Crane should call Bregman up and say- hey- let’s try this again- we like you- you like us- 6/156- and we will take care of you after that if you can still play- let’s retire an Astro It’s one more year in the tax and then Montero, Abreu, Presley and Framber are gone and we are 40M under the tax threshold, don’t have a single hole in the everyday lineup, and should have enough money to fill in on the mound if we need to. If the Indian burial ground curse we’ve been living under on the mound the last 3 years lifts we won’t even need to do that. Paredes can play left. Chas is fine in CF. Jake is fine against LHP and Dezenzo will probably be fine against RHP. If he’s not Yordan can play OF some and singleton or Caratini can DH some.
Might as well make the final year an option year that everyone knows will be exercised just to say he won the contract standoff...
You really are a Bregman fan. I am too, but his time passed when he turned down Crane's first offer. Time to move on
You are Lunhow fan. His time passed when he was such a prick it didn’t matter that he was great as his job. Ostracized from the sport. Time to move on
He's the biggest reason Crane and many fans here feel the way they do. Luhnow completely took any and all humanity out of running a team and boiled all players ( and processes) down to math and numbers. Crane was a player and lover of the game. There is a solid chance that if Luhnow had not sold him on that philosophy that, just like every other team in the top 1/3 of the sport in revenue and success, the Astros would be willing to go to 7+ year contracts to keep their star players. Maybe the business man in Crane takes over and there is no difference? But there is no doubt Luhnow influenced his thinking. Is that better? Possibly. And, yes, there are many positives about Luhnow that the Astros and we as fans are still enjoying, and Alex may not even have been drafted without Luhnow. But that is what Luhnow has to do with this conversation.
I think if there was a clear path to a contract he wanted, he would have signed already. Boras is just saving face at the moment.
This may be the beginning. 4-5 years may be the benchmark for Bregman at $28 mil+/yr now (With Santander agreeing to less than $20/yr himself). Alonso will most certainly sign a short term deal as well so not much to wait for now with Bregman. He either agrees to the Astros 6 year deal (if still on the table) or sign a lower term deal. The only other possibility is accept a long term deal with a team not likely to be in the playoff picture much.
The Astros have moved on. There is no place for another third baseman in this organization. They have a third baseman under contract. Their top prospect is a third baseman. Two of the top third base prospects in baseball are Astros prospects. Fans are the only ones still hoping the Astros go backwards on this issue. It is long past time for fans to move forward with them..
There is no doubt that Boras overplayed his hand, and over estimated Alex's value in the eyes of teams. However, he is also a very smart and experienced agent who has dealt with these GMs for years and negotiated dozens if not hundreds of contracts. I see only 2 reasons why they are still sticking to the longvterm only plan. 1) The Astros offer is still valid so there is no reason to think about anything less. 2) There is at least one offer out there for 6+ years that is better than a short term offer. Let's not forget that because Alex sold his first 2 FA years, a short deal w/ opt outs puts him deeper into his 30s and flat kills his earning power. He will need a huge salary in 2025 and/or 2026 to justify the drop he would have in offers after that.
Fans are not the only ones hoping. Jose Altuve is hoping. Many players are hoping. Even Dana Brown and Joe Espada have refused to say there's no chance and/or that they don't want him even while acknowledging he's no longer part of the plan. There is ZERO scenarios where this team is better in 2025 without Alex than with him. Still - even with Walker and Paredes on this team. The question is when does that change? 2026? 2028? 2030? And based on that, is it worth the commitment it will take to sign him. So far the answer is no but if the cost comes down to some unknown level, that changes.
The Astros payroll goal for 2025 is close to 7.5 million less than their current commitments. There is simply no place to add salary, nor is there a place to add another infielder. The outfield is the only unsettled place on this team, and that will be settled in the Spring. It is time to talk about the future. Bregman is in the Astros past. We are all grateful he was here, but are tired of hearing the moaning and groaning about him.
Crane's a businessman 1st and foremost and he hired Luhnow to help him make money. (Mission accomplished) Sure Crane loves the game. Are you saying Luhnow doesn't love the game? If so, I disagree. He just ran the Stros like a business. (Smart) There's no sentimentality in business if you want to maximize a businesses potential/profits. Luhnow's way of doing things brought a dynasty. Now some posters want to change the things that allowed the dynasty to exist. If you want to win, you've gotta have a philosophy and stick to it. This is Crane's philosophy not Luhnow's. Crane rightfully doesn't believe in paying for the last 2-3 years of a player who's contract wont matchup with a players production. I personally liked Luhnow's management style. You being a numbers guy I would think you would like Luhnows cold hard numbers style. Everything was done with winning coming 1st and foremost and he didn't care about what others like the MLB hierarchy/Media/fans like some on this MB thought of his methods. Single minded people who dont play games with the media in this case are usually treated badly by the media and they went looking for anything they could to get rid of him and succeeded. I'm just glad that the classic media wasn't able to succeed on pulling the same things with the Trump election. Happy Inauguration Day.
At the end of the day we have 4 highly paid guys that can only play the infield. I don't know how having Bregman back makes sense. The other limiting factor is our DH is literally the best in baseball as a DH, so it's not like we can move Altuve to DH.
