[Official] Astros Off Season

Seems to me the Astros have the depth to cover those JV inning without overtaxing their bull pen. We still have 6 starting pitchers headed into 2023 with Valdez, Javier, McCullers, Garcia, Brown and Urquidy.

The depth last year was bonkers forcing multiple good (or likely good) starts into the pen with guys like Garcia, Urquidy and Brown.

Now the depth is merely "excellent" instead of "bonkers" - we still sit extremely pretty, especially compared to most any other staff in the league.

Yea, if 3 starters get injured, we will have a problem, but if 3 starters got injured, most other teams wouldn't have a staff at all.

 

Lot of people crapping on JV's World Series. The facts of course speak for themselves it wasn't great however I don't hear a bunch of people clamoring for Urquidy who is 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in 14.2IP with a 0.818 WHIP in the World Series games he's played to make starts. That's because it's a small sample size.

His (JV) larger sample size is incredible it was Elite. Yes he's gone I think Crane should have paid him. However we know they set a value on a player and they stick to it pretty much all the time. So that means they've got some values for some of these guys that are still sitting out there as free agents. Once those guys don't get better offers some of them are going to like the fact they can come here with a loaded lineup. They can come here with one of the favorite managers of all the players. They can come here to a team that is probably going to make another Deep Run. And they can either get a little bit of money and have a great season and retire in the sunset. Or they can get a short-term deal and resurrect their career and go sign elsewhere a year or two later. We're going to get a value play. It won't be earth-shattering but it might be a Difference Maker for a few games in the season and maybe even a playoff series.

 

Perhaps I am not as confident as you that all those guys will repeat their 2022 performances in 2023.

 

To an extent, yes. But to a lesser extent IMO.

 

@Nook - any updates on the current GM search, if any?

 

Optimistic view of 2023

I still expect 2 moves.

1) a veteran catcher to spell Maldy and share the workload.

2) a lefty bat to balance the lineup.

Alfaro and Brantley are my current most likely.

But from the current roster

Jake Meyers has a great season as the #8 hitter with a 115 OPS+ and great defense.

Either he or Leon is traded at the deadline

Hunter Brown has a solid rookie season making most every start and pitching well despite a few hiccups mostly due to walks.

Hensley fills in for Aledmys perfectly and people start whispering " the new Marwin"

Lance stays healthy and pitches a career high in innings at an all star level.

 

Maybe not. And maybe JV won't either.

We have 6 quality options headed into the year, I guess people have a "never settle" mindset, but how many options is reasonable? 6 SP? 7 SP? 8 SP? 9 SP? 10 SP?

I imagine most franchises would kill to be in our position, even amongst the WS favorites.

 

I would expect another pitcher being signed either starter or reliever. Pretty good chance atleast Varsho or McCarthy is there at the deadline if the Astros need them.

 

Unquestionably.

 

Yeah, I know and trust me when I say I agree it’s about another title. I was there for the confetti and trophy presentation. I that’s all that matters is the title.

Honestly, Crane is probably thinking … me spending another 30 million for a backup/Platoon C and Benintiendi is gonna cost me what $25MM to 30MM this year, and it increases the chances of a title by 0.5% compared to me just going with Korey Lees development and Brantley. I can very rationally see a nerd cave assessment that says exactly that and Crane saying to hell with it, I’m keeping that extra money.

I’d just rather have that extra 0.5% chance of winning it all. Plus, part of being a devoted fan is to enjoy the off-season and arm-chair GMing, and looking at how much better our team is than the rest of the AL.

 

Oh how we forget the days of relying on Will Harris in every high leverage situation just a couple of years ago. The more bullets you have in a bullpen throughout the season the better.

 

Good night. I'll probably be up before midnight.

 

7 would be great just too have someone who can go 2-3 innings in a lopsided game and maybe Net us a nice return at the deadline too fill a bigger need. Kluber, Grienke. There’s still room too add a pitcher. Maton and Martinez have options and you can never have enough depth.

 

To be fair, it's because Verlander put up those kind of stats all year and is noted to be one of the best pitchers in baseball (I mean best if you go by cy young), and to have that kind of pattern in the world series is just weird, and he needed to be better in those games.

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/rangers/news...-houston-astros-seattle-mariners-jacob-degrom

“I know how good Seattle’s pitching staff is. And the Astros are unbelievable. But, then again, I just don’t see them overwhelming us. I think we are just as talented, just as good.”

 

This is a mindset shift that I think the front office gets, but harder for us as Astros' fans (and generally speaking, all Houston sports franchises).

But we are in the middle of a dynasty. We are the hot girls at the dance. We should act like it. Jose Abreu gets it. He could have signed elsewhere for more money. But he WANTED to come here, so he did.

We have the leverage, we should never act from a sense of desperation, and only act from a position of strength.

 

Edit - Wrong thread.

 

LMFAO.

 

I don’t know. This past World Series winning team could have used more hitting… and we all know how devoid the 2005 World Series team was of hitting.

ideally you want both… but if you have to be excellent at just one, it’s clear that teams have more success with elite pitching vs only elite hitting.