Correct. This year is McCullers swan song with the Astros as his contract finally expires after the season. Whether he goes out with a bang or a whimper is up to him and his body.
That's how stupid and far behind BSPN and Fox are. They didn't even go through our roster to see we have Blanco, Spaghetti, and others who would easily start over Lance. I was always and still am on the Lance bandwagon.....but he is not starter material for this current squad.
My dream remainder of the offseason is to attach a prospect to Walker to dump his salary and flip Meyers and Arrighetti for a good cheap LHH OF like Sal Frelick. Then use the available payroll to add JV and a backup C. LF Frelick 1B Paredes DH Alvarez 3B Correa SS Pena 2B Altuve LF Sanchez C Diaz CF Cole Bench: Matthews, Vazquez, Allen, Dezenzo SP: Brown, Imai, Verlander, Javier, Burrows, Weiss RP: Hader, Abreu, King, Okert, Pearson, Munoz, McCullers That’s a stacked roster with excellent pitching depth including in AAA. It also adds an extra year of control over Smith. The only thing the org would be missing is 1-2 elite prospects to improve the farm, and that could be accomplished with the next draft if it’s executed well.
Weird to call ESPN stupid and behind while also not realizing that Blanco had Tommy John surgery and won't be ready for the start of the season, if he even pitches at all in 2026. Because the money is a sunk cost, if Lance is remotely decent in spring training, he probably starts over Arrigheti and others until he gets injured. You can send the other guys to the minors or the bullpen, but if you don't start Lance, you essentially have to cut him.
The Astros intend to come in under the penalty. They will have to cut payroll before they can make a substantial move.
The Astros are not the Dodgers. As we have all seen, a bad $20M contract seriously hurts the Astros. A bad $20M contract to the Dodgers just prompts them to buy another player for $20M.
Walter and Blanco are also in the mix and Wesnieski should be bsck - any of these guys could slot in. Pretty deep pitching bench
Cy Young can't be ruled out. Sure he will be a bit stiff, but I am sure a little warmup he would be ready to go. Brandon Walter had TJ surgery late Septemer 2025, so it would be an Act of God in order form him to pitch in the 2026 season.
Walter is out all of 2026. Blanco and Wesneski won’t be back until August and that’s if there are no setbacks in their recovery. All 3 guys should not be counted on for 2026 but should be factored in to 2027.
And somehow despite it being in the same situation beginning of the season last year... it was completely annihilated. (I was hoping Luis Garcia and Christian Javier to be last year's Walter and Blanco)
