They might have a losing record with Bochy. It's not the manager, it's the AAA players they had to use.
I see no need to make drastic changes. The medical staff is a different story. If Cal Raleigh missed the time Yordan did, the Mariners have a losing record. It all about a historic amount of missed time by our best players.
Just to illustrate the problem. 400+ plate appearances 2023: 9 hitters 2024: 8 hitters 2025: 6 hitters 20+ starts: 2023: 4 2024: 4 2025: 2 I know people are emotional right now, but look at the context. They had a great season considering the adversity. We have 86 wins. The Dodgers and Blue Jays have 6 and 7 more wins. You think if we win the same as them you're feeling what you're feeling now? You think these injuries didn't impact less than 10 games?
I was looking at the final stats for the year on Jake Meyers. Granted he only played roughly half of the year due to injuries. He ended the year with 343 at bats with only 3 hrs and 24 rbis in 104 games played. All 3 of his hr's were on the road and 20 of his 24 rbis were on the road. Zero hrs and only 4 rbis at home. That sticks out like a sore thumb. I watched nearly all of the Astro games and mainly recall how anemic Meyers was in regards to hitting with runners on base. Had no idea that he went the entire season without a single hr at home. Contrast this to Julio Rodriguez CF for the Mariners. Playing roughly twice as many games as Meyers he had 32hrs and 95 rbis. This is the type of analysis position by position Astros need to do to find areas they need to improve going into next year. I would think that if you compared Meyers to every starting center fielder on every team most likely Meyers comes in last place. Facts are the facts. Meyers has never been good on offense. We can do better. Time to move on from Jake Meyers. No matter how good he is on defense and in my opinion he is a bit over rated it does not make up for how weak he is on offense.
Any chance Zach Cole did enough to get himself onto top 100 lists? Trade Jake Meyers Park Zach in the #9 spot Let him strike out 175 times while hitting 35 HR and stealing 35 bases and winning ROY and getting the Astros a PPI draft pick
The guys calling for a re-build are just immature spoiled cry babies. If Alvarez was healthy for his 140 games we run away with the division, even after suffering the most injuries in major league history. Brown is a great GM and we will not miss a beat in continuing to be contenders for at least the next two years and probably longer. All this team needs is health and one TOR pitcher to replace Framber to be right up there with everyone in the league. Cole, Smith, and Blubaugh are the real deals. Espada has to go, but other than that we are positioned for a great year next year with just a solid move or 2. Pena SS (prime) Paredes 1b (prime) Alvarez DH (prime) Altuve 2b (old) Correa 3b (old) Diaz C (young) Smith rf (young) Cole lf (young) Meyers CF (prime) There is also the possibility of one of our other young players stepping up. Dizenzo, Matthews, Melton. If Paredes can play 2b, Cole could go to right, Smith to center and Altuve back to left (yuk). Brown Valdez replacement Blubaugh Arrighetti or 2nd acquisition Pecko, Ullola, Alexander, Wesneski?, Walker? We have the money and the prospects to add 2 starting pitchers if need be just by moving Walker and eating some of his salary, jettisoning one of Dubon or Urias, Sanchez is gone, Chas is gone maybe Caratini (be great if we can keep him). Brown has proven able to build a solid bullpen.
The astros got lucky this year. The mlb is a long season and the astros are just where they were expected to be: out of the playoffs. Most of these players aren't going to be what they were last year. In the end, the astros don't have much talent on this team.
@Nook what do you think of Zach Cole so far? Do you think he'll get an opportunity to compete for CF next year? I know it's a small sample size, but the kid is electric and he's made these last few games at least fun to watch. With Zach in CF and Cam in RF that's a couple of potential young stars we could develop to help our talent pipeline.
I absolutely DO NOT want any kind of rebuild. This team is loaded with aging talent, but its still talent, none the less. They need a manager who uses actual hitting and baserunning strategy and does not overuse 2-3 key relievers, a new 3B coach, a #2 SP, and a back up catcher. Thats all. No rebuild. Walker 1B Altuve DH/ 2B/LF Correa 3B/SS Paredes 3B/1B/2B/DH Yordan DH/LF combine for 4 starting lineup spots. Thats 130 games each. Brown, the new SP, Javier, Blubaugh, Alexander, Arrighetti, Ullola, Gordon, and France fill out the rotation until Blanco and/or Wesneski return ( hopefully around the trade deadline) or trade for a SP at the deadline. Get rid of fringe AAAA relievers without options and expensive, late arbitration guys Sanchez and Urias who aren't worth their salary. Pena is SS and Diaz/ new b-u catcher cover that spot. Dubon is super utility, late inning defensive replacement. That leaves 4 roster spots to cover the OF. Altuve and Yordan will play quite a bit of LF. Smith and Cole have shown enough to be on the roster for at least the first half. Meyers will be on the roster unless traded. Melton, Dezenzo, Trammell, Leon, or Whitcomb could be the last guy. Matthews played some CF in Sugar Land, so maybe he plays 2B but shifts to CF vs LHP when Altuve plays 2B? Give this roster the first half to get established and gel. No need for a rebuild.
You could probably use a therapist. It really isn't that bad. Being 7 games behind the best record with our injuries is a miracle.
Trade Jake Meyers to the Mets. They were looking for an answer in CF all season and are willing to use a defense first guy. Astros get: SP Jonah Tong - #4 prospect who has big K and big BB numbers. Started 5 games in September for the Mets and was very inconsistent. Antonio Jimenez - #18 prospect who is an A ball SS. Defense over bat but with some power. Could be a candidate to replace Pena in 2 years.
I doubt you get those kind of prospects for Myers, but I’m ok with trading him. I personally think Smith, Cole, and Dizenzo would be a better outfield than Smith, Cole, and Myers, especially at the plate.
The problem I have with Jake is that he simply has a very low ceiling and very high floor. At this point, he is what he is: An excellent defender who is great as your 7th or 8th best position player but if he's your 5th or 6th then you are mediocre at best. Entering his 2nd arbitration season, his salary will start catching up to his value. Couple that with Cole's small sample positive impression, top 2 prospects Matthews and Melton both playing CF, and guys like Sullivan moving up the ranks and it just makes sense to open up CF. It also makes sense to change some position players out to help the roster get younger and add some time to "the window". Next year is his age 30 season.
