Yep. If you're a postseason contender you try to go into the season with the best pen you can (especially the backend), with enough depth to be useful if injury/performance dictate a change in the early months. Then you fix it around the trading deadline if you have to.
I have a feeling that this season's team will be better than last season's team in the regular season. That is saying a lot since we won 106 games last season. I think Hunter Brown will win at least 12 games, McCullers will play most of the season, and Javier will go beast mode for an entire season. From an offensive standpoint, Yordan will put an MVP type season, Bregs will be good than entire season, and we will have Abreu. Hopefully Brantley will be healthy for most of the season.
Here's a really far homer for Yordan during the regular season. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=000592e6-66ab-4b6b-95e2-5c3c004e75ef
Alvarez signed for 6 yr/115 last season. Tucker has been healthier, has less weight on his knees, is a year closer to free agency, and free agency has gone bonkers this year. I'd expect Tucker to want a lot more than Alvarez. Caveat: I'm usually wrong about extensions.
[QUOTE="IdStrosfan, post: 14455485, member: 65596" So who among the unproven prospects is worthy of an extension while the team still can do one? McCormick? NO. There are better CF players coming through the system now. Meyers? NO. There are better CF players coming through the system now. Pena? Yes. He is far from unproven but his projectable future warrants the investment. Lee? Yes. He is a good bet to be a long term asset and will be cheap to extend for the next couple of seasons. Hensley? NO. He is a bench infielder. Not where you tie up salary dollars. Matijevic? NO. He is a potential trade piece at best. Joe Perez? NO. He is blocked. Maybe a potential trade piece but not a future Astro. Barber? Maybe in a couple of seasons, his future is uncertain at this point due to health. Yainer Diaz? NO. Unless first base opens up he is a part time player. Gilbert? Maybe in a few of seasons, his future is uncertain for now but there is reason for hope.
No you are right. I don’t think he’d take that. But it is essentially 35M a year for his 2 FA years and it would both A) guarantee generational wealth and B) get him to FA in such a time that he still could probably signs 7 or 8 year deal for close to 200M, so who knows. That might be approaching the threading the needle territory that would get him to sign away his FA years, but I doubt it. If I was Tucker I’d offer to sign a 3/33M deal right now, provided they paid me 11/11/11 so I got that much at least locked up and got some of the money early. If I was the Astros and Tuckers camp suggested that this year before arbitration I’d probably do it. There might be 5-8M worth of savings for them in that.
We may be better but it might not show up in wins given how much we rest players. The goal is always to get to the playoffs healthy and peaking. That said, we tend have slumps at the beginning of seasons and if we can avoid that it makes the last third even easier.
F that. I want as many wins as possible in the regular season and the Astros to win the World Series. Make it impossible for anyone to doubt that the Astros are the class of the MLB.
Tucker needs to have another year like this last one. So does Yordan and everybody else. Let the chips fall where they may.
Agreed. I’m not suggesting they redline guys during the regular season or anything like that but I’d just as soon win 120 games and then go 11-0 on the post season and have everyone call the 23 Astros the greatest team of all time.
I agree since I don't think Baker cares toouch about the number of wins as long as we don't have to play a wild card series. I'm just thinking 2021 offense with 2022 pitching/defense. How sick would that team be.
I agree with this order although I would include Valdez. (1) Javier (2) Valdez (3) Abreu (4) Brown. I assume you're not of the opinion of extending Valdez? Abreu 8/150? That puts him in the top 3 of all relief pitchers and the entire MLB community would do a collective WTF? Brown ain't agreeing to 10/100 million and if he did I'd be disappointed in his lack of self confidence. The way to maintain is to not pay these guys that early (speaking mostly of Abreu/Brown). Not a long track record of success to warrant it necessarily. I would wait one more year, especially with Brown.
Ok so if we are working with the 6 year model (3 ARB, 3 ext), and let's use a nice round number of $40 million for his 3 ARB years. I'd pay him $90 million for the other 3 years and do a 6 year/$130 million deal. He would be hard pressed not to take it as he's taking a chance of either falling off or heaven forbid being injured.
