At the end of the day all of the talk of Houston being a baseball town now does't change the hard facts. Money talks and Houston just isn't a big market when it comes to the dollars NY and LA teams can command. You have to work in the margins like the A's and strike when you have your shot like the Astros did with Grienke who now looks like a steal for his price. That's just he way it works and trying convince yourself that one ring makes you able to outspend the Yankees is lunacy.
Astros outspent the Yankees last year, and they still have the 3rd highest payroll in baseball going into next season. They are just choosing to spend their money in other areas and don't want to commit to a player for that long of a contract.
Yankees trying to land Josh Hader now.. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/12/josh-hader-trade-rumors-yankees-dodgers-mets.html
You wanted Rick Porcello for 10 million? Tanner Roark for 12 million a season? Michael Wacha for 9? Zach Wheeler for nearly 24 million a season? Not me. If I’m the Astros, I’d offer Ryu and Bumgarner something like 3-year, 90 million dollar deals, or focus on a short-term reunion with Dallas Keuchel. Alex Wood on a prove-it deal would also be a high-upside play. Then, there’s still the option of bringing Miley back, if Strom doesn’t believe he’s permanently broken.
The Astros may not have the budget the Yankees and Dodgers do, but they are a big-market team, too. Crane spent more than $200 million on payroll last season and will do so again this season. They aren’t in the same stratosphere as the penny-pinching A’s.
Also, right now, the Astros biggest need is at catcher. They have internal options for the rotation (James, McCullers, Urquidy and Peacock), but no internal options to fill Chirinos and Maldonado’s shoes.
They spent because their window is open. I don't expect that to be the case once CC, Springer, Verlander and Grienke are gone. They'll go back to the farm and try to build from within again.
If Rendon was going to play in the division I'm glad it is LAA and not Arlington, because eff the Rangers. LAA squanders talent like no other so until they prove me otherwise, I am not afraid of the Angels in the least. I for one, am happy that we are talking about baseball, offseason baseball, rosters and real stuff that is fun to talk about during the offseason. I am so fatigued over the sign stealing bs. I am still taking the WS loss hard (not in the second guessing Game 7 pitching moves kind of way), I feel like we just got beat, we lost. I have never been so ready for an offseason to be over and get back to playing games, to shake off the WS loss and move past the allegations. I want to see us back on the field and dominating, knocking the ish out of the ball and sticking it to the haters.
First, the team is willing and focused on getting an extension done with Springer by the end of the season. Second, if you think the Astros will consistently have payrolls like the A’s or Rays, you are wrong. Houston is the eighth-largest TV market in the country and the fourth-largest city by population. Even penny-pinching Drayton McLane kept his payroll in the 80-90 million range most seasons. Jim Crane actually knows baseball (he urged Lunhow to get the Greinke deal done) and wants to win every year. Houston will never have the Dodgers or Yankees’ budget, but they can field payrolls on par with both the Cubs and Cardinals every season. The only way they choose to have a payroll like the A’s is if they feel that’s the only way to get the farm system and organization healthy for the long haul again. With Lunhow in charge, a complete tear down shouldn’t be necessary.
That's what good, smart teams do. They balance their farm, supplement talent with lesser known free agents, bigger free agents when the price is right, and through trades when the price is right. This not new. Luhnow is the cream that has risen to the top and looks to remain there for the foreseeable future.
but i thought they only liked good character guys ? i thought only the astros took on questionable character?
Feel free. I stand by every word. The A’s are always at or near the bottom the payroll ledger across MLB every season. Other than the necessary teardown when Drayton McLane left the Astros in shambles at the end of his ownership, the Astros have never had payrolls consistently near the bottom of MLB. The A’s would never have signed any of the Altuve, Bregman or Verlander extensions, even if they were a dominant team at the time. They wouldn’t have signed Michael Brantley or Josh Reddick to their deals as free agents nor traded for Zack Greinke and his expensive contract. I have been following the Astros for more than 20 years, and they have always operated with a mid-market payroll or better. McLane operated the team with a mid-market payroll pretty much his entire tenure. Crane has been willing to elevate the Astros’ payroll into the big-market stratosphere, as it should be. Houston isn’t a small market by population, fan interest or TV revenue. Finally, George Springer is actually open to signing a contract extension with the team, unlike Gerrit Cole. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ho...s-George-Springer-next-up-for-an-13851182.php
Gardner returning to yanks for 1year/12M. That and looking to trade for Hader, they’re going all-in to win a WS next yr. Their total payroll has be be over 250M or close to that for 2020 right?
i word it wrong, livid with the situation. They now let Cole go to the yankees. they took the best we still going to beat them...
I guess not winning the AL pennant in an entire decade for the first time in a century and having us knock them out for nearly a third of that decade done pissed em off. F em.
The Yankees championships in the 1990's and 2000's have something in common. They had the highest payroll in baseball each of those years. Zero championships when they didn't go all in to win...err buy...a championship. They are trying to get back to that championship buying formula.
