A lot depends on Melton being what Dana Brown thinks he will be (or someone like Baez really hitting. Color me skeptical on the Melton but they have enough bodies to throw at it that you would think you could get to 3 war with an outside chance at a 5 war type for that one spot. If Meyers is actually what we've seen so far that is obviously helpful. Rose colored glasses for 2026 Lineup Diaz- 5 War (I think he has Star in him) Loperfido- 2 Altuve- 3 Pena- 4 Dubon- 2 Chas- 3 Meyers- 4 Melton- 2 Yordan- 5 Total- 30 Bench- whatever- don't drag the team down. This is asking a lot- and I don't even know if Dubon is still on the team in 26 (He a super two I guess- he's had his second season of arbitration already). If Yordan plays at an MVP level, Altuve doesn't age out into sub regular quality starter- Meyers is still good, chas gets it back together, Diaz becomes a star, we develop at least 2 of the other guys- sure. That's a lot of ifs. I don't know that any of those guys have to become a star- but if they do then we obviously have more runway for the other guys not having to hit the 90th percentile outcomes in play. If not- I think there are enough pieces to get a lot of value coming back in a trade scenario- so that means we've got a good head start on a rebuild- but the arm situation is a lot more bleak than the everyday lineup situation, and that everyday lineup situation isn't great...
Really hope his return doesn't mess with the team's increasing swagger....with the current run, this team looks like they are having fun again. The headbands...finally showing emotions out there.
People fall in and out of the influence circle of Jim Crane.... and even if they remain strong friends with Crane, their actual influence ebbs and flows. The reality is that Jim Crane has always made his own decisions. The only person that really was not questioned on issues like the draft and player trades was Luhnow, and he ended up really burning Crane. For all the complaining about Bagwell - he is one of like 6-7 people that watch the Astros games with Crane.... Enos Cabell probably has more influence than anyone else. Reggie Jackson and Jeff Bagwell are involved, as is Biggo to an extent..... but this set up isn't any different than when he bought the team - except back then it was Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens and sometimes Kevin Bass.
The Astros did NOT sign Jose Abreu because of Jeff Bagwell. In fact, the decision to pursue and make a large contract offer to Abreu was made at the end of the Astros WS season, when Click was still the GM. Same thing with resigning Montero. Jeff Bagwell was sent to go sign Abreu and has worked with him because Abreu looked up to Bagwell and relates well with veteran and older players. Bagwell is also a hitting coach and has worked with a lot of the Astros players and even coaches on the best way to coach and develop players. He is involved with player development. Blaming Bagwell for Abreu over Click, Crane, Jackson and Cabell isn't fair. The only difference is that Bagwell is willing to speak up and stand up for players. [QUOTE="seemoreroyals, post: 15209877, member: 62936"Sure he talks a good game. That is why I think he is best suited in a TV booth giving opinions and discussing baseball issues where he can do no harm to the team. He is much like a drunk at a bar that talks and rants giving opinions and quick fixes to real world problems but in the end offers no real solutions.[/QUOTE] He offers no solutions to what exactly? He isn't going to break down with the media what he is doing working on his swing - or say that he thinks Abreu is or isn't cooked as a big league hitter. Bagwell is famous and someone fans are familiar with - so he will talk to the media and answer questions if asked. He also does have a background coaching and a lot of players have asked him to help them, on the Astros and off the Astros. He also will go on trips to scout or watch games if Crane asks him to - so he can help Crane see subtle things. Crane has spent a lot of time trying to get a deeper understanding of baseball. I am not saying fans shouldn't be critical of the Abreu signing - I personally am not because I understand the limited choices they had, and the risk appeared to be overall minimal. In hindsight it did not work out - but that isn't Jeff Bagwell's fault. Bagwell worked with Tucker and Meyers this off season on their swing -
Jeff Bagwell has personal demons.... he was an alcoholic for 15 years... he had issues in his personal life (lots of cheating and being cheated on)... and he was not always dependable for early morning appearances after a long night now. Having said that - Bagwell is one of the smartest baseball players I have ever seen or been around. The other one that stood out was Roger Clemens. Bagwell has worked with Ted Williams, Buddy Bell, Moises Alou, Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn and others about hitting and playing the game. He was a good hitting coach for the Astros and has a good understanding of analytics and player development. I am not saying he should run an organization - but he is more than qualified to be a coach at the big league level or scout.
Crane needs to use Bregs money to Re-sign Tucker. Crane also needs to get back to the analytics model that's been so successful. BTW, I'm giving Loperfido a third baseman's glove and sending him to winter ball this off-season.
Funny how so many people on here are blaming Baggy for the Abreu signing. I just went and read through the thread when Abreu was signed and 99% of the people on here had NO problem with the signing and in fact were very excited about it. Most people around baseball thought it was a good signing as well. He struggled most of last season but after he came off the IR last year he had a really good Sept and in the playoffs as well. This season yes he's been horrible (and may be done) but to start popping off now (after the fact) that it was a horrible signing is just laughable and blaming Baggy for it?? Like Baggy held a gun to Crane's head? Someone also posted on here after the signing that the MLB Network showed a stat that had the highest OPS+ against the top 25 pitchers in baseball in '22 and guess who was at the top of the list? That's right it was Abreu at .359 I get the frustration and yes it sucks they may have to ultimately release him but to blame Baggy again is laughable.
At the time of the signing, the back of jabreau's baseball card indicated he was effectively a right-handed Michael Brantley as a first baseman
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/05/astros-rumors-eric-lauer-free-agent-starting-pitcher.html Revival?!?!!?
It really is laughable to think Jeff bagwell was the gm and made the signing. line can you seriously picture Jeff bagwell hammering out contract details? It’s obvious that abreu and montero were both planned out by click and his team.
If there's one thing I want to see this organization do is Trade tucker if they're not going to give him an extension he wants. Losing Tucker for nothing would be monumentally stupid. He's the best player at his position and is probably 2nd or 3rd in the MVP race right now (I heard he's got the same WAR as Ohtani right now). Trading him does a lot to restock the farm with blue chippers.
The point is to win games and pennants... not collect assets that end up like Brett Wallace, LJ Hoes, or Garrett Stubbs.
Are we still doing the Dusty thing where a guy says he’s ready and that means he has to wait 24 more hours for reasons? I loved that one.
If Chas comes back and hits close to last year, our offense could be really, really special. There's no holes. If we keep Loperfido up, there's the ability to platoon. It really sucks we got off to such a terrible start because we have the potential, at least on paper, to have one of the most complete all-around teams of the Golden Era. 1. Altuve 2B 2. Tucker RF 3. Alvarez DH 4. Bregman 3B 5. Pena SS 6. Singleton 1B 7. McCormick LF 8. Diaz C 9. Meyers CF That's dominant.
