Astros, Josh Hader agree to 5 year, $95 million contract

I certainly remember how s***ty he was in Game 6.

 

This is *exactly* why I have a sneaking suspicion they're going to sign Bellinger. I think Crane loves to make splashes.

 

No; his annual salary was in-line - it was the added third year. Rizzo and Bell - both younger when they signed their deals - only got two years. That was the issue for me: giving a 36-yo three guaranteed years.

 

Who knows Crane’s thinking, but the value proposition for ToR SP, RP with an elite pitch, and (to a lesser degree) difference-making hitters is increased for contenders because those players shine in the playoffs. 2nd/3rd tier position players, innings-eaters BoR SP, and middle relievers aren’t worth much in crunch time. So that’s why it’s not shocking to me that both analytics and traditional sides of the front office have seemed to sign off on potential overpays for those types of players.

 

Dude t-Mac quit on the team.
Bagwell played hard and didn’t have success.
Huge freaking difference

 

Contreras was a bad decision? The Astros were playing two bats down in the postseason. Do you honestly believe that Contreras would have played worse than Diaz and Mancini? Maybe the Astros end up losing the World Series because Contreras is too much better than Mancini or DIaz.

On the winter meetings, Crane sent him to the winter meetings without a contract. That is bad decision on Crane. Crane wanting Marte was a very bad decision. Crane giving Dusty as much control as he did was a bad decision that he has fixed this year.

I don't know if Brown will be a good GM or not. If Crane is sharp on baseball, Brown will be a good GM as the most important decision an owner makes is selecting the GM (or whoever is running baseball operations). Brown does not appear on the same page with Crane. I expect most of the comments that Brown has made that contradicted what happened were mostly either Crane wanting to do something else or Brown showing solidarity with Crane publicly.

 

First - it isn't really my opinion but was expressed to me. Contreras was coming to the Astros to catch, and replace Maldonado. The Astros were going to lose Urquidy in the deal. Baker and a few others did not want to do the deal because Maldonado had been catching all year and the pitching was doing well.

Click wanted Contreras to catch and because he wanted more production from the catching position.

The Astros ended up being very good in the playoffs, and won the World Series without giving up Urquidy.

The winter meetings were like a week after the season if I remember right, and they were still discussing a contract extension at the time.

Click talking **** at the Winter meetings was REALLY stupid, and it has hurt him in the industry. Nothing positive came out of that.

Now - two things can be true at the same time. Crane should have either told Click he isn't extending him or he should have extended him - but none of that changes the fact that Click did himself no favors in the eyes of other owners.

As for Sterling Marte - at the time, Marte has been very good. He was very good in 2022 and was bad in 2023.

Also - in 2022 giving Dusty Baker as much control as he did, was not a bad thing... it was a bad thing in 2023 and Crane put an end to that.

I don't know if Brown will be a good GM either, all I know is that he is an excellent amateur talent evaluator and has probably the best connections in baseball when it comes to talent evaluation and baseball development. That can translate very well, but it doesn't always.

I don't think that the majority of times that Brown says something publicly different than what happens is because he and Crane are on a different page - I just think that is how Brown handles the media. He could say he isn't going to answer those sorts of questions like some in the past have, but that doesn't make for a good interview. He is just tactical in what he says.

As for James Click - if I were a team rebuilding and a middle market team, I would seriously consider hiring him. He wasn't great, but overall he did well IMO.

 

100% this.

An average #3 starter or a good #4 starter can have a lot of value over the course of 162 games.... same with the 4th or 5th man in the bullpen.

However, for a team that gets to the playoffs and deep in the playoffs every year - adding a #1 or #2 starting pitcher, or an elite high leverage reliever or position player makes a massive difference potentially.

In a 7 games series, how many games will be a one or two run game in the 8th inning? Is Hader going to pitch in all of those games or close to it? How much does it mean to have three different potential closers? How does that figure into the team performance, knowing if they are up a run or two late, that they have a huge advantage.

 

It was stupid for him to go to winter meetings as an Astro without a contract and do what he did. Have I ever brought up Crane's mistake of sending Click to winter meetings before a post bashed Click for what he did at the winter meetings?

I liked how Crane, Luhnow, Hinch appeared to be on the same page most of the time. Few wasted efforts. Besides for the sign stealing scandal, that combo was gold. Crane, Click, Dusty combo still won, but a lot of that was the Astros not trading away talent from the Luhnow era that ended up being great to cover the inefficiency between owner, GM, and manager. I'm hopeful Espada and Brown are on the same page and it helps Crane, Brown, and Espada all to be on the same page. I don't think the Astros will have the margin for error over the next three years like they have had the previous three years.

 

"Other than that, Mrs. Kennedy, how did you enjoy the parade?"

 

100% agreed, but I don’t lay that on Bagwell’s feet to be honest. There were competitors for Abreu, and Crane went with an aggressive offer.

 

Yeah, it’s normal. He isn’t going to answer the question that everyone is going to ask him. He doesn’t want to be a distraction to the team.

 

I think the rosary and the power of Christ really factor in late in games as well. Never underestimate the healing power of Christ.

 

Just to piggyback on the topic around Click and the winter meetings. Crane had an offer in place for Click to still be the GM after they had won the World Series after all the bullshit. The following week was the winter meetings because the season started late due to the lockout. Click wanted more control and years on his contract after the battles that went on, and when he didn't get what he wanted, he acted like an ass at the winter meetings. I don't care if you're not happy, you don't go out there and carry yourself like he did. This applies to any corporation that you work for...

I am not saying Crane hasn't made any mistakes but sending Click to the winter meetings isn't one of them. If Jim Crane hadn't sent Click, he would have been crucified by the media and the fans.

This organization and fans are very lucky with the drafting that Luhnow and his team did. Now this organization needs time to build a farm system that has very limited resources for many reasons. I hope that Crane and Dana will continue to shift focus on signing some of our established stars so that our system can grow.

 

OUCH

 

I wonder if this cost Wags a vote or two... writers failing to make a distinction between different eras.

 

Also Tmac was a chucker and only had one statistically good year. Bagwell had lots of great years. He was just unlucky in the playoffs.

 

Uh...no

Unless you think people are also pining for the glory days of John Franco