Click get it done on Springer. He was here way before the Astros were even spoken about locally much less nationally. Since the day AJ listened to Nolan Ryan suggestion to move him to the top of the order (because Nolan said he hated facing Henderson as a leadoff) the Astros really took off. Springer sets the tone for the whole team. He is the kinda of guy that has worked his tail off and when it matters most he'll usually come up big. I love Uncle Mike he is steady, professional and a really well liked teammate. But Springer is special.
Profar would be a nice upside play, assuming he signs for multiple years and not too much money. He had some bad development in Arlington and obviously the skill set was there for him to be a superstar, and he is only 27. He had 2 seasons where he hit 20 HR and struck out <15% of the time so the power and contact skills are there. He has always had low BABIP which I am not sure why, but that appears to be what’s keeping him from fully blossoming. Also, putting a player like him at the bottom of a stacked lineup like Houstons could also help him. Assuming it would be something like $30M/3yr or less, I would be really excited about a Profar signing.
It may have taken him a little longer, and he may have been a little too overhyped, but he turned into a decent player in Arlington. In 2019, he had some bad luck at the plate, but he's hit the ball well, not great, the past three years. He's a ground pounder without great EV so I don't expect the best BABIP from him. He looks to be a better OF than an IF. He would probably be like Reddick when Astros signed him.,,,a slightly above average bat that can play a corner OF pretty well. With the current Astros pitchers, the Astros would be well off upgrading their OF defense, and Profar would likely do that cheaply.
Profar also seems to fit the versatile type of player Tampa often acquires. It will come down to value like everything else. A 1 year deal for him carries almost no risk, a 2-3 year deal carries some, but I could see some teams start to dream on him and throwing him a Reddick type of contract ($50M+ over 4 years) and I’m not sure I want Houston doing that. $30M/3yr with some bonuses and maybe a vesting option would be about the max I would consider and that would only be if the deep-dive analytics really thought highly of him.
There is a very good chance Profar is worth the Reddick of 4 years ago type of contract. I'm not sure what the economics will be the next couple of years so I'm hesitant to say what that looks like going forward. I think there is a good chance guys like Profar get squeezed this offseason. His ability to play IF passable (though likely not well enough to be spared the ire of Buck) would be helpful in case the Astros have another postseason in which one of the IF bats gets banged up like Yuli this postseason.
Man that ToR is so underwhelming compared to what I've become accustom to. I was spoiled. Sad to see guys like Keuchel, Morton and Cole gone and Verlander dealing with injury.
The year we won the WS, our rotation most of the season was Keuchel (coming off a season with a 4.55 ERA) Fiers, LMJ, Musgrove, Peacock (who had mostly sucked to that point) and Morton who was a nobody. People are really down on Greinke for some reason, his peripherals this season were still excellent.
I’d have never fired Lunhow but I understand why they did. He built the greatest dynasty in Houston Sports history, I don’t think it’s odd to miss someone that successful. This has nothing to do with Click or what he may end up being.
He's an older pitcher that had a lot of soreness in his arm this year. There's a lot to be worried about going forward despite him having performed very well. As far as peripherals go, he seems to be able to keep the ball down even in the TTO which limits his homers, flies, but he gives up a lot of good hard contact third time through the order. He looks like a 4-5 inning guy. Nothing wrong with that other than Astros are short on guys that can go longer.
I'm not going to pass judgement on Greinke when he had an injury and the Covid season was such a mess. These guys are creatures of habit. Having to crank it up in spring training then shut it down then crank it up in 3 weeks during spring training 2.0.... He still battled and gave us a quality start in the ALCS.
I could be totally wrong, but I think the changes this season (no ST, delayed season start, fewer games, less travel, no fans) benefitted younger players (especially pitchers) and hurt veterans. I think that is part of what’s responsible for guys like Framber, Javier, Taylor, and Paredes having surprising success while guys like Verlander and Greinke got hurt or underwhelmed. It’ll be interesting to see if those young guys can sustain their success once they are pitching against vets who had their usual ramp up time and are in front of fans heckling them. Will also be good to see if guys like Greinke will be more in groove from the go and if there are less injuries.
IMO we need to get 2 outfielders . Springer would be my number 1 . Brantley would be nice but may be more expensive than we can afford . can Yordan play in the field ? pitching is trickier to answer . Imo your staff may have over performed this year . Whether we try to bring in a bonafide pitcher will depend on if we resign springer and our offense looks good enough to contend . historically , lunhow traded for pitching and took low-risk shots in FA . what is click’s MO ? What does the market even look like this year . My guess is teams desperately want to avoid long-term deals . Does this new mold of relief pitcher/ tandem starter like Javier start to take hold ... if so how is that valued in the market ? Regular season innings eaters still have value ? I think solidifying the outfield is first priority . You’ve got to feel good about tucker and Yordan moving forward . Correa looks great . Gotta figure Bregman will bounce back . Overall I feel good about the team , but I don’t know baseball that well to say how we compare with other top teams . We seemed at a disadvantage in the postseason but our pitching stepped up . Can we build our staff to survive the regular season ? Finding another Morton would be ideal . Grienke and McCullers are a bit of a coin flip . how much does strommy help us attract pitching talent ?
My guess is Springer signs elsewhere for big $ and we resign Brantley. No Correa extension as he wants a big 2021 season so he can have a massive deal. Right now too many injuries and inconsistency. Wish we could jettison Greinke and use that money to sign a cheaper vet SP and throw more $ at Springer. What’s the deal with Verlander’s contract is it covered by insurance and can we consider it not really counting towards payroll?
True but same goes for 90% of the league franchise. Maybe Yanks, Dodgers and possibly Red Sox could spend like it’s a normal year.
Here's where I am with Springer and Correa. Obviously Springer is more of a concern this offseason than Correa is, but this applies to both of them. I want to keep both in Houston for the next 5+ seasons. Obviously they're both great players so saying I want them to stay isn't anything groundbreaking. But I'd even be willing to give both of them really sizable contracts. Go ahead and give Springer 5 years/$130 million. Go ahead and give Correa 6 years $180 million (maybe he just absolutely tears it up next season and gets some absolutely insane mega deal and you can't afford him at all). I would do everything in my power to pay up to keep those guys. Even if it means overpaying a bit. Here's my biggest reasoning: I think Crane has to be mindful of what this does in the sense of solidifying your fanbase for the next 10 years. What I mean is this... If you don't re-sign one or both of them I think most fans will understand. And you're still going to have a competitive team. And you'll probably still be a competitive team 5 years from now assuming things pan out well. And maybe it turns out to be a smart move not to sign them to long deals. Maybe neither of them perform well toward the end of their new deals with other teams and we can sit and look back and say "you know, Crane made a smart decision not giving Springer a 5 year deal" or "Crane/Click were pretty wise to not give Correa 7+ years". BUT, I'm more than willing to live with a bad season or two toward the end of their contracts if it means you solidify them as lifelong Astros legends. Just think about what it does for your fanbase if you commit to keeping Springer, Correa, Altuve and Bregman together for at least four more seasons. Think about how much more money (from Crane's perspective) you'll make on season tickets because an entire generation of Astros fans is growing up with that core 4. They would be this generation's Biggio/Bagwell, except they'd arguably reach an even more legendary status given their postseason heroics. I don't know, maybe it's a naive thought, but I think you can guarantee at least the 10 next seasons will all be huge financial successes (barring any unforeseen circumstances) with an entire fanbase wanting to consistently buy merchandise/buy season tickets/come out to the ballpark to see those core 4 guys (plus Alvarez and Tucker and a young pitching core). Just my thoughts, curious to hear y'all's as well.
