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Houston Astros off-season thread


Wulaw Horn

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4 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

Diaz needs to be our everyday catcher next year. If we can afford to keep Maldy as a backup, great, but if not we have to waive him. Hopefully we can afford to keep Tucker, but if not then at least his performance this October will ease the departure.

We can hire Maldonado to be a bench coach/clubhouse guy, but I want nothing to do with him as a player. He can't hit, he can't catch, and he can't throw. 

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5 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

Diaz needs to be our everyday catcher next year. If we can afford to keep Maldy as a backup, great, but if not we have to waive him. Hopefully we can afford to keep Tucker, but if not then at least his performance this October will ease the departure.

Tucker is under team control for a few more years. Maldonado will be a free agent, so no need to waive him. He will be easily affordable in money. But I don’t think the team can “afford” to keep him and have starters ask for him as their catcher, stunting Diaz’s growth and handicapping the lineup. Backup catchers are plentiful, just sign anyone else.

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1 hour ago, The Dog said:

Dusty took over a team in the middle of a scandal. He took the team to the ALCS every year. Went to 2 World Series and won one.

He has left large shoes to fill.

Dusty took over a team in the middle of a made-up “scandal”.  Do not ever forget that.  He underachieved with the Astros.  Just like he has everywhere else.

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3 hours ago, The Dog said:

Dusty took over a team in the middle of a scandal. He took the team to the ALCS every year. Went to 2 World Series and won one.

He has left large shoes to fill.

Hope we make a great hire to replace him.

Barry Switzer left huge shoes to fill by your reasoning.

The Astros won in spite of Dusty.

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3 hours ago, The Dog said:

Yeah I just don’t know what to do with him.

If we knew it would be the Tucker from the last 30 days, we let him walk and feel really good about it.

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The following starters are on the roster now:

Verlander, Framber, Javier, Brown, France, McCullers, Bielak, Urquidy, Garcia and Blanco

Any thoughts on seeing what France could be traded for? Personally, I think what he provided this year was fool’s gold.

Can Framber and Javier revert to form? If they don’t, then I think this run is over unless some combination of McCullers/Garcia/Brown really step up.

We need to find an actual major leaguer who can back up 1B and 3B and pinch hit. That way we can give some days off to Bregman and Abreu.

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I think Hunter Brown can take a big step forward next year, especially after JV's tutelage for an entire offseason.

If he can be the 2 and push Framber to 3, Javier to 4, and Urquidy to 5, that's a salty rotation.  

Upgrade the bottom 3rd of the lineup, and let's go.

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5 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

I think Hunter Brown can take a big step forward next year, especially after JV's tutelage for an entire offseason.

If he can be the 2 and push Framber to 3, Javier to 4, and Urquidy to 5, that's a salty rotation.  

Upgrade the bottom 3rd of the lineup, and let's go.

They need to sign another bat to replace Brantley, but otherwise the biggest upgrade is just letting Diaz catch 100+ games. Your lineup is then pretty well set.

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I haven't kept up with our more recent international signings/development, but I know a few of you have. I'm hoping the next batch of those guys (even if it's a batch of just one) is close to offering us some help in Houston. 

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18 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

They need to sign another bat to replace Brantley, but otherwise the biggest upgrade is just letting Diaz catch 100+ games. Your lineup is then pretty well set.

Need Pena to pull his head out of his ass.  Which one is the true Pena... last year's ALCS / WS MVP or the crap we got the second half this year?

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Just now, Fudge Nuggets said:

Need Pena to pull his head out of his ass.  Which one is the true Pena... last year's ALCS / WS MVP or the crap we got the second half this year?

This is a great example of why we can’t get stuck on a player for too long. The chances they all stay that caliber over the course of a career like altuve is slim to none. You keep them when they are great and see when they’re falling off and move on and don’t keep guys around hoping they turn it around for 5 years. My personal opinion is pena had a great year last year and is settling into what he is now. Average.

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1 minute ago, Pimphand said:

If Dusty has retired then I wish him well. If not then I wish him nothing but pain and suffering for eternity along with everyone who enabled him.

I don’t think he would have made a statement like retiring if he wasn’t going too. He would have given the old “well let me go on vacation and think about it” remark.

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16 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

They need to sign another bat to replace Brantley, but otherwise the biggest upgrade is just letting Diaz catch 100+ games. Your lineup is then pretty well set.

Agree on both.  

I also wonder if we might do something to upgrade the farm system, like trade Framber, Javier, or Urquidy for 3 prospects.  If we really think Hunter can take a big step, it's doable.

I'm afraid the front office is going to face the question of trying to squeeze one more title out of this run (in which case, you don't do the above), or trying to keep the team from falling into a multi-year black hole when the run ends.  Manfred and MLB fucked us hard.

 

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5 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Need Pena to pull his head out of his ass.  Which one is the true Pena... last year's ALCS / WS MVP or the crap we got the second half this year?

Peña is basically a league average hitter who plays above average defense. If that’s the worst player in your lineup, you’re doing fine. He does need to regain his power, though.

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2 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

Agree on both.  

I also wonder if we might do something to upgrade the farm system, like trade Framber, Javier, or Urquidy for 3 prospects.  If we really think Hunter can take a big step, it's doable.

I'm afraid the front office is going to face the question of trying to squeeze one more title out of this run (in which case, you don't do the above), or trying to keep the team from falling into a multi-year black hole when the run ends.  Manfred and MLB fucked us hard.

 

They won’t trade Javier after just signing him to an extension. I’m not sure Urquidy brings much back. Trading Valdez is an interesting thought.

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1 hour ago, hornmpa96 said:

The following starters are on the roster now:

Verlander, Framber, Javier, Brown, France, McCullers, Bielak, Urquidy, Garcia and Blanco

Any thoughts on seeing what France could be traded for? Personally, I think what he provided this year was fool’s gold.

Can Framber and Javier revert to form? If they don’t, then I think this run is over unless some combination of McCullers/Garcia/Brown really step up.

We need to find an actual major leaguer who can back up 1B and 3B and pinch hit. That way we can give some days off to Bregman and Abreu.

You forgot about Whitley... <ducks>... 

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20 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

If he was average in the ALCS we might be going to the World Series right now.  He was fucking terrible pretty much the entire second half.

What the fuck is going on in this thread.  There are narratives out there that just aren't true.  He was a better player over the second half than the first half.  Just was bad again in the playoffs. Yes his power went away, but he was much more reliable, his BA, OBP, BA/BIP, and OPS were up in the second half.  It was really good in August, then pretty good in Sept/Oct, but he was a way better overall player too.  Guy just had a 3.8 WAR season in an "okay" year.  Pena is awesome if he's your worst problem.  Unfortunately Dusty created problems that didn't need to exist in Meyers/Maldonado/Singleton etc.  



 

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