Well, that the thing. We don't really know the details. That's why I'm not going to criticize at this time. My feeling is that Crane wants to build a team that will contend every year for a long time. Altuve and Correa are the new Bags and Biggio. If our minor league teams keep producing quality ball players the Astros should be contenders for years to come. At least maybe that's how Crane is looking at it.
Looks like the Astros got what they needed without giving up anyone pivotal. They also refrained from making a trade for a "starting pitcher" just to make a trade. Some people are so impulsive and short-sited. Lunhow did well to exercise some restraint and self-control here.
The only thing I'm worried about is the clubhouse if things start going south. There will be internal things happening. I hope we can keep our guys Correa and Tuve. Those guys in the clubhouse deserve a ring. Luhnow missed today, but we can't hang our head and act like we aren't the FAVS. Luhnow will now have more pressure to make moves in offseason regardless of if we win it all.
That sucks . Not sure I buy it , but whatever . Our greatest weakness this year has been starting pitching . Starters not being able to go deep has led to overuse of the pen and its subsequent struggles . Most fans / commentators/ analysts / whoever ... Knew this was a weakness for us going into the season. I'm not sure how much adding a starter would have helped now . We seem content to let DK and Lance rest up while peacock , fiers , Morton , and mchugh eat innings . However , despite having had good years so far ; those guys are not proven and could implode . We are going to make the playoffs . How healthy we are in the playoffs is a question both offensively and pitching wise. But I would've liked to add another starter to give the offense a better chance to carry us if they got hot . Springer , Correa , and altuve have had terrific years so far ... And guys like gurriel, reddick , and Gonzales have had stretches where they've been on fire . Verlander , gray , darvish , or Quintana would've been nice . Archer or sale would've also been nice.
Carlos Beltran: Spoiler Would you have like to seen more at the deadline? We have a good team. We're in first place. End of the day, the GM is the one that dictates the moves they have to make. Do you feel right now, if healthy, you have enough to be as good as you've been? (Gregerson from background: Got a 16 1/2 game lead) Beltran: He answered that for you. We have a good team. We're first in our division. Any acquisition is just a plus. Do you know Liriano? I don't know. I've faced him. Seems like velocity is there, changeup is there & slider is there. Seems like the same guy I faced 5-6 years ago. __________ Luhnow: Spoiler Tried to get a lot done today, working on many things simultaneously. Acquiring a pitcher like Liriano was a priority for us. Not only a starter but reliever & postseason experience. Really think he can help this club out in an area of great need. Think he'll get some big outs for us down the stretch & in the postseason if we're fortunate enough to make it. Got experience & stuff & will be a positive for us. Role? Will leave it up to AJ & Brent Strom. His numbers against LHH, he's been extremely effective. We'll face good lefties down the stretch. We need someone to get those guys out. He's got that experience. He can do anything. Pitch multiple innings, start, relieve, be a specialist. 2nd consecutive deadline without a big move. Why not this year? I'd be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed in not getting some of the moves done we were working on. We had some close to & almost over the finish line. At times, I would have put them at 90%+ that we would have gotten them done. There's a lot of dynamics happening with these deals & for reasons I can't talk about, they didn't happen. I believe this team has what it takes to win in the postseason with the players we have. Doesn't mean we didn't try hard to improve those chances, even just a little bit. Each little bit you can improve helps. We tried. Early in the trading season, cost was high on all players. They did come down a little bit in certain areas where we thought we had some deals done & we were excited about. They didn't happen so we move on. Spoiler These guys are professionals & want to win. It doesn't affect their desire to win one bit. They'll continue to do their job & we have a good chance to win a lot this year. They know we tried. Luhnow said Fisher asked about in "almost every deal." Said other prospects were, too. __________ Hinch: Spoiler We're planning on using Liriano in the bullpen. He has some experience doing a little of everything: multi-inning relief, starting & LH reliever. He should be here tomorrow. He pitched Saturday. Could be a couple days before he pitches. Disappointed you guys didn't add more? You're always curious what is possible. Our job in the clubhouse is to rally around the each other & be the team we are. We have issues to address when it comes to getting healthy & getting our team back together. Down here, our job is to play our ass off & win as many games as we can. Additions, subtractions, the trades, there's a lot going on around baseball that people are curious about. The 25 guys in the clubhouse, our coaches, me, our staff inside have to focus on what we have & not what we don't have. It's important we try to win games. We'll feel better once we right the ship health wise. There's always concern when your best players are unavailable. Doesn't mean we can't win games or series. July has turned into a month where everyone pays attention to outside the clubhouse. Now that this has passed, not that teams don't change in August or September, but I'm glad we can get back to focusing on who's here & what lies ahead.
