I am actually THRILLED with the return for Tucker. Different teams/scouts have completely different lists of top 10-25 prospects than media companies do. It sure sounds like Brown and the Astros considered Cam Smith a top prospect. We will be putting this in the class of the Glenn Davis trade in a couple of years. Let's not waste this one.
Nope. They need pitching. And you’re counting on all pitchers who will never be guaranteed to be healthy for an entire season. The Dodgers and their billion dollar payroll also can’t keep pitchers healthy. If they’re in the hunt, they’re going to stick with pitchers with playoff/WS experience. As long as Crane is the owner, expect them to either spend on pitchers or trade for pitchers or extend current pitchers. They’re not going to trade pitchers.
They don’t make the 2023 ALCS/playoffs without JV’s closing stretch. They also valued Gilbert and I don’t think he’s done much.
And they need hitting, and they need fielding, and they need prospects to make it. Life is not perfect and predictable. Running a baseball organization is not perfect and predictable. Every move is a throw of the dice. But windows of contention close if talent is not continuously brought in. And constantly losing star level players in exchange for only comp picks means fewer and fewer of those dice results are winners. I think if the right trade is made: Player X and player Y on this Astros team for 2025 and more years + a prospect who could be on this team 2026/7-2032. Gives this team a better chance to win a World Series than: Framber in 2025 and a draft pick that may help 2028-2034.
And Framber gets hurt during the season and he isn't pitching and also can't be traded. He's a tank, but he's also a SP. ( just knocked on wood, rubbed the head of a ginger, and gave Jobu rum and a cigar)
So you want to trade him because he may get injured... and yet your rationale was because they have other available options that were previously injured... got it.
Ok... but I can say that elite pitching teams tend to do better than others, regardless of the other phases. Top hitting teams (only) or top fielding teams (only) don't do well when the pitching isn't there. And reliable/proven/dependable/durable starting pitching is by far the scarcest resource in all of baseball.
Bottom line is every team needs lots of healthy talent to win. Pitching is the hardest position to keep healthy, and the position that requires the most players to get through a season and then a post season. Of course I do not want to trade Framber "because he may get injured" how obtuse can you be? I'm simply saying that as a SP he is subject to potential injury so keeping him vs trading him does not mean 100% that he will be available if needed in the postseason or postseason run. if you looking at odds and percentages, it's just another factor. You can look at winning now, in a single season, or you can look at a period of time. Frequently, looking at a period of time reduces the chances now in order to improve them in the near future. We disagree. Cool.
This lineup is ass and we’ve lost a lot of talent under his leadership. I know it’s only 8 games in, but I really don’t see it happening for this team as is. They may have to go into a major rebuild after this season and Brown doesn’t have the vision to get it done IMO. They need to bring back either Luhnow or Click. I dread the fact that Brown may oversee a major fire sale at the deadline this season.
There is still plenty of time, but something needs to change. 2b, CF, RF, and SS currently can not be relied on to provide above average offensive production. There is simply no room for error when you have only 5 good hitters, who can also be streaky. Pena and Rodgers have been OK but they are much more suited to be bottom of the order hitters than in the 6-7 spots. They also are perfectly capable of having a hitless series at any time. This sounds like 2024 all over again. I still have confidence that Smith is going to be a star, just not in 2025. He needs the minor league experience that he is obviously lacking. I would send him and Meyers down, give Dezenzo the RF job hitting him 7th and let him try to figure it out for 4 months until Smith is better equipped for MLB. Trade Jacob Melton, Luis Baez, Ethan Pecko, and Jose Fleury for Luis Robert Jr.
F*ck Luis Robert Jr. While he satisfies my desire for an a-hole in the locker room, he is an a-hole because he sucks and has an over valued sense of worth. I want someone to trade for this guy so people can stopping pining on for him like he is some kind of god. We (astros fan base) have to be the only ones that want him. He practically went undrafted in both of my fantasty leagues, last two or three rounds. He isn't that good and he could care less.
McCullers couldn’t make it thru 2 innings tonight in AA. Was on a 50 pitch limit. 1.2ip, 4r 2er 4bb 2k 4h 1hr
Again with the Robert crap? No longer an option, nor the issue. We have a manager who is still trying to make decisions that should have been made after two weeks of Spring training.
It's exactly the issue. Walker, and Paredes are the corner infield starters on this team for the next 3 years, and Altuve and Yordan are sharing LF and DH. Cam Smith needs a place to play so RF must he saved for him. That leaves 2 spots for a possible upgrade on this team - 2b and CF. Rodgers has potential upside, and Brown feels very strongly that Matthews is the future at 2b. That leaves CF. And there is no CF on this roster or in AAA who projects as a potential starter who can be a 120 OPS+/wRC+ guy. And that's the level of guy needed to lengthen this lineup. And there are very few CF in this league who could improve this offense and be available.
Well, we're in the phase where the Stros are one of the best/better pitching teams in MLB and can't hit for ****.
