[Official] Astros Off-Season

Better regional network

 

Always nice to see how teams adjust the books to claim they’re losing money (Yankees, Dodgers).

But even with those usual shenanigans, there are a good number of teams on there reporting a profit… including the Astros.

 

Sale price included the now defunct network no?

While the venture failed spectacularly given they never secured carriage rights ahead of time… it was also the worst possible time to try and convince local providers to pick up a new network. This was before streaming really took off (and is now standard/presumed), this was right at the beginning of the Harden era, and of course the Astros were the worst team in baseball coming off floundering years post Bagwell/Biggio where the fan interest for even an average team was lukewarm at best.

And now they’re locked into a middle-rate deal, with no ownership stake, because they had to get the games on TV…. And then they became a powerhouse that is beloved by the vast majority of the city. If they had been able to time things better (or treat the TV network negotiations like a Carlos Correa FA contract negotiation), they’d be in position to negotiate a new deal or start their own network (the right way) when interest is at its peak.

 

This is what I was wondering too. Has to be new stadium

 

The Rangers have the 5th most valuable cable deal per the article. The original fox sports southwest studios/network (now ballys sports) was always based in Dallas (even when they were covering the Astros/Rockets).

The Astros could/would have had something similar by now had McLain/Les and the business cronies not f’d things up.

 

Problem with that is the value of the dollar has reduced by a factor of 3 over that ten years and it continues too plummet. Crane will be doing good to break even when he is ready to get out.

 

inflation affects both the dollar and the ROR% used to determine Value. Even if you adjust the Dollar tou still have to adjust for ROR which is influenced by inflation. Back in the day, investors felt like doubling your investment every 7 years was a minimum. They'd give their eye teeth to have gotten that the last ten years.

 

Based on all I have heard and read I say Pena is the starting SS.

I think it would be terrible PR for a front office that is already taking lumps if they send him down after saying he is ready and letting Correa sign elsewhere.

 

This is why not exceeding the salary “cap” should be about valuing the draft pick penalties and not the money, not exceeding it because of the tax money is also a disservice to their fan base

 

I am not certain of that. My original comment was formed by the fact that it’s pretty clear that teams should be able to sustain a payroll ~10% of the team’s value. That is possibly a dramatic oversimplification but I still am confident in it. I’m not sure at all how far beyond that it goes.

 

Correa is gonna have a tough go in free agency again next year. Turner probably gets a bigger deal, Bogaerts is comparable. Dansby could earn a good deal with a great season. And plenty of veteran stopgap/reserve types like Gregorious, Simmons, Iglesias, Villar etc

 

I'd like to think this was some sort of 3D chess going on. Trick NYY into making room for Correa on Minnesota's budget by absorbing all of Donaldson's contract (to get Correa off the hated Astros). But opens up the budget for the Astros instead to get targeted pieces need going into the playoffs after resetting our competitive balance penalties.

Intellectually, I believe it would just be a coincidence if this happens. But it would be nice to have as much faith in Click as Luhnow moving forward as Captain of the Astros Ship.

 

ehh…if he repeats what he’s capable of doing, and stays healthy, e.g. 7-8 WAR season…Dansby et al aren’t going to get in the way of a mega contract for CC. He’s a different caliber of player than all of those players sans maybe Turner going crazy next year. Only thing that will affect CC’s offers next year I believe is himself, and not other SS on the market. He’s just in another tier IMO

 

Odd that there have been no rumors at all regarding Conforto with any team. Looking at OF depth charts the White Sox seem to make a lot of sense but other than that I don’t see any obvious fits. I personally think he can be serviceable in CF for the 1st 7 innings of games and would be a great addition to Houston’s lineup if he is willing to sign a multiyear deal for a reasonable cost. With the draft pick attachment he doesn’t make sense for Houston on a 1 year deal.

 

That's Forbes's numbers...not the teams. Forbes basically is estimating the Yankees, for instance, to have their revenue decrease by about $200M due to 1.4 million fans less than normal attend. I'm sure Forbes will say the Yankees and Dodgers are back to making a lot of money next year.

 

Boras probably wants a similar deal structure to Correa which like you said makes zero sense with the draft pick it would cost. I would like Conforto especially beyond this season if the Astros decide to move on from Brantley. I don't really like the free agent outfielders available next offseason with Benintendi, Gallo, Haniger, and Myers being the likely best available. I don't expect Judge or Nimmo to hit free agency. If you could get Conforto for 4 years in the 60-70 million dollar range I would be interested. A 2 or 3 year deal with opt outs every year is a no for me.

 

The only way I’d do an opt out is after year 1 if the year 1 salary was up extremely low. So something like $70M/4yr with year 1 being like $10M and years 2-4 being $20M/yr. That way if he opts out at least Houston got a great deal on that one year. I would definitely not do multiple opt outs.

 

Do we get a comp pick this draft for Correa signing with the Twins? If so, what pick do we get?

 

Yes, it’ll be after the 2nd round, should fall somewhere in the 70-80 overall range.

 

There is a subtle change where we pick up the pick, but Minnesota doesn't lose a pick for signing him. It's supposed to enhance the value of signing a FA. This was a MLBPA win in the Contract.