It’s also a lot harder to tank now with the new rules. Even if Lunhow was here, this run doesn’t happen without Correa, Bregman, and Tucker who were all top five picks. There’s a chance we get unlucky and never even pick in the top five if we tank.
Nolan Arenado in the playoffs... 35 ABs, .152 AVG, 1 HR, .143 OBP, .385 OPS, 9 K, 0 BB Small sample size but that is gross.
Yep, and if they can trade for a guy like Robert and they should sign Walker in FA, (although they've got stained by the Abreu signing) this would keep the train rolling down the tracks over at the Ice Box.) You would only have to spend 35-40 mil to do this and they have the money to spend. Do this and if they must trade Framber (Which even opens up more money) then I hope they pickup an above avg MLB OF and a top prospect along with a wildcard prospect. I didn't like the Tucker trade, although I had no issues with trading Tucker, but the dynasty isn't over if they do this right and continue to develop great pitching. The present and the future isn't as bleak as some around these parts make them out to be. But Crane has to spend some money and Dana has to get this rebuild right.
Say they land 2 of those 3 guys then the dynasty would've still happened and remember neither Bregs and especially Correa were the top picks in their respective drafts. So yes, it's still possible to have a successful tank and rebuild. The scouts just have to be great at their jobs. Just as important is the ability to scout the Caribbean.
At this point I do not want Houston signing a QO free agent given the state of the market and where Houston is at in their competitive cycle. Giving up a 2nd rd pick is very costly when added on top of overpaying a free agent. If Houston is not able go sign Bregman, they should pivot to trading for an overpaid bounceback candidate (Bellinger or Arenado). If they can’t make a deal there, they should pivot to lesser free agents where they can afford to sign multiple players and try to generate production in the aggregate.
A lot of the greats fold in the postseason. One of the best aspects of the Astros golden era was that almost all of our top hitters met the moment with clutch performances. Altuve, Alvarez, Springer, Correa, Bregman, Gurriel, Brantley, even Marwin Gonzalez had memorable games or at-bats that saved or turned series upside down.
I would give up a 2nd rd pick for a 1B that's a 30 hr/GG guy. 1. Altuve 2. Alvarez 3. Robert in a trade 4. Diaz 5. Walker 6.. Parades 7. OF gained in Framber trade, although I hope they dont trade Framber. 8. Pena 9. Dezenzo That's a lineup that you can win a WS with and they still have the pitching although Dana should be adding a SP 3 type guy. Maybe trade for another Kikuchi type guy if Garcia/ Blubaugh etc.. dont perform up to expectations at the deadline. After think about the Tucker trade, they're replacing on 30 HR guy (Tucker) with another 30 HR guy (Parades) Adding Walker would give them a 30 HR guy to replace Bregs bat. Then trading for Robert would be a big time bonus to the lineup. The other positive is all of these 3 guys are under contract for multiple years.
Yes I can. If you don’t think this team can win a title during the Yordan years it would be insane how much they could get parting out the team. Yordan at like 3/60 would be worth top 10, top 50 and top 100 prospect Yainer with 3 years of Arb would be worth a top 50 and top 100 Peña with 2 years of arb would be worth 2 top 100. Abreu with 1 year of arb would be worth a top 100 Hader if you paid 30M would be worth a top 50 and top 100 Brown with 3 years of arb would be worth 2 top 50’s at least? If he is as good this year as last year. Blanco and Arrighetti combined with 8 years of control would probably be worth a top 50 and 3 top 100’s probably. Paredes with 2 years of arb would be worth a couple top 100’s. you are literally talking about a top 10, 6 more top 50 types 10 top 100’s. add that to Smith, Matthews, Blubaugh and whoever else breaks out and you’d be talking about an organization with Jose Altuve making 30M, maybe 50 or 60M in money sent out, all minimum wage guys and the greatest minor league system ever assembled? It’s pretty enticing if you don’t think what you have is good enough to win it all now. Might be more valuable as parts than as a whole. We are so much better set to rebuild than we were last time around.
I should also add… I would try to win at least 1 more title in the next 4 years. I don’t think we are that far away. I’m very bullish on 25-28. But if you wanted to zag oh boy could you zag. It shouldn’t be a decade in the wilderness.
Yordan worth more than that. Soto had 2.5 seasons left and was going to get paid more than 3/60 due to arbitration. Nationals got basically two top 10 and a couple more top 50 guys and a high ceiling rookie league guy.
If you do this and as long as they've got the pitching I hope they dont go this route, you've got to trust the GM doing the rebuild and give him full autonomy.
That doesn’t sound right? I’m talking top 10 in all of Major League Baseball prospects, not org top 10’s. Unless those guys were that good which I didn’t think they were.
They were all that good Gore, Abrams, hassell and wood. They were all that highly thought of. Hassell was the only one that wasn't top 10 in all of baseball by some publication or another at some point.
Astros get: IF Brett Baty OF/1B Ryan Clifford IF Jeremy Rodriguez OF Starling Marte $8M Mets get: SP Framber Valdez Astros get a 1B and an OF. They also get 2 fringe top 100 prospects and ~$5M in freed up payroll. They’d have plenty of money to go get another SP and potentially another bat if they traded Pressly.
Bregman was definitely considered to be the #1 pick and we ended up getting him at 2. Correa yes but even he was still likely a top 5 guy. And we got LMJ because we had the flexibility with the large bonus pool from having the #1 pick. The fact we would only be eligible for one lottery pick before being dropped to 10th guaranteed like the White Sox would make it a hell of a lot more difficult. The Bregman and Tucker pick would have never happened.
Astros farm would be ranked in the 8-12 range in the league. Their 2025 roster would be ranked in the 11-15 range in the league, higher (8-12 range, easily top 5 in AL) if they spent all the remaining money wisely, with no meaningful pending free agents. Only would have 5 contracts on the books after 2025 (Altuve, Yordan, Hader, Javier, McCullers), only one of them (McCullers, who expires after 2026) underwater. Pretty good place to be.
I wonder who says no to Jake Meyers and Shawn Dubin (or another young RP) for Josh Naylor. Astros could also toss in Singleton if Cleveland was interested.
