Appreciate the feedback. Hopefully all 3 of those guys make it. My biggest reason for getting Lazardo is I think Blanco will never have more value than he will this offseason and I just think his career as a good starter will be very short - maybe even less than 3 or 4 years short. My 2 offseason goals would be: 1) find 2 good bats to hit in the middle of the lineup and allow any rookies to hit at the bottom and 2) Solidify the rotation into a unit, even if not at full strength, is an advantage in (nearly) every series. As for Robert, he gives the team a legitimate MVP talent and adds one of those bats in an up the middle pisition that has been missing since Springer moved on. The farm will take a huge hit, but none of these guys are Brown guys and all the players brought in have multiple years if control to give more time to replace them. Nobody wants to face this team, especially in the playoffs.
Saw Tyler Anderson getting hit by Mariners shitty offense so thought back to when you were talking about how you wanted him. This was your response to being told Tyler Anderson wasn’t a good option by IdAstrosFan due to his underlying metrics being trash. His ERA is almost 5 since the ASB. Maybe you should lay off saying stuff like wanting to fire Dana Brown.
Robert is a prima donna and I get that. I am not fond of his act in Chicago, but there have been other guys who have acted like jackasses and I decided I would like them on the Astros. Some of it is just the nature of many people his age and some of it is his way of protesting his situation in Chicago - when he agreed to give up his prime years, and stay in Chicago 8 years they were a different team, and they have not exactly spent money and kept a reasonably talented team around him. I'm sure he wants to win and sees his window closing. He can't get those years back. And he still has 3 years left in his sentence. This year, he couldn't get out because Chicago wanted too much. Maybe this is his way of trying to get his price down where teams can afford him. It doesn't excuse it, but to me, it makes it worth the gamble for an MVP level talent signed for 3 more seasons at a very good salary. I see him coming in and blending w/ Yordan, Diaz, and Pena, learning the Astros culture and maturing into a great Astro we can root for. Pedro Leon, Shay Whitcomb, A.J. Blubaugh, and Colton Gordon for Robert. Leon has nothing left to prove in AAA and needs a Corey Julks like opportunity in MLB. He's been passed by in Houston. Whitcomb has shown enough with the bat to have good value, but he has also shown he isn't an infielder and as an OF, the Astros can afford to include him. Blubaugh and Gordon have shown enough to be wanted and valued by a team like Chicago, who hopes to contend in 2026 or 2027 but are among several talented upper level arms in the Astros system so can be replaced.
Framber and Tucker should have been gone last off-season and definitely need to be traded this offseason.
It's definitely one plan. It would take balls though. Do that and not make the postseason in 2025 and Brown will be looking for work. The team could get 6 legitimate young controllable pieces and, if 3+ actually hit, the team could be set back up for another 6-7 years of contention.
If they did decide to rebuild, Tucker, Framber, Pena, Pressly, Abreu, and Hader would all need to go. Those 6 guys should transform Houston’s farm into one of the 7 or 8 best in the league and would mostly clear payroll; add in 2 more drafts, one where they have high picks, and they’d have a top 3 farm by 2027. Caratini, Dubon, McCormick, Garcia, Meyers, and Javier (and McCullers if he ends up playing) would all be selectively shopped. I don’t think they’ll rebuild; their returning players project them to 90-95 wins. But Crane needs to dig deep for 2025 and 2026, because this farm system isn’t likely to fill all these holes, especially after Bregman and Tucker and Framber are all gone.
Some hypothetical trades to kick off the offseason: Astros get: CF Luis Robert $8M (2025) White Sox get: OF Jacob Melton CF Jake Meyers P Miguel Ullola Astros get: 1B/LF Brandon Lowe Rays get: OF Chas McCormick IF Shay Whitcomb RP Shawn Dubin Astros get: 3B/1B Jake Burger Marlins get: OF Pedro Leon P Misael Tamarez P Alimber Santa
Another: Astros get: 1B/C/LF Willson Contreras $5M (2025) Cardinals get: P AJ Blubaugh P Jose Fleury OF Kenedy Corona I’d love this 2025 opening day roster: CF Robert 2B Altuve DH Alvarez RF Tucker 1B Contreras C Diaz LF McCormick SS Pena 3B Dubon Bench: Dezenzo, Whitcomb, Singleton, Salazar Rotation: Framber, Brown, Garcia, Blanco, Arrighetti, McCullers Bullpen: Hader, Abreu, Whitley, Ort, Scott, Dubin, King That team is stacked and affordable, it’s just carries tons of injury risk (Garcia, McCullers) and banks on guys (Robert/McCormick) returning to form.
Really hoping that Hader doesn't follow the footsteps of Mitch Williams and Ken Giles of big name closer that can't make it here... if so, trade him and trust Bryan Abreu... and hope McCullers lol can fit that closer role.
Give me this. Christian Walker- 3 years 75 mil. Micheal Comforto 2 years 15 mil. Trade Melton/Meyers/Ulolla for Robert. Free up money by trading Pressly/Caratini/Dubon for a Taylor Rodgers type reliever.
I'm on board for this. Walker is a bit rich - Spotrac has him @3 yrs @ just over $65M. I would go $75 in a bidding WAR ( (pun intended) but think $70-72 gets it done. I think he's a perfect fit and they should not let him go over $10M or less. The White Sox have no need for Meyers. He will need to go in a separate deal. They want young cheap pitching and no need for a guy already into arbitration. It's probably Melton and. . . Arrighetti/Blanco + one of Ullola, Fleury, Blubaugh, Gusto, Gordon, or Hicks. Or 3 of those guys. Robert will be expensive especially since there will be a bidding WAR if the White Sox officially put him on the market. He simply has rare rare talent and his poor season and attitude issues will be attributed to the disfunction of the White Sox I don't see the Astros adding bullpen help, even if they trade Pressly. They have a dozen unproven/semiproven guys and they will just let them battle it out for the 4-7 spots behind Hader, Abreu, and Scott.
I was just using Snake's trade proposals. I would trade pitching from the minors and throw in a guy like Cole/Jaworsky. Cole/Jaworsky//Ullola/Gordon/Fleury for Robert.
I think that's a good return for Robert, but I would expect Melton to be the headliner replacing Cole.
I would be fine with trading Melton in a deal for Robert. The guys I really want to hold onto is Matthews/Blubaugh/Baez. BTW, from what I've read/a little bit of seeing, I like Fleury a lot.
I think if you want to trade for Robert, you start with Blanco, Melton, Matthews and Ullola. The White Sox are going to ask for a haul, and I think they are going to get it. However, I do not think Robert is worth what it will take to acquire him
If there’s no good answer at 3B I wonder if Houston might check with Boston to see if they want to dump Trevor Story. His value is way down but I think there’s a chance he would be productive if he got/stayed healthy. Maybe Boston eats half his contract and Houston tosses them a 3rd tier pitching prospect.
