How long is he going to keep running Abeu and McCormick out there? There are better options on the team and in the minors. How much is Brown dictating who plays and who doesn't? Also, hey Dana maybe you should think about trading for another high leverage bullpen piece. Pressly/Montero dont need to be pitching in those situations right now.
I agree about Abreu. Chas can hit and needs to play to work his way out of this. His struggles are nothing like Abreu’s .
Yes they can - but that would require Crane and Brown swallowing their pride and admitting they made a mistake and moving on. At this point they haven't even release Abreu, so I am not confident that it will happen.
They still have the talent to fill the holes in RF/1B they just have to play them. They do need to add another high leverage reliever if they're interested in making the playoffs this year. So far I've been very underwhelmed by the job Dana's done.
It is hard to know how good a job Dana has done - because Crane has a huge say in what they do. Hader was all Crane for example. Abreu and Montero were before he was the GM. He added the right back up catcher, and had concerns about Diaz catching as much as he has. He brought in 4-5 minor league deal relievers hoping one or maybe two would stick - Scott has been excellent. He also wanted Blanco in the rotation and it has worked. The biggest mistake has arguably been hiring Espada as a manager after no other great candidates emerged. That has caused issues.
That requires ownership admitting they made a mistake on Abreu and releasing him. Now - maybe a good GM could point to Arrighetti and how he is starting to blossom, and Brown as well - and could say that had the Astros gone and signed a mediocre veteran, that both those guys would have been blocked...... and using that same rationale, maybe Loperfido and Cabbage should get a chance at 1st. If I owned the team - I would fire Espada. I would pay him his whole contract and tell him it just didn't work out and have no hard feelings. I would release Abreu and Singleton and tell them that you wish them the best. I would add Shawn Dubin into the pen pecking order based on his stuff and ability. I would tell Pressly that he is pitching the 6th until he has better performances. I would Have Caratini catch every 3rd day and have Diaz DH half the time that Caratini catches. I would name my first basemen as Loperfido and Cabbage until further notice. I would look around the league for another reliever that could potentially pitch the 7th or 8th inning. I would have Meyers start in CF 75% of the time - and tell Chas he has to battle back for playing time.
1. Release Abreu and DFA Singleton 2. Relegate Pressly to 6th, Montero to low leverage, elevate Dubin to 7th 3. Diaz to split time between C (60%) and 1B (25%). Caratini and Loperfido are his platoon partners. 4. Let Espada and whichever of Miller/Murphy are over the BP know their seats are hot. Start contacting a potential list of interim managers and start compiling a potential list of offseason manager hires. 5. Give Cabbage some extended run in LF and tell McCormick he’s gonna be the 4th OF until he hits better. 6. Work both sides of the phones in prep for the deadline. Try for an early strike for a late inning reliever or an impact 1B bat. Gauge interest/potential returns for Bregman, Tucker, Valdez, Verlander, Montero, and Pressly. Listen to what opponents have to say if asking about Pena, Meyers, McCormick, Dubon, or Bryan Abreu, but only move for an irrefutable offer.
Espada being terrible has nothing to do with Dusty. Just because Brown made a terrible choice in a replacement does not mean the change wasn't needed. I wish Joe was better but I'm still THRILLED that Dusty is gone.
I wanted Espada hired every year since 2020. Boy was I wrong. 1) he is terrible at in game pitching decisions. 2) He can not move on from underperforming veterans and relies on them too much while letting young guys rot on the bench (sound familiar) 3) He is too much of a "yes" man not willing to put his own stamp on the team (or he simply doesn't have his own stamp)
THIS THIS THIS Ding ding ding we have a winner. I truly hope Crane wakes up and makes drastic changes. If he can get up on a stage and fire his coach and GM, he can surely fire an underperforming and outmatched rookie coach. Granted, I get the scandal was involved… but Crane has shown he has it in him. I hope things change before it’s too late.
Top 5 "good" developments this year (whether its front office/manager/collaboration): 1. Blanco 2. Spencer 3. Hunter 4. Taylor 5. Caratini Hon mentions: Pena, Meyers Top 5 "bad" developments this year (whether its front office/manager/collaboration): 1. Pressly (yes, his negative impact has been worse than you know who) 2. Abreu 3. Chas 4. Diaz (but seems to be better with less catching responsibilities) 5. Bregman (but also has turned the corner and has been tremendous defensively). I actually had to reach on those last two "bad" ones. Obviously Pressly/Abreu are still unresolved and are major detriments given the logistics involved on who is forcing them to play or who Pressly is complaining to, etc. But it actually isn't as bad on paper as it seems. And even if this season is lost mostly due to the horrible April, the "good" developments, if they hold up the rest of the year, will really put this team in a major advantage to contend with all of that cheap starting pitching. A manager change may help simply from forcing some veterans (Pressly) to get their heads out of their asses and do their job they're getting paid well to do.... but they still need to focus on fostering the young pitching and working with Diaz/Meyers to firmly cement themselves for everyday spots in the lineup.
Pressly has been bad but you can't say, with any certainty, that he has hurt us more than Jose Abreu. With all the 1 and 2 run games we have lost, Abreu performing to expectation could’ve made a huge difference. If Abreu had the .800-.900 OPS that the Astros paid for, we probably have 5 or 6 more wins at bare minimum.
Agreed, I wonder if Dana and Espada collaborate and together decide if a guy like Loperfido isn't going to get a chance to play after he got recalled. It's like they don't want to give him a chance to succeed because that will lead to a more difficult decision down the road. Right now I'm thinking if Loperfido was to get his chance he wouldn't be as good as he could be because he's been sitting on the bench for a week. This certainly isn't the way Luhnow ran the team, or Click wanted to run the team for that matter. There's way too much politics going on right now IMHO.
This is the plan they should be using. BTW, I would try to trade off a couple of prospects to get out from under the Abreu deal. It's the cost of making a mistake. Or just paying off Abreu to go away. One thing I'm sure of is that Abreu is done. It's really very simple, but like most people Crane has problems admitting he made a mistake. Mistakes cost money. BTW, if Click decided on bringing in Abreu and bringing back Montero then I'm glad he's gone.
Offense has been fine except 1B. McCormick and Bregman’s disappointing seasons were offset by Meyers and Tucker. Pitching has been very poor due to early non-competitive starts (Brown, Arrighetti, France combined for 13 losses), bullpen meltdowns (Hader, Pressly, Montero combined for 9 losses) and injuries (Henley, Suero, and Dubin combined for 3 losses, none of them would have pitched with a fully healthy staff). Pretty incredible: Brown, Arrighetti, France, Hader, Pressly, and Montero have combined for 22 losses in just 67 games. Brown and Arrighetti rounding into form is a great development for the long term outlook, but may have come too late to save this season.
I worry that Blanco is beginning to run out of steam, but hopefully Garcia nips the impact of that in the bud. Also, it's been past time to stop pretending that Montero is anything other than a huge ****ing liability any time he enters the game. Espada has Dusty's security blanket disease on steroids and his security blankets suck.
The time for bold intervention by management is now. This team is a floundering mess. They were a heartbeat away from the World Series last season. Injuries yes, but that doesn't explain the litany of bone headed game time decisions.
The season is not over yet. The Astros were 6.5 games out as late as 6/24 last year. But having enough games and time left means nothing if you don't address the weaknesses of this team.
