following it. Early reports indicate that BMac won't be ready to go until at least September when rosters expand. To make room on the 25 man roster, they designated Tim Federowicz for assignment, essentially, sending him packing. Max Stassi is still on the roster as starter for now, but depending on how Moldanado handles the staff, those roles could switch at any time.
No surprise, the trade deadline makes everyone in the fan base some kind of armchair GM, thinking that they know everything. As per usual, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis, has once again become a target for people to say demote or trade. Completely disregarding his stellar month of June, "fans" seem to use only the stats from his most recent slump to justify either not needing him anymore or somehow upgrading the DH position with some magic bat that's out there somewhere.
This sentiment couldn't be further from folly. El Oso Blanco is still 2nd on the team in both home runs and RBI, only trailing All-Star MVP, Alex Bregman. Additionally, Gattis is second on the team in slugging percentage and 5th on the team in OPS for those with at least 250 AB's. That's not really shabby, when you consider everything else in the grand scheme of things.
Where was Carlos Beltran at this point last season when the team won it all? Well, I'm glad you asked that question, because I happen to have the evidence below. It is my job as a journalist, after all, to uncover the real truth and smoke out the spin. So here goes: Carlos Beltran had the following slash line by July 27th of last year: .234/.288/.405/.693 with 12 HR and 41 RBI. Gattis, by comparison has a .234/.298/.478/.776 with 19 HR and 63 RBI. Yes, their averages are similar, but Gattis is clearly slugging way better and doing exactly the kind of job that the organization wants him to do.
The point here is this. No matter how much fans want it, there is no Edgar Martinez style DH out there in the league that will be some magic upgrade. Quite frankly, there is already far enough production from other positions that they can be more lenient at the DH position without it costing them wins. Far from it, the Astros still sit 30 games over .500 and with a comfortable 5 game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West division.
It's well known that the organization is gonna make the moves they need to. However, it is just plain gullibility to think that a player that has shattered franchise records is somehow going to just be sold off to another team. The front office knows instinctively that Evan Gattis wants to stay in Houston, and how hard he is working to earn his spot. The real issue as of late is the relief pitching, so that's where they are going to focus next and with the utmost of urgency. All the troubles with Ken Giles and the taxing of the other relievers will be front and center in what and who they trade for.
Evan Gattis doesn't need to be included anywhere near that. He is a huge part of this championship team chemistry, and everyone knows that. The armchair GM's, who are likely critics, doubters and haters, will have to get over themselves and accept that the bear isn't going anywhere. He's here to stay, and the Astros will continue reaping the benefits of it.
Original Photo Credit: Bob Levey of Getty Images
Get used to it, ladies and gents. The bear is here to stay!
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