The Houston Astros And Jonathan Lucroy

Let’s do some dot-connecting…

Former Astros assistant GM David Stearns is currently the GM for the Milwaukee Brewers
The Astros need a catcher

That’s all you need to know for now.

You see, Jonathan Lucroy is one of the better catchers in baseball. At least he was in 2014, when he was an All-Star and finished fourth in NL MVP voting following a season where he slashed .301/.373/.465 with 13 home runs and 53 doubles in 153 games.

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2015 was a different story for the 29-year old who played in only 103 games due to injuries. As such, his stats plunged as he batted just .264 with a .717 OPS.

But if you know your Houston baseball team, even those “subpar” number would look great for the Astros. The starting catcher for the last several seasons has been Jason Castro, who hit just .222 in 2014 and .221 in 2015, becoming a major hole in the Astros lineup. What Castro does provide is great defense, but so does Lucroy, and at least he’s a major positive when healthy.

The Astros need to acquire Lucroy, especially now with Max Stassi out a month. Having a Lucroy/Castro catching unit would help vault the Astros ahead of the Rangers.

And it appears GM Jeff Luhnow may agree with me. According to Bob Nightengale (USA Today), the Astros have had talks with the Brewers for Lucroy.

"Lucroy thought he was almost traded a month ago, too. The Brewers were engaged in talks involving the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros in a three-way deal that failed to materialize. The Brewers have attached an exorbitant price tag on Lucroy’s value, and who can blame them? Lucroy, an All-Star catcher in 2014, is being paid just $4.25 million this year with a $5.25 million option in 2017. Yet, until someone is willing to meet their demands, he remains a Brewer."

The rumors have been around all winter and the need is still there for Houston.