Whitley and Dubin are out of options so will be on the roster if healthy unless they have a really really bad spring. That’s 7 and I think the last spot will go to an extra SP or bulk RP (Gusto, Gordon in the lead), but I could also see Montero in there.
If the Astros don’t have any viable trades in the works, I would like them to target OF Mark Canha, SP Andrew Heaney, and RP Hector Neris on cheap one year deals (maybe give Heaney a vesting player option for a 2nd year). If they can’t contend on star power, they may be able to moneyball it and contend on depth.
My barber is close with Urquidy. Said he was heartbroken when he got released. Loves living in Houston. I didn’t know the reason Astros got him was because of Osuna. They are childhood friends and he pushed the Astros to look at him. also says osuna was a maniac. Drugs and hookers daily. cool story bro.
I hope I’m wrong but I feel locked montero is a lock for a spot. They probably want to see if they can squeeze anything out of him.
You mean the Astros traded for Osuna because of Urquidy? Because Urquidy was in the Astros system in 2015 and they didn’t get Osuna until 2018.
We did Bregman talk and pitchers and catchers talk. this was my prediction for Yainer. 5 WAsr all star 140 or 150 ops+ type season that stakes his claim he will be a top catcher for the next 5 years or so.
From your lips to the ears of the almighty. A development like that would go a long way to reopening the window. This is such a defining season for the Astros. They essentially only have 1 meaningful free agent after this season (Framber) and should have some payroll flexibility with the Abreu/Montero contracts coming off the books. If they field a good team this season, there’s really no reason they can’t field equally good teams in 2026 and 2027. An ultimate optimist’s prediction: Diaz, Walker, Altuve, Paredes, and Yordan are all top 5 performers at their position. Melton and Dezenzo get ROY votes and solidify the OF. McCormick and Pena perform at their career peaks. Arrighetti, Brown, and Blanco further establish themselves as ToR SP. McCullers, Javier, and Garcia finish the year fully healthy and looking like their career norms. Hader and Abreu perform as 2 of the top 10 RP in the league. Houston continues to show their ability to mine the farm and waiver wire to acquire productive RP as Scott, Ort, Whitley, Dubin, King, and others form the deepest bullpen in the league. The farm takes a big step forward as the system purges the last remnants of the sign stealing penalties and provides bulk evidence that Dana Brown truly is a scouting and development genius.
We talked a lot about Arrighetti. My contention mirrors yours a bit that if Arrighetti is really good and brown and Framber are all stars bring for ace status this team will be World Series quality. If Arrighetti and Brown are both top 10 starters in the AL between now and this free agency this window is wide open. I think both those things happen if their arms stay intact. what you are taking about is a 105 the win team. We certainly only need about 1/2 that to go right to be a legit WS contender. None of it is outlandish. episode 91 breathing orange fire on Spotify apple or whatever trash ass place y’all get pods. Got carried away and went for a while. Nonsense is front loaded this time
I don’t have that level of faith in Arrighetti, but I am hopeful about Houston’s starting pitching overall. They have 10+ guys with potential to be ToR P and only need 3 of them to hit to field one of the best rotations in the league for the next couple of seasons at least. Whether that comes from Arrighetti/Blanco/Wesneski taking another step, Javier/Garcia/McCullers getting/staying healthy, or the farm producing (Blubaugh, Ullola, Pecko, Gordon, Gusto, Hicks) they’ve got several paths. It’s the same with the OF. They have 10+ guys with potential to be 3 win players, and they only need 3. Whether it’s McCormick rebounding, Meyers or Trammell having an unexpected late bloom, or any number of prospects (Dezenzo, Melton, Matthews, Leon, Whitcomb, Corona, Smith, Cole, Baez, Williams, Barber) breaking out, they have a lot of avenues to have a good OF by midseason. This season could be the end of the road. Altuve and Walker could decline rapidly, Alvarez get hurt, Pena/Diaz/Paredes fail to evolve, no prospects emerge, pitching gets hurt, etc. But it also could be the start of a new era.
I think the starting pitching will reveal itself in due course because depth will get tested as the season moves forward, and as/if we move to six man rotation, the OF candidates are tricky because getting exposure for all 10 will be tough, so it is a matter of the right candidates getting the opportunity and making the most of it. I suppose one or more of them can “force the issue” by murdering AAA, but that might not translate to MLB. The league is littered with AAAA guys, 4th and 5th outfielders.
Just thinking about how much went wrong for Houston last season: Their best position player (Tucker) missed half the season. Their projected 6th best position player (McCormick) completely cratered. Their projected 6th best hitter (Abreu) died. They called up 5 different rookie position players (Loperfido, Cabbage, Whitcomb, Dezenzo, Leon) and none of them posted a wRC+ better than 89. Their Hall of Fame pitcher 1 year removed from a Cy Younc award only threw 90 innings with a 5.48 era. Their $11M 7th inning RP posted a -0.9 fwar. They had 6 of their top 8 SP (Verlander, McCullers, Javier, Garcia, Urquidy, France) miss at least 50% of the season, and 3 of their top 6 SP combined for a total of 7 starts. Especially on the pitching front, they’re due some good luck.
I'm not really confident. I'm happy with the run we've had. If they prove me wrong (which is definitely going to depend on pitching) think we'll all be pleased
It’s not just last year 23 was pretty damn unlucky as well. When you factor that in winning the division both years is pretty remarkable, speaks incredibly well of the Astros organization, and makes me believe that all the doomsayers are wrong. OT’s unlikely we get that unlucky 3 years in a row, and with just neutral luck I think this is a 90 or 92 win team with the potential to win 100 if they get 3 or 4 things breaking right for them and stay relatively healthy.
Too much depends on yordans knee. Our lineup without Yordan is frighteningly shallow and without thump. I will be pissed if we don’t have at least 9 staff members dedicated to his health every minute of the day.
I agree. Yordan is the only truly dominant player in the lineup and losing him would likely be a death blow to Houston’s title hopes. That was one thing I missed about Correa (and will miss about Tucker); he added a 2nd unlimited bat that could take over a game at any time. Walker, Paredes, Diaz, and yes even Altuve are good hitters but clearly a tier below Yordan (and Tucker). If Houston is going to have a good year, they’re going to do it with depth, not star power.
