Houston Astros: Top four options to replace Marwin Gonzalez
Houston Astros utility man Marwin Gonzalez will be a free agent this off season and there’s a possibility he may walk. Here’s the top 4 options to replace.
The Houston Astros waved the white flag to the Boston Red Sox last night in a devastating 4-1 series elimination loss. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Houston Astros powerful offense/defense and pitching were to overpower the Red Sox to close the ALCS out with yet another trip to the World Series to defend their title.
What happened? Fans didn’t get the strongest stuff that was seen last season from Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole as well as Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton. In fact, the homer that Verlander gave up to J.D. Martinez Thursday night was the first in a elimination game in SEVEN YEARS. There was just a lot of peculiarity with the pitching staff and it in no way degrades their abilities as professionals. It’s just one of those situations that’s an outlier for the old adage of “sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t.”
Jose Altuve wasn’t quite himself out there at the plate but still managed to hit .265/.324/.412 in the postseason while dealing with a nagging knee injury that was sustained after the All-Star break. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reported Friday that it’s possible that he might have surgery this off season as a result.
With all of the challenges this team faced, they competed triumphantly regardless but one must think about the future and the possibility of not having Marwin Gonzalez in a Houston Astros uniform in 2019.
The switch-hitting utility man in Gonzalez will be one of the hottest free agents on the market and the Houston Astros may have a tough time matching the offers that he will get from other teams. It’s universally agreed that Gonzalez is the best utility man in the game right now and he will get paid as such.
Whether the Houston Astros feel a big payday for him is warranted, that remains to be seen. The prudent thing would be for the team to bring him back at a cost that’s reasonable for the franchise but I understand if the team doesn’t want to put all of its eggs in one basket just to retain him.
If the Houston Astros should lose MarGo to free agency, here are four players that can contribute as suitable replacements for Gonzalez. One honestly cannot “replace” such a dynamic player but if there’s guys out there to get the job done, it’s these four.
For reference purposes, MarGo’s slash line for 2018 was .247/.324/489 with a close to an above-average Ultimate Zone Rating (4.6) and slayed an impressive .333/.389/.576 in the postseason.
Are you ready? Let’s take a look.