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Jeremy Peña fractured the tip of his right ring finger, making the Astros happy they haven't traded Isaac Paredes. Tyler Stafford and The Athletic's Chandler Rome discuss Peña's injury, whether it removes Paredes from the trade block altogether, Houston's reunion with catcher Christian Vázquez and early impressions from the first few games of the World Baseball Classic.
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What's up everybody welcome into another edition of Crush City Territory
I'm Chandler room joined by Tyler Stafford who made us redo this once already today usually we're pretty good at
I just going and like not having to break not having to edit anything out but Tyler you messed it up. How do you feel?
It lasted three seconds and it was because you double clicked it so I don't want I don't want to hear any excuses
Very tired quit quit fuss in Chandler. Okay, that's gonna be on a t-shirt before you know it
So will so will surplus and untenable apparently
dereliction of duty that's another of my favorites
You were all right everyone that listens to this everyone that comments
Everyone that
Very nicely subscribes to the athletic and subscribes across city territory
Which you should continue to do both of those things all of you were right. There is no infield surplus
All of you were right. There was gonna be somebody that gets hurt and that person is Jeremy Pena who
Was doing what he would have been doing if he was still an asterisk camp
He was playing shortstop and an exhibition game
And he fielded a ground ball made the third of first base
nothing about the video looked
Um
Bad it looked like a very normal play but then at the end of the play you can see Jeremy kind of look at his
throwing all his throwing hand
He was out of the game the next inning
To be candid. I was told that
The asteris were told
Initially
That Pena left the game with a broken fingernail
Something that his that was a fingernail injury
Um, and so when the reporting began that afternoon
Or that afternoon and into that night that that Jeremy Pena had a fractured finger
Um, I was I was hesitant only because you know
You know it could have been semantics something could have gotten lost in translation because this did happen in the DR
This happened in the Dominican Republic and the initial reports came from
Media that is in the Dominican Republic and you know, we reached out the athletic we reached out to the the
Official press officer of team Dominican Republic in the WBC and they they told us you know
He had x-rays, but there's no official diagnosis. We don't know yet
To call it a fracture would be premature
But um the next day Jeremy Pena went to West Palm Beach saw a hand specialist
That told him he has a fracture in the fingertip of his right ring finger
He'll be evaluated and re-evaluated in two weeks
That came I believe on March 4th which meant
Opening day from March 4th was 22 days away. So
I think it's safe to say that his status for opening day is in peril
But from everything I have ascertained everything I have seen I want to be clear. I'm not in West Palm Beach
I have not talked to Jeremy. I have not talked to
I've talked to some people that are there, but not like
I have not been in these scrums from what I can ascertain from many miles away
This does not seem to be something that is going to be a long-term injury
This is not seem like something that is going to you know impact him for weeks and weeks and weeks
But it just comes at a time when he may not be ready to make the opening day roster
I don't believe you okay
Until he is back out there. I'm terrified. I don't trust any of this
I mean broken tip of a pinky or a ring finger
Seems about the best injury that you can hope for
um
But I don't I don't trust you and I don't trust that he's gonna be okay
I also was picturing you know when you're swinging right-handed
The pressure is going to be more on your left hand too because you're pulling the bat through
So it does feel like the right
Ring finger is probably about the best you can do because also when you throw the ball you're only using
You're your middle and index and thumb too
So it does seem like something that you can come back from relatively easily
um
But I don't know how much of the ass was you watch last season Chandler
uh
Thin ice with uh with injury
uh
Reports and statuses and so I will believe that he is better when he is in the starting lineup and
The Jake Myers memorial. He has to actually play. Yeah, I don't it can't just be a starting lineup
I need to see him taking a bat run to first throw a ball and then I will say okay. He's ready to go
and and he's back um
I will say
I thought that I was going to see more people
Get real fussy about it happening at the wbc and I'm glad that we led with that it seemed like people were
Pretty normal about no
In your mentions. That was a little different. Hey
You know where you also take ground balls at shortstop spring training. All right. This was not a wbc
