Front office is to blame for not upgrading 1st base. Big blame. May have even cost us playoffs. If you want to say that was the cause of it all, I can't argue with that. Other than that, I don't see what more they could have done. Paid a chunk for 2 relievers in the offseason, added a couple more. They weren't able to land a 15mill closer at the deadline, i can live with that. Traded for a 3rd baseman and gattis. Brought up Correa and aggressively promoted 2 21 year old pitchers, brought up tucker quickly, traded some great prospects for some upgrades at the major league level. Etc. I'd give them an A+ if not for the 1b garbage. But I'm fine dropping the grade as low as need be because of that. But to say "they are arrogant", "need to look themselves in the mirror", etc., is a bit harsh. They were extremely, refreshingly active this season, and hopefully they are equally active next season.
Hinch needs to show some anger and energy. He is seriously lifeless in the dugout and teams typically follow the representation of their manager.
Agreed. They need to improve on the mistakes... and continue to do what they do well. Sticking with Carter as long as they did was arrogant/biased and wishful thinking. Maybe Nolan can take a more active role given that he actually played the game and could probably better tell where a player's head is (rather than simply looking at his stats in a vacuume and presuming the robotic player will allofasudden start doing what he's built to do). They were also inconsistent in the promotion patterns... I don't think they expected McCullers and VV to stick around as long as they did, but they forced the issue. Odd that this didn't lead to more experimentation in that aspect (at positions badly in need of an upgrade).
They need a spark. A coming together moment. The Royals took our soul when they drilled Springer and our momentum.
This collapse is depressing no matter what the expectations were going into this season. How can damn near everyone on the team be struggling right now is beyond me.
Not fixing that 1B situation has turned out to be a HUGE mistake on the part of the front office. Serious dumbass decisions in that regard.
Hinch was a good fit for a team 2-3 years away from being good...unfortunately the time frame sped up this year and we're witnessing the hot potatoe fall in the laps of astros Mangement along with Hinch. They had no idea the freight train would come this fast hence Hinch looking like a fish out of water stone faced and OUT OF PLACE..no pun intended
Reminds me of the 90's Astros, free and easy while tallying those 100 win seasons, sphincters got tight when playoffs rolled around. Astros sphincters have gotten tight, can't handle big games just yet.
Anyone wanna attempt to explain the road woes? 2-1(TX) 8-1(SEA/OAK/SD) 2-2(LAA) 3-4(DET/BAL) 0-6(TOR/CWS) 4-4(COL/SEA/LA) 2-8(BOS/CLE/TB) --------------- 1-2(KC) 2-7(TX/OAK/SF) 3-3(NYY/MIN) 2-6. . .2-7 after tonight?(OAK/LAA/TX) They have 7 road games remaining: TX(1), SEA(3), AZ(3) 0-6, 2-8, 2-7, another 2-7/2-8 one on the horizon. That's awful! That's inexcusable! Great at home, only to piss it all away on the road. Spoiler On the road again Toronto: 2 games under .500(35-37) New York(Y): 5 games over .500(38-33) Kansas City: 5 games over .500(37-32) Minnesota: 10 games under .500(32-42) Texas: 7 games over .500(41-34) Houston: 15 games under .500(29-44) Los Angeles(A): 11 games under .500(29-40) New York(M): .500(37-37) Washington: 8 games under .500(33-41) St. Louis: 10 games over .500(40-30) Pittsburgh: 3 games over .500(37-34) Chicago: 7 games over .500(40-33) Los Angeles(D): 4 games under .500(35-39) San Francisco: 7 games under .500(34-41)
A young team that loses its collective focus/drive/comfort level on the road. The early season success was them not knowing any better.
