What win total would mean a successful Astros season for you

They *may* be better... season's not done.

I wasn't fully on their bandwagon this winter; I assumed they'd be OK - but I saw a team that didn't address some fairly obvious flaws. I think this winter will be different and I'll enter it far more optimistic.

Bregman look like the real deal and they have some interesting talent (Hernandez, Reed, Gurriel) behind him that could impact next year's team. And I think they'll aggressively run down answers to a few of their questions while jettisoning a lot of their obvious flotsam.

I think Correa is likely to make a leap similar to Altuve's, and I think a full-season of Bregman is going to be impactful. I don't think you can name a team in baseball (Cubs, maybe?) who I'd trade their top 4 for our top 4. That's an enviable place to be.

 

Sure, every trade that involves talent coming in will always risk criticism. But Lucroy was as close to a "sure thing" as there is. And at $4M and $5.3M. And, if all it would have taken to get him was Martes, Tucker and Fisher? I'd have offered to pick him up at the airport and let him live in my house for the duration of his contract. :grin:

Unfortunately, we are likely looking at Castro/Gattis again.

 

Agreed. Arbitrary numbers are nice but the ultimate measure of success is making the playoffs and winning a WS title.

I'm reminded of the great philosopher Sean Connery in the role of John Mason: "Your "best"! Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and **** the prom queen."

 

The latest Crawfishboxes podcast raised questions about Jason Castro's potential resigning.

They pointed out examples of possible conflicts between Castro and both the FO and individual starting pitchers. Specifically they cited Castro going to arbitration last year over a $250k difference (almost unheard of) and the difference between Castro and Gattis's pitcher ERA with both Keuchel and Fiers. Apparently both Keuchel and Fiers' ERA is 2 runs lower when Gattis is the catcher.

 

Castro/Gattis platoon has been good enough for 12th in the MLB for team catcher production.

 

Since Lucroy's August 2 debut with Texas:

Lucroy: .238/.324/.619/.943
Gattis (as a C)/Castro: .266/.333/.544/.877

And just for fun:
Beltran: .218/.256/.346/.602
Hernandez (since 8/12): .263/.364/.553/.916

 

I have to say, I was more ok than most with standing pat at the deadline...but even still, I wasn't aware of these #'s / comparisons. Impressive.