You should always try to do everything to improve the team With that said, I'm hoping for a trade for Jansen. If not I'm good with Maldy/Lee to start the yr and making a Vazquez type trade at the deadline.
No it's not a fact. Montero was the closer when Pressly wasn't available all season. He did not allow a baserunner in 5 of 10 appearances. Gave up 2 runs and 1 inherited runner to score in 9 1/3 innings. The Astros won all of those games. He had 2 shaky outings out of 10. Did not allow more than a single run in either and the Astros won both. In fact the Astris won 9 of the 10 games he pitched and he was perfect in the loss. Vazquez would be the terrible contract the Astros gave if Christian had actually accepted it.
That and who cares if he’s not a top 3 guy? We have an ELITE bullpen, perhaps the best of all time. Why not pay more to keep that? Some are acting like we’re out of options. It’s December, there’s still multiple free agents available that we’re after, and we haven’t traded a single prospect yet. The Astros have pretty much the same formula every offseason: 1) Strike early (Abreu and Montero) 2) Sit out of the spending frenzy (we are here) 3) Swoop in for the value deals (coming soon)
If you say so. Believe it or not, of the 3 trade deadline acquisitions Will Smith performed the best which tells a lot about how bad the trade deadline was for the Astros Vazquez caught a no hitter in the WS because he was put in the lineup. If Maldy had been in the lineup then he would be in the record books and Vazquez's time as an Astro would be forgettable
Ummm Montero would have gotten even more if he'd waited. Several teams were on record they planned on making him their closer. He might still be overpaid, that depends on his performance but he would have gone for more if he wasn't signed early.
There is not an unsigned non-SS FA position player that is expected to have a significantly better than average starter season left. There are guys like Conforto and Brantley that might be significantly better than average if they get over injuries. Benintendi is the best guy left (assuming no SSs) that doesn't have a major concern. He occasionally has a significantly better than average season, but he's more slightly above average most years. There are options left, but the position players that could make the biggest impacts with little short term risk for the Astros are gone. Trades are still possible, but they likely will require a MLB player from the Astros side to make them happen. Odds are signing someone like Benintendi will be better for team unless the other team just gives away a player cheaply in a trade.
The Contreras logic doesn’t check out - we finished “2nd” the same way I almost climbed Mt. Everest simply bc I’ve thought about it and bought some light climbing gear. We weren’t close on deal terms which means Crane & Co. were either wholly unprepared or simply not that serious in their pursuit. Similarly, I find it hard to believe their thinking was that giving 5 yrs to a 30 yr old catcher was a deal breaker when we’re literally paying a starting catcher who’s already 36. Sure that other factors go into it but we’ve heard this whole postseason that catcher was their #1 target. So far their actions tell an entirely different story. Again, I applaud the general approach of not overspending. It’s treated us well for years. But I’m having a really hard time figuring out what their strategy is, compounded by the fact that we literally have no GM and our brain trust includes prominent guys that have never constructed a team and have openly derided the team-building philosophy that has led us to such great success.
While I wont miss JV come playoff time, lets remind ourselves that all those innings he ate in the regular season is in part why the bullpen flourished (the bullpen wasn't overtaxed). If Crane only makes one more move, I sincerely hope its another arm. When has a club ever said in retrospect or otherwise that they spent too many resources on pitching? Or that too much pitching ever hurt a club? On the other hand, how many times has it been said when your playoff run falls short that more pitching is what was needed?
I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but my thinking is this and I don’t mean to be sh***y or a d**k when I say… if the Astros continue to go and/or win the World Series like the have, who freaking cares? I just want those W’s.
Sample size including his rookie year. And doesn’t really explain 2017 where he was dominant in the LCS and was the best starting pitcher on both teams in the WS. He was definitely gassed in 2019.
We already got “that guy” in Abreu. We are never going to spend like the Phillies, Mets and Padres have, so that precludes signing multiple high impact players. Abreu was our “big” signing. It seems fairly likely that one of Benintendi or Conforto will be an Astro. Even if you call both of them just “above average”, they are hitting in the bottom 3rd of your lineup…above average is great there. We have until the trade deadline to figure out what we need.
You dont know this. I value post season production and Vazquez produced in the WS. BTW, How's a guy who's the backup catcher supposed to produce when he's on the bench most of the time. He produced when he got a chance.
Of course I don't KNOW this Just like you don't know Vazquez made any difference at all. Maldy caught Javier's combined no hitter earlier this year so he has proven he could have if he was the one in the lineup instead of vazquez.Vazquez. And Vazquez Hit 2 singles with 3 strikeouts in 7 at bats. That's pretty mediocre "production"
Signing Abreu doesn't mean there is still another option out there that can have an impact like Abreu without much short term risk. I was hoping for either an ace or two Abreu level guys and then filling the team with bargains (say a Branltey or Conforto). This would not have required spending like the Mets, Phillies, or Padres. We are down to bargain hunting and trades at this point. We should act like we are down to bargain hunting and trades. The Astros are still a great team.
What I do know is one guy caught the no hitter, so he did a great job. The other guy could've possibly caught the no hitter, but we will never know. 2 for 7 is what? .280 and knocked in a run in game 6 that really mattered at the time. If the Stros could add that in FA in addition to Vazquez catching skills I would be very happy. I get that you dont like Vazquez. But he's a very solid catcher. Go back and look at last yr when he was catching regularly for Boston or his overall career. There's a reason he was the Red Sox long time starting catcher. He's a solid starting level MLB catcher, not a world beater, but not some scrub like you're trying to make him out to be.
