I agree that it was a very short sample size. And I'm mot saying he has earned anything. All I am saying is that it is foolish to dismiss him based on what you think he may do or not do in the future. And that striking out 30+% of the time does not mean you can't be valuable if you have other skills. James Wood had a 32.1% K rate this year. He also had 69 extra base hits with a 132 OPS+ and 3.7 bWAR
It would be “foolish” to go into 2026 with Cole as a starter. The Astros need to sign a legit proven hitter in the OF. We need a couple of good bats. Don’t look for Correa, Altuve, or pena to carry the offense. Expect Yordan to miss games.
So, if key players on the Rockets (not going to say their names) go down with injuries for much of the year including the final weeks of the season, they will be choke artists and quitters for not getting home court advantage or missing the playoffs all together? Who was Seattle missing down the stretch? In the second half of the season, the Astros were losing to teams like the A's because those they had better players than the Astros were putting out there at the time.
This team is set, except for a back up catcher, on the position player side. They are a 2 time CBT penalty payer and have several high salary position players on guaranteed contracts. The only chance this team has to improve the hitting is for cheap young players to develop and produce.
No, but his big league sample was enough to avoid counting on him to be a decent hitter. He needs to be traded (if another team values him highly) or sent down to develop more to provide more reason to believe he’ll be better than he was in the big leagues this season.
I disagree. I think they add at least one bat. They must, in order to compete. Our offense was terrible last year and ultimately (along with injuries) sunk our season. Correa, Yordan, Altuve, and maybe Pena will probably all see significant IL time next year. I think the team signs a SP and at least one hitter. They have to.
I always compare Smith to Jo Adell, super talented but rushed to the majors and always gives hints of what he can do but never constantly. That is what I think Smith turns into if Brown doesn't allow him to develop and keeps making him learn in the majors. This was a wasted year for Smith. No part of his game (besides maybe reading balls in the air) improved from opening day until now. If he were in the minors they could have worked on his non-existent launch angle. They could have sent him to Florida for two weeks (like Julks did) and it wouldn't have impacted anything team wise. He could have learned the outfield just as much if not more in the minors and he could have adjusted to the longer schedule just as much, with less pressure. If he has a similar ST 2026 as this past one I hope Brown has the ability to check his (Brown) ego and send Smith down. Smith only had a good ST against the Mets, others teams he was just avg. at best. Brown wasted a year of Smith because he was desperate to prove he won the trade.
I agree that this team probably needs what you are saying. However, they can not continue to go over the CBT especially with no playoff revenue this year. They need get younger and you don't get younger by bringing in FAs. They don't have much to trade 2028+ depends on the 2025 rookie/debut guys developing and taking on the mantle. Altuve, Correa, Paredes, Pena, and Yordan are set in stone. Diaz, Meyers, and Walker are worth more here than they would bring in a trade. Smith, Cole, Melton, Dezenzo, and Matthews have all shown enough that if given the chance to play, could become essential pieces of 2028+ They need a backup catcher, but I just don't see another regular starter brought in.
Yeah well, speculation is nice and it would be cool if either of us knew what they were gonna do. I personally think they will sign a bat or maybe even 2. Yordan, Correa, and Altuve are either injury prone or old and we gotta have someone to fill the void when they inevitably go to the IL. I could see Crane going over the threshold for the right player.
This we can agree on. I will say that Crane has always been willing to go over the CBT for the right player(s) However each year the penalties get more severe. I was surprised he agreed to go over a 2nd consecutive year. I would be even more surprised if he did it a 3rd year in a row.
He went over the last 2 years, he can go over again. Maybe we get creative. Brown is paid to improve the team.
I dislike dubon’s value as an OF because his value is tied to his defense. He has zero ceiling on offense. And his floor is low as hell. It just so happens that we have a bunch of kids who can field just as well, and they are perfectly capable of putting up crappy ABs like dubon. But they have higher ceilings and we need to see what they can achieve with the bat. In other words, every inning or game played given to Dubie over Cam, Cole, melton, dezenzo etc is an inning or game thrown away. Thats my analysis of the Dubie (defensive sub/fourth OF) role. But if we want to compete in 2026, it is a risky proposition to hand over a starting role to Cam, Cole, Melton or Dezenzo because if they end up failing, that’s like giving Dubie too many ABs. To @Tomstro ’s point, I think we need a vet OF that is a higher floor bat. I’m not talking about a star, but someone who can at least produce league average results across 300-400 ABs. I’m not sure who that might be, but I’m assuming there isn’t a huge price tag for that. I would certainly rather dump Dubie and use that arb salary to get a vet league average bat on a 1 year deal. (Or use that money for pitching)
I like Melton as a 4th OF way better than giving those games and innings to dubon. Let him pinch run late and change close games that way. Or be the defensive sub for Yordan or Altuve. And a ton cheaper. The question is whether he is better served being in AAA to develop his hit tool by playing every day. Maybe if he rakes in AAA, he comes up.
Why should Cole never be penciled in full time? He did very well in the minors and his time in the big leagues. I am not saying I am buying him being special in the big leagues, but his overall performance once called up was excellent. I can live with 200 strikeouts if he hits 30+ homers, steals bases, walks and fields well.
Well - that is the rub. You may have to pick between hitting and pitching. They are unlikely to sign/trade for a proven corner hitting outfielder and a couple of starting pitchers and possibly a good reliever. The reality is that they have Altuve, Meyers and Smith as outfielders' and Cole and Matthews and DeZenzo as guys that can play out there too.
Cole was on a 5 win pace in the majors. He posted elite elite power and baserunning numbers and was more than adequate defensively. He walked at an average rate. Yes, he swung and missed at twice the rate of a normally good hitter, and that will likely limit him tremendously. But you can go look at Giancarlo Stanton this season and know that if a guy hits for enough power, he can strike out 34% of the time and still be an elite hitter. I personally am not super high on Cole and think he will have a poor man’s Joey Gallo type of career, but he’s shown enough to warrant a good long (200+ pa) look as an everyday player in the majors.
Cole’s sample is too small everyone needs to calm down on that guy. and no, we dont trade 200 k’s for 30 home runs and over a full season he wouldn’t walk enough to support that. At least 75 of those whiffs will come with risp
Agree For me, this team has had trouble driving in runs two years in a row. They get on base, but don't get the runners in. Jake Meyers has a high floor, but offensively, his strengths are the team's strengths and his weaknesses are the team's weaknesses. Because of that, offensively, Jake helps this team even less than his numbers show. Cole has tools and those tools potentially lineup with the needs of the team. It only makes sense.
