More BS, I was there too. I'm sure Crane fired Luhnow and Hinch of his own free will too. All I'm saying is this was all about getting Luhnow out of MLB and Manfred, the press succeeded in their mission. Don't believe me, then look around everybody involved but Luhnow has a job in MLB.
A deadline Id be happy with: Astros get: IF Luis Garcia Jr. OF Cedric Mullins $2M Orioles get: P Michael Knorr P Jose Fleury Nats get: 1B Zach Dezenzo IF/OF Shay Whitcomb P Ethan Pecko P AJ Blubaugh Astros get 2 solid everyday lefthanded bats who are good defenders at their open positions; Garcia comes with 2 more seasons of control and is only 25. They don’t give up any of their top 5 prospects. Orioles get 2 pitching prospects that can help them soon. Nats get 2 upside big league ready bats and 2 very high upside pitching prospects. Playoff roster: SS Pena 3B Paredes DH Altuve RF Smith C Diaz LF Mullins 1B Walker 2B Garcia CF Meyers Bench: Dubon, Caratini, Hummel, Guillorme SP: Framber, Brown, Walter, McCullers RP: Hader, Abreu, King, Okert, Sousa, Javier, Garcia, Arrighetti, Gordon
I probably would do this deal, but would hate to give up this much young pitching. Particularly with Framber probably leaving and LMJ looking washed.
He’s been a mixed bag defensively, some metrics paint him negatively. I think he’s certainly adequate and better than Altuve. Hes got the tools to be very good. I’m half a mind to get on board with them basically standing pat and rolling with Guillorme at 2B and Hummel/Trammell in LF (with Altuve at DH). That would get them 2 LH bats in the lineup and plus defense in both spots. And their bats aren’t that much worse than what a lot of the available options seems to be.
What do you think it would take to get Mullins and O'Hearn? It would move Altuve to 2B fulltime in the near future, but if Walker continues to struggle into the postseason O'Hearn can play more first opening up the DH for Altuve. Espada would have a lot of flexibility between CF/LF/2B/1B/DH.
O’Hearn’s value is very hard to judge. His on-paper value is pretty low because he’s a defensively-limited rental bat. But because he’s having such a good season offensively he may carry a big premium. Maybe: Astros get: DH Ryan O’Hearn LF Cedric Mullins $3M Orioles get: P AJ Blubaugh P Jose Fleury P Michael Knorr P Alimber Santa That’s a lot of mlb ready pitching going back to Baltimore for 2 rentals. But it still might not be enough. It wouldn’t shock me if you would have to swap Santa out for Miguel Ullola to get Baltimore to do the deal. I wouldn’t mind adding Charlie Morton to that trade just to round out all of Houston’s potential needs.
I'd also call Maimi. They have a handful of guys that can play second and short. Maybe you could get Stowers too - he's streaky but when he's on - he's pretty good. There's no replacing Yordan. If you can find a guy that can hit 285 and give you 10-15 hr the rest of the way . . . that's a Godsend. Unfortunately, I think you are looking at way less production than that. The problem is . . . when Chaz is on, he can be that guy. I don't trust Brown with rental bats. Guys that stay beyond two/three months . . . i feel much better about his valuations. Fix 2nd and DH for the rest of this year and next . . . don't just find an expiring bat and run with it . . .
I think that they key to the lineup for the rest of 2025 is Altuve bring able to continue to move back and forth between 2B and LF. Any position player they bring in needs to either be able to move around between some combination of 2B, LF, 1B, and/or CF or be strictly a platoon or bench bat. If the Astros bring in an everyday regular at either 2B or LF that causes Altuve to be stuck at either one, it hurts this team and severely reduces the improvement said hitter brings. It sucks that St Louis and TB are playing so well because Donovan and Lowe both fit very well. For me, that makes Lux a great option to play 2b when Altuve doesn't and be a good contact bench bat when he does. Keep him out of the OF.
Almost certainly. And neither Footer nor Drellich would've been expected to add to that discourse - they did not cover any of the teams associated with Chapman. To retroactively paint them as hypocrites for not stepping outside their lanes is lazy. While most of what you go on to say is true - the biggest issue IMO - and what made the Osuna deal so uniquely scummy - is that Osuna was *actively* suspended when the Astros acquired him. They essentially got him for a discount. And while I'm hesitant to qualify *any* employment of a domestic abuser - at least with Chapman, he had served his suspension and had been reinstated by MLB when the Yankees dealt for him. I won't defend their decision - but I also won't concede it's the same as what the Astros did with Osuna. I completely agree - with the caveat that I wholly disliked the Osuna deal, no qualifiers. It was gross.
Cleveland and KC are falling out of it and both below .500, might be worth watching them as potential trade partners. Guardians have a bunch of lefty bats; I wonder if they’d be open to discussing Steven Kwan. Carlos Santana would be a secondary bat to add if DH is gonna be open. Nolan Jones, Kyle Manzardo, and Bo Naylor would all be buy-low plays that aren’t great fits. Jose Ramirez is very likely off the table. Emmanuel Clase and Shane Bieber would be interesting. KC doesn’t have any bats that look like fits. Their pitching has some interesting targets, Bubic seems like a guy worth asking about.
I'm not, and there's no hypocrisy. Team reporters have no obligation or expectation to publicly declare their outrage when other teams they do *not* cover run afoul so that when the teams they do cover commit similar transgressions, we have a public accounting. Also, they were right to call the Astros out. And they were far from lone voices to do so. The general response to the Osuna deal was negative. I don't understand the point you're trying to make, other than confirming Jeff Luhnow was going to do whatever it took, no matter the depravity, to win a championship. I can admire win-at-all-costs *to a point*. Luhnow repeatedly, loudly, crossed that line. Again, I would ask yourself why you're still upset about something that happened 7 years ago, and, perhaps more telling, why you thought dragging it out here, in this context, was some GOTCHA! moment of finally burning two people who... expressed disgust that the Astros would trade for a player serving a suspension for domestic violence. I'm flabbergasted you thought this was a good idea.
What is the single best bat we can get? you guys are always so knowledgeable. Is there any hope that maybe he can just rest his hand and come back the last couple Weeks of the season to get in rhythm and then manage the pain?
It's fine. Yordan is being buried in the pet cemetery as we speak in hopes of coming back by September.
Altuve is a bad left fielder and a worse second baseman. His age has robbed him of his fielding ability. It happens to everybody sooner or later. He is still one of the most dependable hitters the Astros have. That is sort of the definition of a designated hitter. The value of his bat is diminished by his deficiency as a fielder at any position other than DH. If somehow Alvarez makes it back to the team he is also best suited to play at DH due to his injury risk. Altuve has a long history with this team and is owed allegiance as far as the team is able to provide it. Alvarez is a very valuable hitter who is also best suited to play as a DH. The possible solutions for the Astros are limited by the needs of the team and their responsibility to the players. I believe an honest conversation needs to occur between the players and the team. Only one DH position is available. Altuves bat still has real value for the time being, how long he remains valuable as a DH is anybodies guess. Alvarez is an injury risk at any position but that risk is much reduced when he plays at DH. The obvious solution is for Altuve to retire or to trade Avarez. This is a **** or get off the pot moment for the Astros.
