Didn't Omar Vizquel still have gold glove caliber defense at Yuli's age...? We trotted old man Biggio every day at 2nd.... and Carlos Lee play multiple positions... well... nevermind...
They didn't trade 12 years of either - they were free agents multiple times during that period. If they had stayed with the Rockets, they could have left; if the Rockets wanted them back, they had opportunities to sign them.
This whole conversation has me remembering us sitting around the table in early 2000 at a Clutchfans (Clutchcity.net?) gathering with Clutch and RM95. Back when you went by shanna on the board. I bet we were having a similar conversation back then. I think if you look back at when those guys were free agents, and what the Rockets' cap situation was at the time, and what the roster needs were at the time, you might see that it never matched up. And Cassell/Horry may have not wanted to sign with a team that traded them away (for Horry, traded him away twice). It's a sliding doors moment where the team would have looked different and behaved differently if they didn't make the Barkley move. For one, they likely never sign Quitten with Horry at forward and Cassell at point. Maybe Clyde sticks around instead of becoming coach at UH. Who knows?
Since we are going down memory lane, we didn't need Barkley. We just needed someone that could make Kemp pay for playing illegal defense. Willis would have been enough, but if I remember correctly, Willis only signed because of Barkley. Dream/Willis/ Willis/Horry Horry/Elie Drexler/Cassell Cassell/Smith
Curse of the Bambino- BoSox 86 years Curse of the Billy Goat - Cubs 71 years Curse of the Round Mound - Rockets- ongoing 26+ Years Curse of La Piña - ?? (Years) "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion" Have we lost our heart? Has the culture changed? Has what made us a champion forever gone? Are the Yankees rejoicing? In a sport where superstition runs rampant, the last thing we need is to change our MO. Cards did the right thing and signed Pujol for his final year, a farewell tour, and tickets skyrocketed for opening day and end of the season home games. A resounding success. Not the Astros. Yet, there are several on the roster less deserving than Yuli… What will be consequences? Already Altuve is out for 2 months.. Never, Never, Leave your Wingman…
I understand needing to be disciplined and not nostalgic when making player personnel decisions, BUT, I question whether we improperly analyzed what Yuli had in the tank. He was the 2021 AL batting champion. He had a fantastic post-season in 2022. Did we overemphasize his underwhelming 2022 regular season and look past all the positives? Did we place no value on his leadership and championship credentials? What burns me up is that we could have had him for cheap -- he signed an inexpensive minor league contract with Miami. So this wasn't a financial issue. Maybe the thinking was that Abreu is the everyday first baseman and we didn't think Yuli could play anywhere else... and there weren't enough DH at bats available with Brantley/Yordan needing to fill time there. But just for postseason value alone, Yuli is a great player to have on the team. He rises to the occasion when the stakes are the highest -- which is what wins postseason games.
We will never get over losing Keuchel, our ace How can we possibly replace Springer, he is the heart of the club Just pay Cole whatever it takes, we can’t win without him Give Correa 10 years, we can’t replace his play or his leadership, just pay him damnit And yet All we do is win win win no matter what GTFOH with this thread
I am sad Yuli got old. I am sad the best decision was let him go. I am sad he decided to keep playing on another team, despite no longer being even an average player. I am THRILLED he is not on the 2023 roster. I hope he realizes he is no longer a player and rejoins the team in some off-field capacity.
Logic checks out, Ruth hit 665 homeruns after he was traded to the Yankees = Gurriel lock for 665 homeruns as a Marlin.
I was gonna make a parody thread of all these random Yuli threads but then I remembered I already did it and like 3 people understood the joke so good night and have a great week everyone!! HashtagSaveYuli HashtagCubanYuliLivesMatter HashtagPineapplesAreNotJustForSwingersAnymore
