So are the Astros now committed to entering the first tier of penalties for the LT or would it still be possible/practical for them to dump salary by the trade deadline to get them underneath the LT?
Got podcast #40 up on breathing orange fire. We talked about what the Astros will likely do (sign a backup catcher and one relief pitcher) before the signing of Vic the dick, and then we engaged in some offseason fantasy stuff. Fun and not serious pod to dream on, but got to some real issues down the road this franchise is going to face in 25 or 26. rate, review subscribe. Thanks!
The George Yankees making a reappearance? They are already estimated $19M over the CBT and in year 3 of being over. Would also be a weird use of resources when you have Judge & now Verdugo plus your top 3 prospects all play the OF, with the top one performing great in limited MLB appearances.
He is about a .700% OPS guy. He also has a solid contact rate and can draw a walk when needed. He isn't a world beater but does a lot solidly. We have gone from .606 OPS with Maldonado to an OPS of .711 last year.
It will depend on where the Astros are at the deadline and if they have a little luck the rest of this Winter. There are players that they are willing to add salary for but they won't just add payroll to do it.
Definitely don’t like Soto going to the Yankees. Also any news on Ohtani? Really hoping it’s not an AL team.
Astros are close to LT and can probably get under it through either trades. On FanGraphs, they have the Astros estimated being over by about $400K. Though they seem to be including Neris's buyout. Unless his contract was weird or this is some paper money for luxury tax calculation purposes involving mutual options, he doesn't get the buyout. I've seen reports that he gets the buyout, though the media can get things like this wrong. Typically, the player only gets the buyout if the team is buying him out of his contract (i.e., the team doesn't exercise its part of mutual option). My understanding is that Neris did not exercise his part of the mutual option terminating the contract (i.e., there was no contract left for the Astros to buy out, and they would likely have not bought him out).
I have been hearing statements like this about the Yankees for 30 years. NYY never misses out on a free agent because they can't afford him, and payroll never stops them from making a move. If an overpaid player doesn't pan out, they will just overpay the next one. The reason the Yankees haven't won a title in 15 years despite spending more than everybody isn't because they get payroll strapped, it's because they haven't learned that you can't build a championship team by buying a roster alone. Every year a more carefully constructed team beats them.
I know that Cashman has a lot of pressure on him to do something big - and Soto is a top 5 bat in baseball..... but the Soto thing is weird for a few reasons. The names the Yankees are linked to moving for Soto are not big names, but useful players that the Yankees would have to replace.... and then they are paying Soto over $30,000,000 this season and they will have to resign him at market cost.
Why am I getting this feeling that the Astros nearly done already? Maybe some small deals and moving parts around to get under the tax. Going with what they got and hoping Lance, Whitley or Garcia make a big splash? Maybe I am wrong. Hopefully.
Still mindblown that a line-up of Tatis, Soto, Machado, and Bogaerts with Snell/Darvish pitching couldn't make the post-season. And this was with Ha-Seong Kim playing like an All-Star.
