Great players can adjust to new positions and excel at it. Put as much talent on the roster as you can. Biggio at C. Bagwell at 3B. Bregman at SS. Berkman at RF. Gurriel at LF.
Tough loss for the Ms…love to see it! Got the first two outs in the 8th before giving up 3 to lose the game. Ty France pulled a Jose Abreu on the base hit that won the Rays the game lmao
Close game winning 'skills' not skilling tonight. Astros have cut the 10-game deficit in half in a week. .
Rangers and Mariners both lose; it's a good day. Too bad they didn't gain any ground in the wild card today, but oh well.
I don't think it reflects on Abreu personally, who I see as a professional and certainly not as a clubhouse cancer type, but it's hilarious how quickly the atmosphere around the team changed once he was released lol.
I think Abreu is a cool guy overall -- the swag with the unbuttoned jersey and chain hanging. And it's doubtful he wasn't trying his best to perform. He just had a dramatic Guinness-level decline. The manner the Astros lost some games this season -- like the error vs Washington while Pressly was on the mound already struggling (butt-hurt) previously in the season -- had to permeate throughout the clubhouse. Losing leads late in games and losing late in games is a demoralizing circumstance. OTOT, if Abreu had hit better early-mid and late in games, those same late-leads or tie games would have equaled more room for error in the first place -- but it never happened. Nothing personal against Abreu, he just ended up being a terrible signing -- the decline happened almost instantly. Thank God Pressly has finally *seemingly* accepted his 8th reality. His feelings have caused 2-3 losses this season.
What I mean by that is the approach of "sure he sucks now, but look at his historically good production, he will come around." It didn't work with Abreu and I don't want to try it again with someone else either.
In order to maximize success a team should always be willing to try this in the right situation. Look at Cody Bellinger. Players sometimes have bad years. Often they recover. It's like bluffing in poker. You can't maximize your wins without doing it. It's just a matter of how often and what situation you choose to chance it. And, of course, how much you risk.
Why would he suddenly accept this role if he was truly that impacted by it as you suggest? He’s got a 2.48 FIP and a 2.91 xFIP on the season. I think it’s much more likely his luck is finally changing and the results are finally starting to fall in line to what his advanced stats would suggest. Meanwhile, Montero is the exact opposite case.
I've been preaching LUCK all season -- you know that. Whatever case whether luck or acceptance... good for the Astros. Seattluck is about to feel the real fire. DYNASTY
It's not that he's washed up. It's that he was overperforming his talent level and never as good as he looked and Admittedly, performed. You can't take away what he accomplished, but if there are major red flags that it's not sustainable, it's foolishness to expect it to continue. The Astros got more than they could have expected out of Chas. If he ever reestablishes trade value they should trade him, especially since his arbitration salary will continue to rise, but guys making minimum are just as good or better.
