Literally. He's 4-9 with a 5.99 ERA in 17 starts (18 games pitched) and a -1.2 WAR. The Astros are 3-2 in the games he got a no-decision. Those 3 wins came in June when the team was "rolling." WAR isn't everything, but this team has 4 starters with negative WAR this season, and a lot of relievers (most are no longer on the roster) are in the negative too. Fortunately, there are still 69 (giggity) games left. As discussed in the other thread, I don't believe this team will be going anywhere, but even with this loss, they're not dead yet. edit: update his WAR, it went from bad to worse.
Burrows repped USA by his lonesome...... Dana, last offseason. Stay tuned tomorrow for Imai's next attempt to muster more strikes than balls in a game -- he has failed 3x already this year. We should know 1st inning... if not 2nd. .
The last sentence is true issue. Hire a GM that uses the methods of evaluation that the previous regime used that lead to a decade of dominance. I'm all for adding at the trade deadline. I'm not for Dana making the trades.
Astros are 23-24 at home. 22-24 on the road. Below .500 team for a reason. And there are the Dodgers at 60-32 w/a 14 game lead. Just put them in the WS. Why the owners want a salary cap.
Yep, the Stros aren't good enough to overcome his incompetence. Sad thing is Dana isn't any better. The Stros will never win anything with this level of incompetence in leadership positions. It's really sad that a once great org has come to this and the sad thing is with competent leadership the Stros would be as good as any team in the AL.
Burrows WAR -1.2 https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/burromi01.shtml Service Time (01/2026): 0.135 • Arb Eligible: 2029 • Free Agent: 2032
Mike Burrows was the kind of deal that felt like we killed at during our run. Finding marginal pitchers and making them into solid to all-star caliber. I'm definitely now 100% against trading for pitchers named Mike. I know that Scott guy worked out pretty great, but the last couple...
Unfortunately, this admin was riding the coattails of the last admin and it's really showing. No farm system, bad managerial moves, horrible signings like Burrows and we let our best players leave and don't get fair comps to replace them. With all that, there still scrappy at times, just not enough to get over the hump. I am afraid the golden era is over, and I get it but what's the dam plan moving forward? Dana and Joe have got to go and replaced with someone who has a vision for this team. We constantly let our best players go via FA, we got Yordan on the cheap and one Ace in Hunter and one hell of a closer in Hader. Is Pena going to be trade bait, no one is really clamoring for a SS so what's the return if he goes. Is Cam the "real deal"...............so many questions and very few answers. IMO we are sellers at this point
I think they’re actually doing the right thing: trying as hard as possible to compete this season and next season while focusing on building the farm system from the bottom up. If we see them make impact trades in a few weeks without trading players from the lower levels, they will still be on that path; especially if they have a draft heavy on HS players. Gut the AA and AAA rosters if needed to try and get into the playoffs and see what happens. Tanking doesn’t work anymore. They dug a hole with underwater contracts and lost draft picks. After this draft they should have a top 10 farm system in the lower levels (with a bottom 3 system in AA/AAA). They can add to that by trading Pena or Paredes in the offseason depending on how the CBA plays out. Otherwise they don’t have any major pending free agents so 2027 should have a better team than 2026.
I actually hope they trade both Paredes AND Pena in the offseason. One of those deals must bring back a young controllable starting SS or top SS prospect who is MLB ready.
I get frustrated with the Brown hate. There is no acknowledgement of the constraints he has since his hire. All GM’s take swings and misses, even Luhnow. We also don’t know what constraints he has from the owner. He does seem to be building back the minor league system from the ground up while trying to maintain a competitive roster. We have been one of the best teams in the Al for the last couple of months. My lone issue with him is Espada, but Crane may also be partially responsible for the lack of action on that front. He can’t manage injuries and his trading options are certainly limited by the number of mlb ready prospects in the system. He deserves another couple of years steering the team.
It is very unlikely that Houston can get back a big-league ready 3B or SS in trade. So trading both would open a hole at one of those positions (as well as put loads of pressure on Correa to stay healthy). I don’t want to see Braden Shewmake or Nick Allen starting on opening day 2027. I also don’t think it’s necessary. By the end of the season the High A, A, and complex league rosters should be completely stacked and among the best in the league. That portends a window opening in 2029. I expect one of Houston’s top picks will be a viable SS. Neyens is projecting as the future at 3B. Ideally they could buy out one free agent year of whoever they keep between Pena/Paredes to have a solid roster in 2028 while they still have Yordan, Brown, Correa, Altuve, Hader, Yainer, Cam, and what should be solid BoR and BP depth.
How would they go about buying one year of free agency for those guys? It makes sense for someone coming off a down year but I can't imagine a scenario where either guy would go for a one year deal (or two year deal if we're including the final arb season). Hitting free agency as young as possible is meaningful for these guys in terms of setting up one big contract. I'm interested in your thoughts on how that would work. A plan to compete in 2029 also seems to require a conversation about how we'd go about replacing the guy who's likely to win MVP this year and is due to leave in free agency in 2029. Unless you think Crane is going to pay Yordan 300 million dollars.
I dont think they should be sellers because I think Imai will eventually figure things out and one of the pitchers coming off of the IL will be able to contribute. They do need to add an OF bat and hope Cam comes around. Problem is I dont want Dana making any trades, whether that's buying or selling. If I had to pick buy or sell I want Dana to buy because I think he will do less damage to the org in the long run selling rather than buying. With this said, I dont think they can overcome Espada's incompetence regardless of what Dana does at the deadline.
I get what you're saying, but Dana's record when it comes to trades isn't good. I'm all for clearing out the AA-AAA levels to add a couple of pieces to give them a chance to win this yr. Imagine Dana adding a Larnich type bat and a Joe Ryan type SP, This would allow them to be as good as any team in the AL. You could probably trade for these guys by trading Pecko/Matthews/Ullola etc....
It is very unlikely. They’d have to overpay for that year. Paredes has a $13M option for 2027, so maybe something like $40M total to cover 2027-2028 (basically adding a year for $27M) plus a series of cheap player options that guarantee Paredes $50M+ while only delaying his free agency by one year. He’d still hit free agency at 30 and be in position for a 6 year deal if he plays really well. Paredes contract offer: $70M/4yrs: 2027: $20M (replaces current $13M team option) 2028: $20M 2029: $15M player option ($2M buyout) 2030: $15M player option ($2M buyout) Pena is probably going to make ~$13M in arbitration, so the same type of deal might work, but would have to be bigger because Pena has more value and is a year older, so that free agent year is worth a lot more.
