The astros gave away a hall of famer - for nothing

There's an app for that...

https://www.whatifsports.com/

 

Well, the '98 Astros just beat the '98 Yankees 17-3 at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the WS. Biggio and Bagwell each hit 2 HRs.

Not sure about the validity of your simulator.

 

I'm one for a good hypothetical argument, but hard to get excited about a what if when it is tough to beat what happened.

 

For just funs and giggles....

If we apply bWAR literally to the situation, the Astros drop from 5 to ~10 in the '15 draft, and from 17 to ~19 in the '16 draft. (Note: they'd still own the Bregman pick.)

They win the AL West in '15 and play Toronto in the ALDS. They still miss the playoffs in '16 and probably still win the WS in '17, given JD Martinez >>>>> Josh Reddick. Yuli Gurriel likely isn't here, either?...

 

Thought this was going to be a Curt Schilling thread.

 

If everything else would have been the same (and it wouldn't) J.D. likely would be playing for another team this year anyway after signing a big free agent deal. Astros got a WS ring without him and I don't think he would have made a significant enough difference to change how far the Astros went in the prior 2 seasons. "What" would have then made a thread about how we should have given J.D. the big contract instead of Altuve.

 

It’s a great book, but it answers the whole question about J.D. and it totally makes sense.

 

Will Austin Hedges reach JD Martinez Hall of Fame level?

 

Austin Hedges would be an interesting trade target if cheap.

 

Astros can't sign Daz Cameron without Astros skimming slot money from two Top 5 selections. Without him, Astros may not be able to trade for Verlander in 2017. Heck without JDM, Tigers probably don't win division in 2014 and can't pretend to be contending in 2016. Verlander probably is traded in 2016 as Tigers rebuild starts a year sooner without JDM when Astros aren't in it.

 

Other brilliant decisions that would have been made by what, the GM.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php?threads/send-bregman-back-down-thread.276599/#post-10634654

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/index.php?threads/if-i-am-the-astros-i-would-trade-springer.277014/

 

Should be noted that the Bregman comments were made after he had played 2 games with the Astros.

 

If the Yankees hadn't signed Teixeira, they would have drafted Trout.

https://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story...-rookie-phenom-mike-trout-in-mlb-draft-051212

How disgusting would that be?

ETA: well, probably not, looking at how the comp picks worked out. Angels still would have been 24th and Yanks 25th.

 

Yikes

 

Latin Players especially seem to have better careers when leaving the Astros.
Johan Santana, Bobby Abreu, J.D Martinez
JD isn't admitting that Miguel Cabrera helped him with his swing, no doubt Miguel has great knowledge of hitting, Altuve calls Miguel when he struggles with a .340 batting avg lol

 

When JD got released, I was shocked and disappointed, and later got angry in Jeff Luhnow. I was one of the only ones believed in JD hitting will come. His fake Albert Pujols batting stance and holding of the bat was the problem. He has a normal stance and holding the bat normal. The hitting coaches failed for the Astros. Common Sense should have tried out a normal batting stance.

 

I have Facebook posts with timestamps showing I was on the JD bandwagon really early....

...whatever happened to Jiovanni Mier...?

 

JD Martinez minor league stats was so similar to Pujols. My mind was like there is something there, but what is missing, turned out bad batting stance, his right leg bent, left leg straight, incorrect way of holding the bat. JD wanted to be like Pujols but looking like Brian Jordan of the Braves, poor batting coach was a huge problem, 100 loss seasons, JD injured his knee on his swing, .220 batting avg. And I still believed in JD. Even if I posted, his MLB stats wouldn't have backed up my belief. His regular, simple batting stance, regular way of holding the bat, escalates himself to AL MVP.