Important to remember that nobody had ever taken the QO before. The Rockies were criticized for offering Cuddyer a few years ago. Most thought he was nuts when he rejected it, and finally the Mets were absolutely blasted for signing him to a 2 year deal. Turned into sort of the right decision for him. I think he ended up retiring after that one year. Don't know what buyout he received. Stephen Drew & Kendrys Morales were similar level players that got it and foolishly missed out. Dexter Fowler is a great example last year.
If the Astros really thought there was no chance Rasmus would accept the QO, they are not very smart Rasmus had clearly stated he loved it in Houston and was having fun for the first time in years playing baseball. He has also been pretty clear about the fact that he isn't in this "long term" I'm not saying you are necessarily wrong, but it was very clear to me that from the minute the QO was offered he would accept. If the front office, especially Luhnow who has known Rasmus his entire career, didn't see that as a distinct possibility then they are playing cards with less than a full deck
Eh, it's hard to expect people to take unprecedented actions. If they thought there was 0% chance he'd take it then they were obviously fools. It was a calculated risk that didn't go optimally. He cost a lot and didn't play up to the QO either.
The Astros GM is very good at his job, but sometimes he makes mistakes. Luhnow never expected Rasmus to take the QO over a multi year deal elsewhere... he relied upon history.... but his miscalculation cost the Astros dearly when it came to free agency and budgetary issues. Luhnow expected to get a #1 for Rasmus and another one from Gomez this off season.... it didn't happen.
Jose Altuve featured in upcoming Cartoon Network show Astros star Jose Altuve doesn't get animated on the field too often. However, you'll get to see Altuve animated in a different way later this month. Altuve will be among several MLB stars who'll appear in a World-Series themed episode of the Cartoon Network show "Uncle Grandpa" on Oct. 22 at 11:15 a.m. Central. In the episode, the title character enlists Altuve, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archer, Baltimore Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones, Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price and New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard to help train his struggling little league team on the brink of giving up.
It's almost hard to label them mistakes, since my guess is that their more just calculated risks that didn't pay off. I was thinking about the Astros seemingly bad luck and tried coming up with lists to see if their good luck has matched it: Bad luck: 1. Hamels rejection 2. Release JD Martinez 3. Gomez bust 4. Rasmus bust 5. Singleton bust 6. Appel bust Good luck: 1. McHugh is a stud 2. Devenski is a stud 3. Harris is a stud 4. PTBNL's and throw-ins pan out (Musgrove, Paulino, Martes, etc.) 5. Swapped Aiken for Bregman 6. Keuchel blossoms If I had to summarize, I think Houston has had slightly more bad luck than good luck. And I think they've had more players miss expectations than exceed them. Hopefully that evens out over the next few years.
^^ I think recently bad>good But the magnitude of some of those good ones hugely outweighs the bad . Harris , mchugh, and kuechel alone are incredible gets
I like Luhnow and have always been a supporter of him/ his plan. But lets not blindly forget that a majority of this team's core is not attributable to Luhnow. Altuve, Springer, and Kuechel were all acquired by the previous regime. Give credit to Luhnow for inking Altuve to the deal of the century, but we can chalk that up to luck as much as any other factor. No one saw this coming. Not Luhnow, and given his own comments, not even Altuve. I also don't think Altuve's absurd success can really be attributed to Luhnow, either. Lets not forget that the only reason Kuechel was not cut loose early in his career was because Luhnow and co. were prioritizing losing. Kuechel wasn't kept because Luhnow saw something in him, but because we were focused on tanking and could afford throwing darts in the mean time. We simply didn't value winning during his development. Had we been winning, Kuechel would have likely been cut. His first 250 career innings would not have warranted a roster spot on a winning team, simple as that. I believe our pitching coaches deserve far more praise for Kuechel's success than Luhnow. That said, Luhnow has rebuilt the rest of the team beautifully. We have little to no long-term contract liabilities. There is this Correa fellow, and Bregman guy. And we have a deep farm system, deeper than I can ever recall. Things are certainly looking up, and this offseason (and next) will be very interesting.
Luhnow is very good at collecting young talent Luhnow is very good at collecting young talent, in that part of his job he is probably as good as any. His ability to build a major league roster is still to be determinded If he really thought Rasmus would turn down the deal just because of history, then I sure hope he learned his lesson cause it really wasn't that difficult to figure out Rasmus wanted to be in Houston
Very accurate post. So many people look at ALL of our young talent and credit Luhnow. Fact is of the top talents on the team he isn't responsible for about half of them. I think he does a great job of identifying and acquiring young talent, and hopefully it ends up with multiple chances to win World Series. But the jury is a long way from even getting the case on Luhnow
There are some rumors out today that Verlander may be available. I can't find a good source because 3/4 of the news is about his engagement to Kate Upton, which is obviously important in its own right.. But if true, he would be at the top of my SP list among the feasible options. He showed a resurgence last year that appears to be sustainable
DET GM talked about getting "younger and leaner" (http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sp...vila-tigers-need-get-younger-leaner/92362812/), but even the article speculatively excluded Miggy and Verlander. I certainly don't see them moving him cheaply, given 1) his 2016 performance and 2) the fact that they're contenders. That said, I would love to add him if the price is right. But, I'm a little wary of emptying the cupboard for a 33-year-old pitcher with over 2400 IP. I wonder what type of offer it would take. Musgrove/Martes/Fisher/Daz/Dawson?
He's making $28M/year for the next four years. I don't think any team will want that contract. If the Tigers are hoping to get any decent prospects in return, they would have to eat a decent portion of his contract. Knowing how much the Astros owner likes to spend money, I don't see Crane trading Peacock for Verlander's contract.
Even before last night, I was hopeful the Astros would make a run at Rich Hill. He's a free agent heading into next season.
The guy that started 24 games since 2009? No thank you. I would rather trot one of the young guns out there than pay a soon to be 37 year old.
He is a big risk, but I have been a believer even since he came up with the Cubs a decade ago. He cannot go terribly deep in games, he is always an injury risk... BUT he is nails most the time when he is actually able to take the field.
Agreed, wouldn't be surprised if he gets a Kazmir-type contract, maybe 3 years for $45M. Elite pitching is hard to come by, and he was lights out this year (when he wasn't injured, of course).
Haven't had a chance to read it yet but there's a big ol' article on the Stros in the new Texas Monthly.
Like I said up thread, an offseason of Trade for Pineda/McCutchen and signing Hill should be doable without having to give up Martes/Tucker.
