Just me, I wouldn't have re signed Brantley just like Yuli Soto was $23M for one year Abreu is probably more like 38 than 36. They Albert Puljos'ed us I would be convincing Yordan Alvarez to play first base. I know he wants to play outfield; but my 5 year old nephew wants to drive a big rig tractor. Save Yordan from injuries. If possible. Soto....... McCormick....... Tucker .......................Pena............Altuve Bregman ............................................Alvarez ...................................Maldy But Diaz developed before Cory Lee Pitching got hurt.....part of the game.
Just me, I wouldn't have re signed Brantley Soto was $23M for one year Abreu is probably more like 38 than 36. They Albert Puljos'ed us I would be convincing Yordan Alvarez to play first base. I know he wants to play outfield; but my 5 year old nephew wants to drive a big rig tractor. Save Yordan from injuries. If possible. Soto....... McCormick....... Tucker .......................Pena............Altuve Bregman ............................................Alvarez ...................................Maldy But Diaz developed before Cory Lee Pitching got hurt.....part of the game.
How could I forget dusty… lol yeah this year year could turn out to be a bad one , with missing the playoffs, butttt I don’t think our contending window is anywhere near closing. Diaz/ Chaz/ JP/ should step into starting roles next year. Mccullers / Garcia making their way back. Future is still very much bright as long as we got Altuve / Alvarez/ bregaman/ tuck/ core.
The problem is that Soto is $23M for 1 year, but $30M+ next year and 1) would have cost 3+ legitimate no doubt talents to get and the Astros don't have many. Maybe Hunter Brown, Jeremy Pena and Yainer Diaz (all pre 2023 values)? 2) The Astros can't trade away that amount of talent and then let him walk, so they must offer him at least a $30M+ AAV contract for 6 years ( extreme get laughed at low ball offer) which would take them out of the market for guys like Framber, Tucker, and Bregman after 2024-2025. By then this team is the Angels with 3-4 stars and a bunch of nobodies.
Are you sure? Sportrac just shows it as one season: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/san-diego-padres/juan-soto-25959/ _________ Juan Soto age 24 (put up numbers last year like few his age have done before) $23M __________ Raf Montero $11.5M (age 33) Jose Abreu $19M (age 36....supposedly) ................ = $ 30M + Michael Brantley $12M. ................ = $ 42 Million [but Apache! Extensions?] Montero and Abreu are multi-years [ where is the..... But extensions?] ------------- Soto if you rent him one year buys time for: McCormick, Dubon, Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford Had Maldonado at catcher: Korey Lee, Diaz. Only weak spot would be 1st base. I guess Singleton is/was or next man up? With Diaz? But Soto stats with our team.....whoa-wow: 2023 w/SD Padres: 549 AB, 92 runs. 150 hits, 33 HR's, 127 walks, .273 BA, .922 OPS (All Star) But this is managerial stuff.....fire Baker because he only plays seniors and some juniors but never plays sophomores or freshmen. But Pena, Christian Javier, Fram Valdez, Luiz Garcia were all kinda like freshmen last season......so, what? Should've played more McCormick: made Ryan Clifford and Drew Gilbert available. Should've played Diaz more behind the plate: Reincarnation of Mike Piazza Should've played Jose Abreu less.
Regardless of how the rest of this season plays out, I still believe Houston has a good chance to field the best team they’ve ever had next season. Start with 7 healthy hitters with elite projections, plus Pena and either Dubon or Meyers (or a bat added from outside). In the rotation will be 2 ToR arms and 7 other arms with quality big league innings on their resume. The bullpen brings back 4 relatively proven high leverage arms. They will have at least some payroll flexibility. If Crane is motivated, he could use money this offseason to field one of the deepest 26 man rosters in history as well as rebuild the farm system. The window might close after 2024 or 2025 (I’m not saying that’s likely, but it’s possible), but next years team will certainly be a contender. Given the thread topic, I suppose it’s worth noting that I do hope there’s a different manager next season.
The playoffs for us pretty much started yesterday. Let's hope we get playoff Dusty versus regular season Dusty.
Yordan is not my first choice for 1B. I like the height. But I think he lack the quick twitch required for the infield. He has speed, but it takes a bit to get started. I know I'm a lone ranger at this point, but I still think Abreu is our guy. 2024 Starters C Diaz 1B Abreu 2B Altuve 3B Bregman SS Pena LF Alvarez CF McCormick RF Tucker DH ??? SP1 Verlander SP2 Valdez SP3 Garcia SP4 Javier SP5 McCullers SP6 Urquidy SP7 Brown SP8 France I want to plan on a 6 man rotation from the get go. Unless we lose starters in training camp, we should have a plethora of starting pitching, some of which should make relievers to replace those lost.
