It's also nice to see Paredes is pitching well in AAA. He has 1 walk in his last 4 appearances. 0.90 ERA 1.20 WHIP 10 IP 15k 5 BB Then the thought of Brown or maybe even Whitley coming up late in the season... they could be weapons out of the pen.
I remember Luhnow was always so excited about Paredes every time he was asked about the young arms. It would be nice to see him pan out.
Pressly should be fine. His FB was 93-94 in his first game back (he sat 95-96 at his peak). Hoping he can at least get back to being 94-95 and be plenty effective. Sure is shitty timing he gets hurt right after signing that big deal.
Pressly’s fastball is still down 2.0 mph, as it has been for a while. He induced one whiff on 21 pitches. He looked pretty bad but maybe he’s not ready yet…which does not explain using him in a save situation tonight.
I think whatever is ailing him happened in spring training if not towards the end of last season. It’s really hard to explain.
Thinking about Jeremy Pena has me thinking about something else: there was a lot of complaining about the "unused" $30 million after not signing Carlos and how we should have spent more this offseason. As you say, though, on this year's team, it's hard to identify where to even try to upgrade. Next year, however, there are obvious holes to fill: 1B, LF, C. The $30 million we are not spending on Carlos will be crucial in filling those holes. So, should we have signed Trevor Story or Kevin Gausman or Javy Baez for $25 million a year this offseason or held onto it and fill real holes next year? I think, so far, the offseason plan has been completely justified.
I don't think they'll sign anybody big. Nor do I think they'll get early extensions secured with Yordan/Tucker. Pena is actually the most likely to sign a Bregman-like extension given his age. They also may give Altuve/Bregman some more years if they regain form/health or re-work JV's contract if he stays healthy.
His coverage on the Astros was better than Rome's and Tags'. Hope he will still cover the Astros for wherever he goes.
If Houston ends up extending Tucker or Alvarez and/or signs an elite hitter to upgrade C, CF, 1B, or LF after this season, we can look back on letting Correa leave as how Houston was able to afford those moves. I for one was fairly disappointed that Houston’s payroll was significantly below the cap on opening day, but I still have faith in Crane; he’s earned it for awhile at least. So far the decision to replace Correa with Pena, which is likely to save $100M+ and net 2 draft picks, looks nothing short of genius.
One crazy thing to me is that the front office has talked about Meyers in very similar terms to how they talked about Pena. We haven’t yet seen what kind of player Meyers actually is. But if he comes back and is a 3+ win player (excellent defender and well above average hitter), what a boon for the Astros and more kudos to Click. And with Lee at C, Leon in the OF/UT track, and Matijevic possibly in line for 1B, Houston might find themselves in an extremely enviable position with a ton of money to spend but a roster with no holes.
I'd say Crane's decision was to use the money needed for Correa on Verlander, Neris, and Goodrum. Though, I'm not sure Crane choose Verlander, Neris, and Goodrum over Correa. Crane made offers to Correa that Correa rejected. Crane moved on likely thinking they had no shot at Correa and that Pena would be fine at SS.
I don’t consider Goodrum (or really even Neris) as all that meaningful in terms of spending. They very likely could have afforded those deals even if they’d signed Correa. If they didn’t offer/sign Verlander until after they knew Correa was gone, then I would agree that Correa’s money went there. But based on the timeline and on the fact that they still ended up well under the tax threshold, I don’t think that’s the case. I think the bulk of the money they offered Correa is still unspent.
Tax threshold getting raised does not mean Crane was going to spend more money. Timeline is Crane offered Correa money. Correa said no. Just before/during lockout, Verlander contract got finalized. Lockout ends, Crane and Click talk a big game to media fans, but ghost Correa when Correa calls. Whether you want to consider Neris or Goodrum significant is your choice. Correa ended up with $35M for this year, and Verlander, Neris, and Goodrum are the contracts signed this offseason that fit. I suspect Click has saved about $10M of the budget he's been given for the trade deadline, but I doubt Click ever thought that Crane would be able to get Correa to sign and would likely have done things differently if he thought Correa was a possibility.
Does anyone know the status of Jake Meyers? Found this article from 4 days ago - https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/astros-jake-meyers-rehab-assignment-not-imminent/
Jake Meyers is the modern day Carlos Hernandez. Stellar debut… freak injury… will come back at some point but won’t be the same. Prove me wrong Jake!
Agreed, Difference is that Crane hired an analytics guy, What he didn't hire is a ruthless analytics guy.
