Still would like DDJ protected. Like others have mentioned, his base stealing skills could be quite useful for a team.
Translation: "Holy **** I didn't realize I would catch so much heat for this I better put this guy on the roster because I r clueless."
Luhnow has a plan and he executed it. Simple as that. We were either trading Feliz or keeping him on the 40-man roster. That's it. I don't see why Astros reporters on twitter seem to have their feelings hurt that it took Luhnow till the last hour to keep Feliz. Luhnow doesn't make moves to appease reporters; he plays his hand like he has to. So what if was forced to add Feliz in the last hour? We're keeping him, so it is settled. Is there something I'm missing? Why are the Astros reporters so butthurt that Luhnow waited till the last hour?
Well to be fair Luhnow was telling guys like Drellich that he believed Feliz was someone that was unlikely to be picked. If that doesn't say "I'm not going to protect him" then I don't know what else does. Also this post by Badler makes sense: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Here's the thing. If the Astros had a trade brewing, just don't announce any 40-man moves early. Sit on 'em all til now.</p>— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) <a href="https://twitter.com/jjcoop36/status/535653436831051776">November 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Why not just wait until the very end to announce everyone? On a side note: What would happen if we traded Feliz? Would the other team have to protect him? If they still had to protect him, then what difference does it make if the Astros protected Feliz or not? Of course this is assuming that a potential trade was the only reason they would have not protected.
It blows my mind how anyone can can get so emotional over this stuff. It's as if since the advent of Twitter we have a permanent nation-wide case of PMS.
Ok no big deal. We thought we had a trade, didn't work out, so we did the only logical thing. Nobody can be criticized for "almost" doing something stupid,particularly when it was their plan all along.
I guess you just have 10,000 posts on a sports forum because you don't care at all about the team winning right? It's not like we're sitting here fuming at Luhnow all night as opposed to just going Jeff LOLnow, expressing our opinions about his borderline **** up then forgetting about it. Of course none of this actually matters to any of us personally, we would all just like to see the team win right? Maybe my cursing implies more emotion than is actually there, but then again your last two posts have pretty much painted you as clueless, so I'm pretty sure it's just that.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Luhnow: "We were working on something that didn’t come to fruition and the end result of that is we’re putting Feliz on the roster."</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/535645265022423040">November 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A possible scenario: Luhnow fielded multiple inquiries wrt Feliz leading into the Rule V 40 man roster deadline. By not adding Feliz when Luhnow did, Luhnow was trying to get a bidding war for Feliz. Luhnow never got a deal he wanted, so he kept Feliz. Feliz was the Astros's #7 prospect. If traded, Feliz may have become one of the new team's top three prospects. A Feliz trade would have had to have a significant return.
If any team's GM succumbs to fans and sportswriters in situations like this, that team's GM should be immediately fired.
I've been very guilty of being way too emotional about things that barely matter in 12 years of posting on this board. So yeah, I'm laughing at myself, too. However, volume of posts does not necessarily equal overemotional. Secondly, that comment was posted in general and not aimed specifically at you. Sorry if it appeared that way; but please don't take this forum (or yourself or me or anyone else) so seriously. Finally, when someone's opinion differs from yours, to assume that means the other person is "clueless" is not a very mature position. Would you like to engage in meaningful discussion or just trade silly anonymous barbs like "clueless"? I've done the latter more times than I care to admit, so I'll respectfully bow out if that's all you intend to do.
Just read through this thread... the constellation of emotional responses is hilarious... and this is just the rule V draft! I'll be happier when we can get this much emotion over key/needed moves that actually will impact the MLB team not only next year, but w/in their window of contention with Springer/Fowler/Castro/Altuve.
Quoted for truth. I don't get it, why criticize the moves before the deadline even occurred? Is there an obligation or an unwritten rule to announcing all of your moves early in the day? Wouldn't this be akin to criticizing not making any trades 2 days before the trade deadline? I guess Luhnow and the Astros are such an easy target, we all just jump for premature criticism? Haha whatever floats your boat I suppose.
I'm so drunk on the Luhnow Kool-Aid I wasn't even angry, but i sure as hell was thoroughly perplexed. I figured there had to be a reason. It's funny reading some tweets. People act as if this was just another example of Astros incompetence, when in fact the Astros knew what they were doing all along and never risked anything. The Astros are an extremely easy target, and people look for a chance to take shots. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>There is nothing more Astros than this, is there? But, as with Altuve at end of season, it seems they got it right.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/535643530266296320">November 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I had multiple conversations with multiple Astros people today. It doesn’t add up, plain and simple.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/535655054452092928">November 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>To amend earlier tweet: if trade is large enough, there is a benefit to keeping Feliz off the roster. It doesn't eliminate skepticism though</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/535679624697491456">November 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> This isn't just some guy, this is their top beat writer spouting this nonsense.
I will say that I was confused about the early comments about Feliz. I trust Luhnow at least has a reason for what he does. I probably would have protected DDJ, too, but he is much less a risk to be taken and right now his future expected value isn't that much (i.e. athleticism, but hit tool and defense holding him back).
Is it really "nonsense"? You had several posters here ready to jump of the ledge as well... and Luhnow made comments to the effect that he wouldn't be protected nor put on the 40 man roster (and if he was just "trolling" the whole time, or working on a trade, I agree with the poster who said he was better off just saying nothing to the media). After the Aiken fiasco (which was not handled well, even if you're the most drunk on the Luhn-aid), and the still yet to be reached goal of being a quality MLB team... the Astros haven't earned the benefit of the doubt from anybody on what they're doing. Even the positive SI piece needs to be taken with a grain of salt, since one of the main subjects of the article was Aiken and how they systematically came to the decision to draft him.