Most big body baseball players are put at first base. The Big Hurt Frank Thomas David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Jason Giambi, Mark McGwire, Andres Galarraga, Prince Fielder, Will Clark, Glenn Davis. Etc Often position players get older and are moved to first base to prolong their careers. Yuli was a third baseman that we moved to first base. To prolong his career. If Yordan doesn't want the boring DH role.... then welcome to first base. Eventually you will end up there. Get use to it or be out of the league sooner rather than later.
Bottom line is due to injury the Stros have been unable to overcome Dusty this year. Hopefully they win out and go on a run. But I doubt that happens.
Yeah- if we get a LF that’s good and shoot maldonado into the sun and give Dusty his farewell parting gift this 2024 team could win like 110 games if they stay healthy and come in with a chip on their shoulder and ready to get after it. I believe Abreu is fixed and he will be a 110-120 ops going forward. You have the following as realistic OPS+ Diaz- 140 Abreu- 120 Altuve-140 Peña- 110 Bregman- 130 Yordan- 170 Chas-130 Tucker- 150 LF- Teoscar Hernandez type- 110 That might be the greatest offense ever assembled.
With Alvarez, Altuve, and Abreu all on the roster it is going to be pretty crowded at DH. I am a defense first guy and I do not see a future for Abreu or Altuve as full time position players. If Abreu is indeed fixed at the plate he is still a bad defender and Altuve is deteriorating defensively as we speak. Of the three Alvarez in LF has the best outlook as a defender going forward. Altuve is an Astro for as long as he cares to be and rightfully so, but he is not going to be able to field second base for much longer. Abreu is the same story without the history as an Astro. You are going to have to get used to Alvarez in left field and perhaps Melton at first base in order to keep Altuve on the team for the next few years.
The Abreu signing has the stench of Bagwell’s analytics hatred all over it. They signed him to prove a point, which backfired spectacularly. Bagwell doesn’t need EV, bat speed, or any other nerd driven data from people who have never played the game. All he needs to see is the back of a baseball card. Get Bagwell the hell out of the front office. He’s worse as an executive than he is on the radio, and that’s really saying something. He’s an old school dinosaur that’s probably still pissed at all the bat flips and fun today’s game has. Eff Bagwell. He’s been as bad as Dusty.
McCullers needs to be treated similar to Javier --- 90 PC limit and a skipped-start once a month. Insanity is doing the same repeatedly and expecting a different result, and neither player has proven being anywhere close to a workhouse in their careers. Load management begins in April. Hopefully they can throw 5 innings to qualify.
I agree, I was a big Bagwell fan when he played. And that's knowing he was taking Creatine before it was banned. But his anti-analytics stick is lame. I get the loyalty for Michael Brantley, but Yuli showed us how much a player production falling off a cliff or not playing due to injury can hurt a team trying to win a championship. I remember some saying that Brantley was struggling with his shoulder and might not even play all season (prior to signing). Albert Pujols signed that big contract with the Angels and his production dropped off the cliff. Many speculate that his age is actually greater than what was reported to scouts. Countries on the islands lack the birth keeping records that accurately log the people's true dates. It's a crap shot. Jose Abreu falls under that same scope. Is he really 36.....or 39? His strike zone coverage is awful. Perhaps the back injury. His stretch at first base is non existent and costs Altuve, Pena, and Bregman nailing the base runners. Again back problems? Can come with age. Montero I thought signed at $9M and I thought it was a bad signing. Now that I see it's $11.5M....even worse. He's thrown a couple good games but my goodness, he's being paid like a shutdown closer. Yes, Bagwell needs to locked out of the front office and just stick with clubhouse socializing. Story telling 101
I agree, I was a big Bagwell fans when he played. And that's knowing he was taking Creatine before it was banned. But his anti-analytics stick is lame. I get the loyalty for Michael Brantley, but Yuli showed us how much a player production falling off a cliff or not playing due to injury can hurt a team trying to win a championship. I remember some saying that Brantley was struggling with his shoulder and might not even play all season (prior to signing). Yuli woke up some during the PO's but what if he didn't. Albert Pujols signed that big contract with the Angels and his production dropped off the cliff. Many speculate that his age is actually greater than what was reported to scouts. Countries on the islands lack the birth keeping records that accurately log the people's true dates. It's a crap shot. Jose Abreu falls under that same scope. Is he really 36.....or 39? His strike zone coverage is awful. Perhaps the back injury. His stretch at first base is non existent and costs Altuve, Pena, and Bregman nailing the base runners. Again back problems? Can come with age. Montero I thought signed at $9M and I thought it was a bad signing. Now that I see it's $11.5M....even worse. He's thrown a couple good games but my goodness, he's being paid like a shutdown closer. Yes, Bagwell needs to be locked out of the front office and just stick with clubhouse socializing. Back in my day story telling 101
