I like it. Not only is there what you are saying at play, getting out of Oakland and back here could reinvigorate a guy like him. If he could go back to what he was when he was here, that could be a big upgrade to our bench.
Considering the start to the season, the fact we are one game out of first place at the All Star break is nothing short of remarkable. I hate the way we ended the first half against Arlington - those jerk wads are getting healthy and I predict they will be a problem down the stretch. We need to get healthy, fast, and hopefully Dana can make some trades to bolster this squad. I predict it will be a three team dog fight for the division.
No risk signing. Like when we signed Marwin back in 2021. A good veteran to have on standby if we find ourselves in a desperate spot.
Episode 70 of Breathing Orange Fire is up. We do a round table with the Dome Foam crew. Listen, rate, review etc.
I'm a bit behind. I just finished #69 last night. It really got me thinking about what this team needs to continue the window beyond 2025 with no Alex or Tuck. I'm doing my usual overthinking analysis that makes WAR and Peace look short. I will post it in 5 year outlook thread if I ever get finished. Thanks for another enjoyable podcast.
I don't think they have honestly been THAT bad. I wouldn't say that they have been great, but once a team has to resign their own players and add free agents - mistakes will happen. Lots of pitching injuries around baseball, and that is leading to a lot of dead money.... McCullers, Javier and Graveman fall into that group. Javier's contract will likely still end up being positive, but it is hard to know. Montero and Abreu were just bad signings in hindsight. Abreu aged quickly and Montero lost the command he used to have. Look at the Dodgers for example... they are paying $32,000,000 to pitchers that will likely not pitch for them this year. On the offensive side, they are paying Chris Taylor $13,000,000 a year and he has been terrible.... Heyward $9,000,000, Hernandez $4,000,000 and Muncy $9,000,000 ....... for $35,000,000 in hitters that have either not played or been really bad.......... that is $67,000,000 is wasted money this year alone. Really - the difference between being a good allocation of money and bad is one player --- if one of McCullers, Abreu or Montero was playing well it wouldn't be a discussion.... so the margin between "good" and "bad" can be really small. I do think that we will likely see the Astros be a little more careful going forward, especially when doing something like target a 1st basemen, they will probably try to trade for one under existing team control or pursue rentals for a while.
Lance has his youth, his family, his money, his rings and is remembered as a playoff legend based on some of his post season work. I think he can go down as a legend in Houston if he chooses to go that route - he has a chance to stay active in the Houston community and be well known, which seems to appeal to him. So I think he is going to be okay no matter what happens with his arm. I am in some of the same social circles of some former players in the Chicago market - and for a lot of these guys in their late 40's-70's, the fact they have remained in Chicago and have gone on the radio sometimes or to card and team events has saved them. They are still celebrities, they still have employment and business opportunities, they are well treated in the community and can get a table in a restaurant anytime they want. Doesn't matter when you are 25 years old and rich with a kid and everyone sees you on television regardless - but when they get old and forgotten because they move out of market, a lot of them don't end up happy. Something to be said for developing and putting down roots somewhere when you have the type of advantages these guys have. Jimmy Piersall lived 2-3 miles away from me. We used to go out to lunch before he passed 5 or so years ago. We live in a very nice area of the Chicago suburbs, Jimmy moved there to be with his wife. However, he was in his 70's telling me that he was grateful for his wife and didn't regret moving where he did - but he missed everyone loving him in Boston, because no one in Chicago outside of his friends knew he used to be a celebrity ball player in the 60's and was even friends with JFK.
It's honestly incredible that a team, that can find an outfielder in their sleep, can't find that permanent 1B. Obviously, there are first basemen who didn't play the position originally, but hell the Astros may have found their catcher (probably the hardest position to find) of the future. (although they got real lucky with the last part and who knows if Diaz will eventually transition to a 1B)
Hopefully Diaz is the answer at 1B like you mentioned. And after spending a Round 1 on a catcher, it appears the front office is trending that way too.
