Talk a bout the off season here. Major events will get their own threads but other discussions should be kept in here.
Offload Hader for whatever you're able to get for him. Demote Dana Brown. Do whatever it takes to bring back Strom with a clear 1 year plan from pitching guru to manager / allow JV to pivot from body of work to mind of work (pitching coach --> mgr) Upgrade your tech / analytics monkeys. Hire a nutritionist who knows strength/conditioning & can get along with aforementioned monkeys. Hire a strength/conditioning coach who is on the same page with the above 2 aforementioned. Hire a consultant who understands every player's ups/downs/astrological sign/ballpark/pitching vs hitting matchup Hire a tech-forward, analytical hitting coach Make everyone in the lineup take the 1st pitch regardless Bridge the pitcher-catcher-hitter gap within the game/innings as if every game/AB is WarGames Kikuchi, Singleton, Dubon, Gamel, Neris stay with 2-yr deals Shop Valdez, Hader, Pressly, McCormick (sorry dude, nothing but love), Meyers, Tucker Match Bregman's deal
no... 34 games saved out of 71 is below the threshold of less than acceptable. You don't pay someone almost $100MM to allow runs as your "ace closer". WAR is back at 2022 form in which he played for 2 teams. Numbers regressing back to 2022/2019. Bad deal. Trade chip. If you keep him, that mo-fo better be juicing tonight and throwing weights around (just like every player who wants to make an impact on the team/league next season)
Add 3 bats Let Bregs walk and give Dezenzo a shot at 3B. Sign Walker/Conforto in FA and trade for Robert. Let everybody walk that's arb eligible except Framber/Tucker/Dubon. I play Dubon 50 or so games next year at 2nd base. Altuve's lost range really hurt the team today IMHO.
All those home runs. All those easy 3 run saves. Only 9 or 10 of those were 1 run saves. He was WAY too easy to hit.
thats a bold move, Cotton... Crane is out >10% of a billion dollars (let that sink... over $100MM wasted) with Montero/Abreu/Hader signings from now until 2028. Jimmy, just do a money drop-- from the bullshit roof that never wants to stay open-- for the fans, bc at this point, the fans have earned that $100MM more so than those scrubs. I retain MoDubs / Gamel / Flippinton (do your thing) & Caratini -- I let (trade/shop) FV & King Glass, SpiceShaker (wtf happened to your game dude), Meyers (you honestly gave us the only defensive highlights that mattered this yr) walk or get what you can. Sign Kikuchi yesterday & Yusuke Oshima & Jenloy Herrera to lifetime deals. ..AAAAAAND fvck he has a full no-trade clause. Lol thanks Gemini: Hader's contract is the largest ever for a relief pitcher in terms of present-day value. It's also the largest contract ever given out by Astros owner Jim Crane.
Option 1 (Stretch the window): -Requires Crane to stretch payroll to all time high -Add 2 bats and a SP Hypothetical opening day roster with this plan: 2B Altuve RF Tucker DH Alvarez 1B Christian Walker* C Diaz LF Michael Conforto* SS Pena 3B Gio Urshela* CF Meyers Bench: Dubon, Caratini, Singleton, McCormick Rotation: Framber, Brown, Yusei Kikuchi*, Blanco, Arrighetti, Garcia Bullpen: Hader, Pressly, Abreu, Ort, Whitley, King, Dubin Projected wins: 90-100 Farm ranking 20-25 Option 2 (Rebuild again): -Requires the trade market to reward sellers -Requires massive faith in Dana Brown to target the right prospects -Trade Tucker, Framber, Pena, Hader, and Abreu (among others) Hypothetical opening day roster with this plan: 2B Altuve SS Kyle Farmer* (placeholder for Brice Matthews) DH Alvarez C Diaz 1B Singleton 3B Dezenzo RF Ben Gamel* (placeholder for Jacob Melton) LF Whitcomb CF Meyers Bench: Salazar, Leon, Cabbage, Kessinger Rotation: Brown, Blanco, Arrighetti, Garcia, Jose Quintana* (placeholder for AJ Blubaugh) Bullpen: Whitley, Dubin, Ort, Scott, Sousa, Murfee, King, VanWey Projected wins: 70-80 Farm ranking: 6-12 Option 3 (Hope for the best): -Requires rebounds from McCormick, Garcia, and McCullers -Requires breakouts from young players at 1B and 3B -Add/subtract on the fringes Hypothetical opening day roster with this plan: 2B Altuve RF Tucker DH Alvarez C Diaz LF McCormick 1B Singleton SS Pena 3B Dezenzo CF Meyers Bench: Jorge Polanco*, Caratini, Dubon, Ben Gamel* Rotation: Framber, Brown, Blanco, Justin Verlander*, Arrighetti, Garcia Bullpen: Hader, Pressly, Abreu, Ort, Whitley, Scott, King Projected wins: 80-90 Farm ranking 20-25
