True. But this is almost certainly coincidence/luck/ match-up - but will concede the point of giving MM credit absent Diaz.
Someone, in this thread, said the Astros, currently on pace to win 92 games, were a 100-win team. I am certainly not arguing Martin Maldonado is a good hitter. But, again, he was one of the worst offensive players in baseball *last year* too and they won 117 games. So..... what's changed? Why is this suddenly an issue? The answer - because the line-up around him isn't as good - *is* the issue. Right. So we have two seasons, both of which prominently feature Maldonado's near league-worst bat... What's the difference between this year and last year, and what role does Maldy play in those differences? My counter-argument is two-fold: I think there are significantly more pressing issues affecting this team's ability to win and... I'm not going to pretend I know more than Dusty Baker or Justin Verlander - or that they, and others, are lying about the impact Maldy has on the pitching staff. So I can't categorically say, Sit Maldy; he's having no impact. That is not what the baseball people are telling us. And, again, it's not like this team is, in any way, built around Maldy hitting. I mean, there's at least a not-zero percent chance JV is here right now because of Maldonado.
He’s much worse everywhere, not just offense. Again leading the league in passed balls but defense and arm have fallen off big time as well. Opposing teams are stealing on him at will. He can’t catch and dropping should be strikes all the time now. Framing somehow worse and near the bottom of all catchers. All of this extends innings longer than it should. It’s everything.
Something I didn't think about previously but dusty could be costing us draft picks by not playing Diaz. Players who win Rookie of the Year earn their team an amateur draft pick "after the first round," and second- or third-place finishers earn an international pick.
https://www.baseballamerica.com/sto...for-prospect-promotion-incentive-draft-picks/ According to BA, Diaz wasn't on the list eligible for the PPI draft pick.
OPS+ 2022 - 69 2023 - 54 Maldonado is by far a *worse* hitter this season than last season. He's a worse player offensively AND defensively this year... AND he's on pace to play more games this year than last year. Sickening because there's a clear better option to replace him rotting away on the bench and/or at DH. Anyone who defends Maldonado has a clear agenda. Toothpick fetish??
Also, ok smart a$$, how do you think that would play out Crane firing the Mgr in the middle of the season after they just won the WS???
He literally should be. He lit 104M (58 for Abreu, 12 for Brantley and 34 for Montero) on fire and brought back Dusty Baker to horribly mismanage this team. Other than that it was a great offseason for Jimbo. Glad Bagwell could work with Dusty to knock off this nerd **** we've been doing so that we can rely instead on their baseball acumen to make all our decisions. Crane has been a total and complete mess, and those decisions cost us our top 2 prospects (could have just given the 104 to JV in the first place and skipped all the bullshit signings) and been in a better place than we are right now, organizationally.
When the team isn't performing the way you would hope, you should make adjustments. Dusty doesn't do this. If you want to play Maldy fine, you can't play Dubon, Kessinger in the same lineup. You don't rest Altuve after he goes 4-4 etc....
How stupid is this rule? Who frigin cares where the Rookie of the Year was ranked before the season started? So a guy that is on one list but 101 on a second doesn't qualify? That is stupid. Seems to me a team should be rewarded even more for churning out the ROY that wasn't a top prospect. I thought I hated the extra draft pics for the "small market teams". I may hate this one even more.
And why would he be "embarrassed"? Yes they realized that Montero's career had been up and down, but the entire staff (pitching coaches as well as analytics) felt like the changes they made with him would sustain itself. They watched him hold up in the highest leverage situations during the playoffs last yr (and he played a HUGE part in them winning the WS). He was a FA, and as Nook pointed out numerous times during FA, the $ they paid him is what the market was at the time. That he's been horrible this yr, yes I get it (and they get it) but given what they knew at the time there's no regrets. As for Abreu. He had a long track record of producing and they felt he'd be an upgrade at first base and would fit in well with the team and culture. We can go back and forth on this but do they have regrets on signing him? Again knowing what they knew at the time they make the same decision. It hasn't worked out the way they envisioned but let's see how he does down the stretch and in the playoffs (if they make the playoffs). I'm sure Nook could shed further light on this but from what I've been told Crane does his due diligence and makes a decision and isn't the type to sit around questioning himself.
That's whats frustrating. For the most of last season we had worse options at backup catcher...a broken Jason Castro who was forced to retire early, AAA Korey Lee for a brief stint, and then Vasquez after the trade deadline yet. We have a much better, reliable option this season with Diaz and Maldy is playing even more than last season. It's like the better the alternative option is, the less likely Dusty will play them..I guess out of spite or ego? Dusty played Maldy more than he needed to after Click acquired Vasquez last season. Maldy was playing with major injuries and still got almost every start toward the end of the season.
You're SO full of $h!t. Yes Crane is a "complete mess" and doesn't know what he's doing. The same man who has been in charge of this historic run should be "embarrassed" and is a "complete mess". Good grief there are some Fn IDIOTS on here and this clown is at the top of the list.
I don’t think the issue with Montero was the money, it was the fact that he had one good season prior to receiving that contract. That’s a lot of money (for a reliever) to commit on a very limited track record. Moreover, why would playoff performance matter in the slightest when making that deal? How much did Peña’s brilliant offensive campaign in the post-season end up mattering this year? For Abreu, there was a cheaper and much less risky alternative in Bell. While Abreu had good top line numbers in 2022, he achieved them in a very different way than he did in the past which, given his age, would have scared off someone smarter like Click. I think Brantley is the biggest embarrassment however. Signing a guy to a position of need when he’s not even healthy and may not be healthy the following season? Really? No way Click does something that lazy.
Pretty big difference between hiring people to do something, and doing it yourself. I would have thought this past off-season would have made that clear to everyone, but apparently not.