injury. There's not some secret
Ground ball wbc yet
Well, he was just in the Dominican Dominican like he was not even at the they they their pool play is in Miami
He wasn't even in Miami yet. Yeah, he was at the wbc
Yeah, he's gonna take grounders in West Palm Beach too and he could have gotten hit on his finger
um
Yeah, I mean when it first came out, I saw the reporter was like oh, he's expected to miss maybe the first round
But he'll be back and of course as soon as I saw I was like no chances
uh
Mr. Jim gonna let him play
uh
And inning in the wbc if he got hurt already
Yeah, I don't want to wait into these waters because I do not speak Spanish
But did you see the horado prodomo interview that was making the rounds um yeah horado prodomo who was going to replace Jeremy
Payne at shortstop on the Dominican starting lineup
um
Again, I'm paraphrasing. I don't know Spanish, but people that do know Spanish have tried to translate it for me
Essentially role in prodomo said on camera that Jeremy Payne is fine, but the team didn't want to play
I'll take it. Yeah, that's sure if that's true great
Sorry for Jeremy Payne. Yeah, I'm sure that he would like to be playing. Yeah, this seems fair to be like hey
This is in two weeks. This is a big deal. I mean did you did you see the Caminero celebration last night after you
Homer? Yeah, like
It sucks for paying you this sucks for paying you that he can't be a part of that like come on this tournament's awesome
like it is really is like
and
But at the same time if if if opening day were six weeks away
I could see it
You know, maybe you can hang around with the team whatever, but they're gonna want
I mean at this point I want every house just player getting imaging done
every day
Just because that seems to be an issue
Let's get some images in there
Whatever that means just more images
But yeah, I mean he's he's not gonna get to play which is too bad because I was really looking forward to seeing
one
Notable astro player in the tournament, but
Go Shay Whitcom
Zac the Zenzos playing a dyke in park right now. I should probably be there. It should probably be there
But um, I instead of doing this how
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Was I was dyke in yesterday was bumping um it was you know it was interesting the
Well first of all if you want to watch wbc. It's always on fox one you can stream on fox one if you're watching on youtube
There's a QR code that you can start a seven day free trial at fox1.com and they're gonna stream all of the wbc
so watch on youtube
Scan the QR code fox1.com seven day free trial um you can watch all the wbc games including the us and great Britain tonight
We're recording this on saturday and then
Monday night will be team mexico against team USA, which will be incredible
You will see a member of the crush city territory
host panel
participating in a pregame activity before mexico USA so get ready for that um
But so i say this all to say yesterday um
So mexico played
Britain in the first game yesterday and on the afternoon
And the mexico crowd was lit it was 12 p.m. On a friday i did not expect there to be a ton of people there
But they showed out they were loud the whole time it was
Weirdly a pretty tense game for them with britain
And it didn't break open to the latter half of the game
But they were loud the whole time it was awesome
Just goes to show you that prime time monday night with team USA and attendant that is going to be a bonkers atmosphere
mexico in the us um the mexico the team USA Brazil game like at the beginning
It was obviously pretty lit judge hit a homer and in the first inning and the place went nuts
But the way that game was played
uh
Brazil walked 17 guys
USA left 20 they left 20 no they left 13 runners on base and went five for 21 with runners in scoring position
Just a lot of missed opportunities not a lot of good pitching from britain or from brasil excuse me
It took the crowd out of it which was which was not fun, but um
At the beginning when judge hit that homer and you know the introductions and everything it was it was a cool atmosphere
Yeah, it looked fun. Uh, I agree the
The walking uh was was quite annoying to watch but
I also would not want to throw a strike to anyone in that lineup
So don't blame me for that um
But yeah, I mean, it was a what a fun
What a fun atmosphere. I had a I had a buddy go shout out Danny. He texted me from the game
said
The atmosphere is fun
So yeah, it it looked like fun. It's also fun to get into
Diakin Park before the season starts uh any
Any updates there you want to share
What how to look for our uh for our wealthy listeners
The diamond club has been completely renovated and it looks very nice
Big news for me. It looks very nice
So if you uh frequent the diamond club if you enjoy the diamond club if you can somehow afford
Season tickets in the diamond club
um first of all
I don't know what you're doing listening to this second um you're going to enjoy the new renovations because everything looks
Looks very good there um otherwise, you know
