But at the same time, you're preaching patience for the likes of Valbuena and Marisnick continuing to get unwarranted AB's. Much like they've shown with Tucker (and eventually will show with White, if he hits another down spell), if a player doesn't have what it takes... and there's a viable alternative... they'll send that player back down. Right now, they've been ultra-patient with the MLB team... with several players getting playing time without much to show for it.
I'm solidly on record as not wanting to see any more of Valbuena at all, and nothing more than platoon with Marisnik, so try again there Rather see Moran at everyday at 3B for a while, see what he can do with a full month of at bats, same with Kemp in LF. While you see what you have with those guys, you give Bregman another month in the minors and super 2 passes Where you get that I want more Valbuena and Jake I have no idea
So you agree that Jake should not be penciled in to a major league lineup And that 103-104 has nothing to do with Hinch, it's about roster construction? Interesting
This team has another 4 game series against the Rangers in Arlington starting June 4th? Get your anti-depressant drugs or alcohol of choice ready! Why are we being punished like this? If they don't win one of those games, then I may throw in the towel. There is only so much a fan can take.
At some point, the front office has to acknowledge Keuchel's s*** season so far...right? I agree that he needs a DL stint, a la what the A's just did with Sonny Gray (calling it a trapezius muscle strain).
The model Crane has forced upon Luhnow is absurd. Develop the minor league system, win now, win later, don't sign free agents unless it is the bargain bin and use the farm system to fill the holes via trade, but make sure those holes are filled long term. If Crane cannot afford the Houston Astros, then he needs to sell them to someone that can afford them.
While you continue to chastise them for being "cheap" (which they are... can't refute that), you (and the chronicle) continue to not offer plausible more expensive options that they *should* have attempted to sign in order to maximize chances now, along with ignoring the issues the current team has regardless of what they are or aren't spending (I still can't believe neither the media or the front office has expanded on the Keuchel situation). They have a core nucleus that is cheap...but going into the season, was expected to be very good. Keuchel, Altuve, Springer, Correa.... that's a young 4-some that every single MLB team would kill to have, let alone kill to have it at the rate all of those players command. When one of those 4 falters, as Keuchel has, it magnifies the rest of the problems. But getting any team in a position where their best players are under club control (and cheap) for a long time is a position that mostly any franchise would trade places for in a second... even the biggest spenders. As recently as 2 months ago, this was looked at as the perfect model for how to rebuild a team... provided your fan base allows for it.
Chris Davis would have been a perfect fit, and there was a period where he was likely signable when he got pissed off at the O's. He's basically the good version of Chris Carter, and when he was on was when our offense was most deadly. Still a lot of K's, but a lot of walks and scares-the-hell-out-of-the-other-team type power right in the middle of the lineup. And not an unreasonable contract at all, relative to other free agents.
Agreed, he would have been a decent fit compared to what they had... but can you really fault them for attempting to get a little more balance in the lineup with a guy who doesn't strike out and can get on base? (something they were expecting... still are expecting... from White?). And prior to the season Reed was expected to ascend to that role imminently. To me, the biggest place they needed to spend real $$$ on was starting pitching... but acquiring that via trade (as they attempted to with Hamels), when a pitcher is either in their prime or at a locked in rate, is a far more effective way of avoiding the past-prime/high expense/regressive years. Catcher would be another potential position to throw money at, as there are no potential upcoming prospects worthy of giving a shot... but again, no real options on the free agent market to speak of (nor are there usually an abundance of options there). Also, in the end, while Davis was apparently pissed off at them... he still re-signed with them... so you never know what the player's true intentions are, and whether or not the Astros would have ever had a decent shot to begin with (perhaps they did kick the tires... but realized it wasn't going anywhere or they knew they'd merely be leverage).
Luhnow has tried to put together a major league lineup. There haven't been obvious free agent solutions that have come anywhere close to living up to their contracts. I wouldn't have jettisoned Lowrie but he could never stay healthy anyway. It's just horrible luck that every trade for a hitter has backfired on Luhnow combined with regression from young hitters expected to take the next step. If either the trades were paying off or the young guys outside of Altuve were hitting, there wouldn't be an issue with the offense.
Brian T. Smith can ride his high horse all he wants, but the issue is simple: If every player on your team except for Altuve and Will Harris is essentially having their worst season-to-date as a pro, then you aren't going to win. You cannot go into an offseason assuming that every single player on your roster will under-perform. You're not going to win with Keuchel throwing BP. You're not going to win with Correa hitting .250. You're not going to win with Gregerson and Giles taking turns ripping our hearts out. And there's a pretty inconvenient truth for Crane-bashers if you look at the high dollar free agents from last year: Most of them are doing terrible. Educated baseball minds looked at our roster in March, even after the impossible situation that I'm reading that Crane apparently put us in, and picked us as World Series favorites. That wasn't homerism, that was people looking at our roster and liking what they saw. Sometimes the only answer is the easiest: we suck. The players are not performing like they historically should.
I would also like to take the time to note that Brian T. Smith is the worst thing that ever happened to the Houston Chronicle sports section. If Stephen A. Smith's hyperbolic nature had a baby with Evan Drellich's Negative Nancy attitude, that baby would crap out Brian T. Smith.
Glad I missed the sweep. I was up in the enemy territory all weekend for a bachelor's party, and surrounded by Rangers fans..... Luckily, there was a lot more going on....
Ok, lets see. Instead of mortgaging the future for a reliever, go for Zimmerman on a trade, or go hard for Greinke. With the issues on Chapman, trade for him cheap. White Sox went hard for Frazier at 3b.
Zimmermann wasn't available in trade he was a free agent If VV and Appel is mortgaging our future, then a lot of people are wrong about our young talent Carry on
