Altuve needs to stay for sure. you and I are of the same opinion on Tucker being gone. They should probably let Framber walk. He will be old, with a lot of innings, and his pitcher type doesn’t age well. Probably need to extend Bregman as he’s consistent, really good, plays every day and should be affordable in a way Tucker isn’t.
https://www.si.com/mlb/astros/news/houston-astros-outfielder-becoming-star-in-al-west-race-brad9 Houston Astros Outfielder Becoming Star in AL West Race In the middle of their AL West divisional race, the Houston Astros outfielder is becoming a household name. BRAD WAKAI 17 HOURS AGO In this story: HOUSTON ASTROS Coming out of their sweep to the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, the vibes were not good in the Houston Astros' clubhouse. The pitching staff got shelled prompting their ace to call himself trash. A team meeting was held to address what was happening the field as they continue to trail in the AL West standings. Starting a series against the Boston Red Sox on Monday was a chance to put what was said in the meeting into action. One player in particular rose to the occasion and has started cementing himself as a star player within the organization. Outfielder Chas McCormick homered twice in the Astros series opening victory to put them one-and-a-half games back of the Texas Rangers in their division. He hit a three run home run in the fourth inning that extended Houston's lead and put the exclamation point on the game with a solo shot in the eighth inning. McCormick is having his best season in the majors, hitting a slash line of .286/.374/.544 with a career best 19 home runs and 54 RBI through 83 games. The center fielder has cemented himself as one of the most important players on the roster as the Astros look to repeat as World Series champions. That should come as no surprise for anyone that has followed Houston over the years. They've taken relatively unknown players and turned them into stars. Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve were the first, Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez played their way into that status and 2022 World Series MVP Jeremy Pena followed suit. McCormick could be the next name on that list if he continues this level of play. Chomp. Chomp.
Regarding extensions, I hope something gets done for Tucker. That said, I think Chas, Meyers, and Diaz extended into a couple of FA years would be much cheaper options, but also have a lot of years to spread out their FA money. 2026-2028 look to be very expensive years if the Astros want to compete and don't spread out some of these guys' money.
People are sleeping on Framber Valdez. He led the league in innings in the regular season last year (70 more than he had ever pitched), then in the playoffs he lead the league in innings as well. He then pitched in the WBC........ and now is pitching again this season and is third in the league in innings pitched. It was inevitable that he was going to hit a tough patch, because physically he has done a lot. His advanced stats are the same as in the past - he is the same pitcher as last year, his walk rate is better and his groundball rate isn't quite as good. His era was 2.51 for the first half of the season - he got hurt and has been hit around in the second half. He is under contract for two more seasons and he is a bull - the Astros would be smart to try and extend him by a couple years if possible.
The thing that concerns me with Framber is his late game performance this season and the life on his sinker. In seasons past he would soldier through 3rd time/100 pitches without significant issue. This season from pitch 76+ he has an .864 OPS and less than 2/1 K/BB ratio. His sinker also has less vertical movement than ever His velocity is higher than ever, but I think it also directly correlates to his lack of action (and GB%) and late game performance. I don't think he's fatigued so much as he (or somebody) is making a poor choice with him throwing this hard.
I'll be very happy if Tucker and/or Framber get extended this offseason. I just see them as very difficult/expensive to extend and really depends on the player at this point. I think extensions in which the team takes some risk and the players get bank a lot sooner should be easier.
You can't win WS without elite pitching and they're extremely hard to get. Framber is elite and as you pointed out durable. Would be doing everything I could to try and extend him.
I think that a good amount of this is fatigue with both Valdez and Javier. They both pitched more than any point in their careers last year, pitched all the way through the WS and then had the WBC. Both also started out very well this year, then had nagging injuries (which happen with fatigue) and have struggled as the season has worn on. I am not saying that throwing so hard isn't an issue (Dusty Baker has said it is an open question), but I do strongly believe fatigue is a real issue.
Houston doesn’t have any bad LONG TERM commitments, so adding 1 big contract beyond 2025 is not likely to be a huge burden. The real question is 2024-2025 when they have significant numbers for Altuve, Bregman, Alvarez, Abreu, Pressly, McCullers, and JV along with big arbitration classes (Tucker, Framber). They are going to be up against the threshold and extending more than one of those 4 will inevitably put them over. It is really the only thing I think works in favor of them extending Tucker; they can spread his cost out beyond the length of their other big commitments. Until it actually happens I expect them to extend Altuve and let Tucker, Framber, and Bregman walk, counting on the farm and lesser free agents to fill the gap, which is very risky. We could be lookin at a way less talented roster come 2026, but 3 years can be enough time for a farm system to produce 3 good players.
I agree fatigue. What is the solution? It sounds crazy but we need Bielak and Blanco IMO. Six-man rotations and one open day per week is not going to solve this issue -- it only equals an extra 24-48 hours of rest. Framber, Brown, and Javier need WEEKS off -- even if only 2 weeks. Somebody must replace their starts. Then hope the offense continues to slug.
I know making the playoffs should be the main focus but winning the division would be huge because they would get a bye in the first round right? Two teams from the same division can't get byes(Baltimore and TB)even if they both have the top 2 records?
Weird they would trade away two of their best prospects if the plan is to rely on the farm to replenish these losses.
Exactly. Half the starters have been giving Bielak and Blanco results for 2 months while getting no rest. Let Blanco and Bielak get those results while the real starters rest. The offense is nearly full strength now and Verlander and Urquidy are now options.
My guess is that they did that with confidence in at least one of the following: Gilbert, Lee, and Clifford will not pan out into star players. They have enough other prospects that will pan out into star players. They have payroll flexibility to buy star free agents to fill holes that otherwise would have been filled by Clifford/Gilbert/Lee. Only time will tell if their confidence was misplaced.
Unless Crane's plan is the cheap route, it seems the money swapped in the JV trade was to help resign Tucker -- Gilbert being an OF.