They have some different signage in the outfield just for wbc stuff. They have some different sponsors on the uh
Yeah, I like that. It's all night mode. Yeah, all the ads are dark
Yeah, that's cool
But and I saw the big star out in centerfield is back
They're not playing uh they're playing uh
They're playing deep in the heart of Texas in the eighth inning now for wbc games not during the seventh inning stretch like they normally do
Excuse me. Yeah. Why? I'm surprised they're playing I'm surprised they're playing it at all
But they're playing it in the eighth inning instead of the seventh inning um
And before the game yesterday before the u.s uh before the u.s. Brazil game
They had like they did like the big opening ceremony that night instead of for the day game
And they had a mariachi band from I believe it was sam Houston
I don't know if it was sam Houston state or a high school, but I think it was sam Houston state
And they sang um they sang a George straight song and I can't remember which one it was but it was it was such a
A melding of culture
It's see a mariachi band um singing a George straight song. Oh, it was uh
I'm not here for a long time. I'm here for a good time. It was um. I don't know what it's called
But uh so they did that it was interesting. Just the story of team Brazil
Uh-huh. They get knocked out in two games. They're hanging in there. It's scoreless right now like in the middle of the fit look I
Be fully candid um, I know more about team Brazil now than I did 48 hours ago, but um
Pretty much everyone you talked to yesterday before the US Brazil game
Everyone just kind of thought this is going to be a run rule like this game is not going nine innings
Brazil has not won a wbc game in its country's history
You know, they they have not been in the tournament since 2013
Um, they had one player last night on their major on their roster that had any major league experience
um
We'll talk about him a little bit later
They literally had a teenager pitched the second inning last night
And they hung in there man like that like it was
Many Ramirez's kid hit two homers like they they made pitches when they had to like
Again, like this this could have and probably for the US should have been a run rule um
They left so many runners on base couldn't get a big hit but um
Kudos to team Brazil for for just for staying in the fight and you know right now they're scoreless with Italy through five innings
So um, you know, they're they're they're showing out a lot better than I think a lot of us in the media thought they would because
It's one of my favorite parts about the wbc is seeing
The talent discrepancy because look even
Even as bad as the Colorado Rockies were last year they can beat
Any other team on any given night like there's a chance that that could happen. It is so fun to watch
College kids and a 17 year old come in and face this lineup
And I happen to read a very good article about
This 17 year old from Brazil. Can you tell us more about that Chandler?
Yeah, so um, it's funny how things work out um sometimes so um for those of you that did not see him or don't know
Kind of know what we're talking about. I'm just gonna put I'm gonna put my story on share screen on you
On the YouTube broadcast, but only just so you guys can see his face and just kind of see like get a sense of who this kid is
I'm so his name is Joseph Contreras
he
He's 17 years and 291 days old which means he is the youngest player to ever appear in a wbc game since 2013
He is a senior at blessed Trinity high school in Roswell, Georgia
Which uh is not in spring break right now like they had class yesterday
They had a full day of school yesterday and Joseph Contreras got an excused absence because he's pitching in the wbc
For uh team Brazil. He is the son of Jose Contreras
former white socks right-hander, you know
Very very well-known Cuban player one of the first you know one of the first Cuban players to defect
And was a huge name that defected from Cuba to play in the in the United States
Joseph's mom is Brazilian, which is why he was on team Brazil, but
Yeah, he you know he's committed to Vanderbilt
But if you look at all the draft rankings, he's probably not gonna end up on campus
He's anywhere from like the 30s to 40s and various top 200 draft rankings
Prospect rankings for this upcoming draft. So he's probably looking at you know
Maybe a compound pick second-round pick kind of guy I doubt he ends up on campus and after last night
I was gonna say but no chance now. Yeah, after last night. I don't think he'll end up on campus
He comes out throwing 98
He throws the fork ball that Jose Contreras once through he got a split but
You know look
He was always on the schedule to pitch last night
But their starter team Brazil starter. I think needed like 30 something pitches to get through the first thing
So they were getting him hot in the first inning
And then he comes in the second inning
He's 98 and you know
He gets faces air and judge with the bases loaded and this is why the WBC's great, right? It's so cool like you have
