How the current roster can realistically produce to an elite 50 fwar threshold: Diaz 2.5 Paredes 3.0 Altuve 3.0 Pena 4.5 Correa 4.0 Sanchez 1.5 Meyers 2.5 Alvarez 4.5 Walker 1.5 Matthews 1.0 Salazar 0.5 Allen 0.5 Cole/Others 1.0 Total for position players: 30.0 Brown 4.0 Imai 3.5 Javier 2.5 Burrows 2.5 Weiss 1.5 Arrighetti 1.0 Hader 1.5 Abreu 1.5 King 0.5 Okert 0.5 Pearson 0.5 Munoz 0.0 McCullers/Others 0.5 Total for pitchers 20.0
At this point there is no reason to add a LH SP just for the sake of adding a LH SP. If he's a definitive #1-4 then OK, but the #3-#6 depth is very good but there are few of those available and the Astros can't afford them or win a bidding war.
LOL “Kyle Tucker isn’t a toolsy player” As for his bat speed “being slow”, he swings as fast as he has to… always has, he can amp up the bat speed if needed. Teams should be concerned about the level of passion he has, not his tools.
Houston has no business even considering a contract that large. Going over the penalty in 2026 would be a huge disappointment. We are set to be in contention for the next few years without any such foolishness.
There is a difference between big market teams and big spending teams. Baseball is a fun to watch competitive sport, spending is not. I believe draft penalties should be assessed against teams trying to spend their way to championships. Such penalties should be tiered such that overspending is no longer an advantage to a few teams versus the majority of teams. Competitive teams contending for wins against one another is something I can get behind. Anything else is just boring.
That's not the reality of mlb over the last 40-50 years and I don't see things changing the way you want them too. So you must have been bored for decades. Since the rules are what they are, I would rather have an owner that will spend like the big market teams do. Again, given today's rules would you rather your teams owner doing everything he possibly can to win a championship?
This is a very good option in my opinion. After a certain threshold teams lose their draft picks. It needs to be combined with a salary floor to prevent profiteering teams like the Pirates. The thresholds for losing draft picks should be set at limits that would very much discourage the inequity brought about by the Dodgers and in former years Yankees, Mets, etc.
How many of the impactful players on the Dodgers this past season were drafted by them? I'm not sure there are draft pick penalties severe enough to discourage them. Seems like a salary cap (and salary floor) would be an easier system to curb spending than one tied to draft picks, especially in a sport where top picks have less value than other sports.
Maybe it wouldn’t discourage them from buying fa’s but it severely impact their trade capabilities and make other teams more likely to develop their own
I don't know the details of the trades, but they directly drafted 4 of their players and acquired another 10 by trade. You just have to make the penalties severe enough - like take away all of a team's draft picks and international signing pool if their payroll is above $x.
Not considering Tucker on a shorter deal would be the stupidest thing ever. I have been very vocal about not signing FAs with a Q.O. attached because of the penalties - fines, lost and reduced draft picks + loss of bonus pool money to spend on international free agents. But all those penalties have a value. If you can add enough value to a team by bringing in the right player you do it. Imagine adding Tucker in RF to this team? Say, $50M 1 yr + a player option for $25M/$5M buyout. He is guaranteed $55M for 1 year + an additional $20M insurance policy if he gets injured. AAV is $37.5M Trade Paredes and Sanchez to add a quality young SP who can slide somewhere #2-4 and save $12-16M The Reds are loaded with young SP and would probably love Paredes. Nick Lodolo ($4.3M arb est. / 3 yrs control)? Pena SS Yordan DH Correa 3B Tucker RF Altuve 2B Walker 1B Diaz C Smith LF Meyers/Cole CF Hunter Lodolo Imai Javier Burrows Arrighetti/Weiss/McCullers Looks like a World Series favorite to me. Another World Series appearance trumps another season of CBT penalties leading up to the work stoppage.
I was with ya till you wanted to trade Paredes again Dude was brought here because Dana thought he would excel here. Dana was right The ONLY way he should have even been considered for a trade was if we HAD to move him to fix our rotation. We didn't Good chance if everyone is healthy, Paredes is our second best everyday player
An optimist’s view of the current roster: C Diaz: 3rd best BA among C over 2023-2025 1B Walker: 6th most fWAR among 1B over 2023-2025 2B Altuve: 4th most fWAR among 2B over 2023-2025 SS Pena: 5th among SS in fWAR last season (4th in wRC+) 3B Correa: 31st among all position players in fWAR (2021-2025) RF Smith: 10th in 2025 AL ROY CF Meyers: 8th in CF fWAR 2024-2025 LF Sanchez: 25th among MLB OF in wRC+ against RHP 2023-2025 ?? Paredes: 7th in 3B fWAR 2023-2025 DH Alvarez: 2nd in fWAR among DH 2021-2025 IF Allen: 4th among SS in defensive fWAR in 2025 OF Cole: 142 wRC+ in mlb last season (52 pa) C Salazar: 9th year in Astros organization SP Brown: 3rd in AL CY in 2025 SP Imai: 1.92 era in Japan in 2025;MLBTR #3 FASP SP Javier: 3.42 xERA in 2025 SP Burrows: 97th percentile offspeed run value in 2025 SP Weiss: 2.87 era in KBO in 2025 SP McCullers: ‘member that time he threw all them curveballs against the Yankees RP Hader: 2nd in MLB in saves 2022-2025 RP Abreu: 5th in mlb in fwar among RP 2022-2025 RP King: 88th percentile xERA in 2025 RP Okert: 24th in MLB in FIP among RP in 2025 (min 50 ip) RP Sousa: 19th in MLB in FIP among RP in 2025 (min 50 ip) RP Pearson: 93rd percentile FB velo in 2025 RP Munoz: 72nd percentile FB velo in 2025
Again spending the most is not the same as winning. Teams spending double or even triple what other teams average has not been going on for decades. It is more recent and will not last past the next time the owners all have a chance to change it.
