Talk about the Off-Season here. Signings will get there own threads, but all discussion should go in here.
Due to the loss I haven't even slept yet. I've felt just about every emotion there is. I have a couple things to say. Having home field advantage and losing all four games at home feels worse than getting swept in 2005. And not scoring any runs with RISP is the reason the Astros lost the series. Congrats to the Nationals on winning their first World Series. Now for the Astros offseason. All I have to say is winning the World Series would've softened the blow of losing Cole.
VERY proud of the 2019 Astros. Tough ending but such is life with October baseball. Just goes to show how much luck is truly required to win it all. It’s not just talent. Hell, the Dodgers were bounced in the DS. We still won the AL pennant. There’s a LOT to be proud of, even though it seems hard right now to see the positives. They’ve earned some time off. I hope we come back hungrier than ever. I’m really excited for 2020 and beyond. Go Stros!! I’ll ride with our core, with our front office, with our manager and owner till I die. Screw the haters. Screw the slanted national media who wanted us to lose. Screw the bandwagon fans who jump ship. We will be back.
Cole is clearly gone but what about Harris, Smith and Chirinos? Would love to go after Grandal for the regular catching duties and bring back Chirinos as JV's personal catcher and backup. Resign one of Harris/Smith. Everybody else (Devo, Rondon, Machete, Miley) can walk.
The Astros have no reason to hang their heads. What a hell of a season. It was a joy to watch. As somebody has already mentioned, October baseball doesn't always have much to do with who has the most talent or who had the best record, as evidenced by the Dodgers in '17 and this year when they got knocked out in the NLDS. I'm just happy we are continuing to compete, and I hope Luhnow continues to make moves that keep us competitive for years to come.
Here's my wish list: Slap the qualifying offer on Cole Trade Reddick plus prospects to dump Reddick's salary (13 million) Trade Michael Brantley (16 million) Trade Jake Marisnick (3 million) Trade Peacock (4 million) Non-tender Sanchez (5.6 million) Trade for Trey Mancini Sign Zach Wheeler (4 years 68 million) Sign Yasmani Grandal (4 years 60 million) Resign Will Harris (2 years 17 million) Resign Maldonado (2 years 5 million) CF Springer 2B Altuve 3B Bregman DH Alvarez 1B Gurriel C Grandal LF Mancini SS Correa RF Tucker Bench: Maldonado Diaz Straw Toro Rotation: Verlander Greinke Wheeler McCullers Urquidy Bullpen: Osuna Pressly Harris James Abreu Devenski Biagini Sneed/Martes/Perez/Valdez/Armenteros
Right!!! This is a great team, great owner, gm, great manager. Nationals really had something to prove. This was already in the books all along. Some of those momentum breakers (calls by the umps) are questionable. On both sides to take it to 7 games. I’m glad we were in it. This is still a dynasty... we’re gonna find another gear.
I think we should (and will) hold onto Brantley. I’d be surprised if we trade him, but will obviously have to look at all the moves together. He’s the type of hitter we need. He’s a bit pricey but worth it IMO. He’s not *that* expensive that we can’t afford him.
No question it was a tough way to go out but the Nationals felt like a team of destiny the way we did in '17. Though we can't forget, I think they actually had the best record since after the All Star break, or something like that. But unlike many other teams that have won it and almost immediately fell off the wagon (Royals, Cubs, Yankees, Cards, Giants after '14, possibly the Red Sox and these Nationals) we've been right in the thick of things with 3 straight 100 win seasons and the same core going into next year, and we should be in it again for 2020. But right now, the loss hurts especially for guys like Cole, Greinke, Brantley, Chirinos, Osuna and so on.
I'm not harsh on the offense as others to where the Astros NEED to spend money/trade for an elite hitter. They'll still one of the best offenses in the league. They just need to fix their approach against power pitchers since that's what seems to be the achilles heel since last month. Definitely need a solid workhorse pitcher to replace Cole's IPs. Verlander and Greinke will be a year older and Urquidy/Mccullers/Whitley have yet to pitch a full season. Relief arms can always be found. Will be nice to resign Will Harris, but won't shed a tear if he decides to leave. Would I like a better closer than Osuna with less baggage and chest pain for fans? Sure, but good luck finding that. The current crop of closers just aren't as dominant as they were in years past.
It's not that I don't like Brantley. However, I feel we were lucky he stayed healthy the whole season and we would be selling high with only 1 year left on his contract. I would rather have Zach Wheeler and Trey Mancini for the same money instead of Brantley, Marisnick, and Peacock.