The set depending on your fandom you have the second or the best baseball player in the world standing at home plate
And you have a kid that should have been in math class
earlier that afternoon
Pitching to him with the bases loaded and he ran a sinker in on judges hands
broke judges bad off sawed him in half
543 double play comes off the mound and now he's a viral celebrity and you know
It's what makes his tournament awesome
It was serendipitous that you know
I'd actually talk to Joseph before the game because when you do that when you do what I do for a living
You kind of always want to have a story in your back pocket just in case like
The game went like we thought it was going to go like they would have run rule the team and five innings
And but I'm gonna be like no one's gonna read about them destroying Brazil
So I'd have like so I had talked to Joseph before the game
I talked to him actually with friend of the pod Ken Rosenthal who probably shared a lot of that insight on the Fox broadcast
But the minute that he got judged to ground out my editors were just like you got to get that story in now
Like we don't we don't want to hold it like you write it now
So if you looked up at any point in the third inning and you saw
And you saw me frantically like
Writing 600 words in 20 minutes. That was that was my normal state. So
He seems like a great kid
Truly said he's
Said he's been doing homework
Upstairs at the hotel because he his exact quote was
All the other guys like to party like I can't go down and party with him
It's like he's not
He's 17 years old and he's like I got homework to do like I had to do math yesterday
I did social studies today and I'm like it's insane not for long buddy. Nope. You got a couple months left
No, make it through the season
You all right
But yeah, that was that was awesome. It was really cool to see that and it's you know
Didn't a couple in the last WBC what and they're like an electrician that was oh yeah
The Czech Republic that that struck out Otoni and everybody was like I mean yeah
It's like that's what there's guys coming in throwing 82 mile an hour fastballs and just praying for the best of rules
It's so much fun
This also should settle any debate that you have with your uncle while watching baseball about oh I could hit that
Aaron judge got sought off by a high school kid
You could not hit whatever pitch you think you could hit no you could not no
No, but that was that was an unquestion to me the highlight yesterday. Yeah
Like I get judged at a home or Bryce Tarrang was good from the nine hole that yeah
Like that that kid coming in 17 years old. I think they brought him the podium today
This morning just so he could kind of like bask in his glory that a whole press conference today
It's it was cool
It's cool and it's one of the reasons why this tournament's great
And it's one of the reasons why you know, I know it pains asterious fans and it pains you know fans of other teams when
Their guys go to play in this tournament, but it's why they love to play in it because of just it's it's such a it's such a unique event
That is such a good representation for the sport and a sport that needs it honestly um so you know, but they should bring the
Whoever represented these countries from last year's little league world series to all of these games
To I want to I want to see the crossover of everybody. It's so fun. All right from your lips to raw man for dears
That's not a bad idea. Maybe in the you know quarterfinals get these get these kids out there have them sit on the bench in there. It'd be fun
So now that
Asterious fans will not get to watch Jeremy Paine you playing the WBC
They don't get to watch he sock parade is playing the WBC either because he
His hamstring blew up last year Tony Paris Chica had an aggressive scent
Tony Paris Chica had an aggressive scent
From first base yesterday for team Mexico and it worked guy scored from first on a double
Uh, very aggressive scent, but that's the only astero that you can watch um at dyke in park in the WBC is their base good shunny
Paris Chica uh anti-petit. Oh, yeah, he's a pitching coach
Um, he told my mother he told he told the US pitching staff to give up two homers to manage his kid yesterday
Boy, you should have heard them talking about my co-walkers change up
Uh, that was
Way knows on the broadcast Adam way right and walk are very close and that change up is awesome
So it makes sense. Yeah, it's it's a curveball basically
I mean they were probably they were probably reading the media guy by the sixth inning when Brazil was walking three guys and inning
But it was uh, it was a slog, but yeah, man, it's it's so fun watching. I I love just having
All the games up. I'm just watching everything. I'm having a lot of fun
So now that um, we know
Jeremy Pania is
At least his status is in doubt for opening day. Uh, I'll throw the throw the question to you Tyler because
Everyone hates when I talk about it. So you're gonna get to talk about it. Is the infield surplus solved?
