Re-built the bullpen: Maton, Graveman, Garcia, Stanek. Freed up Myers, McCormick, Siri. Potential starting catcher in minors. At what cost, Toro and Straw.
I’m not sure it’s that people have hated Click. More about reeling over the loss of Luhnow. But Click has wisely picked up where Luhnow left off—making shrewd decisions to wisely fill needs.
Anybody giving Click too much hate or credit was doing so foolishly. The simple fact is that his fingerprints aren't really on the organization much right now. His crop of prospects is just barely starting to move up the system (sans first rd picks), the farm he inherited had been thinned out and he didn't have much spending cash. He basically just filled in some pieces around what Luhnow built, which is all he could do, and exactly what he should do. He will be disproportionately judged by October, and thus far his bullpen moves have been amazing after an extremely bumpy regular season. The Yuli signing was brilliant, the LMJ extension looks good right now, Brantley's been himself, Castro ended up having a good year and a massive postseason impact, choosing Chaz and Myers over Straw looks good now, the Siri pickup yielded some returns. The Odorizzi signing has been meh, but not terrible. The Baez deal is the only move that looks outright bad right now. So all in all for what I can judge him for, he's been pretty good. We're still a few years away from being able to make an accurate asessment of his overall skills.
Yordan, C.Javier, Luis Garcia and Framber Valdez were traded/signed by previous GM. I never hated Click because he could of easily traded Carlos Correa and all the leftovers from 2017.
Click’s trade deadline moves have not been discussed enough. What is the very first thing we thought of when Astros hired Click? Oooohhh, take from the TB front office and fix the pen. Give us a pen like TB, dudes that we have never heard of, never thought of, who the eff dudes. Guys who will come in and deal when it counts. Maton has been nails. What a performance last night getting Rosario and Maton. Graveman closing it out last night. Graveman with the strikeout of Shaw against Boston, the ridiculous 3-1 changeup and the 3-2 four seamer? What???? Even Yimi, the microwave get hot in 30 seconds in the second or third inning to calm stuff down. And now we got old school Dusty throwing Pressly in the 8th against their best? Wait, are we watching TB? When click was hired, we all said, let him fix our pen for cheap, and pair that with our top 5 payroll and elite offense and let’s go. Luhnow is a legend. He built this thing. But Click has given us what we asked for.
Yeah you win championships and stay great long term trading for Maton and Graveman at the deadline instead of Kimbrell. Can’t say enough about what Maton has done in the postseason given his shaky track record, do think they found something in him tho.
Click’s impact on last night’s win: Siri, Maton, Graveman. Pretty important. Stanek has also looked great. And Odorizzi has saved the team with those effective multi-inning relief stints. Shout out to Castro’s HR last series and Yimi’s quick relief early in games. I am really looking forward to how good Maton will be next season. Siri might’ve turned into a really valuable trade chip that could help net a ToR SP this offseason. Only about 1/3 of the roster is Click’s. But all of those dudes have looked amazing in the playoffs. Click will have a LOT more resources to work with this offseason, and I’m very excited to see what he does. Next year’s team could be their best ever.
It's just like the Boston series, with Lance out, the series hinges on our other starters stepping up big and providing quality starts. When Valdez, Garcia, and Urquidy can go 5 solid innings, we win. When they don't, we lose. The problem is these guys are Jeckyll and Hyding big time right now. Valdez has had two clunkers this post-season and one brilliant (and timely) start. Garcia was awful for one game last series then brilliant his next time up. We just have to hope enough of these guys can put together enough solid starts to win three more games. Garcia on the road in cold and damp weather conditions makes me nervous.
I have not come across anyone who has said one negative think about Click. I am a huge Luhnow fan, and he was at the helm when the team went with this Frankenstein idea of tear it down to rebuild it. The Astros took so much heat about it. And they bucked the system. Even as far as picking Correa with an under slot deal in order to sign McCullers and Rios. I can say that Click has continued the excellent job that Luhnow did. Where Click moves were masterful this trade deadline. I think him trading away Straw and the upper management politics, was sheer genius. Astros got a viable reliever and a spot opened up for McCormick and Myers. One thing that cannot be overlooked, Luhnow helped create the analytics system the Astros are using. I’m sure a lot of resources and talented folks were involved, but Luhnow showed us the way. Luhnow’s contributions to the Astros are undeniable.
When the Astros got Click, the expectation should have been that he would trust the development of prospects. His fingerprints not being on the organization are his fingerprints on the organization from a certain point of view. Though I agree that it is really too early to tell much as bringing in talent through the draft and international market is usually where a GM makes his mark (except in a bad way).
There have been plenty of folks on this site talking **** about Click over the last 18 months. Unsurprisingly it’s died down over the last 2 months.
While not a hater I did not like some of these moves. Every time yimi, Brooks, or Phil take the mound I'm holding my breath. That being said, I will take one Luanne platter of crow please.
Anyone in the know, know if Luhnow is watching the World Series? I’m curious to know his thoughts. Also, Give Luhnow a ring if the Astros win!