And the news just keeps getting better. They were holding that news to try and keep prices on pitchers down and still ended up empty handed.
The Astros CANNOT be considered the unquestioned favorite to win the AL pennant any longer. Not after this did of a trade deadline. Sure, Liriano was an ok move. But we needed more. Luhnow let us down today. He's done a great job of drafting players but he hasn't shown any willingness to trade them for established veterans.
There goes the WS. We're not sure of coming out of the AL even as champs. Majors arms race and we got shut out. Again. Luhnow's gonna lose the fanbase. And the stars in a couple of years in free agency. Too moneyball.
There were multiple posts asking if he was even better than Peacock/Morton since McHugh was our for sure #3 and McCullers was our fors sure #2........ and now Lance is on the DL. We are a joke.
This may sound odd coming from me, one who was adamant we get some help a month ago. But much has changed in that month. Not only did my fear of losing half our AL west lead not occur, but we increased it. How we did at this years deadline cant be measured by who fired their cannons first and most often. Firstly, did they hit anything? Was there much to hit to begin with? Whose cannons are still loaded and ready? The Astros took a hard line. One that may be argued in the future as a lost opportunity. There will those that will condemn our efforts, or lack of, in any scenario short of a WS victory. Especially if some guys we could have had turn out to play key roles in our playoff demise. Well, this could happen. But the future isn't written yet. Certainly the coming years haven't. In short, we made a choice. Dont expect a good answer till 2019 or 2020. For those thinking that the clubhouse will be adversely affected by our choice, dont be so sure. For every guy added to the 40 man roster, someone has to be removed. Dont think that wouldnt have affected our guys as well.
Team didn't even want to sugar coat it. (I'd rather McCullers take another 3 weeks off and come back healthy, but if we end up starting Fiers in game 2...)
The Celtics signed one of the best free agents out there! Might wanna try for a better example. Who would they trade for?!
To me, this is all about value. Luhnow is not scared to trade his prospects. He has a value on them and he is not going to deviate just because it is a seller's market. That could cost 1 or maybe 2 MORE high potential prospects to get a deal done. As you can see, seller's weren't budging and most buyers weren't willing to overpay either which is why most of the bigger names stayed put this deadline. To me, it is similar to Morey where he will not overpay in a trade or Free Agency typically. He has a real value on a player and if it is exceeded then the book says to walk away or fold. Very similar to a card player that knows the rule book inside and out and will rarely budge. I do wonder what some of these teams wanted for relievers though. It seems the price was pretty high (it usually is I guess) but crazy to think that a closer will fetch 2 or 3 high tier prospects IMO.
