At this point they are in no better position than they where in last season. I want more than that before they trade away the future.
Are we watching the same team? Playoff odds: Baseball reference: 89.8% Fangraphs: 79.8% 6/13/3024 Baseball reference: 32 3% Fangraphs: 33.1% Not to mention only Framber, Caratini, and Rodgers are free agents after the season. This team is tons better than this time last year and the future is much much brighter.
Put premium Yordan and now that Diaz/Altuve are coming around, give me a Lux type bat and a Sale or Kelly and I'll take my chances.
I sure do miss when the draft took place before/during the CWS. It was always fun rooting for players-knowing they’d been drafted by the Astros.
Finding a stud core player, is worth the risk. Getting the everyday players are great, but those fellas are in practically the revolving doors, they seem to always be on the move from Franchise to franchise. Core players are those guys you can build a team identity with. Such as with Jose Altuve, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Jose Cruz, etc. Helping set the club culture is worth so much more, especially when said player can carry his weight with the bat. Astros have been exceptional in drafting their heavy hitters or developing them after international signings. I was just seeing that the Dodgers have that humongous payroll, especially after they continuously pilfer superstar players, but they aren’t much better than the other division leading teams. A core/franchise player is vastly more valuable to a franchise winning, than even a superstar talent. Cam Smith, Jeremy Peña have the talent and personalities to become true franchise players. Especially with Altuve at 35 nearing the tail end of his career. But Dana need to keep drafting exceptionally well, because baseball is the hardest sport to translate potential into actual production on a MLB field.
I’m no GM, but I would be extremely reluctant to use a 1st round pick on a pitcher whose team is riding his ass to a championship.
