With Michael Brantley Aboard, The Astros Finally Make Some Noise This Off-Season

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow continues to display subtle measures in proving to most anyone within earshot that he frequently takes the pulse of the organization’s fan base.

Given what he has accomplished in Houston, and his alleged adherence to numbers over all things, it always comes across as a bit peculiar when Luhnow gives credence to the wanderlust of Astros fandom. His acknowledgment of their cravings and concerns in truth represents a losing proposition for, no matter what the Astros accomplish, not everyone will be completely satiated. That much is evident by the negative slant taken by many when the Astros followed an abbreviated postseason run with a relatively quiet opening six weeks of this offseason.

The Astros finally made some noise this week with the signing of free agent Michael Brantley to a reported two-year, $32 million deal. Brantley checks a lot of boxes for the organization, the most pressing being its needs for an outfielder, a quality left-handed bat, and a veteran capable of advancing the organization’s goal of keeping its window of championship contention ajar.

The earlier acquisitions of utility infielder Aledmys Diaz (via trade) and catcher Robinson Chirinos, no matter how sensible, barely moved the needle. The Astros suffered attrition across their roster, and the expectation was that Luhnow would replace those starts with more big names that could undergird a run to a second World Series pennant in three seasons. The Astros’ previous inactivity inspired ample wailing and gnashing of teeth, and even now, with Luhnow on the board via the signing of Brantley, the prevailing mood remains: What’s next?

“We will continue to look at ways to improve the team,” Luhnow said. “We got the Diaz trade done, which was important for us. We got Chirinos signed and now this move, which is very significant. This is probably one of our highest priority moves that we were seeking to do all offseason.

“We feel good about what we’ve accomplished. We still have a couple months to go until we report to spring training, and we’re going to work hard every day. I can guarantee you our guys upstairs are thinking about what’s next. Our fans certainly are always thinking about what’s next, but we need to keep the focus of winning next year along with balancing the health of the organization over the long haul. So, we continue to have those discussions on a daily basis.”

Brantley, entering his age-32 season, presumably fills the void left by the anticipated departure of Marwin Gonzalez. Following two seasons lost to injury (a combined 418 plate appearances from 2016-17), Brantley resumed his productive ways in 2018 with a .309/.364/.468 slash line and a 124 wRC+ that ranked 16th among outfielders and 41st among 140 qualified hitters. He should provide lineup balance for the Astros, who routinely feature four right-handed hitters atop their batting order: George Springer, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa. Brantley logged 519 plate appearances batting second for the Cleveland Indians last season.

In the four seasons prior to his injury-plagued, two-season drought, Brantley amassed 14.4 fWAR. He was a 3.5-win player last season and, even with some age-related attrition baked in, Brantley profiles as an effective outfield bat should he remain healthy. Brantley is a declining defensive player (minus-2 DRS over his last five full seasons) and lacks prodigious power (his .146 isolated power ranks 117th among all outfielders from 2012-18), but his elite contact skills (a 4% swinging strike rate) should complement the performances of the Astros’ best sluggers.

Brantley was ranked 10th among all free agents (third among outfielders behind Bryce Harper and A.J. Pollock) by MLB Trade Rumors and arrives with a sensible financial commitment. There is some concern that his signing will further delay the development of ballyhooed outfield prospect Kyle Tucker, but the Astros can ill afford to wait for Tucker to blossom. They’ve won 100-plus games in consecutive seasons and will again grapple with the reigning champion Boston Red Sox and contending New York Yankees for American League supremacy. The Astros have remaining holes to plug, primarily in their rotation, but Brantley represents a solid step toward reclaiming the AL pennant. Luhnow has a well-earned reputation for savvy decision-making, and Brantley appears to be the latest in a long line of smart moves by the front office.

Despite that track record, Luhnow has taken some heat for the aforementioned inactivity. And unless they trade for talented Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, the Astros appear poised to serve as spectators while other clubs participate in big-game hunting of celebrated free agents. If Luhnow hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt externally, he can rest assured knowing that those within the organization trust his vision and commitment to keeping the Astros relevant.

“We like the feeling of winning, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be here,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Jeff built this from the ground up and we’ve won four years in a row. We’ve won the division a couple seasons in a row, we won a World Series, got to the ALCS. That’s a lot of success. That’s a high standard and a high bar. You want players that want to be a part of that.

“Obviously, everybody loves winning but that takes a lot of effort behind the scenes from the front office to keep the bar pretty high to make these big moves in order to make yourself a little bit better and a little bit better. There’s such a small gap between winning a World Series and not, and we have an opportunity. I think our front office, our organization knows exactly where we’re at. Our players know what the expectation level is and then we sign players that make us better or trade for players that make us better.

“That cumulative effort you see on the field is why you see the sense of urgency in how we play and the effort level that our players give. We’ve got a really good thing going and in order to keep that going, we need moves like this when the opportunity presents itself. And our front office is bold.”