15 mil per year for Arenado is probably better than 19 mil per year for Abreu. Arenado will likely still be a good defender while Abreu couldn't catch a cold.
Pretty sure Hernández is currently asking for 4 years. He may end up only getting 3 but it’s not like Houston can just call up his agent and offer $60M/3yrs and it’ll be a done deal.
My bad man I meant it as more of a joke than anything because I know inchan hates baggie. If you look at my reply to his post on x I called him out on it. I really didn’t think anyone would take it seriously
Bagwell has NEVER called the shots. Abreu was agreed to as a target before the Astros were out of the post season the year they signed him - Click was in on Abreu before he left. Bagwell went to meet with and sign Abreu because Abreu had said he was an admirer of Bagwell - and Crane asked Bags to meet with Abreu. Bagwell had nothing to do with the money - Bagwell was just one of a number of guys around Crane… the most influential is Enos Cabell, who is closer to Crane. All of this Bagwell stuff is super overblown. Yes he has opinions and will sometimes voice them to Crane like he did on player development - but his opinion isn’t what Brown or Crane always follow… Cabell, Biggio, several golfers… a lawyer that owns part of the Astros, Mark Cuban (yes) and many others all offer opinions and talk to Crane… and the decisions are ultimately made by Brown or Crane. Even Reggie Jackson - whom the fans and media claimed made major decisions is gone. The huge decisions (Correa/Cole/Verlander/Baker) have seen Crane ultimately make the call but most decisions are made by GM and manager.
Arenado vs RHP 2024 149 games, .284 avg, 11 HRs, 54 RBIs, 38 BBs, .743 OPS Singleton vs RHP 2024 114 games, .258, 11 HRs, 39 RBIs, 41 BBs, .773 OPS I'm good with Singleton vs RHP again (instead of Arenado) at 1B if that's where we intended to play Nolan mostly next year.
I DONT think there was anything wrong with you posting it- a lot of people believe the narrative that Bagwell has manipulated Crane. I only responded because I know for sure it’s false.
Arenado would play 3rd… and just his glove alone is far beyond any value Singleton brings with his bat. Arenado is not quite as good defensively as he was 4-5 years ago, but he is in the discussion for best defensive third basemen of all time. I didn’t see Brooks Robinson or Ron Santo - but Arenado is the best since they retired 50 years ago. Consider that last year Singleton had a defensive war of roughly -1.5 and that Arenado had a defensive war of +1.5.
I was going to say the positives next Arenado Late and Close 2024 .344 BA, 4 HRs, 16 RBIs, 12 BBs, .952 OPS in 90 ABs Arenado with 2 Outs and RISP .283 BA, 0 HRs, 19 RBIs, 7 BBs, .668 OPS in 60 ABs I would like for his 2 out RISP hitting to result in more bombs but it looks like he moves the bases and keeps innings alive. That I can be behind. I really like his clutch stats in the regular season. But if he don't wanna come here then F 'em. I hope he winds up with the Angels
Shouldn’t be dealing any prospects for 33 year old washed Arenado (no matter how “insignificant” the prospects, no matter how much STL pays) Someone nailed it the other day. They’re in this “we’re half in, we’re half out” thing. The middle, the worst spot to be in sports. Can’t trade Tucker (and potentially let Bregman walk) and say you’re all in or better off. (I know, “we didn’t miss him last year and we won’t miss him in the postseason” blah blah blah) Can’t have Altuve, Yordan, Diaz, Hader and say you’re out. They have some money but not a ton of money. They can create some money (Framber, Pressly, Carintini) but again, then you’re subtracting. They have the ‘GM Crane’ dead money coming off next offseason. So you’re not gonna go top of the market, so you might have to go bargain shopping (1 year deals). Or as Snake said, affordable combo meal. Spoiler https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/2024-25-mlb-free-agents.html First Basemen Jose Abreu (38) Pete Alonso (30) – declined qualifying offer Josh Bell (32) Mark Canha (36) Garrett Cooper (34) Bobby Dalbec (30) J.D. Davis (32) Ty France (30) Joey Gallo (31) Paul Goldschmidt (37) Yuli Gurriel (41) Connor Joe (32) Anthony Rizzo (35) Carlos Santana (39) Gavin Sheets (29) Dominic Smith (30) Rowdy Tellez (30) Justin Turner (40) Gio Urshela (33) Christian Walker (34) – declined qualifying offer Jared Walsh (31) Third Basemen Jon Berti (35) Alex Bregman (31) – declined qualifying offer Paul DeJong (31) Brandon Drury (32) Enrique Hernandez (33) Danny Mendick (31) Yoan Moncada (30) Jorge Polanco (31) Josh Rojas (31) Miguel Sano (32) Nick Senzel (30) Donovan Solano (37) Abraham Toro (28) Cole Tucker (28) Luis Urias (28) Gio Urshela (33) Ildemaro Vargas (33) Eric Wagaman (27) Left Fielders Mark Canha (36) Dylan Carlson (26) David Dahl (31) Adam Duvall (36) Nick Gordon (27) Robbie Grossman (35) Austin Hays (29) Teoscar Hernandez (32) – declined qualifying offer Ramon Laureano (30) Manuel Margot (30) Nick Martini (35) Whit Merrifield (36) Tommy Pham (37) Jurickson Profar (32) Eddie Rosario (33) Alex Verdugo (29) Jesse Winker (31) Center Fielders Harrison Bader (31) Garrett Hampson (30) Aaron Hicks (35) Travis Jankowski (34) Manuel Margot (30) Cristian Pache (26) Kevin Pillar (36) Michael A. Taylor (34) Right Fielders Dylan Carlson (26) Adam Duvall (36) Adam Frazier (33) Ben Gamel (33) Avisail Garcia (34) Randal Grichuk (33) Teoscar Hernandez (32) – declined qualifying offer Jason Heyward (35) Connor Joe (32) Bryce Johnson (29) Max Kepler (32) Ramon Laureano (30) Manuel Margot (30) Whit Merrifield (36) David Peralta (37) Tommy Pham (37) Amed Rosario (29) Eddie Rosario (33) Anthony Santander (30) – declined qualifying offer Gavin Sheets (29)
There is no question that in 2024 and 2025 that the dead money on Abreu, Montero and McCullers all have kept the Astros from pursuing that “one elite player” they were missing. They added Hader last year when they didn’t have to- and that was an all in move. Part of the issue is the cost of going to that next tax payer level - it makes a lot of sense to go down this year and then go back into the tax range next year with Montero and Abreu off the books. A lot of hate and anger over Montero, Abreu and McCullers - but extensions/free agents are all a gamble and the Astros have hit on some and not on others. I personally don’t have a problem with the Astros not wanting to give Tucker 450 million dollars because I frankly don’t believe he will be worth it - I would rather target other players and offer extensions to other younger guys. At the end of the day - the Astros are not the Dodgers or Yankees. They are somewhat like the Red Sox but even that’s stretching some… The he Yankees and Dodgers have revenue streams so strong that they can theoretically compete ever single year…. The Astros are like the Red Sox and Cards and Cubs… they have and will spend money, but a lull in the farm system or a few mediocre free agent signings and the finances cannot cover enough to avoid a few seasons of sub optimal contention. Having said that - having seen the Texans, Oilers and Rockets — I am not going to get on board trashing the Astros.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is still the possibility that Arenado could change his mind.
An optimist’s prediction for Houston’s current perceived weaknesses if they were to shockingly stand pat: 1B: Singleton, with an established role for the first time in his career, replicates his performance from Aug-Sep 2024, where he was mostly shielded from lefties. A .250/.340/.500 line puts him as an extremely productive hitter in the strong side of a platoon. Mauricio Dubon takes the 1B duties against most lefties and produces per his career average in that regard, posting a .280/.320/.440 line (wRC+ 111). OF: Chas McCormick re-establishes himself as the only “everyday” OF, reverting to his 2023 form. Zach Dezenzo and Taylor Trammell man the corners. Jake Meyers plays CF against lefties. Yordan Alvarez gets 20-30 games in LF. So against RHP, Dezenzo (wRC+ 131, replicating his 2024 small sample performance), McCormick (wRC+ 114, a repeat of 2023), and Trammell (wRC+ 115, a moderate improvement from his career line, the result of more consistent playing time) are more than fine. Against LHP, McCormick (a Tucker-esque wRC+ 178, as he did in 2023) and Meyers (wRC+ 119, repeat of 2024) are great. The lone reminder of the Astros offseason failures is Dezenzo’s struggles against lefties, which are mitigated by his batting ninth and often being spelled by the trickle down of Diaz taking a day off catching to DH (giving Alvarez a start in LF). SP depth: Brown and Framber are who they are expected to be. Garcia is healthy by opening day and perform to his career norms. Blanco shows a Javier-esque ability to consistently outperform his underlying metrics, repeating his first half of 2024. Arrighetti extends his dominance from Aug 1 of last season through the entirely of 2025. Javier returns in late July as effective as he was prior to injury. Blubaugh, Ullola, Gusto, Gordon, and Kouba form the best AAA rotation Houston has had in years. RP depth: King, Scott, and Ort replicate their 2024 performances to join Abreu, Hader, and Pressly in the best bullpen in baseball. Whitley makes good on his talent, establishing himself as another reliable late inning option. Houston’s front office and coaches continue to mine the minor leagues and waiver wire to bring up undiscovered gems as needed.
