I'm with you on the first two, not so much the last one. 175 stellar regular season innings will be missed to some extent, but I think the real season for the Astros doesn't begin till October and that's where JV has very little to offer. I'll take a couple more regular season losses in exchange for better postseason pitching.
Astros Prospects who entered the Astros minor leagues without much fanfare: José Urquidy Luis Garcia Hunter Brown Framber Valdez Cristian Javier Bryan Abreu Yordan Alvarez Jose Altuve Chas McCormick David Hensley Jake Meyers
We have a good track record, but I think it is unsustainable and not realistic to just assume it continues endlessly. I would love that, as a fan, but you cannot count on that.
I understand your point. Counterpoint: Which of those seasons did the Astros win the World Series again?
Why isn't it sustainable if you have a good scouting and player development department? And with lower cost players, there is more margin of error on the financial side. There's also less risk in a Jon Singleton deal than a Albert Pujols deal.
Verlander was a big reason why we got the #1 seed (1 or 2 seed is huge - avoids the WC round), and was also a big part of why our bullpen was so good - they pitched the fewest innings of any MLB team, which helped keep them fresh. I like Brown and am high on him, and overall we have good depth, but you're a biased homer if you think the loss of Verlander is a nothingburger.
If this was any other team, it would be different... just like on any other team losing Correa would matter.... losing Springer would matter..... losing Cole would matter. The Astros are not a normal team, and that's not homerism
You could add Seth Martinez. I would say Jeremy Pena, too, given he lasted until the 3rd round in 2018. Korey Lee is the first first-round pick we've had with a shot to take a significant role on the club in a while. It's really a credit to the international scouting and the player development staff that the Astros employ. A lot of overlooked talent who really blossomed.
We do have our share of busts... but seems like the Astros prospects even if not making top 100 lists still make a big league impact...
There has to be one single trade out there we can make yo improve our team. Reynolds just keeps popping up to me as a add him and Gary Sanchez
The odds that a first round draft pick (or a bonus baby in international FA) makes it to being Arb Eligible or full Free Agent (first big money contract) is pitifully small. The expectation is that most prospects will "bust".
Think about it like this. The Astros can still go and get a SP at the deadline. And they will have their pick of the litter being a lot of teams spent money and traded prospects already this offseason, we are in a good positions and if we get another starter by trade or someone else steps up, we will be the most complete team yet again.
Drew Gilbert likely has less than 50% odds to get 500 MLB ABs ... which is not a bad thing in and of itself. Drew Gilbert still has to show the world that he can hit A+, AA, AAA and MLB pitching.
This... the JV impact imo will show it's ugly head at some point in the season. I'm not faulting Crane for not signing him, but I do think it's foolish not to add another arm. There are too many unknowns outside of Valdez. I understand the FA market and even the trade market has been too costly. I would like to see them go for Cueto.
