My current ideal somewhat realistic offseason would have Houston signing Bregman, Canha, and Kikuchi. That would mean Crane authorizing a record payroll for 2025 but it’s not outside the realm of possibility, and the team would be stacked. Altuve Bregman ($220M/8yrs) Alvarez Tucker Diaz Canha ($9M/1yr) Singleton/McCormick platoon Pena Meyers Bench: Dubon, Caratini, Kessinger, McCormick/Singleton Rotation: Framber, Brown, Kikuchi ($55M/3yrs), Blanco, Arrighetti, Garcia Bullpen: Hader, Pressly, Abreu, Scott, Ort, Dubin, Whitley
This is good to me, but I would not expect Cahna to be an everyday player. I'm thinking C: Diaz (65%), Caratini (30%), Salazar (5%) 1b: Singleton (45%), Canha (25%), Dezenzo (20%), Diaz (10%) 2b: Altuve (70%), Dubon (30%) 3b: Bregman (90%), Dezenzo (10%) SS: Pena (90%), Dubon (10%) LF: Yordan (40%), Whitcomb (40%), Canha (20%) CF: Meyers (70%), Dubon (20%), Melton/Leon (10%) RF: Tucker (95%), Canha (5%) DH: Yordan (55%), Altuve (25%), Diaz (20%), Trade Chas, as w/ Canha on this team he (or Meyers) is expendable. Off the top of my head.
Singleton should play everyday against righties which is 70% of the games. You don’t sign Canha if you only plan to play him 50% of the games. Canha’s ability to play 1B and LF allows the Astros to have Singleton (who hit really well this season against RHP) and McCormick (who crushed lefties in his career prior to this season) to effectively platoon, turning 2 mediocre hitters into 1 star level hitter.
I disagree. You Only sign Canha if you expect to play him 50% of the time. Canha has a 93 wRC+ vs RHP so you start him vs LHP which is about 30% and pick and choose when the matchups benefit him and the Astros another 20% of the time. Hopefully Dezenzo and Whitcomb establish themselves and reduce his role even further. He is basically a platoon starter and insurance at this point in his career.
In my mind, bringing in Canha reduces McCormick's importance and role even further. Hopefully Whitcomb and Dezenzo have a decent season and work toward earning more playing time. My perfect 2025 Astros roster is minus either Chas or Meyers.
If that’s what you think of Canha then you won’t be signing him because another team is going to pay him like an everyday player. His current team doesn’t see him as a platoon player. His career numbers don’t paint him that way. He was above average against both sides last season. He is 2 seasons removed from star level performance against RHP. It’s fine if you think he’s declining to the point of being a bench piece, but not all teams see him that way (and neither do I), so he will find a contract/role that warrants everyday play.
Maybe some teams do, but. . . He has 0.7 bWAR in 456 PAs this year, will be 36 next season and is currently playing for his 7th organization, 3rd since last year's trade deadline. I don 't think many, or any teams are ringing his agent's phone to offer him a role starting more than 50% of the time.
He knows how to play 1B. He's not good enough to play 1B full time. He's definitely good enough to be a backup catcher.
Not expecting/wanting to consistently run one of the 3 highest payrolls in the league is a pretty far cry from “ownership and fans acting like the Astros are a poverty framchise.”
Crane has been the most competitive owner in Houston’s sports history, by far, not to mention the most successful. If he says the payroll is maxed out, he’s earned the benefit of the doubt from fans who otherwise have zero actual insight into what the franchise’s payroll capacity and operating income actually are. Giving Crane that benefit of the doubt is a far cry from acting like the Astros are a “poverty franchise.”
I've never, ever said he's not a great owner. I'm pushing back on the idea, whether from fans or management, that there is some sort of ~hard cap and/or they have financial issues preventing spending over it. It's complete bullshit
Well that comment is quite different than anything remotely related to the word “poverty”, which was the original remark I pushed back on. But also, do you actually believe there’s no limit to the payroll the Astros can afford? Who knows how much they are actually bringing in, but based on the numbers from the one franchise whose books are open (Atlanta) and inferring the rest, Houston’s current payroll is likely very close to the maximum they can field without operating at a loss. also, my guess is that 100% of the comments on this site related to payroll maximums are in the context of trying to forecast how much money Houston has to spend each offseason. For that purpose, it doesn’t really matter if there’s a “hard cap”, what matters is what Crane is actually willing to spend. Regardless, it’s really odd that it’s so offensive to you.
Now you're beginning to get it Just don't tell me they "can't afford" Tucker or Bregman or whoever. Does that mean they should issue a blank check? Of course not. But pleading "poor" is a a load of crap.
Do you think the Astros should sign Juan Soto, Alex Bregman, Christian Walker, and Corbin Burnes this offseason? Theres room for them all on the roster. If you say no, you’re “pleading poor”.
