His message to people who don't know the facts is still one of the best Astros interviews of all time.
Correa has swag and you can't teach that. He shines brighter when the pressure is on and it spreads across the club house. He knows what time it is.
I would just feel hopeless if I were a fan of the Twins right now. It is already hard being a fan of a medium and smaller market in MLB - then you have a fire sale but figure you will at least get a new owner, and then they pull this. I will say this - this just highlights why networking and being informed is important in business. Jim Crane learned from someone just how bad the Polian's wanted to clear money, and their struggles finding an owner for the amount they wanted and Crane leveraged that to steal Correa. Very few owners would do what Crane did -- because either they lack the networking or social skills, they are not involved to the level that Crane is or they would not have approached the situation like Crane did.
Crane is a true logistics/operations guy. Every deal and dollar counts. Most of the owners either inherited their teams or treat their teams like a hobby and don't really treat their teams like a competent business. There are only one guy that he will go over budget for that is Altuve who is the greatest Astro of all time. He let Verlander walk even though he loves Verlander. He let Correa walk even though he loves Correa. He had a price in mind and when he saw he could get that price with the trade, he made it happen. In Crane I trust. The best Houston sports team owner ever which isn't saying much.
It reminds me of this play he made in the ALCS, came out of nowhere after the ball bounces off Altuve then gunned down LeMahieu at home. Then he hit a walkoff a few innings later. He's the kind of guy that just wins you games in October.
The Astros control Correa thru his age 36 season (~$120M/6yrs if his options vest). Let’s fantasize for a minute that he stays healthy; doing that would put him in range of replicating someone like Alex Rodriguez’s career in his 30’s. From age 31-36, A-Rod put up ~30 fwar. It’s worth noting that 1/3 of that came in his age 31 season when he posted 9.6 fwar, but even 20 fwar over ages 32-36 makes for a star player. For Houston to secure that potential without giving up anything other than some payroll flexibility over 2026-2028 is an amazing stroke of luck and front office skill. It’s akin to recouping the expected value from all the draft picks Houston lost in the sign stealing penalty.
21 million year with additional low cost vesting years for Correa is a bargain which is why Crane made it happen. It was a very low risk trade for someone with Correa's history and pedigree. The fact that he's a Astros legend doesn't hurt either.
To add, if all his years vest and he comes even close to A-rod's production, we would be getting 30 FWAR for rough 140 million bucks which is insane.
We're so lucky to have Jim Crane as an owner. Like I've said before, best owner in Houston's sports history.
Yeah, Crane got a star level player on the cheap. Over the next 5 years I expect these guys to be Star level players. Pena- Hopefully the re-sign him. Correa Altuve Alvarez Smith Diaz K. Alvarez Neyens Frey Gomez If Crane can re-sign Pena/Diaz this team will be very good for a long time and the focus should be on adding pitching to the minors. They already have some pretty good pitching in AA and lower minors from what I've read. Forcuzzi and watched looks like a future stud starter. Sits between 94-97 with a real good curve and a decent changeup. Also Brito/Rodriguez/Ulolla/Pecko/Santa etc... are the next wave of arms. 3 things are for sure. 1.Crane wants to win and do it within a fairly liberal budget 2. Crane knows how to hire baseball executives that can thread the needle between trying to win now and still developing a strong farm system. 3. He's willing to invest in pitching at both the major/minor league levels a retain great pitching instructors throughout his org. This is why his teams will be contenders for the forseeable future. The future is bright.
Love this burst of optimism across the threads this morning! I still am frustrated by the season, especially if we have to go through a 3-game WC series, but the future is indeed bright. and And I’m holding out belief in a strong closing stretch and a top-2 seed, followed by a cruise through the WS. How’s that for optimism!