Uh, definitely can't trade parades now
Uh, I mean
I don't trust this finger and I don't trust the people looking at the fingers to make sure that the finger is okay
Until he's back out there. You got your surplus solved. If only there were some
Gold glove shortstop ready to go already on your roster that you could slot over there
Let parades play a third base. Oh wait
That's why we have all these people that Chandler won't let us have he keeps forcing the Astros. That's my favorite
Genre of people in your replies the ones who think
Well, if you just would stop saying this the Astros wouldn't think about training
Brady's or that it's like that I'm like manifesting it
Then like I want it to happen. Yeah, I'm just telling you what I'm being told like Chandler barely thinks about the Astros while he's there
I promise you when he is at home. He is not
having additional thoughts
About the use of Astros and what they should do with their roster. You come more accurate. Yes. Yeah
Yeah
There's your there's your line up now. Korea is a short parades a third
I'll to base it. What a fun
I can't wait to see
And I'll to a flip to korea and then we'll just a cannon arm coming from korea over there. I'm ready. Let me let me see it
so
Is it solved in the short term? Yes, like if Jeremy Pania is not ready for opening day. They are
Completely covered like it is it's plug and play you and Joe spot us the foul territory the the daily show
They were in camp on friday and Joe spot did an interview on the on foul territory and said
Carlos korea will be the shortstop if Jeremy Pania is not ready for opening day
So take the thought of esok parades playing shortstop out of your head. Carlos korea is going to short
Who had that thought?
There were people there were people there were not there. Oh, there was not there were people that asked that's not true
Yeah, there were um, so
Parades will play third korea play short
Mm-hmm
again
With this even with the audit they did on the return to play procedure and even with you know having a new trainer and having a new strength coach like
You never want to take anything for granted with an astro and injuries
But at least on the surface this does appear to not be a long-term thing
This seems like something that at best Jeremy Pania will not will not need to miss a significant amount of time
So when that when that time period is up
We're right back to square one of what we have been talking about for two or three months. It's why I'm not
I'm not totally gonna sit here and say like oh, they can't trade breeze now
Like oh, it's like it's completely off the table and it's done like I mean
Does this lessen the likelihood that they will? Yes, obviously
Is this the sort of
Jump scare to maybe like really make Dana Brown
reconsider kind of the thoughts because again like
You guys can yell at me all you want you guys can tweet at me and comment on my stories that I'm the one pushing this like guy
I'm not pulling this from thin air. This isn't something I made up like this is
This is what they are doing they have been shopping east sock parade is
internally and externally to the rest of the baseball world
They've been shopping in for two and a half months like this is not like
This is not like I'm sitting here and there and like the ashras are not doing this like yes
They have been trying to trade him for two months
Maybe this is the jump scare that maybe makes them like all right like let's let's pull back a little bit
Let's let's not be so gung ho and to give them credit
They have been pretty
hesitant with how they've approached because they have such a high price on them and they haven't moved it
And that's been they've been very cautious about that. They're not going to sell him for pennies on the dollar
And this is only going to reinforce that but
if Jeremy Paine is back in
Within a week or two of the season
And everyone else remains healthy
Then this is what you're counting on to make this work you're counting on
Freak injuries that Jeremy Paine you like one that Jeremy Paine you just to say you're you're counting on
All of your other guys to have something similar happen
Because like we've said
Given everything Joa spot has said about who he wants to play where
Who's going to get the most amount of playing time at DH at second base at all these different positions
This is not going to work unless people get hurt and
I guess congratulations to those that were so anti against it like you got some
Somebody got hurt congrats to you. You were right
But unless that keeps happening over and over again
We're going to be back in the same you know cycle of talking about this in about three weeks or a month
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Okay figure it out then yeah no and who cares yes I
But it's why I understand I
Look a little a little peek behind the curtain
How reporting works is
people tell Chandler things
And then sometimes he says their names because he needs to use a quote and then sometimes he just takes that information and writes it down
without saying the quote
but
That's where the information he's not just
Making so people come up to him and be like hey by the way we're trying to trade
East operaties. This is what's going on
