I always assumed Greinke would be fine, the rotation after him and Verlander looked rough. Not so much anymore.
I wouldn’t wave the white flag on the Astros just yet. Obviously doesn’t help but there’s some potential on the staff. As for Verlander, I assume his career as an Astro is over. He helped deliver us a World Series and was the cy young winner on one on of the greatest teams in the history of baseball(2019). We got way more than I ever imagined we would from him and yet somehow it feels like even more was left on the table. A healthy 2020 Astros team with a normal regular season would have pushed for a record 4th straight 100 win season and 2021 could be more of the same. But either way what a ****ing trade and what a badass dude Verlander became for the Astros. Edit... and **** right off ESPN. The only thing sad about this Astros chapter is the Dodger tears that I keep having to wipe off my ****ing World Series championship hat.
As far as Smith we may never find out if he was paid. If a player is considered "at risk" and opts out he gets paid. If not he doesn't get paid. Crane could have paid him though if he wanted even if Joe wasn't high risk. Smith's contract will also end after next season. The contract doesn't roll over to the next season.
I guarantee you that the "opt out" players got paid in full for this year (am I 100% sure, no, but that had to have been worked into the agreement that got the games going again). What I have no idea about is how injured players and their insurance contracts will handle this season. ****, now that I think about service time, I'm not so sure anymore. Why don't you guys figure this out? First guy that does will win the big prize.
The rules were that opt out players that were not considered high risk would not be paid. Service time is the same deal. High risk gets service time and those that aren't high risk do not. However, owners could make their own decision to pay opt out guys that weren't high risk. https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-will-n...due-to-highrisk-family-members-175550632.html "According to MLB’s 101-page COVID-19 operations manual, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo Sports, players who are designated as high-risk by a team doctor will be able to opt out of the season and still receive service time and salary, but MLB will not universally extend the same benefits to players who wish to opt out due to a high-risk family member." "Pay and service time for players not designated high-risk themselves is not addressed in the manual, though The Athletic reports that teams will get to decide whether or not to pay those players."
Is a "Joe Smith" who said he was high risk because of his extended family, considered "high risk" by MLB? Not that it matters to much to me, but just out of curiosity.
Unless Joe Smith has an underlying health issue, it wouldn't be considered high-risk. Risk to family doesn't count in that regard.
Gotcha. Shows how much I haven't been paying attention. We were talking about service time earlier...set us straight on that.
They were really good before JV, they’ll be really good after JV. Just need to not have half the team on the IL.
JV is done and Grienke is in his late 30s. We do not have a deep farm system. We also will not re-sign Springer or Correa most likely. At best we will be a mediocre team that has potential to win a wild card spot. You can’t have your two best pitchers be a 38 year old Grienke and an injury prone LMJ.
Well, you *could*, plus a few younger guys, and you'd be better off than 25 or so MLB teams heading into this offseason.
This offseason is pretty much a come-to-jesus moment for Click and Crane. Will be interesting to see what they do.
I dont think an immediate rebuild is in the cards, so seemingly the only option is to continue on the course they were already on (more or less). I thought this before the JV news, but now especially, I think if they need to alter something, its to give more emphasis and effort on the pitching acquisition side of things rather than extending position players. Unless that extension is very club friendly. If what you mean instead is that they will be forced to get on the same page and work together more closely, then that is a good thing in any situation, unless there is reason to think things could blow up between them.
Cursed implies something indirect and mystical. When you get shot over and over at point blank range, I'd say assassination, execution, murder, lynching, etc. are more apt terms for what was done to the team before the season ever even started.
The slightly weird thing with Joe Smith opting out was seeing that his wife, Allie LaForce, was working NBA games. Apparently she's in the bubble?
I keep hearing a ton of people say "last he's pitched for the Astros now" like it's fact. That may end up being true, but I don't think this makes it any more likely we don't see him again in a Stros uniform after 2021. People forget Verlander is most definitely a creature of habit. It took a lot of convincing for him just to leave Detroit - even when they were a dumpster fire at the end. He's pretty ingrained into Houston now, and I could see him wanting to finish his career here. I doubt he would sign for bargain basement to stay, but I could see him signing a reasonable 2-3 year deal with us. I also am interested to see how he comes out of this. A lot of pitchers come back stronger after TJ, granted most of them a lot younger than JV. I could see him being just as strong with a rebuilt elbow and being physically fresh after almost 2 years off.
Let's hope he signs on the cheap since we paid him 60 million to sit on the bench for 2 seasons. Who else to guide him back than Strom assuming Strom doesn't retire.
We need to give Strom a lifetime contract. He might be the only coach in the city that actually knows what he's doing.
