He's already sighed for his 1st arbitration year (2023) (not including his super 2) for $6.8M. Unless you incorporate that, extensions begin in 2024 with TWO Arbitration years left. The numbers change if you incorporate his existing (2023) contract.
Obviously you have to have talent to make it to the big leagues, but I think mental make-up is just as important for a starting pitcher proven by Greinke's 90 mph fastball. Valdez got a lot better when he started to going to sports shrink.
David S at ESPN who is incredibly fair To the Astros and writes good things about their greatness with the off-season C+ that was even worse until the Javier extension upgrade. Additions: 1B Jose Abreu (re-signed OF Michael Brantley and RHP Rafael Montero) Departures: RHP Justin Verlander, 1B Yuli Gurriel, UT Aledmys Diaz, 1B Trey Mancini The biggest mistake most World Series champions make is to simply bring everyone back and expect the same results. That's mostly what the Astros did in an offseason spent without a general manager after owner Jim Crane parted ways with James Click in early November and didn't hire Dana Brown until late January. The Astros made an upgrade at first base with Abreu, who had an interesting season with the White Sox: less power than ever (15 home runs) but a higher average with fewer strikeouts. I'm skeptical about how the three-year deal plays out at Abreu's age, but it should work for 2023. They still have enviable rotation and bullpen depth, but you don't just replace a Cy Young winner who went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA. The lineup is now also counting on four players in their 30s in Abreu (36), Brantley (36), Martin Maldonado (36) and Jose Altuve (33). Signing Cristian Javier to a five-year extension that runs through 2027 helps boost the overall offseason grade. Grade: C+
I know this is kind of funny but anyone else annoyed with these fake quote tweets? They were kind of funny for awhile but have gotten old. I have seen some that don't even have the disclaimer too which makes it even less funny. Anyways, it probably just boils down to me hating twitter.
I hate offseason grades. There are a lot of things in there that I agree. On the biggest mistake, most World Series champions are built depending on veterans that will usually get worse and/or cost more. While the Astros have 4 old guys, only 1 of them produced a lot last season for the Astros. Overall, the Astros have an incredibly strong core of players that shouldn't increase in price that much such that the Astros should try to keep them together the next 3 years with additions like Abreu. Things won't happen the same, but having 3 chances with a great team is a strong position. The Astros were the tops in Vegas odds last I checked (mostly because Astros and Yankees are the only great teams in the AL). ZiPs has the Astros as the favorites to represent the AL in the World Series despite hating the Astros rotation (i'd guess the Astros would be favorites to win the Worlds Series by ZiPs if the Astros got Contreras). While the Astros didn't spend like the Mets, the Astros additions for the most part should help an already incredibly strong team. If the Astros had gotten Contreras, the Astros grade should be an A at a minimum for solidifying the Astros as the team most likely to win the World Series. Is Contreras worth dropping the a grade and a half?
I think so. In a certain way when you are as good as we are you are heading on a curve. We had about 5 things going on going into the off-season: make a decision of the reigning Cy Young winner, fix 1B, fix Catcher, Fix DH and hire a new GM. We let JV walk, punted on Catcher, probably signed the best guy we could at 1B, brought back a 36 YO with a bum shoulder for DH and made what I think is a really good hire at GM. That’s dealing with 2.5 out of the 5 things this off-season. Our starting spot was so high that I’d have us as the team most likely to win the WS this year, and I confidently bet the over on 97.5 wins, but in that context a C+ doesn’t seem unreasonable to me for the off-season. Both things can be true- you could have a C+ off-season and still be the favorite to win it all. The Dodgers getting a lot worse and the Yanks not getting a ton better certainly help out things into a more rosy light going into play in 23.
The Astros organization certainly don’t see themselves as punting at catcher Now this guy and you may well be smarter than the Astros, but while they certainly were looking into upgrades, they don’t see the situation as y’all do
Wholeheartedly agree with this. His agent is projecting him up be in Cy Young contention every year with a sub 2.70 era with the money he's asking for. That's not likely in the cards for him anymore with the shift rules. Unless he starts striking more than a better an inning.
Astros were in on Contreras and Vasquez. They didn’t get either deal done over a small amount of money (and Vasquez not wanting to be here). They absolutely wanted something done and something major. When that didn’t happen they decided to play it out (and they also were in talks about Perez per some media and even Nook). That’s a failure on their part to get something done and they’d tell you that privately or they wouldn’t have been all over some of that stuff. I agree with the decision to let JV walk, and so think Brown is going to be awesome. That move makes a ton of sense (like Correa) but it doesn’t make you better or more talented in the organization. It’s fair to point that out.
Illustration I need a basic pick-up with an MSRP of $40k. I'm looking for a deal in that neighborhood, but the ones available all want a premium of $10k because their tires are black with fancy lettering. One wants you to take out a ten year loan at 24% and another wants you to waive the warranty. Is that a few dollars and not worth waiting for a better fit? Does it make a difference if it's going to be a company vehicle and your employer's paying for it? PS I like searching out different points of view, but I do get a little sarcastic at times when it strays too far from my own. As for Framber and Garcia, I think the rules changes will affect them, but not as much as many fear. At most, I think we lose our advantage from being on the cutting edge in positioning and we probably find some under the new rules. And even some of these will be offset by gains in our line up.
Yep, if they could make a move for a guy like Contreras they wanted to, ultimately they didn’t think it was worth it for the money What I’m saying is they see catcher as a spot that could be improved, but not as the awful we have nothing there situation that many CF posters see it as. If They thought they were god awful at catcher they likely would have been willing to go further trying to acquire someone. And if you can’t get a guy like Contreras there was zero reason to go sign a backup type to block Lee/Diaz Truth is letting one of them get playing time behind Maldanado to see what we have there is likely the best long term plan we could have
The good thing is Maldy can completely shut the bed and have an ops under 550 and go o for the playoffs and we can still win a WS if other **** doesn’t fall apart. I’d argue against fighting with one hand tied behind my back but for a home at catcher to matter and stop us from winning a division a lot of other things concurrently would have to go bad. I buy flood insurance even though I’m not in a flood plain bc Houston, and I think the Astros ought to have bought Maldy insurance but if they have to make a deal at the deadline so be it I guess. It shouldn’t hold us back from winning a division this year but it does make things harder than they absolutely need to be in the playoffs.
