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Not sure what Choadlers definition of "substantial" is, but pretty much any OF who doesn't completely blow ass would be substantial....doesn't have to be Santander or Teoscar etc.
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And if those longer contracts are the only way to get guys in their 28-32 age prime seasons? You can't afford it for everyone but never doing it is tying one arm behind your back 

Springer was with us until he was 30. Bregman is 30. Yordan will be under contract until 31. Altuve is 34 and counting. Unless you’ve got some evidence that 32 is the magic number, seems we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping our guys through those prime years.
6 minutes ago, Scraps said:
21 minutes ago, UTPhil2006 said:
 

Not sure what Choadlers definition of "substantial" is, but pretty much any OF who doesn't completely blow ass would be substantial....doesn't have to be Santander or Teoscar etc.

Yeah, they're going to have to do something.  I guess they could throw Melton out there and hope for the best.

Walker is a good pickup, can't be upset about that. Still need some OFs though. Anyone know how much room they have to spend on more guys?

3 hours ago, Macklemore said:

He is striking out badly on guys who aren’t from 3rd world hellholes.

You can win a shit ton of ballgames with a roster filled with dudes from 3rd world hellholes.

In that interview Rome said they are about 3M under competitive balance right with arbitration estimates factored into that already so not a hard number.

He also said he doesnt expect them to go over unless its at trade deadline.



I would imagine Pressly will be traded once the FA closer market gets sorted. That will open a significant chunk of change. Going into opening day with that outfield is untenable 

5 hours ago, Macklemore said:

Tim Púrpura was putrid. Dana is worse than him. Dana was sold as the guy who locked up the Braves talent to long term deals. He is striking out badly on guys who aren’t from 3rd world hellholes. Fuck Crane and his arbitrary 6 year cap on deals and he can stick his $20 tall boys and shove it.

Serious question: do you have Down Syndrome?

per nightengale / schwab ....

The Astros finished the season with a payroll of $264.759M, per @BNightengale 

This put the Astros $27M over the Competitive Balance Tax threshold for last season. This means the Astros owe about $6.4M on tax overages.

For going over, their compensation for Alex Bregman goes from after the 2nd round to after the 4th round in 2025.

The Astros also will lose their 2nd and 5th pick in the 2025 draft as well as $1M from the international bonus pool for signing Christian Walker.

It’s worth noting that Houston’s 2 highest ceiling prospects likely to graduate in 2025 (Jacob Melton and Zach Dezenzo) are best suited for OF.  I think they will make a move to bring in an OF before the season starts but it would not surprise me if those prospects were factored heavily into how Houston has handled the offseason roster construction and if one of those 2 guys finished in the top 5 for 2025 AL ROY voting.

There is not much left for the OF in the FA market. Maybe sign Winkler and/or Sheets platoon the outfield spots. Shouldn't cost much or any draft capital. Sheets has some talent and Winkler been a pretty good OBP in the past.

5 minutes ago, ckhorn said:

There is not much left for the OF in the FA market. Maybe sign Winkler and/or Sheets platoon the outfield spots. Shouldn't cost much or any draft capital. Sheets has some talent and Winkler been a pretty good OBP in the past.

 

 

Meyers and Dubon are plenty good against LHP.  McCormick is great if he can find his 2022-2023 form.  One of their young guys (or Trammell) can likely be serviceable against RHP.  So all they likely need is an affordable corner OF who hits RHP well.  Winker, Verdugo, Polanco, Pederson, Heyward, Canha, McCutcheon, Turner, or Martinez all could fit the bill.  Just gotta pick the right guy.

39 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Serious question: do you have Down Syndrome?

It has to be a bit.

41 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Chunky Chas hits .270

the smothered pork chops and baked ox tail is damn good there too, bulk him up !!!!

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3 hours ago, WBT said:

And if those longer contracts are the only way to get guys in their 28-32 age prime seasons? You can't afford it for everyone but never doing it is tying one arm behind your back 

10 year 9 figure offer after year 2 is the way for a young generational type to lock down the prime. Anything after year 2 is too late. 

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

the smothered pork chops and baked ox tail is damn good there too, bulk him up !!!!

Esther's? 

Good news after a 13 hour flight.  Glad it's not 4 years.  His defense is much better than Abreu's, an area we really needed to improve on.

20 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

 

Anyone that didn't know that was an idiot

59 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

 

It's worth noting that two members of the good old days crew in that pic were already gone in 2022.

 

Edited by David Dennison

  • Author

Stop being so mopey Mack we are #2 odds to win the AL as is, and there are a couple more minor moves that will make us better- and we are well set up for the entirety of Yordan/altuve/diaz/brown and arrighetti. Good times are still here man. I promise. 

Pederson can't play OF.  He makes prime Chazzzz look like a victim of famine.

Oh no, they paid 6.4 million in taxes last year! How could any billionaire afford such surcharges?!?!  

Screenshot_20241221_120348_Chrome.thumb.jpg.102285e9f360d7b7c0481cd37b0900c2.jpg

I assume Crane also avoids most state income taxes that other owners pay, so I don’t shed many tears about cutting into his profit margin for a competitive team. 

19 hours ago, WBT said:

And if those longer contracts are the only way to get guys in their 28-32 age prime seasons? You can't afford it for everyone but never doing it is tying one arm behind your back 

They've extended lots of dudes to capture those years.

