That last part, in my opinion, is crucial because despite all of the recent success Houston is not on the same level with the storied franchises in Boston or New York. If the league wants to keep pulling on the thread and finds that the Red Sox and/or the Yankees are also caught in this mess....are they really going to punish anyone, including their darlings in the East? Because if they do punish Houston and not other teams (if evidence is there) then we obviously have another issue at hand here.
New infield OAA added to savant today. Astros were third in infield OAA in 2019. Biggest surprise is that Tony Kemp was second on the team in infield OAA in 2019 and had the highest "success rate added" of any infielder on the team. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought the Astros hated playing Kemp at 2B? Maybe it's just a SSS blip and his overall body of work sucks at 2B. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/infi...am=HOU&range=year&min=10&pos=&roles=&viz=show
MLB once suspended George Steinbrenner "for life" after he paid a known gambler to ruin Dave Winfield's reputation. I would put aside any petty bias you have that MLB favors certain franchises... they obviously want a combination of what's best for the league (profitable) but also what will curtail future transgression/cheating.
i'm not a moron, it's not like i was expecting cole to stay but i was definitely hoping, just like every single one of you, that he wouldn't go to yanks. i was also preferring that rendon ended up anywhere else but our division, just like you. robi was well liked and f*ck the rangers so don't act like that was welcomed news either. and it's ok to admit that harris to the nats stings just a little bit more than say the orioles or rockies. we're allowed to be disappointed in how things are shaking out this offseason. doesn't make you an idiot.
did you literally just say that you think crane would can lunhow if he's suspended??? i get that you like to live in the world of constant roster upheaval and fantasy trades but that is one of the most ridiculous things i've ever heard. crane gladly accepted the title lunhow's methodology brought - you think he would stab him in the back simply for getting caught???? that's insane and in the end would look worse on crane than lunhow, imo.
No where in my response to your post did I imply or accuse you of being an idiot and/or moron so my bad if that's how you took it. To be fair, however, your post sounded as if the world is falling apart because we lost players and didn't make any significant additions during the winter meetings. If that's still true then yea your expectations for the start of the offseason was unrealistic. Cole going to a competitor this offseason was always on the radar if he didn't re-sign with us--either to the Yankees or a West Coast (Angels or Dodgers) team. As for Rendon and other free agents, I think it's reasonable to think that other teams within our division would want to acquire players to make their team better. Why would we expect teams to NOT want to get better? Teams had to pay/overpay to keep up with US; not the other way around. As for the Astros not making big splash moves during the Winter meetings, what big free agent did they sign in the winter of 2018 or 2017? This front office makes moves when the opportunity presents itself and isn't tied to some exclusive deadline. To end it from my side, yea I agree that anyone and everyone can be disappointed by the offseason but to be extremely disappointed like how your post came off is a bit much don't you think? This is still a 90+ win team next year with its current roster and we should all know this isn't the final roster with Luhnow being the GM.
probably just the brevity of your post... my apologies for taking it the wrong way. i'm definitely not worried about how we'll play next year unless this cheating thing casts a bigger shadow than any of us expect, i'd just like for us to have some positive news for once this offseason.
It's never easy losing the best pitcher in baseball and a couple of strong relievers but the team is still rock solid. Very few organizations can say that. As for the "cheating" scandal, whatever happens happens. They can't take away or suspend our players and it's not as if this was a PED that could rob our players of their abilities/skills. If/when Luhnow gets us a #2 or #3 starter everything will be fine.
I was hoping for Cole but put it at like a 5% chance to stay. Don't particularly care whether he's on the Yankees (better team, play against them less) or the Angels, and I assumed it would be one of them. I don't particularly care where Rendon ended up. He's a great player, but he's not turning the Angels into contenders on his own. He's also on a contract through age 36. And Harris to the Nats doesn't concern me at all...I'm super happy he got a contract, and I definitely don't care what team paid him. At the end of the day, he's a RP that I didn't want the Astros to pay through the nose for, as much as I like him. Add to all of that...all 3 of these guys have a reasonable chance of underperforming their contracts towards the last year or 2. (Not that I wouldn't have taken Cole or Rendon--but just saying there is that possibility of a negative outcome still that adds some risk to other teams.) Like you said, Chirinos is a nice guy / well-liked, so I'm happy he got to go wherever he wanted. That's the only one where I agree, him going to the Rangers did sting a bit. The Rangers are the Rangers, and he actually could've gone to a lot of places theoretically (unlike Cole). But that isn't worth me being upset about the offseason. Not trying to shoot down how you feel about it. Just saying that I'm not in the camp of 'every single one of you' and actually feel ok about a lot of this offseason given that this team is still in position to win a lot of games and win the division, the upside of Tucker and Whitley is still a bright light, and moves are still coming sometime between now and July.
Thoughts on a potential Springer extension: Springer has been the 15th most valuable position player in the league over the last 4 seasons. He’s 30. Looking for a comp, I think Paul Goldschmidt’s deal ($130M/5yrs) is a very good one. Similar ages and productivity. Springer is probably worth a little more due to defensive value as well as how the market has changed in the last year. So I would think Springer would ask for $170M/6yrs and they could agree somewhere around $150M/5yr with a vesting 6th year. Looking at their payroll moving forward, there’s no reason the Astros can’t afford it (even if the forthcoming cheating fine is historic) unless they are dead set on extending Correa. Extending Springer makes them surefire WS contenders in 2021 and makes it a lot more plausible that their offense will be solid thru 2024.
Goldschmidt was a perennial offensive stud who never missed time heading into his extension. George is still injury prone, and far less consistent (we're one year removed from a .780 OPS). I do think Goldy is a good comp, but I would certainly put his value equal to or south of his. 30 AAV for George is too much, 5/125 6/140 range is a much more reasonable number based on his track record IMO. Springers potential contract on the open market could sway massively depending on this season. With a good year he could get 150, with a year closer to 2018 he could struggle to get 100. If 150 is the number for them to settle, I doubt anything gets done before the season. I certainly hope it does though, because like everybody I love Springer.
Could be SSS, but Kemp has changed. 2B has changed. 2B positon being about 15-20 feet further back helps someone like Kemp who doesn't have the greatest reaction nor top end spend, but has great medium range quickness. Overall, I like how it matches what my eyes tell me. Correa has gotten a lot better. Bregman, while capable of making great plays, doesn't do it enough to be great (not counting the 2017 playoffs). Gurriel has improved, but still isn't one of the best 1B defensively. One missing ingredient is what value does the team get regarding positioning. My eyes tell me the Astros were positioned very well last season.
