Could Gutierrez be at risk of DFA on May 2? (Edit: DFA'd on 1 May)

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

Why was Ruiz given a lifetime to hit and KG couldn’t even get regular at bats this year? 

[NCRaven]

2 minutes ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

Why was Ruiz given a lifetime to hit and KG couldn’t even get regular at bats this year? 

Because they learned a lesson with Ruiz and didn't want to repeat it with Guttierez?  More likely, they just don't think that Guttierez could be part of the future.  Will Nevin?  Probably not, but why not take a look and see.

[SteveA]

12 minutes ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

Why was Ruiz given a lifetime to hit and KG couldn’t even get regular at bats this year? 

Ruiz had a little of that Astro blood flowing through his veins.   Counts for a lot with this management team.

Also, I think anyone with even a tiny chance of developing into a LH power hitter should get a longer look from this organization because with our ballpark configuration we really need some of those in our lineup.

[Spy Fox]

Also, though Nunez and Alberto were ok, Ruiz had less competition in terms of long term answers in the IF. Gutierrez has Mateo/Urias ahead of him in the young infielder category and has Westburg/Henderson/Mayo knocking on the door in 1-2 years. That’ll make you less patient with a long shot type guy. 

[Just Regular]

43 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Ruiz had a little of that Astro blood flowing through his veins.   Counts for a lot with this management team.

Also, I think anyone with even a tiny chance of developing into a LH power hitter should get a longer look from this organization because with our ballpark configuration we really need some of those in our lineup.

Let's hope a Very Lot if his draft classmate and tonight's visiting shortstop gets back out on the Market.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?team_ID=HOU&year_ID=2012&draft_type=junreg&query_type=franch_year

I haven't done the exercise on Rio Ruiz since Elias has taught me to calibrate every draft pick by bonus amount, so here we go.

Rio Ruiz in the 4th round got a far overslot 1.85M (about 40% of Correa's 4.8M).   He was Overall Pick 129, but at a glance the bonuses > $1.85M in 2012 included:

-21 first-rounders (out of 60...lordy were there are a lot of Supplemental picks that year)

-ZERO second-rounders or third-rounders

So the 2012 Astros paid him like a mid/late 1st rounder.   Rio Ruiz basically was "Super Coby Mayo", to Correa's Kjerstad.

 

[bobmc]

25 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

Also, though Nunez and Alberto were ok, Ruiz had less competition in terms of long term answers in the IF. Gutierrez has Mateo/Urias ahead of him in the young infielder category and has Westburg/Henderson/Mayo knocking on the door in 1-2 years. That’ll make you less patient with a long shot type guy. 

Good points and it's not like he's gone.  Plus, he has had plenty of chances thus far.

[Jammer7]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Remember all those offseason threads/posts about how he should get a chance and may have turned a corner?  Yea no.

We need to stop sending out guys that are traditionally and historically bad players and just hope that they find some ceiling they may have had 7 years ago.

But hey, Elias did everything he could to try to win this year!

Well, as one of the authors of the “may have turned the corner post” you spoke of, he did. He turned the corner and accelerated out of town. lol

In my own defense, and purely based on what we saw, I would speculate that they brought him in with a swing change in mind. He tried it, brought his hand load down and gained some loft, and actually was making more frequent contact than before. His peripherals included a higher fly ball rate and he looked like it took. They played him nearly all of the last two months of games. The defense was excellent, and the athleticism as well. We were told he had a great winter league as well. 

Now, when he showed up at Spring Training, the load was back up above his shoulders. And, predictably, he went back to hitting a ton of ground balls and had a lot of swing and miss. I would speculate, based on that, Gutierrez did not take the advice given him and went back to his old mechanics. It’s pure speculation on my part, but seems to fit. Good luck, Kelvin.

[maybenxtyr]

1 hour ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

Why was Ruiz given a lifetime to hit and KG couldn’t even get regular at bats this year? 

Obviously it didn't make a difference but Ruiz did have some power. That usually buys a player some time as well.

[interloper]

1 hour ago, NelsonCruuuuuz said:

Why was Ruiz given a lifetime to hit and KG couldn’t even get regular at bats this year? 

Oddly both scenarios revolve around accommodating a bad veteran on the team. Last year Franco moved Ruiz off 3rd, this year Odor moved Urias off 2nd and therefore Guti to the bench.

[MCO'sFan]

He was just a placeholder... Now we have a new placeholder. 

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

2 hours ago, NCRaven said:

Because they learned a lesson with Ruiz and didn't want to repeat it with Guttierez?  More likely, they just don't think that Guttierez could be part of the future.  Will Nevin?  Probably not, but why not take a look and see.

I have been calling for them to recall Nevin for a while now so happy with that but don’t think KG was given a fair shake given his hot spring. And keeping Owings over him is absurd. Martin better than Owings.

[spiritof66]

2 hours ago, maybenxtyr said:

Obviously it didn't make a difference but Ruiz did have some power. That usually buys a player some time as well.

At the time, I thought it was the occasional power that lengthened Rio's leash. It was pretty impressive, but just too occasional. 

[NelsonCruuuuuz]

4 hours ago, maybenxtyr said:

Obviously it didn't make a difference but Ruiz did have some power. That usually buys a player some time as well.

Definitely good point. Plus ties to Astro’s org & Elias personally. 

[Tony-OH]

Gutierrez passed through waivers and was outrighted to Norfolk.

[Frobby]

Gutierrez is back in the Norfolk lineup tonight, after being on the IL since June 1.   Prior to his injury he was hitting very well in Norfolk, .324/.398/.515.