What a bunch of spoiled brats. 6 straight alcs, 4 ws with 2 wins and you are still questioning this front office and calling them cheap. Why don’t you go root for the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Padres, Angels etc. to quench your thirst for off-season excitement. We added Abreu and retained one of our best relievers. We have Leon, Diaz, Hensley, Lee, and Gilmore in the pipeline. We are already set to compete for championships for at least 5 years. Same folks that will scream bloody murder when we can’t extend Tucker, Valdez and Javier. Insert crying Karen gif.
I thought that was what Click did last offseason that he hated . I love the Abreu signing. I like the Montero signing - was just ok with it at the time but it looks even better now. This team really needs one more great bat. Conforto/Brantley would still be great (I’ll bet they are healthy by the playoffs). Crane is one of the best if not the best owner in the league, but I want to see him use the full budget up to CBT threshold (flexibility that Verlander leaving provided) to either maximize the next 2-3 years or to extend the window…
Profar makes sense as a versatile (hopefully inexpensive) hedge against Brantley’s health. If Houston wants to wait for Brantley as their 7 hole hitter, they will risk not having anything there if it turns out Brantley can’t get healthy. Profar gives them another option who can move into a utility role if Brantley ends up panning out. I would like that approach as I think there’s still a slight chance that Profar has not yet played his best season.
Really not a big Profar guy. Rather keep Brantley, hope the medicals are fine. Though not a "shiny new toy" nor a real splash move at this time, he can really hit and will benefit from the shift rules. Doesn't have to play every day at this point, just play some LF at home and DH on the road, sit against lefties but provide a good lineup-extending bat that puts the ball in play.
As others have mentioned, I much prefer the “dynasty” to “window” approach. That will regularly require you to do things that the fans don’t like. I was fine with Contreras on a 3, maybe 4 year deal. He got 5…congrats to him. He’s likely a zero in years 4 and 5. We’ve already said that Benintendi was a slightly above average hitter with weak power. Was fine with him for 3 years, not 5. Something many don’t seem to grasp is it’s not about the 50 deals you say “no” to…it’s about the 3-4 you say yes to. We are the defending champions, and have lost exactly 2 players off our World Series team. We don’t have many holes to fill, which means we can be extremely selective about the how/when/what of the moves we do make. We return the best bullpen in baseball. We lost the Cy Young, and replaced him with one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. We return our entire lineup, and added an MVP at 1st base. We have 5 All-Star level bats at the moment. 1-2 more makes this an all-timer type offense. Those additional 1-2 all-star level bats may come from any of the following: Young Major League Players that could improve Peña McCormick Hensley Meyers Minor League Players that could emerge Yanier Diaz Korey Lee Pedro Leon Trades for overpaid stars on bad teams: Kris Bryant Christian Yelich Trades for good young players on bad teams: Bryan Reynolds Jake McCarthy Daulton Varsho Alek Thomas Free Agents: Uncle Mike Mike Conforto JD Martinez You are looking for 1-2 of those to work out for you. Not ANY 1-2, but the 1-2 that come on your terms. Right now I’m leaning toward 1 of the listed free agents in order to secure a quality DH bat, then see who or if anyone emerges from your system. If nobody steps up, then look at trades near the deadline.
Of the three, Profar seems like the most interesting. Switch hitter and plays multiple positions in both the outfield and infield. Not overly priced at about $15M/yr on spotrac. Headed into his age 30 season. But he's not a plus plus bat.
The Astros seem to be bargain basement shopping, I wouldn't expect them to make competitive offers to any of the top guys. Uncle Mike might take a discount, so maybe he's back, but I get the feeling that the team doesn't want to spend that much more, so I'm thinking it'll be only minor moves from here on out other than maybe bringing back Brantley.
Profar doesn't really play infield anymore. Dabbled a tiny bit in 2021 and was exclusively outfield last year. At this point he's just a slightly above replacement player, does not excite me. Bring back Brantley for 1 year, $10M.
I lean against Profar, because he’s not a better bat than McCormick, and may not be better than Meyers. Not sure what he brings other than a better ops against righties (but not THAT much better). He’s average. I think securing a professional hitter like Conforto, Brantley or Martinez is all that’s left for free agency.
Maybe someone here knows, but at what point does a player getting treated for an injury when his contract expires cease having his medicals transmitted to the former team and they stop paying for it?
I think we are pretty well positioned. Id rather bring back Yuli and Brantley and see what big fish are available at trade deadline. Altuve Pena Alvarez Bregman Abreu Tucker Chas as 7/9 will be quite strong.
Definitely bargain shopping. We’re now past all the multi-year 9-figure spending…we sat out of that just like we do every year. I like the idea of signing one more bat in free agency, then talking extensions with your own players. We already know Tucker is a no. Valdez? Javier? Maybe even Peña.
All good points but last year we also had a lot of luck with health other than Brantley. Returning the best bullpen and 5 all stars in the lineup etc could easily be disrupted by injuries. This is why I want Crane to spend and add more solid bats. All we lost last year was Uncle Mike and look how we struggled to find anything that wasn’t an automatic out at DH in the playoffs. If you have this $40m to spend then just pony up for Conforto and Brantley on short deals. Let Conforto start in CF and alternate DH/LF with Brantley and Yordan. All three of those guys have injury histories so rest them here and there with starts from Chas. I don’t want to spend just to spend I want veteran depth to prepare for the likelihood of injuries.
Anyone know how the AAV for a player applies to the tax in a midseason trade that includes cash? For example, Kris Bryant is set to make $27 million next year. The Astros are $36 million below the 1st tax level. If we trade for him midseason, would his AAV for the Astros for 2023 be half of $27 ($13.5) or the full $27? If cash is included, does that reduce his AAV on the Astros end, or is it still just $27?
I know Pena has a small sample size, but I'd see if he's receptive to a Braves-type extension that buys out all his pre-FA years and adds one or two after. Assuming he keeps pace, it'll be very team-friendly with the AAV number near the end.
That’s fair, but there’s also the dynamic of leaving opportunities for young players to emerge. You’re alway playing a balancing act of established veterans vs emerging prospects. I like the idea of 1 more veteran bat on a short deal to get you to 8 quality bats. Then see what happens with your young guys and make a trade at the deadline if necessary.
Thanks, let’s see if I have this right… If Houston trades for Kris Bryant exactly at the midpoint in the season, his salary counts as $13.5 against the tax for 2023. If cash is included, then I assume that cash is spread proportionally across his contract. Let’s say Colorado includes $5 million per year, or $30 million total. All together, Bryant would count $8.5 million against the Astros for 2023 in a midseason trade. Do I have that right?