I just don’t understand all this “Crane is cheap” complaining. Over the last 5 years, the Astros have had the 7th highest opening day payroll in the MLB

Hes not cheap...he just doesnt want to be a moron who gives 10+ yr contracts (which i agree with unless it is a badass under 25 yrs old)


Unfortunately he is a moron by overpaying for washed bullshit



10 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

Oh no, they paid 6.4 million in taxes last year! How could any billionaire afford such surcharges?!?!  

Screenshot_20241221_120348_Chrome.thumb.jpg.102285e9f360d7b7c0481cd37b0900c2.jpg

*Abreau contract has been reclassified as a $19.5MM penalty and tax due to its complete and absolute dumpster fire-tivity and will be assessed in 2025 as well

21 hours ago, runthebone said:

Pederson can't play OF.  He makes prime Chazzzz look like a victim of famine.

He’s not going to be a good defensive player by any stretch.  He only plays 110 games a year, and 50-60 of those will be in LF at Daikin.  He isn’t Jon Singleton out there.  He can DH another 10-20 games.  And for the 30-50 games where he would be a meaningful defensive liability, Houston would have an elite defensive OF in Meyers available as a defensive replacement.  That’s worthwhile to have one of the 10 best hitters in baseball against RHP, assuming his salary demands are in line with that value.

1 hour ago, Snake Diggity said:

He’s not going to be a good defensive player by any stretch.  He only plays 110 games a year, and 50-60 of those will be in LF at Daikin.  He isn’t Jon Singleton out there.  He can DH another 10-20 games.  And for the 30-50 games where he would be a meaningful defensive liability, Houston would have an elite defensive OF in Meyers available as a defensive replacement.  That’s worthwhile to have one of the 10 best hitters in baseball against RHP, assuming his salary demands are in line with that value.

Winker or Pederson would be fine for 85% of the home games in LF. We play Alvarez out there and he's not a complete butcher. The biggest thing for the Astros team defense is Walker at 1B. He's going to save a lot of outs and ultimately pitches.

Yeah having a first basemen who will catch any throw that’s even close makes a huge difference in the infield.

Look, Pederson's kid and my kid were in the same preschool.  He weighs probably 260.

He didn't play in the field at all in 2024.

In 2023, he was -3 DRS in LF in 173 innings.  -2 DRS in RF in 31 innings.

He would make Yordan look like a GG outfielder.

3 hours ago, runthebone said:

Look, Pederson's kid and my kid were in the same preschool.  He weighs probably 260.

He didn't play in the field at all in 2024.

In 2023, he was -3 DRS in LF in 173 innings.  -2 DRS in RF in 31 innings.

He would make Yordan look like a GG outfielder.

Yordan was -5 DRS last year in 421 innings. So, in the same neighborhood, Yordan has a stronger arm for sure.

Joc to Rangers so we don't have to worry about that

I like our lineups if we can a moderately power hitting RF.

We need to get Diaz on the Alvarez Bregman contract this year, along with Hunter Brown. 

40 minutes ago, Scraps said:

Joc to Rangers so we don't have to worry about that

Deal is 2 for 37m, and he doesn't even play average defense. Seems expensive to me for a DH. 

 

It's interesting to see how the market reacted to the Christian Walker deal. The Astros got the best 1B on the market, who will be a huge upgrade on defense as well as the plate for 3/60. Shortly after you see Goldy to the Yankees on 1/12.5m deal, Santana to the Guards 1/12, Naylor traded to the Diamondbacks, Lowe Traded to the Nats, and Alonso still out there waiting to sign a deal. I think the Astros got the best option they could at 1st, and whenever the Alonso deal comes through, it will look even better.  

joc isn't an OF 

Edited by tx 3 putt

All you are paying for with Joc is his ability to hit RHP, which he is really good at.

And his ability to finish off the post game spread so they don't waste food.

On 12/20/2024 at 3:14 PM, Chuckie Finster said:

Thinking back on the "golden era" what (non-prospects) have we let go that we genuinely regret?

  • Charlie Morton
  • Gerrit Cole
  • Justin Verlander (?)

In all seriousness, is that the complete list?  We made unquestionably the correct call with Correa, Springer, Keuchel, and Yuli.  So, if this list is complete and I am Crane, the only "regrets" are:

  • a non-homegrown pitcher coming off an incredible season seeking a record contract
  • two non-homegrown aging pitchers with a questionable amount of talent left in the tank

Not quite the picture Passan is painting!  Not to mention, we've given big deals to home-grown talent like Altuve, Yordan, Javier (and oh yeah, Bregman a few years ago).  I'll go on the record and say that I am pretty confident that Bregman will be a similar story to Correa and Springer - still a good ballplayer, but not worthy of the long term deal he seeks.  So, the real story is that Jim Crane has largely been proven correct in not wanting to give out giant contracts.

Kyle Tucker is a young star looking to cash in whose current team will likely be unable to make the highest offer.  That's not unique to the Astros, if happens every single year to teams across the league.  Cashing in a year early on a player you know you will lose is generally considered smart when other teams do it, but Astros gotta be the villain I guess.

Would have been ok to have kept Musgrove 

39 minutes ago, Focht Up said:

Would have been ok to have kept Musgrove 

When Gerrit Cole was on the other end of the trade? Please.

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