I actually disagree. The Yankees started winning when their largely home-grown core of Jeter/Williams/Pettite/Posada/Rivera started to mature... and they supplemented it with veterans (not high priced) such as Tino/O'Neil. THEN they went out and splurged on the big ticket items. Yes, they had the resources to keep all those players and continue to add, which extended their window... but its largely what the Astros are trying to replicate with their now mature core and supplementing it with some medium and high priced veterans. Ironically, when the Yankees stopped promoting/developing talent and just started signing or trading for the biggest FA year after year... they stopped winning titles regularly. They've re-committed to the farm, saved a lot of money over the last decade (Tanaka their last $100 million contract) and now are ready to spend again.
Mookie isn't that much better than Springer... its more of a lateral move that actually costs the Astros more money. Would rather take that extra money and apply it towards a Springer extension.
The Astros need to make that move to still be in win now mode? George Springer isn't good enough? The World Series MVP? Use the money for a Springer extension.
That area of the country is probably the MOST biased/homer area in sports. I somehow stumbled upon a radio show the other day that was out of the Boston area (or at least the host was definitely from there) while they were talking about the most recent Patriots video issue. If you are unaware, basically there is some "third party" media production company who is doing a documentary on some Patriot's scout and they are following him around as he goes on his scouting missions. Well, they got caught video taping the Bengals sideline for almost a whole quarter, more specifically, they were recording coaches and signals. These clowns said..."you know why I dont believe it, because if the Patriots were going to cheat, it wouldnt be to beat the freaking Bengals. They dont have to cheat to beat the Bengals." Wish I would have gotten his name, because I would love to see what he had to say about the video of the Astros "cheating" against the 2017 WHITE SOX! So anyways, this stupid hypothetical, is just that. Stupid and biased. Nobody in their right mind would do that trade. Springer was better than Mookie last yr. But of course everyone in Boston thinks Mookie is Trout level. Dumb.
Yeah, George Springer was having a MVP like season before his injury. I remember some people saying Mookie Betts should get a Mike Trout like contract, if not more..
I wonder if the Astros can/will extend Springer. If Rendon is worth 35 million a year and is only 6 months younger than Springer I think Springer could get 28-32 million a year in free agency. Not sure the Astros will come close to that.
How I hope the Astros spend the rest of the offseason. Sign Jason Castro Re-Sign Will Harris Sign Daniel Hudson Swap Reddick for prospects Springer extension 5 yrs 160 mil 1. Castro 2. Yuli 3. Altuve 4. Bregman 5. Correa 6. Tucker 7. Springer 8. Brantley 9. Alvarez 10. Stubbs or Garneau 11. Diaz 12. Straw 13. Toro 14. Verlander 15. Greinke 16. McCullers 17. & 18. Two of Urquidy, Abreu, James, Whitley, C. Perez, Martes, Peacock, etc 19. Osuna 20. Pressly 21. Hudson 22. Harris 23, 24, 25 & 26. Amongst Peacock, Abreu, James, Devo, Biagini, etc There’s going to be an abundance of starting pitching possibly available at the trade deadline: Boyd, Morton, L. CAstillo, the starters the Cubs/Red Sox/Indians can’t afford to keep
They absolutely have to add a starting pitcher of some kind prior to opening day. They will not enter the season with a rotation of: 2 aces in their late 30s, a guy coming back from TJ, and 2 rookies.
Still several good FAs available. We would have to do a *lot* of maneuvering to bring some of them in. Probably not worth it, but a few interesting ones caught my eye: Marcell Ozuna, Alex Gordon, Castellanos, Starlin Castro, Alex Wood, Rich Hill, Brandon Morrow to name a few.
I'd look at Mitch Moreland, lefty 1B bat who had a great 2019 during the time he was healthy. Can move Gurriel to third and plug him at 1st when Correa gets hurt/if he does end up getting dealt. 1yr/8M does it? For SP, I'd love to sign Alex Wood to an incentive-laden deal, if he can get healthy he's great. Had an injury in 2016, then followed it up with two excellent seasons. Finding a way to get prospects is critical. Gotta reload the farm, especially since we've likely got punishment looming (ugh).
Here are the remaining free agents I think would improve Houstons roster: Josh Donaldson (could then trade Correa for pitching) Marcell Ozuna (could then trade Brantley or Tucker for pitching) Jason Castro Martin Maldonado Robbie Chirinos Ryu Keuchel Bumgarner Martin Perez Homer Bailey Alex Wood Miley Gio Gonzalez Rich Hill Brett Anderson Ivan Nova Jhoulys Chacin Blake Treinen Will Harris Then there’s a big group of hitters (Puig, Dozier, Encarnacion, Castellanos, Frazier, Dickerson, Russell, Calhoun, Pillar, Smoak, Souza, Garcia, Kipnis, Flores, Iglesias, Duffy, Schoop, Franco, Gordon) who could be signed to allow Houston to trade another player for pitching, but it’s debatable if it would actually improve the team.
The amount of big money contracts being thrown around in trade discussions may really slow down the free agent market and lower what teams can offer. Kluber, Lindor, Price, Betts, Carrasco, The Chicago Cubs, Happ, etc
I don't think the Angels' goal is realistically to win the World Series this year, though. I imagine they still in the building phase.
Yeah, I don't know what the expectation was or why this would be a surprise to anyway. We all knew the Astros weren't going to keep all of their core - signing Verlander, Altuve, and Bregman, plus the trade for Greinke pretty much made this a foregone conclusion. If they figure out a way to extend Springer, it pretty much guarantees Correa will be gone at some point too. You just can't have 5-6 superstars in their prime at market value.
Imagine if instead of Pujols, Upton, and $40M left in the budget, the Angels had Cole and $54 million to spend. The former team looks cash strapped to me. The latter is probably a better team than the Yankees have right now.
Realistically, I just don’t see how Astros can throw out 200M for a player this offseason outside of Cole. Now that he’s signed, my only splash move this offseason would be to extend Springer. If we can’t, gonna be hard to resign him after the season IMO. Only other splash move would be trading Correa for younger #2 or #3 SP. If not, I rather ride with Correa and hope he stay healthy enough to play 130 games. No more freak accident Mrs. Correa. He can put up MVP number one f he can play 130 games. And even if we trade Correa, I doubt Astros will even sign Donaldson. Rangers already said Donaldson is out of their price range. Must not be cheap. I think JL will just plug in Toro and see what he can do.
The Astros should extend Springer, hold on to Correa for another year (unless you are blown away by an offer), and fill the rosters with a decent replacement for Chironos. Correa is MVP caliber when healthy. One healthy year and we get a real haul for him. With Correa we still have a devastating lineup. I think we should roll with Verlander and Greinke and continue to build our pitching internally.