And Chandler is also allowed to talk to people from other teams and they will say
Yeah, the ashris called me yesterday and said this is what they want for East operaties because those people don't care
If that story gets out because it's not their team and that's how reporting works
And
Yeah, of course it's going to happen at some point but not right now
You got opening day in three weeks and I mean look
You
Talk about freak entries. You know who's
Who gets injured quite a bit is a lot of the people on the ashris that they're counting on that are filling these spots
Um, he's talking about Christian Walker played 156 games like you sure did and uh there's another
There's a couple other fellows in the infield
Uh who who may get hurt at some point but even at the I mean again
Figure it out then when pain you get back
You still can make it work temporarily again the the issue
With the way that the rosters constructed is not day of what do you do
You can make a lineup
On on any given day with how the ashris have their roster constructor right now
It's how do you consistently do it for 162 games? That's the hard part
But any given day you can make a lineup that's going to make most people
Okay
Um
And right now you your your teams filled out like I that's that that should put a stop to any trade conversations
Unless you get a call that someone is even more desperate and they're going to
Do it and you trust your imaging and your fingers and what not uh but
Yeah, they hadn't traded him yet right but I but what I would caution is just I would caution that
I would caution anyone that saw the pain your news and say oh
Paratis is an astro forever now. No, he's the whole he's here with us the whole season
He's here with us to the trade deadline like
No, like like again if this was a more serious injury if this was something that
If it was a hammy bone that needed you know six weeks if it was a hamps if it was a hamstring like you sock paratis head last year
If it was an oblique saying all of this right
I get it don't name other injuries
But again, I think
This is how it's going to have to work
To to make it to make this work for 162 games. They're going to need like
Four more instances like this and I don't know that you want that do you want your guys like
Every guys constantly getting hurt. No, I don't think anyone wants that so no they will figure it out at some point
But not not until pain is back out there don't figure it out then
Um
You know who you know who right now is still the astros backup catcher Tyler
Uh
See says our cells are of course right now
mains the astros backup cell is our slither and over there
Right now as Dana Brown has said numerous times right now he remains a backup catcher
But there is more competition now if you listen to if you listen to crushedity territory for any length of time
You knew a month and a half ago that the astros had expressed interest in Christian Vasquez
It was never going to be on a major league deal
Just given Vasquez's age given his last two years of performance
It was never going to be a big league deal and I think
Vasquez was waiting out to see if he could get a big league deal
That obviously did not manifest to the astros signed him to a minor league deal with an invitation a big league camp
On Saturday today they signed in this morning
He is playing for Puerto Rico in the WBC. So uh Jim crane cover your ears, but um he
Will be returning once once he finishes in the WBC with Puerto Rico
He'll go back to and here report to astros camp he'll report to West Palm Beach. So he's not in camp yet
But this is the competition to push say sarsalazar for the backup catcher job
um
Christian Vasquez has objectively been a bad player for the last three years like I don't think we can argue otherwise
um
He has a 60 OPS plus since 2023 career
Um, he's a good defensive catcher. He's a guy that you know
Pictures like throwing to he is your prototypical backup catcher
He is you know never going he's gonna do everything right behind the plate. He's going to
You know call a good game. He's a veteran savvy presence that can you know
Knows the nuances and can pick up stuff knows when teams maybe have a tell knows when knows when his guys are tipping things like that
Is not going to provide much of anything at
offensively um, it's you but to be fair
There's no backup catcher out there that would have provided would victor keratini has provided for you at the last two years
So the fact that they were going that that they were going to go find a victor keratini replacement on the open market was just
Very misguided because
He played better than almost any backup catcher in the sport last year
Um, but one thing they needed to do um
I just
I mean if you don't realize it by now. I don't really know what to tell you. I don't think the astros are comfortable
Carrying a guy and say sar salazar that's caught 14 career big league games
On their roster and asking him to catch
You know, maybe 50 or 60 games this year and that's being generous like you know, there's there's the situation where you could see the astros backup catcher
Maybe appear in 70 games and if you need youiner to dh if you need to get youiner off his feet things like that
Um, they needed some veteran competition. They needed just an insurance policy in case they decide that say sar salsars
