I don't see any hope for next year. We have no real prospects coming up. We don't even have wandy or meyers, and we play in the AL west with three pretty good teams. This team is going to lose like 120 games next year.
And yet somehow Ludnow is stating publicly that he values a manager who has a sense of urgency, when his own actions lack urgency. I get it. Luhnow is playing the long game. In three or four years, the Astros should be a 500+ team with playoff ambitions. Porter may very well be the perfect manager for that team.
That is entirely possible. The AL is a home run hitters league and the ALastros will have none of those on their roster for the forseeable future. I think folks are being naive to believe that just because they are FINALLY rebuilding the minor league organization that merely by doing so, this team will be competitive in 2-5 years. Over the past couple of decades, I watched the Texas Rangers go though this process 4 times before getting it right. I'm convinced that it's going to be a long, slow, tough slough and the forced AL move may have doomed them for years to come.
You can stumble into 55. But I agree, prob not much more than that Although there's an outside chance of an impact younger player in the same way that Lowrie came this year. Plus Altuve will be a year older--remember how young he is
And one terrible team. FWIW, the NL central has 3 good teams, one mediocre team, and 2 terrible teams. We do have Jarred Cosart almost certain to debut next year. Despite struggles at times from Paul Clemens & Brett Oberholtzer, don't sleep on them being an improvement from this years rotation when they make it (though Clemens may ultimately be in relief). Singleton, Villar, Grossman, Stoffel, Chapman, Cisnero & Jose Martinez are guys we could see next year. 2 of baseball's top 100 prospects, and one just outside (Villar) have very good chances of making the roster by season's end.
Luhnow took over in December of 2011, not mid-season. Ed Wade, for gosh sakes, can build an average bullpen from the waiver wire.
How many blown saves did we have in 2011? 25 How many saves? 25 Wade's bullpen was garbage. Wilton Lopez & Brandon Lyon were it.
Bo Porter discusses being named new Astros manager Spoiler <iframe src='http://mlb.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25128797&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> Astros name Bo Porter their new manager Spoiler <iframe src='http://mlb.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=25128539&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>
Uh, and? That's the reddest herring I've seen in a while. They also traded 2 of their 3/4 best pitchers (Myers & Lyon) and had another they were counting on (Carpenter) perform well below expectations. Just curious, who were the waiver pickups he could have signed during the offseason or in-season who went on to have productive years?
Not sure if this is the right thread for this or not, but the Indians fired Manny Acta today. IIRC, Acta was the "winner" of the last Astros managerial search, but they couldn't come to terms on a contract, so Brad Mills was named manager. Weirdly ironic how neither made it Year 4.
Yet you ended your sentence with "years". We can agree that Luhnow did not much try to build a better bullpen this year.
Here we go again. So because one franchise didn't get it right on several attempted rebuilds, it automatically means a completely different franchise with entirely separate executives will have the same problem? The Astros have several power-hitting prospects in the organization. Jonathan Singleton, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Domingo Santana... just to name a few. We'll see what happens as they develop through the system and progress to MLB-level over the next 2-5 years. It may work out, it may not, but right now, you have absolutely zero basis for your "naive" and "doomed" proclamations other than your typical anti-Houston doomsday paranoia for every franchise in the city. Now, with that out of the way, I'll get back to focusing on that disastrous Wade Phillips "Mr. Fix It" hire and the Texans.
Don't make me diagram that sucka! It was ambiguous...."waiver pickups...who went on to have good years"
It takes a long time to rebuild the organization if you hire the wrong guy. If Lunhow is the right guy and Crane isn't going to be a stingy owner there is no reason the Astros can't be competitive in 2-3 years.
I'd much rather spend Brandon Lyon's money on player development and saving for the future, as opposed to building an average bullpen on a hopeless team. As for the apparent contradiction in Luhnow's philosophy, I wouldn't put much stock in please-the-casual-fan quotes at a new manager presser.
Completely agree. Except for the fact that the Astros are located in the city of Houston, which means everything that possibly can go wrong will go wrong and they are doomed for the rest of our lives. [/HillBoy]
