Kikuchi was a free agent. Do you know what that means? You can't say it was a B L U N D E R because they had no power in the decision. Historically, Asian players gravitate to the coasts and Kikuchi's wife is a former model, singer, and TV personality- what are the odds he was simply going to LA or NY no matter what? I wish he was here but the Astros had no control over the decision.
Even if he wanted to come back, we were never going to prioritize a SP over a bat. Further, we were never going to go over the luxury tax again, especially in the offseason, so they weren't going to sign both Kikuchi and Walker. People don't seem to understand it's not just about the money but also the draft penalties that come with being over the tax.
Once again, they were never going over the luxury tax this offseason. Hindsight 20/20, yes, the money would have been better spent on Kikuchi than Walker. That said, we are 10th in SP ERA with LMJ hopefully being exiled soon with the return of Arrighetti and Javier. We are 15th in runs scored. So no, starting pitching hasn't been a bigger issue than the offense. You can cry about the FO signing another bust at 1B but it was absolutely the right move getting a bat instead of a re-signing Kikuchi.
I actually wanted them to bring in another SP (and trade Framber) but my point is free agents are free to go where they want You can't blame a team for a free agent leaving unless it is confirmed he wanted to return and they did not offer, or low-ball offered him. And that was not in any reports. And for the record, the Kikuchi deal was a great value for any team and I wish he had chosen Houston.
Yeah, you aren't wrong but Stros4bros seems to think we should have kept Framber and signed Kikuchi like we have unlimited money (hell he's even in here saying we should have offered way more to entice him to re-sign with us). We were never going to add a $20M+ starter and a $20M bat this offseason while also keeping Framber and his $18M. That's my point - it really didn't matter what Kikuchi wanted. Although, I do agree he likely wanted to be on the west coast.
No where did I say or imply that. It's pretty clear they do not have the funds to resign Valdez, have known that for a while, and are once again letting a marquee talent run down their contract for absolutely nothing. All you need is an ounce of foresight to see resigning Kikuchi was a no brainer instead of relying on a bunch of question of marks and call ups. They are at a severe disadvantage in games Framber and Brown do not start, and next year, you won't have Framber.
I don't think it is the lack of funds. It is the years. They won't give him 6 years. They would do 3, maybe 4 but after that no. His starting point in years is probably 5 and wants 6. I also don't think many other teams will want to do his year total either. The Astros might be thinking the same thing, so then it might become easier to re-sign him than say it would have been to re-sign Tucker. Thus they kept him this year (and they evidently didn't get an over the top offer like they wanted).
I think that's a reasonable standard and one that has worked really well for the Astros. You just have to accept that you'll never sign a top-tier free agent. The people that will sign under those terms all come with risks or caveats. You'll get the Christian Walkers or Jose Abreus instead of the Bregmans and Tuckers.
So you didn’t want to keep Framber AND sign Kikuchi? Are you saying you wanted to trade Framber and sign Kikuchi? We weren’t signing Walker and Kikuchi while keeping Framber this season. I don’t understand what you are confused by here.
This is a very risk averse approach. Nothing wrong with that except you will never sign a FA hitter under the age of 30 or pitcher under the age of 33 unless they are role players or platoon starters. You will ALWAYS get outbid for all-stars. You better have the best scouting and player development in the game. And you must adopt a philosophy of trading away all pending FAs so you get talent for them. Or you can simply just not care about winning.
I do not want to sign players who are already stars in free agency. I want to make stars of our young players. I want to extend our own players. Free agents are for suckers. If you are hoping to build and maintain a team by hiring star free agents you are already a loser.
IMO completely eliminating yourself from any avenue of roster building is what is for Tucker's. As soon as you refuse to consider something within the rules that your competitors do you are giving them a competitive advantage.
What? Pending FAs provide talent from August through the postseason. If you have a team contending, trading away short-term talent for long-term talent should only be done if the opposing team makes a stupid good offer. I'd put the Tucker trade in the stupid good offer category. I think trades like the Tucker trade don't come around often.
Extending your own players is no different than signing a FA in terms of cost. Altuve, Bregman, etc didn't take below-market offers to be extended. The only differences are that you already know those players and the draft pick compensation involved. But Bregman or Tuckre would cost you the same $$ whether he's a FA on another team or already an Astro. If signing them as a FA is a sucker move, then so is extending them.
This is not exactly correct. When extending ( player has not reached FA yet) lower salaries allow for a lower AAV which affects budget and allows for additional spending under CBT. Look at Bregman's extension. He made $30M his final 2 seasons but only counted at $20M $10M to spend is significant, considering the Astros got Victor Caratini, Steven Okert, and Brendan Rodgers as FA for $9.2M this season.