As much as the Dodgers may have "won" the deadline, they've got the same fundamental question as we do -- will their top SPs be pitching up to form come October? Kershaw is on the shelf till end of August / beginning of September. McCarthy just hit the DL. Darvish has had a bunch of injuries, including this year. Rich Hill has perpetually been on the DL in his career, same with Ryu. I put prime Keuchel and McCullers against Kershaw and Darvish, and the rest of their crew is not all that dissimilar to the Fiers, Morton, McHugh, Peacock mix... this is going to come down to who's healthy and in the zone come October.
Four of our starting pitchers have struggled all season with injuries. One has just been sent down for his second stint on the DL. What's left is a guy we were going to stick in the pen at one point this season for giving up the long ball. Our bullpen is depleted and poor. We had needs and failed to meet them and will be at a disadvantage in any playoff situation. It's hard to see how our inaction today is a good thing. We needed depth at the very least and got a low-grade reliever. I don't see the defense of Luhnow this time.
I'm very worried about crane . First of all ; I remember there were questions about his character and previous business endeavors Second : he moved us to the AL for 50 million Third : we've had a minuscule payroll for the majority of his tenure ... And even in the last few years our payroll has been small.
If we win it all this year, then Crane could execute his plan for years and the fans would be happy. But now the natives are restless. So if we lose in the AL playoffs when we were already dreaming of the WS, Luhnow will be blamed fairly or unfairly. Fans will speak with their pocketbooks.
I'll put it like this...if we are worried about the dodgers that means we are in the World Series. If we are in the World Series then that means that Keuchel and McCullers both rebound to form and our pen has righted the ship. In that case bring on the dodgers. We can more than play with them. Top to bottom our roster is better and minus money, our organization is in better shape too.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/spo...ther-quiet-Astros-trade-deadline-11721690.php ... Ultimately, the Astros weren't willing to part with the caliber of prospect package required to land one of the best available arms. This year's deadline marked the second consecutive quiet one for the Astros, who last year didn't have nearly the opportunity in front of them they do this season. Asked if he felt the Astros value their prospects higher than some other teams value theirs, Luhnow said he didn't. "Everybody tends to overvalue their own guys," he said. "We look at it as objectively as we can, which is why we've got a lot of people involved. We scout our own players. We scout other players. "I don't think we overvalue our prospects to the point where it's hurting us making decisions. We look at some of the trades we made two years ago and there's some guys in those trades that we'd love to have back today. You just never know." ... Trading Aoki opened the door for Fisher to continue to play a regular role with the Astros opposed to going back to Class AAA when George Springer returns from the disabled list. Luhnow said Fisher was asked about in negotiations for almost every potential deal. According to industry sources, Fisher was the headliner of the package the Tigers sought from the Astros in return for Wilson. "Fisher is here and I don't see him going anywhere," Luhnow said.
I guess we should thank Vincent Velasquez's gimpy arm. If not for that, Appel is an Astro and Fisher is a Philly. Most importantly, Fisher can contribute to history. The Astros have 11 players with 10+ HR, tying the 2004 Tigers as the only other team to do that. If Fisher can get hot for August/September, he could be #12.
Yeah , but if we make it to the WS vs Dodgers wouldn't you rather have made an additional trade ? If we dealt for darvish vs them , then that's a pretty big swing .
