I actually think a lefthanded ( or good vs RHP) bat who can play LF and hopefully some 1B is the biggest need this team has. Experienced, or at least dependable relief pitching is #2. Starting pitching is the one thing that there is no room to add (without also subtracting) Based on 6 innings per game in a 162 game season, a rotation needs to cover 972 innings. averages 2022-2023 Framber 199 innings Verlander 169 innings Javier 155 innings Brown 141 innings (includes minors) Urquidy 114 innings France 133 innings (includes minors) That's 911 innings, leaving just 61 (or 10 starts) needed for McCullers and/or Garcia after the all star break, Bielak, Dubin, Blanco, and Arrighetti. And also don't forget that doesn't include Javier and Brown ramping up to pitch more innings as top 4 starters over a full season. If healthy, each of those pitchers can exceed those averages. If 1 is hurt the others can absorb their innings easily. Unless it's a TOR impact starter, then there is no need to add to the rotation.
A poster on another site who claims to have a source in Houston’s front office is saying Framber is going to be traded to Baltimore or LA for prospects as soon as Yamamoto signs and that Houston is working on a deal to trade Pena to Tampa for Arozarena and a RP. The poster knew about the Verlander trade before it happened and has been right about a couple other predictions. Grain of salt and all that but 2 very impactful blockbuster moves that would surely go a long way to defining Dana Brown’s tenure and determining how competitive Astros will be beyond 2025. I still think trading Framber makes a lot more sense if they are making room for Yariel Rodriguez and think Rodriguez will be extremely good (and are very optimistic about Javier, Garcia, and Brown).
My guess is LA but NY wouldn’t surprise at all. Blue Jays and Phillies are dark horses. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/report-giants-out-of-bidding-for-yoshinobu-yamamoto.html
Jeremy Pena. Based on everything he said, this is what I would expect the roster to end up looking like: 2B Altuve (extended) 3B Bregman DH Alvarez LF Arozarena RF Tucker 1B Abreu C Diaz CF McCormick SS Dubon Bench: Caratini, Meyers, Kessinger, Singleton SP: Verlander, Javier, Brown, Yariel Rodriguez, Urquidy, France RP: Pressly, Abreu, Shawn Armstrong, Graveman, Montero, Whitley, Coleman McCullers returns in August (replaces Coleman if everybody stays healthy) Garcia returns in July (replaces France if everybody stays healthy) Framber brings back Colton Cowser and 2 good pitching prospects from Baltimore.
Just finished it. Really liked it. Very insightful especially as I'm not a finance guy. I would be interested in a future outlook (roster and potential/projected results not finances) podcast. Maybe breakdown positions or areas by WAR and context how it should result in wins/playoff appearances year by year focusing on which year various players are FA and how that affects the window? Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
Kidnapping and assault Think Crane would sign off on it after the previous crap? I know the media has kept off that story but if he came here it would only take 1 media member to call out the organization again
It's not much different than '23 especially with Framber's playoff issues. And it could be upgraded at the deadline.
You’d be banking on Hunter Brown taking the next step to fill a major gap in the rotation- and obviously counting on Mccullers and Garcia coming back and making an impact THIS year. But man… if Framber was to bring back Cowser plus a couple prospects- all of a sudden you have the ammo to make another midseason pitching acquisition if need be(whether in the form of a Chas based package or a Cowser based package). As for the Pena deal- after the Wander Franco fiasco, I wondered if the Rays would kick the tires on Pena. He seems exactly like the type of guy the Rays would value. Adding Arozarena would give the Astros the best lineup in the AL (plus he gets to be closer to Mexico- since he basically denounced Cuba to become a Mexican Citzen lol)
So you'd trade Framber for prospects so you can trade those prospects to get someone back who's probably not as good as Framber? It seems like people just want to make moves for the sake of it.
Dealing Framber now would be punting on next year, while dealing him with less value. They don’t have a rotation that can compete unless Framber is at the level of 2022 and the first half of 2023. Framber having an amazing season and still having one more year of control would still get the same (if not better) package prospect next year from a team in need of a TOR lefty starter who can throw 200 innings… and the Astros may be more in that mode with Bregman possibly gone and Tucker also going into his last year (although they could also try and win one more with those guys in their pending FA seasons). But yes… all those hungry for prospects should be calling for Framber/Tucker and Bregman to be traded now. The latter two probably have the most value now (as both had a relatively healthy season… may not be the case next year). Or they can just compete in 2024 and win the whole thing as is.
Houston would still have 8 viable SP options, 6 of whom have ToR potential (Verlander, Javier, Brown, McCullers, Garcia, Rodriguez). The sacrifice would be trading away the “certainty” of Valdez to add a longer term piece with more uncertainty in Rodriguez. I do feel like between those 6 guys they’re bound to have at least 2 ready to start playoff games, likely 3, and there’s always the deadline. There’s a world of assumptions in all that. But I think I would really like both those trades, depending on who Baltimore sent with Cowser. Arozarena gives them an elite bat controllable thru 2026 who makes their lineup on par with any I’ve seen. And clearing Framber’s salary to make room for Rodriguez is the kind of risk I think Houston should take if they want to take a stab at avoiding a rebuild without sacrificing too much in 2024-2025.
The Rangers just won the WS with one of the shittiest top to bottom pitching staffs of the last 10 years.
