Hell yeah we could have resigned Verlander. That deal wouldn't have hurt us at all. He just doesn't want to pay deep into the tax. It's his money so whatever, but stop telling us "We aren't done" like a big move is coming.
All star talent does not simply manifest itself. It is husbanded and developed with care and time by smart organizations and good planning.
Drafting well, signing picks, not having to give up picks due to free agent signings, and a little luck are what translates to good farm systems. And you don’t need for sure all stars. Just projectable talent that could be used for trades for teams that are in contention or can be groomed for teams that are in rebuild mode.
I'd like to sign Brantley, maybe Kluber, and possibly Taylor Rogers if the price is reasonable. From there, just roll with Lee as C2 and see what things look like come deadline time. I would LOVE Varsho (just someone who I really love as a player), but it looks like that's not happening. Maybe once half a season passes (meaning less control), and the Pirates inevitably suck again, Reynolds' price will come down, and we'll make the trade then (hopefully some of the prospects up their value by then). At this point, looks like both Varsho and Reynolds stay put.
I wonder how many times a team has been rumored to pick up on a player through FA or trade, not make that pickup, and down the line get that same player? I don't think it happens often as once the price goes down then teams are less interested. I remember for both Cole and Greinke you didn't hear anything until it happened. JV as well. It seems like the most likely pickup will be someone we haven't heard whispered into the universe.
It’s like you can’t understand the difference between process and results. We could have just as easily lost in 3 to the Mariners as swept them. You simply cannot expect to have huge black holes in offensive positions and not have it come back to bite you in the ass. Crane claimed we had those holes bc Click couldn’t follow orders and basically called him a giant p***y, then he talked a huge game, and now we are watching players that could help us come off the board for short money on short term deals hike we bargain shop. 40M unspent is bullshit. We are smack dab in the middle of a strong WS contender and our fans are acting like it’s perfectly fine to play with one hand tied behind our back. we essentially don’t have anyone mission critical to our success that wasn’t brought in by Luhnow (or Ed Wade to be fair with Altuve) and we have no idea if Crane is the driving Force behind this or if he just made an inspired hire with Luhnow and we are gravy training his genius. Remember when Jerry Jones was amazing and then Jimmy Johnson left and they’ve won 2 playoff games in 25 years after his dynasty petered out. Yeah- I remember and it’s certainly possible that’s what’s going on here. We shall see. The brain drain is concerning from the organization. The general feel of lots of what is going on doesn’t look great right now. Luhnow was just unbelievably inconceivably good and his finger prints are all over this success. The upcoming GM hire is reaaaaaaly important and needs to get nailed. We will see.
But Luhnow never made any stupid signings. In fact he was largely uninvolved in the decisions to extend Altuve and Verlander. If you see what Bloom is doing for the Red Sox, you can imagine why that fan base is up in arms as he’s also following the Tampa strategy in a market that will not allow for that. Signing Abreu on a 3 year deal is basically what Luhnow was able to do for a younger Brantley. Luhnow did sign Brian McCann and Robinson Chirinos though…. Moves that the current Astros could emulate (and would largely get chastised for). At the moment, you’re literally asking them to spend to spend. I wanted Verlander and Crane probably did too… and I was fully prepared to see them not spend that money elsewhere because nobody else would really have been worth it.
Garbage. TF has literally spent a higher % of the cap than Les. They let two washed up players go in Ariza and Anderson after they cost us a playoff series. The plan of trading their expiring contracts and a bunch of late first round picks for a mysterious allstar was never going to work.
Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, it was reported that we had a deal in place for Cole, then the reporters said "no deal was imminent." A few days later, the trade was completed. To my recollection, Pittsburgh rejected one package, and then we offered a different one with different players. It's been 4 years, so maybe my memory is all mixed up (I don't remember these things as well), but that's how I recall. As for Greinke, I heavily recall that we were connected to Marcus Stroman, MadBum and maybe Syndergaard/Wheeler (the Mets opted not to sell, and neither did the Giants). Prior to the trade, Greinke was a name a lot of fans clamored for, and maybe some of the radio guys too, but no serious reporter connected us to him via "discussions" (until the trade happened). Overall, the Astros keep a lot under wraps, and I like that we aren't transparent (helps not to show our cards). Most of the additions are not guys who are connected to us (like, everyone from the 2021 deadline, same with Neris and several others). I expect anyone we sign aside from Brantley (who I think does come back) will be someone that has not been "connected" to us by the reporters.
We lost Correa and really didn't spend that money on anyone else. We lost Verlander and thus far haven't replaced the spending. I understand the concern over these long term contracts... BUT, with our 2023 salary cap position we have room to do a 1-year deal like Conforto and it won't hurt us in paying our young talent in 2024 and beyond.
That wasn’t what cost us a championship. It was not trading for a competent 4th guard in 2018 because he didn’t want to go over the tax. That is a well established fact. Believe Harden listed it as a reason for wanting out. Tillman may have even admitted the mistake.
Yeah, not talking about days I mean months. The rumors out there now, if the Astros pass on them then most likely we don't pick them up at the deadline and it'll be a completely different player that we didn't see coming. Seems to be the Astros management MO.
Where would you have played him? He's exclusively a DH at this point, and Alvarez is going to at least play part of the season there. If the Astros add anyone, they need players with some positional versatility, given that Abreu and Yordan are pretty limited and take up the "easy" positions.
The simplest way I think about it is would one of those players made the team better last postseason. Considering the production from the DH spot, any above average bat would definitely move the needle… you’re right on pitcher…unless there are injuries. A pitcher signing is basically insurance or a move to keep staff and bullpen rested (would not add wins directly). We were very lucky on pitcher health for playoffs (6 man rotation and rest surely helped)
2 hours ago Astros Have Some Interest In Jurickson Profar Deal with Conforto Will be confirmed by Tuesday
