That statement is more an indictment of our bullpen last year. He did have his best season but was gassed in game seven. will has never filled me with confidence. I might be biased but when money gets tight I don’t want to overpay a middle inning reliever.
I would rather have Joe Smith for 2 years at 4 million a year than Will Harris for 3 years at 8 million a year. Relievers are always available at the deadline.
One of Harris or Smith was going to be gone. The Astros made the right move with Smith for 2 years/ 8 million total.
Thank you, next. Won us a ring, but cost us possibly 2 others (but do we make it that far w/o him?) Hope we can avenge 2019 and homer off of him in a rematch. Sorry still not over it. At least 2015 was to one of the nicest fanbases in America (KC), beautiful middle America city and not East coast scum. Nats fans are mixed, but eh they're still East coast and the curly W always has been and always will be ugly as hell. Sorry, always felt that way, rooted for MIL in the WC game (plus I always root for Midwest over East Coast, that's how I am). One more off the board, we kept Smitty at a good deal, that's great. Any other high upside pen guys still available? More positive note, Alex Wood? CTH has this article. I'll do 1 yr/$4M base with incentives up to $10M, similar to the Twins deals. https://climbingtalshill.com/2019/12/28/astros-free-agent-pitcher-alex-wood-diamond-rough/
really happy for Harris. He deserves it, and has taken a long road to get to the top section of the middle relief pile--which so few actually achieve regardless (middle relief is mostly a lump of fluctuating inconsistency in the middle). Also glad the Astros didn't pay it.
He's been gassed in seasons before... but in game 7, he threw a perfect pitch that Kendrick just went out and got. Ryan Pressly, when healthy, is this team's best pound-for-pound reliever.
The injury to and diminished performance by Pressly is a huge "what if" that is attached to last year's run. Having a fourth trusted arm would have been huge and maybe preserved Harris enough to have secured a second ring.
Why? He sucks I mean I dont care how good a framer, defensive catcher he is if you cant hit more than you weigh it doesn't matter. (BTW, I dont think Castro is some kind of defensive wizard which he would have to be to cover up for his terrible bat.) I know he had a better year with the bat last year, but that was fools gold. Or do you just have a former Astros thingy?
Our issue in the world series was hitting. Some of our clutch hitters just choked. It was as simple as that.
After winning 3 straight in DC, didn't some Astros fan who traveled out there take out an ad in the DC paper thanking the Nats fans for being very classy? I think you're confusing Nats fans with Philly fans and Yankees fans.
I'm a big fan of Will Harris, and I am happy that he got a really nice pay day, but I am also glad that the Astros did not sign him to that deal.
More timely hitting would have been optimal, but not having to trot out an admittedly tired Harris on Games 6 and 7 could also have been helpful, right?
He’s a good player. He’s a career 93 wRC+ hitter, so while he’s a slightly below average hitter on the whole, he’s well above average for a catcher. He posted 5 straight seasons of 2+ fWAR, including 2013 where he was an all-star. Not to mention he has almost always played on crummy teams, and I believe that average hitters on crummy teams have a good chance to be better than average hitters on good teams.
