I don't think there's anything in Brown's profile that makes him impervious to injuries. JV/Skenes are bigger than Brown, too, which may help them hold up (although JV has certainly missed time to injury). I have faith in Framber's health because he's proven he can handle the innings. But there's no guarantee that Brown ever gets to 200, or even that he can repeat the workload he had last season. But it doesn't matter, honestly, because he's going to get the big contract from someone and it definitely won't be us.
Nobody is impervious. He has obviously tailored his throwing motion to Verlander’s. There is no wasted motion and because of that he is putting less tork on his arm. It’s just my opinion that he will be less prone to injury than most pitchers, but I’m surely not an expert.
I largely agree with this. Even when attendance is strong they don’t have the resources that the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets or Red Sox have and the Phillies have a larger market share. So that is 5 teams right there. Having said that, he can and has increased payroll when the team has needed it or for a player he largely wants. If he looks at his own signings and extensions- it’s a mixed bag so he isn’t likely to up his number of years short of a massive market change. As for this season, he is going to have to decide whether he wants to maximize the next year or two or not. He can go up in salary and trade pieces to get his team in a position to be as good as anyone in the AL if he wants to do that. He has said he will never rebuild again, but I don’t believe that. I just hope he doesn’t play out the string. Either go for it or trade guys like Pena and Meyers and Brown and Abreu for young talent. Have a shift to player development.. pay down the deals for Walker and Correa and get better prospects.
Bad contracts are way more likely when you will only sign guys who aren’t widely wanted Cranes way was awesome when we had studs all over the place and just needed to fill in He canned two great GM for different reasons and now we aren’t a playoff team and are trying to figure out a sneaky way to make it back
Well if that’s the case, then the Astros should trade them both now and maximize the return. The strategy to be just competitive enough to squeak into the playoffs is a poor one.
I think Dana Brown is thinking about a Rebuild instead of over investing in this Old Core Altuve, Correa, Walker. Astros need to Rebuild in this Draft and sign more Latin America Prospects.
It I thnk it is reasonable, that the Astros could do absolutely nothing and compete for the playoffs. They will be getting a superstar back in Alvarez and an all-star in Paredes. They will have Correa for the full year. Walker was actually good the last quarter of the year. Myers is fine as a 9 hitter and a good defensive player. They need one of Cole, Cam, Melton, or Matthews to start to produce. The pitching is suspect without Framber, but we could get a breakout from Blubaugh and/or Arrighetti, Ulolla, or others in the latter part of the year. They can start rebuilding after the lockout. We missed the playoffs in a tiebreaker with more IR stints than any team, I believe, in major league history. It’s not my money, so if Crane wants to spend crazy money in FA then that would be great, but don’t trade away any of our top prospects and continue to re-build our farm system.
Yep, the Astros will field one of the 10 best offenses and 5 best bullpens in the league even if they don’t add anyone in those areas. I don’t really see any way they are a playoff team without adding at least one good reliable sturdy SP. Projected lineup against RHP by wRC+ (Steamer): Pena 106 Paredes 122 Alvarez 168 Correa 111 Altuve 110 Sanchez 117 Diaz 107 Walker 101 Meyers 96 vs LHP Pena 121 Paredes 133 Alvarez 146 Correa 126 Altuve 119 Diaz 114 Walker 111 Meyers 104 Smith 104
Potentially available players who would project to have a meaningful positive impact on Houston’s offense: Kyle Tucker Kyle Schwarber Wilyer Abreu Brendan Donovan Cody Bellinger Bo Bichette Steven Kwan Ryan O’Hearn Luis Arraez Jorge Polanco Jarren Duran Pete Alonso Jesse Winker Without forcing Houston to make another move beforehand and taking into account Houston’s financial situation, I see the fits as: Donovan Abreu Duran O’Hearn Bellinger
By whom? Astros have been beating those ratings forever it seems. I trust Dana and our pitching development more than I do the rating services. If he thinks he needs to trade a bunch of top pitching prospects, then fine. I’m just saying we shouldn’t trade most of our prospects for a shot in 26, when in 27 there will be a lockout. At some point, one of our minor leaguers will break out. I personally like our odds with Blubaugh and Ullola getting a shot. I do think we need some innings eaters to have a shot, but our position player pool is just fine. Do they still have a draft in 27 if there is a lockout? If so two more full drafts will give us a lot more ammunition to make trades for a 28 run.
MacTaggert did a Reddit AMA and one thing he mentioned is that Houston might look to the Rule 5 draft for a backup C. Looking at guys who will be available: Creed Willems, Baltimore Silas Ardoin, Baltimore Noah Cardenas, Minnesota Christian Cerda, Arizona Daniel Susac, Athletics Susac is the highest touted prospect available. A former first round pick, Susac hit 18 HR with a 94 wRC+ in AAA last season. Hes a pretty flawed prospect with middling defensive reviews and an extreme chase rate at the plate, but with plus power. Willems was an overslot $1M bonus 8th rd pick who I really like. He hasn’t played above AA so it would be a stretch for him to be the primary backup in the big leagues but I like him as a prospect. Hes also a lefthanded bat which adds to his profile.
Who's even on this team for the 28 run? The position players are all gone except 37yo Altuve, in his final season, Yainer if he's still here, and the rookies from this season. Hunter will be in his walk year and probably traded if we're not competing and the rest of the rotation are probably gone except Blubaugh. Hader and Abreu and the rest of the pen are gone. If there's a lockout in 27, it's unlikely to take out the whole year. We can't punt 26 on the basis of a lockout that may or may not happen, not with this aging core. The rest of our productive MLB roster is unlikely to be around by 28, and Smith/Matthews/Melton/Cole even if they all become MLB caliber players are unlikely to carry that vacant lineup and moribund pitching staff anywhere close to the playoffs.
Really? What are you looking at? Yordan and Correa are still here. Every starting pitcher except Javier and McCullers, and every relief pitcher except Abreu, Okert, and De Los Santos are still here. If the Astros sign nobody new and only have players on the current 40 man: 2028: C) Diaz and Salazar inf) Altuve, Correa, Allen, Dezenzo, Whitcomb of) Smith, Cole, Melton, Trammell dh) Yordan SP) Brown, Arrighetti, Blanco, Walter, Wesneski, Alexander, Ullola, Gordon Rap) Hader, Sousa, King, Blubaugh, Ort, Murray, France, VanWey Now I'm not going to sit here and say that is a great roster but its far better than you make it out in your post. And of course they will bring more players in and up.
