I know who he was as a player I was kidding... what did the Twins do that was so impressive in 2017 though? You've got me staring at a boring Wiki page trying to figure it out. EDIT: Damn had no idea Twins lost 103 games the year before... that is an impressive turnaround.
So, you being a Houston fan, doesn't think the Houston manager was stellar during a season where he led the team to 101 wins with Keuchel, McCullers and Correa missing significant time on the DL, mixing and matching a hodge podge of starters? Man, no wonder Hinch didn't even finish second. In your mind, what does it take to be considered 'stellar'?
Eh......Look up Paul Molitor. And remember those other guys on the team called the PLAYERS? Hinch did fine during the RS, not great. A better manager would've gotten us more wins with this stacked lineup even with the injuries which were not so devastating. Stellar managers don't LOSE games multiple times based on their own bad adjustments. Hinch was great in the postseason though, I'll give him that.
MVP candidate Correa missing seven weeks, Cy Young candidate Keuchel missing eight weeks. No devestation there. You considered the starting rotation ‘stacked’? Sure, with Verlander and everyone healthy. So for part of September, perhaps. Also, prior to an hour or so ago, you didn’t consider Molitor stellar. It’s just ridiculous the lack of respect Hinch gets on this board.
Managers of the year are often for teams that most exceeded expectations. We were expected to be very good, the Twins just the opposite. The Indians went on a record setting won steal just before voting.
Love Hinch, but Molitor is the right choice for COY. Hinch won it in '15 on the same blueprint, IIRC. It's not just who has the best team or best record. Astros were more talented, but voters look deeper. MIN was the better COY storyline. Molitor got a very young MIN squad into the playoffs, a team that *everyone* projected as a bottom-dweller before the season started. Astros are, more or less, about where people expected them to be. Top 3ish team remaining as such. Lets just hope we don't get botched on Tuve. Notches like this on the resume really boost your HOF chances (although I have no doubt Tuve will be a HOFer, health permitting).
I can't for the life of me imagine that any team is gonna pay 200 million dollars to a 30 year old DH/bad OF that has only managed one full season. Don't get me wrong, he's one hell of a hitter, but that's simply too much money for such an incomplete player.
Nobody will. Anybody pays him more than $160M is taking on a guaranteed albatross. He’s virtually assured to be a pure DH 3 years from now. He’d be an ok value at $120M/5 or $140M/6.
Astros were expected to win in the low 90s. They ended up winning about 10 more games than they should have, which is remarkable given how time their best players were out with injuries.
It is just a trick to try to get someone to offer more than they would even if it isn't close to that. I think he will get in the neighborhood of what you said, but it will probably be an over pay, IMO, as last few years will likely suck.
Come one. Any manager can have team cruising for weeks with Cy Fiers as the only starter going more than 5 regularly.
By that measure - comparing win counts between seasons - Molitor was the worst manager in the league in 2016. The Twins went from 79 losses in 2015 to 103 in 2016. Still waiting for someone to accuse him of 'tanking' in 2016 to get the 2017 award. Lord knows the Astros have been accused of the same thing often enough.
Astros allegedly interested in Lucroy. Assuming it’s a cheap deal and the Astros think he can get back to what he was, I like it. I was really disappointed they didn’t trade for him 2 years ago. Having McCann, Gattis, and LuCroy split 2 positions (C and DH) 3 ways makes good sense to me given McCann is a lefty and all 3 players are aging. It was as recently as 2016 that Lucroy put up near superstar production (4.6 fWAR and 123 wRC+). Signing Lucroy could also mean trading Gattis.
Haven't watched Lucroy all that much, but how is he at gunning down base stealers? Please God give me someone who isn't just a for sure stolen base giver.
Guessing this is going to feel like a long off-season even though it will be the shortest for the Astros. I expect Astros will do a couple of small things, and kick the tires on some big things. I just want to see this team back out on the field.
