http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , but this confirmation was posted. No details as of yet in regards to the contract value - although it was announced to be a 1-year deal. ..."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Houston Astros NewsGame ThreadsHouston Astros Minor LeaguesAstros Game DayPodcastsAstros sign Robinson ChirinosNew,158commentsByBrian Cohn (HH)Dec4, 2018,4:22pm CSTShareTweetShareShareAstros sign Robinson ChirinosUPDATE: No deal has been formally announced by the Astros, but this confirmation was posted. No details as of yet in regards to the contract value - although it was announced to be a 1-year deal. As per MLBTradeRumors, The Astros are close to signing ex-Ranger’s catcher, Robinson Chirinos. Who obviously does not have the flash of a Realmuto, Grandal, or even Ramos. Let’s take a look at who he is. Who is Robinson Chirinos?Chirinos, now 34, comes in at 6’1 210lbs, who signed as a International Free Agent hailing from Venezuela. A Non-prospect throughout the minors, here was a snippet from Beyond the Box Score when he emerged onto the scene:“Chirinos possesses an incredible throwing arm that he’s been using to mow down opposing would-be base-stealers. Even though his offense will never win any awards with a .290 wOBA, his defense more than makes up for it, accumulating a total 1.2 fWAR in 66 games (20th among catchers with more than 100 plate appearances).Fifty-five batters have attempted to steal while Chirinos is watching and 23 of them have been caught in the dust, making for a 41.8% caught-stealing percentage, 5th among all qualified catchers this year. Among other awards, Chirinos is tied for first with four stolen base runs saved (rated between great and excellent according to FanGraphs) and tied for fifth among all catchers with five defensive runs saved.” And a Note from John Sickels highlight on him: “Chirinos is playing well defensively: he’s thrown out 43% of runners while making just two errors and giving up five passed balls in 69 games. He’s got 1.77 pop times to second base and his ability to shut down the running game without making many mistakes is a great asset despite non-elite performance in other aspects of catching such as pitch-framing.”MLB PerformanceInteresting, Chirinos’ profile seems staggeringly different from what was noted in 2014. Here is the exert from the MLBTradeRumors article: “That said, Chirinos doesn’t come with a strong defensive reputation. He’s thrown out 25 percent of opposing base thieves in his career but saw that mark fall to just 10 percent last season, and while he grades out well in terms of blocking pitches in the dirt, Baseball Prospectus has routinely graded him as a below-average framer — never more so than in 2018.”From 2015-2018, Chirinos had the following stat line courtesy of Baseball Reference:Baseball-ReferenceWhile I’m sure the .233 batting average has to make most people cringe Jason Motte Jersey , Chirinos actually has been able to maintain a solid .337 OBP and .457 SLG over that time period. His hitting has quietly been above average, with a range between 103 – 124 wRC+ since 2015. What’s more surprising than that, is if you look at the wRC+ from 2015 to 2018, Chirinos actually comes in at 109, ranking 6th among all qualified catchers, one place ahead of 鈥?JT Realmuto.Again, this is DEFINITELY not an argument that Chirinos is a better hitter then Realmuto, and at 34, you have to think that they’re on the opposite ends of their careers, even if you do believe that the lesser innings behind the plate help prolong Chirinos’ legs going forward.One item of note, with his high strike-out, high walk approach, Chirinos does manage to see a large number of pitches, and is not a big GIDP threat.Steamer has him projected at .202/.303/.387 for a 89 wRC+.Pitch FramingOddly, Chirinos did not appear on Baseball-Prospectus’ pitch framing stats that I could find, but StatCorner had him ranked 8th worst (but 2 spots ahead of Realmuto) in 2018.SpeedAt 25.3 fps, Chirinos is below average for a major leaguer, but still a significant upgrade over both the extremely sluggish McCann (22.7 fps) and Maldonado (24.1 fps). This seems to match well with his slightly positive wGIDP (0.1) and Spd Rating (3.4)Summary We don’t know any of the contract terms as of yet, but considering his $4.5 Million dollar option was declined, I’d have to wager that this deal is not going to break the bank. It still seems intriguing to me the polar opposite evaluations over the past few years.Personally, I’m not overwhelmed one way or the other about this deal, I would have to think the Astros will still pursue one of the higher end FA or trade targets, with this providing them a safety net for an MLB quality catcher. It does make me wonder where Stassi stands http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , but this deal could have been driven based on value for the money. One of the best aspects seems to be his relationship with Altuve and what that means for team chemistry.We wanted to get information out quickly with the update that the Astros are close to closing the deal, but will continue to update the story as we get more information on both Chirinos and on what the signing looks like if it occurs. Tzu-Wei Lin is a depth piece this year, but he’s playing for 2020."On the other hand, the big question with Lin has always been his bat. Most of his time in the minors was spent as a weak-hitting middle infielder, but the aforementioned 2017 breakout included unprecedented power and quality of contact. Now, the .189 Isolated Power (SLG - AVG) probably overplays his potential there, but there were real changes that led to more consistently hard contact. His swing and hitting style isn’t really built for power, but the adjustments should help to lead to consistently higher-than-average batting averages on balls in play. Lin will also draw a bunch of walks. On the other hand, his power will probably max out around .150 in his best years, and even that is probably generous, and he strikes out a bit more than you’d expect from someone with his profile. Overall, I’d expect his true-talent level to settle in with a wRC+ in the 85-90 range. That’s fine, but obviously not anything special.If Lin can prove me right and make teams believe that’s his true-talent level with his performance in 2019, someone will believe in him for a bench role in 2020. It’s not the highest bar to clear, of course, but his versatility and acceptable level at the plate is nothing to sneeze at. The question then becomes what team it will be with, and that becomes trickier. The Red Sox could have some room, but it depends on how they value other things. Both N煤帽ez and Holt are set to hit free agency after the season. At this point, I’d assume N煤帽ez is all but gone for the 2020 season. Things can change drastically in a year, but that’s where we are at this point in time. Holt, on the other hand, is a bigger question. Strictly from a baseball sense, letting Holt walk for Lin would be the logical choice. Holt is better Brett Cecil Jersey , to be sure, but he’s older, has a history with head injuries and will be significantly more expensive. The margin in talent isn’t that great. However, Holt is also perhaps the clubhouse favorite as well as a huge fan favorite. It’s tough to put a price on those things, particularly for the outside, but those are legitimate factors that need to be considered.Adam Hunger-USA TODAY SportsStill, even if Holt does stick around, absence would open up a roster spot for Lin, right? Technically, yes, but it doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense to keep both Holt and Lin at the same time. They are very similar players. On top of that, there are other players who could be looking for a job. Michael Chavis and possibly even Bobby Dalbec should and could be pushing for a jump to the majors. The first basemen being free agents helps there, but it’s still another name in the mix. Then, there’s the Marco question, not to mention someone like C.J. Chatham possibly making his way up by next year. The point is 2020 is a long way away right now and there’s a chance there’s room for Lin, but there are a lot of scenarios where it doesn’t make sense to keep him with the Red Sox.With all of that being said, whether it’s with Boston or not Lin has a chance to get himself up in the majors for good if he can have another successful year in 2019. Most of these questions have to do with a player’s effect on the team, but for Lin his season is more important for himself than it is for the Red Sox. As long as he can maintain the strides he’s made with the bat over the last few years, Lin will get a chance somewhere after this. Someone will want his versatility, but continuing to make the consistent contact he’s made the last two years could be easier said than done. It’s also what stands between riding the busses for another year and getting a shot at consistent major-league time.