Ehhh. FWIW I was told by someone that would know, that it hasn't prevented free agents from being interested. So far the lack of activity has been tied into the high market prices and the Astros inability to move Reddick. Most players will not be around by the time the punishment really hurts the Astros. Most likely the penalties will be draft pick related, possible suspensions and fines....... by the time those draft picks will have an effect on the field, the players the Astros targeted would be out of contract or near the end. What IS interesting is that Luhnow has shifted a lot of resources and attention to international scouting and development. That makes me wonder.
I'm thinking if I had equal offers from the Astros and another team I'd want to know for sure what punishments are given out (and what findings are made about the group I'm potentially going to be identified with going forward) before I sign.
I think the possibility to play for one of the two most talented teams in baseball trump concerns over punishments levied. Most of the players the Astros have been looking at would be on short term deals anyway.
Why were the Pirates compelled to trade him? Two years of control for a team with a lot of young talent is not something incapable of triggering a run. Of course they apparently had no clue that this sort of pitcher was within him... and it’s not surprising that the entire front office and coaching staff no longer has a job in part due to how all of this has turned out.
a realist would acknowledge that they were definitely right there in terms of meeting that projection.
They traded him for financial reasons and to fortify their upper minor leagues. They knew they were going to lose him, and wanted to keep their window open by adding guys close to contributing. I think the Pirates knew he would be a good starter for the Astros, they just didn't know he would turn into Randy Johnson. Yes, that Pirates front office made some very bad trades..... the Cole deal was horrific, but the Chris Archer deal was very bad as well. The Pirates had a thin margin for error and unfortunately two bad trades ruined what they could have had.
Luhnow has been in charge of the Astros for 8 years. In that time, I don't believe he's signed an international position player who has made the majors or a top 100 list (excluding Yuli for obvious reasons). Nova, Valdez, Celestino, and maybe Duarte are probably the best bets among the one he has signed to make the majors at all, and each of them has an uphill climb to be an impact player. There's obviously some factors that worked against the Astros towards this end, but it seems like they may want to do something to improve in that area regardless of any coming punishments. They've been pretty fantastic at finding guys for pocket change who end up throwing upper 90s, though.
The Astros had a 25% chance of winning the World Series when the playoffs opened. More often than not the expected champion loses. It is why I smile when I hear people say that the Yankees are guaranteed champions next year. This isn't the NBA or even the NFL. Baseball has a high variance because of chance being such a large factor.
I agree with you. I posted about the organzation making major organizational changes and they came in the international market/scouting. I think a change is wise as well. We have taken the tact of spreading our money out over a blanket of prospects and not targeting the higher tier prospects like the Cubs and Yankees and A's and Blue Jays have. I will be curious to see if we start targeting particular higher end prospects that are a bit more polished.
How is that Lifetime? I was thinking about joining...200/mo is pretty pricey, and I’m a good 15 minutes away
Its pretty awesome. We get a steep discount where I work, so its comparable to other signature gyms in pricing. I would not pay $200 for a gym.
