You got the first one, the other one should come naturally, wink wink. They know each other really well
Have yet to hear a thing about 40 man rosters. Wasn't today the day rule 5 players had to be added to protect them from the draft?
Isn't this the guy who more or less staked his rep on air w Jon and Lance by demanding Yuli be benched for Mancini and Diaz, citing in-depth analytics? I mean going into the playoffs a lot of us probably said the same thing but it goes to show analytics simply can't be the end all be all of decision making. If we go Mancini/Diaz we may not get out of the ALDS.
Since Crane has been the owner, in my opinion the two biggest attributes he brings to the table is 1) being fiscally responsible and 2) the people he hires and surrounds himself with. The Click hire just didn't work out and long term it wasn't the best fit. He realized it and he's moved on no matter the timing of it or the heat he gets from the media. He does NOT give a d@mn nor should he!! They let Keuchel walk. They let Springer walk. They let Cole walk. They let Correa walk. In my humble opinion, Rizzo doesn't make sense for two reasons. 1) can this team really afford to lose draft picks and international $$? Especially after the scandal and having the top two picks in '20 and '21 taken away?? 2) more then likely he wants to sign for more then two yrs. As I've mentioned both Breggy + Altuve are FA after '24 and Framber, Tuck and Javier are all FA after '25. Why have $$ tied up in a declining Rizzo in '25 that could go to higher priorities (players just named). It's not like they don't have other options that make more sense and plays to their fiscal responsibility. Same for JV. I get he has an ego and wants to maximize his earning potential. However, his wife came out after the WS and blasted the fans of NYY and PHI for booing their own players. She said, "can you imagine fans in Houston doing this"?? And I agree!! How much $ has JV earned in his career? How much $$ has Upton earned? Her grandfather also co-founded Whirlpool and she's going to inherit millions (if not billions). So how much $$ is enough? JV says he loves his teammates. JV says he loves the city. JV says he loves Crane. JV wants to pitch until he's 45 and it's very clear that he'd like to make a run at winning 300 games. Why start over? Why walk away from everything that Houston provides him and his family and his career? In my opinion we're about to see who this guy really is. Is he all about the almighty $ or everything else that the Astros and the city gives him and his family? Given how much Crane loves JV, what about when JV decides to retire? Does he walk away from the game completely or does he still want be involved in some way? There's a d@mn good chance that Crane hires JV in some role within the organization (just as he's done with Baggy, Biggio and Clemens). Tough decisions to be made and given his track record there's no reason to doubt Crane. As I've stated numerous times it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. Going to grab my popcorn and sit back and watch. No matter how it plays out, just a reminder, we are WORLD FREAKIN CHAMPS!!
I still think Yuli has some value. He had a .740 ops against lefties. He can play 3 infield positions. He doesn't strike out much and takes a lot of pitches. He's an ideal top bat off the bench at this point and possibly a platoon guy. I like him, Hensley, and Dubon on the bench with a centerfielder and catcher. I'm ok with Diaz over Dubon, I just don't want to pay much for it.
I think we need to move on from Aledmys Diaz and Mauricio Dubon -- we need to clear space for Hensley, Leon, Yainer Diaz to play. There's an opportunity cost to keeping unproductive veterans... it chokes off playing time for players that we need to evaluate. We need to keep replenishing the system with youth. Parking unproductive veterans on the roster hinders that effort.
So both of these of these guys have QO. I know what we'd lose if we signed one of them. What would we lose if we signed two players with QO attached to them?
I'm relieved it's not Rizzo. He draws walks and has some pop but his hitting is way worse than it used to be. I'd prefer Abreu as a better contact hitter. Rizzo's .817 ops was an improvement from the 2 prior years but it's a little scary he's fallen off so much at such a young age. He's been just a guy since age 30. He hasn't hit .250 since 2019. Batting average isn't everything but there aren't many players we consider to be good offensive players hitting under .250. Abreu has been .820-.835 OPS 3 out of 4 years. The outlier was .987 in the short year. I like consistency. I also think he could do better with the protection in the lineup...
If Crane doesn’t sign a big bat, why was Click fired? Pressure’s on now, Jerry Jr. Just kidding, love Crane.
Yup. Smokescreen for any interest for Rizzo. Raise the price for the Yankees payroll. Good Job Astros. Who needs a GM. Ha
