I'd let Brantley, Castro and Gurriel walk. I'd bring back Montero and Diaz, unless they can find more production from another player for Diaz. I would be cool with bringing Vasquez back to platoon catcher too
Castro has played his last game Diaz is hurt too much, unless he is willing to sign for a very small amount, let him go Brantley coming back would be great if healthy, and cheap. Would mean a lot more games in LF for Yordan. Obviously he is fine playing out there, but not sure how many games you want him out there for in a long season with his history of lower body issues Would love to have Vasquez back, but I would imagine he wants to be the man. Unless Maldanado decides he is done, I don't think we see Vasquez back Lot of moving pieces that will all start with JV, cause if he isn't back you have a big chunk of money to throw at one of those other positions. If he is back, it's more likely you try to bring back Brantley on a cheap deal, Yuli on a cheap deal to share time at 1B with Diaz
I can’t envision a scenario where it makes sense to bring back Aledmys Diaz. He is cresting the aging curve and is only marginal at SS. His wRC+ projection of 102 is lower than Hensley, Matijevic, and Y Diaz. He might be a slightly better hitter than Dubon (102 vs 96) but doesn’t offer the speed or defense Dubon brings, and he will be more expensive. Diaz is a fine utility guy for a fringe contender or even an everyday IF for a rebuilding team looking for trade chips/stopgaps. But there’s no place for him in Houston.
Ok this is the last thing I'm going to say to you about this because you are making NO SENSE AT ALL!! "Results"??? You have to score runs in order to win a game. Luhnow is responsible for Bregman, Pena, Tuck, Yuli, Yordan, Chas, Maldy (pretty much every major contributor except Altuve who basically didn't do much in this WS). What major addition did Click add to this team offensively (outside of Vazquez)? Pitching. Starters: Framber, Javier, JV, LMJ, Urquidy, Garcia and Brown are ALL because of Luhnow. Click added what starters?? Oh yes Odorizzi. Bullpen: Luhnow HIJACKED Pressly from the Twins. He's also responsible for Abreu. There is NO DOUBT that Click added Neris, Montero, and Stanek. All three huge additions without a doubt. So the majority of the team (over 90%), was built during this three year window that you're talking about, was under Luhnow NOT Click. Throw in Brantley as well. He was also responsible for Correa. He traded for Cole and Greinke but we'll forget them because they don't fall into this three yr time frame you're talking about. And now you want to call Click the "best Wartime GM in Astros history"????? I mean I don't want to be a jerk here but what color is the sky in your world because nothing about what you're proclaiming makes any sense and it's fun to debate sports but nothing about this is debatable no matter how you try to spin it. If you want to believe this Joe Joe have at it.
You thought it was silly that he needed to make a big trade for that team at the time and couldn’t at the original deadline… and when he ultimately did (one that propelled this team towards the WS), it immediately erased any of my fears of this. But I’m steadfast that when the trade deadline passed in 2017 and all they got was Francisco Liriano, questioning that was completely valid. Its a different scenario now. I’m not looking for Click (or any GM) to be solely a “war-time GM”, because as we know, this team is great. But teams can always be optimized. Deals need to still get done. I was fine with Click’s deals this deadline… but is it possible a more savvy GM could do better?
Weren’t you thinking he could be a viable short-term Correa replacement last year? What a difference a year (and one catastrophic post-season) can make!
And what did Luhnow do at the trade deadline??? He went out and got JV for crying out loud!!! What better way to show that he was a Wartime GM!!!
Nook what are your thoughts on Yuli? You know he'd love to come back and he certainly stepped it up in the playoffs and one could argue he was their most consistent hitter this postseason. Throw in what he brings defensively and what he means to the clubhouse chemistry. Curious how you see things playing out with him. And as always thanks for your insight!!
I don’t recall suggesting that but I assume if I did it was in conjunction with other moves that would have improved other parts of the roster. Diaz probably would have been a 1-2 win player as an everyday SS this season which wouldn’t have been the end of the world (he was worth 0.6 wins as a half time player); of course Houston was wise to bet on Pena since he put up much better production. It wasn’t just the postseason. Thru this season I think it’s clear Diaz is in physical decline and isn’t as good defensively at SS as he was before. If a team signs him to be an everyday SS or 2B he will probably be a viable player (in the 1-2 fwar range), but Houston is so deep with preferable in house options that he still doesn’t make sense for them. And yes, one year can make a big difference, especially for players in their thirties.
Crane was pissed that we had a WS contending team, and Click left almost 40 million dollars on the table.
I agree but Maldanado's bat has the tendency to go silent for weeks on end. I know the pitchers prefer him because he's smart and frames pitches really well but mixing in another catcher that can make contact at the plate whether that's Vasquez or someone else, we need some pop at that position. And I want JV back no matter what it cost.
I wanted Dusty to ride off into the sunset if he won a ring. Now I'm happy for him to be back one more year to enjoy the perks of managing after winning.
"Young" is subjective, didn't break rookie status until 2019, his age 22 season. He'll be 29 after his first FA year. On the other hand, with how inflation is spiraling out of control with no end in sight, you can't blame him at all for not wanting to get locked in early. Javier, on the other hand, needs to get locked in by any means. With the shift getting nerfed, I see Framber still being effective, but to a lesser degree. Javier is something special, and he'll improve as he reigns in his fastball in the zone more and more.
If one thinks making the final tweek, with pressure from the owner after missing the original trade deadline, for a championship team that is already built to win a championship is the best way to show a GM is a wartime GM, Click is the greatest wartime GM. Granted, I don't think being a wartime GM is that big a deal using that rational. I personally think the building the team that is capable of winning a World Series is more important than the final tweeks that may or may not be deciding factor in winning a World Series. I find it absolutely hilarious that you used "wartime" as a way to slander Luhnow's building efforts back then, but now attack Click's wartime status because he didn't build.
I think Yuli and Brantley are in the same boat. Whether they comeback will depend on whether they allocate resources towards 1st base or LF. If the Astros sign Abreu or Bell or Rizzo, then Yuli is out of luck. Same with Brantley, If the Astros add someone like Hanniger or Conforto, then Brantley isn’t coming back. The Astros have utility players already on the roster and players like Diaz can play C/1st or Lee to just play catcher. Guys like these will get playing time and roles because they are cheap with somewhat high of an upside. This is all assume Crane doesn’t just start making the decisions.
True he was raised in FL also true he is from WA. His pops was a Mariner. It may not be much to pulll him to want to go there but IF Seattle gives him the money he'd go. They have a good young team in need of a vet. I hope he stays because I see chance for him to learn from Dusty. Plus I bet he rakes still.
Caveat: My agenda with calling Click the greatest wartime GM is to get people to understand that building a great team is the most important part about being a GM, normally (i.e., what Luhnow did prior to August 2017). Right now, the most important attribute of being the Astros GM is not f#$%ing things up (a.k.a. wartime GM).
