re: DAT: Not changing my underwear

(no message)

Poker night with the boys for me, so I didn't get to watch. Checked the score when I came in and went to bed. We were down 2-1 at the time. Checking the final this morning gave me joy.

Preston Tucker will come in and immediately become one of the worst, if not the worst, defenders on our team. Gattis isn't included because he isn't playing in the field.

The Astros are winning right now on pitching & defense (with OF defense being amazing so far). Bringing up Tucker kicks out one of those legs if you plan on starting him in the field in place of Rasmus. You'd be doing that based on potential with no guarantee that Tucker will rake in the MLB. If he has an adjustment period of a few months, you might be getting the same offensive production as Rasmus for the remainder of the season(or less because Tucker isn't as powerful) while taking a major hit to defense. If that is the case, you'd be hurting a competitive team, not helping.

And, whether we like it or not, Gattis will have a very long leash, imo. They traded 2 of our, what, top 6 prospects for him? As long as the Astros are still being competitive, I don't see him getting taken out of the lineup without given a very long chance to turn it around. If they do get fed up with Gattis, I don't see him getting benched either (that would just be admitting that the trade was a colossal failure). I see him taking a very timely trip to the DL with some sort of back issue.

Article quote written about Tucker last August:

quote:

---

One of the major reasons you don’t see his name on many prospect lists is that he’s a very poor defender. He’s been an unmitigated disaster at first base and doesn’t have the arm for right field, which leaves him as a below-average defensive left fielder, which goes a long way towards limiting a prospect’s real-life ceiling.

---

I'd love to see what Tucker can do in the MLB, don't get me wrong. I just think there is the right time for it and it wont be while the Astros are competitive with him being such a liability with the glove.

But flame away if you disagree. I'm just playing devils advocate that you don't screw with being competitive by gambling on unknown offense with a known horrible glove. Now if the Astros begin losing again and a drastic change needs to be made, by all means give him a go. Just don't expect it while they are hovering around .500, imo.

Edit: Or if they want to call him up for a couple of weeks if someone goes on the DL, I'd be ok with that too (although Singleton would be first call up in that situation, imo). My above rant was solely about making a full time change for the remainder of the season.

Tucker can't be any more of a Butcher in the Field than Singleton is.

yes because it it yesterday's thread