This is why it seems nonsensical to just give up on Bregman when all the other alternatives are horrific.
I can see a scenario where the Astros aren't really bad next season, but it would require more moves and a lot of luck. Arenado is not one of those moves.
They already offered Bregman 6 years. If he was willing to take that, he would be signed here already. The issue is he wants 8+ years.
I 100% support not giving Bregman an albatross of a contract. We have to face facts, Jim Craine doesn't have all that much money, he simply can't afford to sign contacts that will pay guys absurd amounts of money for several years after their productive careers end. Look up his net worth, then subtract the value of the Astros.... The Astros aren't ever going to be like the Dodgers, Mets, or Yankees who can blow billions trying to buy a World Series, they have to be smart with how they spend... and smart on the lengths of contracts. Without a massive discount in terms of years, the Astros will never sign a true star. The market value will always be too much.
On top of that, am I correct in remembering he’s only just barely the majority owner of the team? Meaning, he has to answer to a significant number of investors for how he’s spending money, making it even more unlikely they’ll ever be spenders on the level of SD, PHI, NYY, NYM, LAD, etc
I’d rather a stud corner outfielder and patch together 1st base. This current outfield stinks and makes every game a six inning game for us.
In their current form, without a ton of luck, they probably have 70 something wins. That's "really bad" by Astros standards.
How did they lose 20 wins from last season? Lmao. If you want to sell me in the low 80s, I think that’s pessimistic, but I can at least buy that.
Yeah, and they are a worse team now. Just look at the projected 5 man starting pitching rotation, even assuming the Astros don't flip Framber....it's like 2 #2 or #3 quality pitchers and 3 #5 quality pitchers. Without adding significant players, AND a ton of luck, the team simply doesn't have the firepower on offense or from the pitching staff to be a legitimately good team.
Well, they are losing 2 career .840+ OPS hitters without quality replacement, and the pitching staff is a mess. That's how. When you replace Correa with Pena, you can survive, but when you make 4 more of those kinds of moves, all of a sudden, you are a LOT worse.
To explain further, Altuve is nearing the end of his productive career, Bregman is gone, Tucker is gone, we still have no first baseman, the outfield looks very AAA quality, the pitching staff will have to rely on guys like Blanco who got SUPER lucky last season with his 2.80 ERA despite the 4.15 FIP and either guys with injury history like Garcia, France, Javier, or Lance McCullers Jr or unproven guys like Arrighetti and Hunter Brown. Nothing about any of that should give fans confidence when it comes to success.
