Hold off on that appreciation. They’re trying to keep him. Spoiler General manager Dana Brown said the Astros’ hope is Montero will accept an assignment to Triple-A if he clears waivers, which is all but certain to happen given the size of his contract. Montero could reject the assignment and become a free agent because he has more than five years of MLB service time. Brown said the Astros were “optimistic” that Montero, 33, would accept the assignment to Triple-A but will give him time to talk with his family and agent before making a decision. Montero has a 4.70 ERA in 41 relief outings this season and had a negative-0.9 WAR, according to FanGraphs. “We realize that Montero has been going through a rough patch,” Brown said. “He’s been really good for this organization … and I think he realized he was struggling and he was frustrated. So we’re really trying to lock down our bullpen, and we felt like this would really help our bullpen. Our guys have been grinding through the whole year, so we just want to bring in some reinforcements.” Espada said there are “some areas we pointed out to him” that Montero would work on if he remains in the organization. Espada offered few specifics but said they are things Houston’s coaches had brought to Montero’s attention amid his struggles this season and before Wednesday’s decision. “In the minor leagues, you have a little more freedom to go and try new things, so that’s what we encourage Montero to do if he clears waivers,” Espada said. “It’s more pitch usage than anything. He’s healthy; his stuff is really good. We just need him to build some confidence.” Espada said his conversation with Montero — who is out of minor league options, unlike Abreu when the Astros sent him to the minors — was “very difficult” given his tenure with the team. Brown said Montero was “very receptive” and “talked about how much this organization did for him” during their discussion. “We just said what could potentially happen: ‘Look, if you go down and you fix some of the things that we’re accustomed to seeing, like the slider and pitching in and things like that, there’s an opportunity where you can come back,’ ” Brown said. “The door is definitely open for him to come back if he accepts this assignment.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...ontero-designated-for-assignment-19610222.php
Another Reggie Jackson, Jeff Bagwell special! Crane must REALLY like these guys if they're still friends after Abreu and Montero. That's a LOT OF MONEY flushed right down the toilet.
Dana Brown - I hope to keep him. Astros Fans - That is a Lie. Jim Crane - Someone please take him so I don't pay him.
Literally any move that goes south is for some reason pinned in Bagwell. It's gotten past the point of funny all the way to aggravating. He is not now, nor has he ever been the f**king GM of this baseball team, shadow or otherwise.
Idiot Roundtable Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Reggie Jackson, Enos Cabell, Dana Brown. Toronto Scout Cavan Biggio. Expensive Contracts Jeff Bagwell Jose Abreu - $58.5 million - Released Rafael Montero - $34.5 million - Released Dana Brown Josh Hader - $94 million Mediocre this year Cristian Javier -$64 million - Out for Season Justin Verlander - 2nd Time with Expensive Contract and trading away Drew Gilbert, Ryan Clifford Jeff Luhnow Lance McCullers - $85 million 2025 last year Too much incompetence. Trading away prospects to Toronto and International Money, Prospect to the Yankees. Astros are literally destroying themselves in their Foundation of Latin Players.
I blame all these bad signings on Crane. I felt he had been heavily involved in recruiting and signing these guys (Montero and Abreu). Hader just having a down year, hopefully it picks it up in the playoffs.
I'm starting to like the Kukuchi trade. That one game where Montero just threw only fastballs to all the batters he faced was rigged. He has been so bad that I don't remember him doing any interview in his years with the Astros.
The Ripple Effect Overpay Montero ---> Lose Verlander to the Mets because JV felt underpaid ---> Lose prospects reattaining JV ---> JV injured in '24 (lose more prospects to attain Kikuchi) ---> Still overpaying Montero (and his 5 ERA) Mets paid some of JV's contract for the trade, so at least there's that. The number of injuries to the staff would sink most teams, but Luhnow was so good.
They’re somehow creating scenarios where the Biggio’s are now involved…. Only because Craig was hanging out around stuff while his son was in town playing. Trying to think its still all in jest… but we know that some truly believe these guys are spending their retired free time calling other GM’s, agents, playing hardball, negotiating terms, adding years to deals…. These guys want nothing to do with that sort of stuff. They’re enjoying hard earned retired life. If they want to hang around the ballpark they help built and give some sage advise (being HOFers and what not) as to what they think of possible players, or current players, or future players… its their god damn choice to do so.
18 months ago, the Astros had zero underwater contracts. Now they have 7, 2 of which are completely dead money. Dana Brown was not involved in 3 of them, so if you’re looking for who to blame, it starts with Crane, and Crane himself said he consults with those guys often. How much of the onus falls to those guys, who knows, but Bagwell was front and center during that stretch without a GM, so it’s easy to see why people peg him. And Reggie Jackson is an old school blowhard, so it is easy to see why he’d be a bad influence. I blame Crane (while also crediting him for all the good he’s done; he’s the best owner in Houston sports history). But I don’t think these old guys are “sitting around”. They are highly driven/competitive guys who think they know best. It should come as a surprise to no one that they have Cranes ear and are bending it.
Believe what you want. It’s not as simple as them just “bending his ear” and this automatically leads to contract extension offers. Astros being passed the arbitration window with all their stars plus at a time when they need to continue to compete, and no internal cheaper options, leads to teams having some of these deals. They had holes at 1B, relief pitching, and starting pitching that they were unable to promote from within… thus they signed or extended FA’s. You think Crane likes burning money? He wants to be competitive, especially when he has a team that’s conditioned to going far, but nobody ever mistakes him from just spending to spend, ever.
Pretty much all the success was luhnow and he is gone. At least crane spends money. Maybe a little unwisely.
The Abreu and Montero contracts were bad but no one expected either to be useless. You can't blame injuries on Crane. Sure McCullers had a history but he did help us win. Verlander trade was a good trade and we were a couple of bad Dusty decisions from winning another world series. I never thought I would say it about a Houston fan, but some of you guys are F'ing spoiled. You sound like Yankees fans. It's not like Drew Gilbert has lit the world on fire.
Even if he accepts it that doesn’t mean they will bring him back up again. He’s most certainly going to have the same results at Sugarland.
Underwater due to injury: McCullers, Javier, Graveman, Urquidy Dead money: Abreu, Montero Underwater due to poor performance: Hader, Pressly
Saw this on The Athletic article by Rome. Coaches believed Montero became too predictable with his pitch sequencing, opting to throw his sinker in spots where using a secondary or breaking pitch would’ve been better. “Sometimes at the major-league level when something doesn’t go your way, you’re always going to go to what’s more comfortable for you. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best pitch to throw at the time,” Espada said. If Montero was struggling and his pitch call wasn't working, why not trust what the catcher is calling for in those situations? Can't get any worse.
Man what were the odds Abreu and Montero both would underperform THAT BADLY! I don't remember particularly being the best fan of Montero's deal, but Abreu I was definitely on board.
Again - this had nothing to do with Bagwell. Before the season had ended, the Astros GM and owner had laid out a blueprint to resign Montero and to target Abreu in FA. The only reason Bagwell had any involvement was because Click decided to leave after he was only offered a one year contract. Jeff Bagwell does not decide who the Astros sign or for how much - that are decisions made by the GM and owner.