Not what they want on their roster and they got that in christian vazquez
Yeah, you know what you're getting he's gonna hit 180 and he's gonna run into a homer once a month
Uh, but he is an adult and knows how to catch and that's that's fine. That's all you need
And maybe they'll make a a move at some point to upgrade back up catcher, but
Again, if your season is
Hinging on backup catcher something has gone terribly wrong
But I will say this I don't think the astros are necessarily constructed as
First and foremost a run prevention team. I think if they are I think if they're lineup is healthy
They are certainly not a team that you look at and it's like all right
They're only going to score three or four. I know you saw it last year, but that team was not healthy last year
When this line-ups at full strength. I think this is a top half of the league offense when it's at full strength
So I wouldn't say that this is a run prevention team first and foremost
But it's a lot of what they do a lot of their identity is pitching in defense and
You know a catcher is pretty important in all of that and I'm just not and I haven't been convinced since the beginning of the
Offseason that they trust a guy that's only caught 14 big league games to be such an integral part of that operation and
For say sports allies are it's tough because he's got a minor league options
So he's either got to make the roster at a camp or they've got to expose him to waivers where
You know, I haven't really thought about if he'd get claimed on waivers um
Because you know, there's such a lean major league sample size
But there are other teams out there that are not trying to win
There are teams out there that have open spots that could give him some runway
That could just like hey you come be our backup catcher
We don't mind playing you
Catching you 60 65 games a year because we're not trying to win and say so our salazar is an excellent clubhouse guy
Like excellent vibes guy
He is beloved in there like pitchers love throwing them everything about it
So he would upgrade any clubhouse in the big leagues. So um, they're going to have to make a decision
Do they maybe you know, I don't know would they carry three catchers
Especially if pain is not ready for opening day like could they have a permutation where
They carry three catchers probably not but in the absence of that they're going to have to make an actual decision
Because they've got to decide on say saras are by the time camp by the time camps over
Yeah, well, we'll see I mean obviously Vasquez is playing in the WBC. So
Just be watching from there, but again, I mean you you kind of know what you're getting with with both of those guys
Um, yeah, it'll be interesting to see I mean
It whatever if he goes the waivers and he gets picked up by somebody else that's
I think you're again, you know what you're getting with Christian Vasquez like he's
He can't get worse offensively. I don't think and you know that he can catch and call a game
So it just it just depends on
If you need that stability or not. I mean you're again, you're not no you're not rolling the dice and hoping he finds
An offensive resurgence at age 37 after hitting 180 last year
But if you're saying we need somebody that we know can catch 50 60 games
uh
Then you can do worse in Christian Vasquez
Yeah, and it's all I mean it's either him or I mean Jonah Himes signed already, but it's like they could trade him for
Will you're a brave you
See if that see if that works out how that work out the first time
Actually pretty good actually pretty good. They want to work. They want to know if you remember
Yeah, I think they would do that again
I think they would too um, but I think they'd prefer the Wilson conchairs for Jose or Keati that they had lined up
Wouldn't have had to do that. They would have still had willier brave in their farm system
And we wouldn't be sitting here talking about why they need to go trade for a left-handed hitting outfielder
But here we are and we will continue to discuss
Why they need to trade for a left-handed hitting outfielder in the next episode of Christchurch territory
But until then you can follow me on x at Chandler underscore room
You can follow Tyler at Tyler c Stafford. Please rate and review us on apple and Spotify
Please like and subscribe to the youtube
Channel please like the video that helps us out a lot
We'll be back next week. I fly back to West Palm Beach on Tuesday
So be in Florida again beginning Wednesday through the end of camp
When I'm back there we will have a better chance of getting some more players as some guests
So stay tuned
Stay tuned for maybe some more player guests
Everyone loved the Ken Rosenthal interview so maybe we should get Ken back
I got him any growing I got many glowing reviews about everyone's favorite
National baseball insider, but um we'll be back next week until then thanks for listening enjoy the wbc
If you're going to us a mexico
Get ready. It's gonna be lit. Um see you then talk to you later
This is your two-week warning that project Hail Mary is coming out
So it's time to read the book before the movie comes out. Bye
You
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Crush City Territory: A Houston Astros Podcast



