Read his twitter replies from the previous article. The dude gets roasted. Maybe he is finally realizing he writes for a local paper.
Agreed. Even moreso, how do people consider Fister a net negative vs. Kazmir, minus those few early starts?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How we see the 2016 MLB season unfolding: <a href="https://t.co/czCLqtzB4I">https://t.co/czCLqtzB4I</a> <a href="https://t.co/UL8YC82mw1">pic.twitter.com/UL8YC82mw1</a></p>— USA TODAY Sports (@USATODAYsports) <a href="https://twitter.com/USATODAYsports/status/699258583159042048">February 15, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The only absolute point I agree with Evan on is that they have to maximize their opportunity to win during the time period they have Keuchel-Correa-Springer-Altuve... which isn't even a stretch or novel concept. I would love to have an extended run of excellence like the Cardinals have had since 2001... but to expect something like that would also be slightly marginalizing/limiting the impact of those above players (especially Keuchel/Correa who by all accounts have to be considered as "special" and not supposed to be easily replaceable if they can't lock them up long-term). The Cardinals most certainly maximized the opportunity to build around Pujols/Carpenter/Wainwright when all were in their primes.
What's interesting too is that STL did so without ever going "all in". STL never completely depleted their farm system for star players, and their FO rarely added ridiculously priced players via free agency. Yes, they signed Holliday, but never have they taken the BOS/LAD/NYY approach to FA. I think HOU will mirror this approach. Sure, we may nab a few 100MM guys--a la Holliday--over the years, but I doubt we ever add someone in the 200MM range.
Took me a second to realize you weren't referencing an interview with Gattis that I missed. My first thought was that Gattis does have a biased opinion on the matter before realizing you were referring to comments from the Astros beat writer that my mind mentally skipped over.
The Astros did some great things this offseason, and some moves i don't understand. First of all, bringing Giles was a major move, we gave a lot, but we needed that closer. That trade not only give us a top closer, it also gives us a great set up pitcher. Re signing Sipp for me it was a MUST. I also believed we needed Rasmus back. Trading Lowrie was not a salary dump, it was about a player that does not hit good enough for a 3b. Once Correa became our SS and Marwin our utility player, Lowrie became expendable, and with that contract, for 2 more year??? I think this was one of the best move by Luthnow. Letting Carter go is also a good move. I think a platoon of Valbuna/Duffy at 3b is going to be good. Or Valbuena/Gonzalez. Mistakes: I think we needed to resign Kazmir back. Yes, he struggled late with us but he is a very good pitcher, with great stuff. As our number 3 behind K and McCullers that would had been best rotation in the AL. On a lesser scale, i would had gone after Morneau, it would not cost much to get him and make Singleton battle with him to win the 1b job.
Perplexing how they have the White Sox at 90 wins. I just don't see it given the roster they have currently. I think most of those are pretty solid, a lot of question marks on the Red Sox rotation. I don't see the Cubs winning 100 games, even as a Cubs fan. I think the Cardinals will be slightly lower than 97 (92-93 or so). AL looks pretty good for the most part.
I expect KC and Texas to do a little better than forecasted there. What am I missing with the White Sox being so high?
For what it's worth - here is the associated verbiage: This is baseball’s deepest division, with five teams capable of winning it – and almost as many that could finish last. We feel random things happening, so hello, White Sox (90 wins). Everyone loves their Todd Frazier acquisition, and the ball should jump off his bat at U.S. Cellular Field. We prefer the possibly unparalleled 1-2 rotation punch of Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, backed by a full season of Carlos Rodon, who struck out 139 batters in 139 1/3 innings as a rookie.
I got into it with Evan Drelich this morning on Twitter when he suggested Lowrie made the team better. His response to my tweet that Gonzalez was better last year alone than Lowrie has been last two years combined (via WAR) was - and I'm not exaggerating: "Don't be dumb." No, seriously: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/Bags4HoF">@Bags4HoF</a> Don't be dumb.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/699274025818853376">February 15, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
They are right about the random things happening part. As great as baseball is, it's unpredictable a lot. There's usually at least one team that overachieves every year (and sometimes ends up making the postseason). I just think even with who the White Sox have in their rotation (and the acquisition of Frazier), they still lack an offense which is why I don't see them winning arguably the toughest division in baseball. I can see them being a "surprise" team without winning the division a la the Brewers from 2014.
I think the Astros view the Ken Giles acquisition similarly to how the Bagwell Biggio era only took off after we developed Billy Wagner. 1997 was Wagner's first year as our full time closer, and incidentally the Astros' first year in the playoffs for that regime. For all intents and purposes, Ken Giles is now a part of the core, along with Correa/Springer/Keuchel/Altuve/McCullers (and hopefully Reed).
Drelich clearly has affection for Jed Lowrie. A good team does not want to go into a season with Lowrie as a starter, especially if it is at any position other than 2B. I like Jed, but he wasn't one of the 12 best position players on this team (Duffy and Singleton could be better as well, but haven't proven it), but was the 2nd highest paid.
Astros are not a fair comparison as they sucked for 4 years to build up a ton of club controlled talent. For his pay, he could easily fit on a stars and scrubs team as a scrub. He's not winning any championships by himself, but he's not useless on maybe 1/4 of the teams competing for a wild card.
Higher expectations, a star player on the team signs with Adidas, acquired key free agent(s) to improve a hole on the team. Please don't be like the Rockets.
