Astros: I Don’t Know Is On Third Base
By Yoni Pollak
Over the course of the offseason, we at House of Houston are going position by position and evaluating each player on the roster.
Last week we went through catcher, first base, second base and shortstop. Today’s breakdown takes us to third base.
Some of you may have let the title fly over your heads. If you didn’t, props to you. The title comes from the famous “Who’s On First” skit performed by Abbott and Costello. Please do yourself a favor and watch the whole skit. I can guarantee you will laugh at least three different times if you watch the entire performance. I have embedded the skit below for your convenience.
The truth is I have somewhat of an idea of who will play the hot corner, but I liked my title better. Somewhat of an idea isn’t the same as knowing for sure so let’s just say my title is spot on.
The Astros traded for Luis Valbuena last offseason assuming he would be the starting third baseman for the 2015 season. The former Chicago Cub spent much of his time early in the season at the hot corner until the Astros called up Carlos Correa. Once Correa forced himself into the everyday starting lineup, manager A.J. Hinch was forced to find playing time for offseason signee Jed Lowrie when he returned from injury.
Valbeuna finished the season slashing .224/.310/.438 while mashing 25 home runs. He played 105 of his 132 games at third base, while also playing several games at the other corner of the infield. Though his average was quite low, Valbuena was known for being incredibly unlucky the first half of the season. He finished the season with an incredibly low .235 BABIP (a .300 BABIP is considered average), so there’s reason to believe that his average could rise next year.
The Astros also gave Jed Lowrie many starts at third base when he returned from injury. Unfortunately for Lowrie, he was never able to return to his April-self and finished the season with a .222 average and .712 OPS.
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So the Astros will have a decision to make this offseason. This decision will certainly go hand-in-hand with the first base decision. If the Astros decide to move away from Chris Carter at first base, it’s possible they choose to go with Valbeuna full time at first base and then Lowrie starts at third base.
Another possibility is that the Astros look to trade one of Valbuena or Lowrie. Valbuena is in the last year of his deal, wheras Lowrie is owed another $14 million over the next two seasons and a club option in 2018.
If I were the GM, I would see if anyone would take Lowrie off my hands. It’s unlikely, but it’s possible a team that misses out on Ben Zobrist or is looking for a multi-positional infielder may take a chance on Lowrie.
At the end, I expect Valbuena to start at third base but they have lots of versatility in the infield which gives them many different options. It will be interesting to see how GM Jeff Luhnow handles the situation.
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