"No, they're not. Until you have both not only throwing consistently every 5th day, while pitching the majority of the season, nothing can be assumed." I don't think any team doctor would agree with your definition of 'healthy.' I'm sorry, but a definition of 'prove it over an extended period of time' can only be verified after-the-fact. "Selling the farm? No. Trading value for value? That's how trades work... especially when there's a strong enough farm system with mid-level prospects, but also there's plenty of low level talent that could soon fill in the gap." See article: http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2016/1...uldnt-trade-those-prospects-for-jose-quintana A good explanation of how the values do not match. "Now you have me questioning your age and how much baseball you've really watched... that would be a travesty of a rotation." I'll ignore your Ad Hominem fallacy there. Nobody would want that rotation. That's not my point. Baseball is an extremely long season. Injuries occur throughout. I said, "Can we survive...?" We have enough offensive firepower to bear through injuries to our rotation. Neither Keuchel nor McCullers' past injuries are concerning enough to force Luhnow to mortgage our long-term future for an immediate replacement. "How many more Doug Fister/Fausto Carmona fill-ins must we endure before you realize that this team's core (especially an MVP-level Altuve) needs serious supplementation by quality starting pitching?" Not every mid-level SP is a dud like Fister/Carmona. You are selectively referencing loser pitchers that have failed in an effort to turn the argument in your favor. McHugh is a good example of a mid-level piece that has been very productive for us. If you want more names of players like this that have been very effective in their capacity for winning baseball teams in recent history, see Lackey, Duffy, Peavy, Cain, Vogelsong, Buchholz, Dempster.... What I'm saying is that it takes pitching depth to win. We CAN win in spite of pitching injuries. We don't have to sell out for one pitcher that could easily go down to injury himself. The value for SP is insane right now. Would I love a player like Q on our roster? Sure. But value needs to be equivalent. We don't need to overspend in order to force something. This is why Luhnow is being wise and PASSING on those trade offers.
I never said, I'm fine with having these 5 as our rotation throughout the year. I said we could SURVIVE with them. Quote me right.
Of course any trade is going to hurt a little. That's not the issue. The issue is right value exchange.
In a relief role, a 3rd pitch is not needed for success. His other 2 pitchers are obviously plus pitches and his 3rd is not (at this point). Hinch has already stated that he's going to use ST to work out Devo as a starter. That will be the point when Hinch tries to see if he can make his 3rd pitch effective enough to win a starting role.
BOS will not dictate HOU's approach. At this point in the offseason, HOU's focus is on the AL West. Those are the only teams that, at this point, would warrant any sort of reactionary move from our front office. Could we use a TOR arm? Sure. But's our rotation is still projected to finish 3rd in the AL in WAR. The MLB playoffs has shown to be somewhat of a crapshoot. The regular season's best team does not win the WS at the same rate of, say, the NBA or even NFL. The Cardinals, under Luhnow, were built to make the playoffs every year. I believe Luhnow realizes the crapshootness of the MLB playoffs. Again, I'm not saying we don't need a TOR arm. I'm simply saying that the smart move is to not be reactionary to BOS, and to wait to see just what DK and LMJ have in store.
Yup.... and Kershaw and Grienke the year before lost... the idea that the Astros can't beat the Red Sox in the post season because they lack an ace is absurd.
What's so "****ing" ridiculous about saying that, as of now, the Astros rotation doesn't stack up to the Red Sox?? I'm not saying we build our roster to contend with them.....but I am saying we're not that far off from having (on paper) the best team in the league, top to bottom. If you can acquire the piece that puts you over the top for a palatable price, I don't see why anybody would be opposed to that. Anyways, I'm done with this thread until there's real news. It's to a point now where we've all drawn a line in the sand as far as where we lie on this issue.....nothing new is being unearthed. Plus, people are starting to become dicks to each other just for having differing opinions. The thread has run its course.
Because you said there is no way we can beat them, not that their rotation is better. You don't need the better rotation or team to win in baseball. Quintana guarantees nothing. He doesn't necessarily put us over the top. Do you know that Keuchel had better xFIP & SIERA than Quintana? I'd love to have Quintana and he makes the team better (probably by 2 or 3 wins), but I don't think or chances of winning a world series are greatly improved. I think we are the 2nd best team in the AL either way.
Pre-season rankings don't mean squat. We are going to have to see how the season flushes itself out. A lot of things can happen between here and October.
I think Quintana is going to end up in ATL...to quote Ashley Schaffer of Ashley Schaffer BMW (Eastbound and Down): "I feel it in my plums". ATL has been reportedly in on top arms. They have the blue chips to move too, that's my guess. They bite first.
They do seem aggressive. Cubs and Astros bottomed out at the same time...and one ended up on a pretty accelerated rebuilding timetable. Atlanta bottomed out after both.
Joined STL front office in 2003. By 2005, he was promoted to VP of player procurement (basically director of amateur, international, and domestic scouting). In 2006, he was named VP of scouting and player development. Served as such until joining HOU in 2011.
Good grief. I never said he "ran" STL. I said "under Luhnow", which is accurate in that Luhnow 1) ran STL's drafts for 5 years, and 2) headed STL's scouting and development departments for even longer terms. STL credited Luhnow as a key contributor to their major league success and ultimately their 2011 WS team, a good portion of which was composed of players directly brought in by Luhnow. So yes, he was not GM, but that was neither my point nor insinuation. My point was that Luhnow was able to build a consistently competitive product capable of (and more often than not) achieving playoff births. Happy holidays.
