Houston Astros: Deadline for Derek Fisher decision looming

The Houston Astros promoted Derek Fisher in response to the seven day disabled list trip Josh Reddick took for the concussion he suffered on June 13th. Reddick could return tomorrow meaning the Astros will need to most likely send Fisher down.

The Houston Astros are already stuffed to the brim with outfielders on their roster with George Springer, Jake Marisnick, Norichika Aoki and of course Reddick on the roster. Not to mention the flexibility of Marwin Gonzalez to play out there and the “if necessary” option of Carlos Beltran. When Josh Reddick returns it will be an outfielder that loses a roster spot on the Astros.

The prudent decision would be to send Fisher back down to the minors and continue along with the roster that has led us to the best record in baseball. Despite how erratic our pitching has been with injuries to the rotation and inconsistencies in the bullpen, the offense has been the anchor of this team with it’s balance and depth.

To give you an idea of how well the depth has played, the Astros seven through nine hitters have the best batting average and slugging percentage of any seven through nine hitters in any other line up in the major leagues.

Now Aoki doesn’t have the offensive promise of a Derek Fisher, nor is he in the Astros long term plans. But for a guy who normally bats in that seven through nine part of the order, he has a .267 batting average which is pretty good for hitting in the lower end.

Keep in mind last year we had Jason Castro, Jake Marisnick and Carlos Gomez regularly bringing up the rear with .210, 209, and .210 batting averages respectively. It’s unfair to expect much more out of your nine hole hitter because if that player were able to hit .300, they most likely would be elsewhere with a team that would hit them higher in the order where they belong.

The prudent decision would be to send Fisher back down to the minors and continue along with the roster that has led us to the best record in baseball.

That said. If you have a chance to make the deepest and most balanced lineup in baseball more dangerous, shouldn’t you take that chance? Derek Fisher would be an upgrade over Aoki in a lot of different departments. He provides more power and speed than Aoki, and would make us better defensively as well.

The Astros could be deciding they have their left fielder of the future available now relegating Kyle Tucker to a trade piece. But to keep Fisher they would have to make room and that would most likely mean cutting Aoki. That would make Aoki the second such veteran player in as many years to be designated for assignment by the Astros after they cut Carlos Gomez last year. That wouldn’t be a good look for the Astros when it comes to trying to attract lower level free agents to sign with us.

More from House of Houston

There’s also the fear that should the Astros go with Fisher, what happens if he struggles like AJ Reed or Tyler White or Jon Singleton did. Not only would his trade value diminish, but the Astros wouldn’t be able to get back the consistent, if not exciting, play of Aoki.

We know what we’re getting with Aoki. We know what Fisher could be. But we don’t know for sure how it will end up if we stick with him in the lineup. Right now if I were the Astros front office I would stick with Aoki. At least while we still have the cushion of the best record in the American League with a 6.5 game lead over the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

If the team’s offense begins to falter and needs a boost then by all means bring up Fisher. But the team leads the entire major leagues in batting average and on-base plus slugging percentage and are third in the majors (second in the American League) in runs scored.

It’s a tough spot because as soon as next year the Astros could need a left fielder depending on if they can come to terms with Aoki in arbitration which they struggled to do prior to this season after they claimed him off waivers. Aoki took a $5.5 million dollar contract when according to mlbtraderumors he was projected to make $6.8 million dollars.

That’s also if the Astros even want his services next year depending on how he performs the rest of the season. Keeping Aoki is the safe decision in the short term. But if Fisher is ready and can perform well, then he fills the left field spot which is unquestionably the weakest spot offensively on our roster.

Next: Starting pitching rotation is progressing

If Fisher ends up playing at a high enough level and he earns a starting spot come April 2018, that means our lineup next season would have the designated hitter as the only questionable spot on the roster. And that is the easiest spot to fill because all you need is someone who can hit and don’t have to take much of anything else into consideration. Either way, the time is coming to make that call. And the decision the Astros make may impact the team for more than just this year. Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Home/Houston Astros