Definitely agree with this. This has been the frustrating part for me. Dana talks a good game about resigning our guys, etc... but we all know Jim Crane runs the show. I am concerned 2024 could be our last major run, if we let Bregman walk. To me, Altuve/Bregman/Tucker/Yordan is the core 4. You keep it, you continue winning. You let it go, we take a step back. @Nook I really appreciate your insight. It's the #1 reason why i comeback to the Astros threads. What does your gut tell you about the Bregman/Tucker contract situations? Is Crane really going to let Alex walk next year? The price of these extensions are going to seem like bargains in 5 years, as spending continues to climb around the league.
My understanding is: Players want security. Security comes from as long a commitment as they can secure. Owners want financial flexibility and commitments as short as they can manage. Crane has taken this to an extreme with an actual line in the sand he has stated he won't cross. The problem is that other owners have no such line and players don't want it. Bregman is going to be the first test subject to see if Crane will adjust at all because he is still young enough and productive enough to justify a longer contract and there is no reasonable replacement in the system. If Crane makes a longer offer, even if it's just 7 or 8 years rather than 10, then it's a sign that he may make an actual attempt to keep them. Otherwise Dana will have his hands full making sure there are always replacement for the stars when they hit that 7-8 year mark
Pitching is probably the biggest concern I have. It also wouldn't surprise me if Houston ends up signing someone in the FA market that's most likely lost in the shuffle. I wouldn't mind if they took a flyer on Frankie Montas if he is healthy.
The Astros have no money. If they did, they should be working on extensions for any of their current prime players that are due to become free agents within the next 2 years.
This... and I think fans need to relax on Dana in general. Dana is going make changes, and I hope it's for the better. It's way too early to tell whether or not his moves are working. I do like the fact that they are building up their scouting department and etc.
Understand the sentiment But I don’t know how any Astros fan thinks we have a legitimate chance to sign this guy If anything Crane is looking to cut salary to get back under that mean ole tax line To think we are simply going to add just isn’t realistic
There was never any chance George was signing here after the service time stuff We had a solid replacement waiting for Carlos spot, and the long history of his injuries I agree with the OP of this, Bregman and Tucker are different. No injury history, young enough to be good at the end of a deal, and certainly no replacement waiting on their spot
The money that would be spent to keep Bregman and Tucker could just as easily be spent on a free agent to replace them. It's not like Tucker is taking below market value - so whatever his cost, you should be able to get another player of equal quality for the same price. Maybe Bregman would take a discount, but we don't really know at this point. The players that are hard to win without are the players that perform well above their price tags. Outside of that, obviously we like players who are already Astros from a fan standpoint, but if you're paying market value, people are completely replaceable.
There is no quicker way to lose the support of the fanbase than to be dishonest with them. Luhnow was less than forthcoming at times but he was never dishonest. Even Click who sometimes mistakenly mislead us never did so intentionally. Brown needs to learn quickly that lies (not being entirely truthful) are never OK. . . . . and nothing will shorten a GM's tenure more surely.
I would argue losing would be much faster. If he lies but wins, no one will care. If he's honest but loses, he will lose support.
Except that there is no point in spending on a free agent to replace them. Any free agent good enough to replace them would cost at least as much and probably more than keeping them would cost. Since there is no way financially to keep them all or to pay even more to replace them with free agents they must be replaced with cost controlled youngsters developed in house just for this purpose. The money coming in to teams will be reduced with the reduction in the broadcasting rights fees. Longer and more expensive player contracts are simply not going to happen under these circumstances. Some teams have had to borrow money to meet their obligations and more are on the way.
It’s just the Padres that had to borrow money after they “went for it”. As long as the mid market teams field competitive payrolls, the sports’ financial situation will still be fine. The Astros have several core players locked in that they can build a successful team around, Yordan being the most important. They’re not going to overpay for free agents but they’re also not going to just rely on a so-so farm system to fill the roster. There will always be a huge grey area of undervalued or underperforming players that smart GM’s and smart coaching staffs identify and optimize. The Astros golden era has featured many of these types of acquisitions, starting with JV (nobody thought he had this many more prime years when he was traded from Detroit). There was also Yuli, Morton, Cole, Brantley… all of them exceeded their original signing or acquisition value. They’ll likely still retain Altuve, hopefully continue to keep most of the young core pitching together (Framber/Javier/Garcia), have the lights out bullpen around Abreu…. And when the run officially ends, it’ll still be the best run any Houston team has ever had (and likely ever will have).
I’d be surprised if another team duplicates what they were able to do from here on out. Not saying it’s impossible, but a lot of factors had to come together (including a city/soft media market/fan base that would tolerate the tanking years). There’s also been other teams who have tanked within this golden era, thought they had something, then now have to tank again… so simply tanking isn’t the automatic key to success.
