I feel like we have one more big move in the works. I hope you are wrong too but the Astros in the past have never been a top 5 spender and a bunch of teams seem to be doing everything it takes to win a world series next year -- and while our plan has worked in the past, we can't become complacent that following the same exact strategy will work every time. Our enemies adapt -- we must adapt back.
Oh I agree with you. I'm rooting for them to get off the damn pot too. They did really well with Abreu, but Yankees got better. I don't know they are better than us. But still they are making moves. We need to also. I don't care about the NL getting better though.
And normally I would be ok with a conservative strategy, especially coming off of a WS win and 6 consecutive ALCS appearances, but we clearly have a 2-3 year window where this team could become dynastic and legendary. It took the Astros ~50-60 years to become truly relevant; adding another 1-3 world series would propel this team to another level so I'd be ok splurging on Free Agents as long as they aren't the 8-10 year team crushing deals; the deals we need to do (LF bat - ie Beni, Comforto) and maybe a veteran SP for insurance (Kluber, Wacha, etc) won't break the bank or hamstring the team. Go. All. In.
I like our conservative approach. Imagine a scenario where 2 players emerge as future All-Stars. Something like Brown and Diaz. Suddenly our window goes from 3 years to 6 years, all for the low cost of waiting until the deadline to fill any holes. Patience wins this. Our opponents need several things to go right to beat us. Houston just needs a few things to go our way.
How much more money are the Yankees willing to spend? Do they still want Benintendi or go with a cheaper option? Other than the Astros and Yankees, who else is interested in Benintendi? Basically I'm wondering if Yankees move on from him and go with a cheaper option and I'm hoping Benintendi settles to what the Astros are offering.
Rodon and Severino are huge injury risks. Cortes busted out onto the scene out of nowhere this year and is a prime candidate for regression because he doesn’t have overpowering stuff. IF(and it’s a big if) the Yankee rotation stays healthy then they’ll be more of a challenge than last year. Not too worried about their lineup at all (as currently constructed)
Yankee 2023 payroll 277 million Astros. 2023 payroll 183 million. competitive balance tax 233 million for 2023.
The joke is that the Yankees couldn't hit the broad side of a barn against us. Better pitching ain't the answer.
I'm going to say, they will have LeMahieu back. He was out during the playoffs and they really needed his bat. High contact, low K guy who has tormented us in both the regular and post-season. Not being negative, just being realistic and unbiased. I don't think he alone makes the difference but it was nice not having to worry about him during the ALCS.
We don't get a trophy for staying under the threshold nor do we get extra wins for spending less. We have cap space and Crane made a good profit from the astros last season. We still obviously have money left over from JV. We need another bat. Period.
2yr 15 mil. Oh well...hope we are making the right decision having our minor league guys try to win the backup catcher job.
