2021 Houston Astros Thread

[HoustonFrog 368]

What do we do about Siri?

[IDIOTsavant 8,483]

4 minutes ago, Mo Horn said:

Thinking about Bregman's struggles, and the last time he was consistently good. I think it's been since the trash can scandal. Maybe he's just an average, to below average hitter, and he was greatly helped by knowing what pitch was coming. I'm happy to be proved wrong. 

There were no trash cans in 2019, and he finished 2nd in the MVP voting. Bregs is a slow starter. Last year was only 60 games, and this year he's been hurt for a large portion of the season (91 games played). He didn't come back until the end of August, and I'm still not sure he's truly right as his power has been pretty much non-existent since the return. 

[htown85 159]

9 minutes ago, Mo Horn said:

Thinking about Bregman's struggles, and the last time he was consistently good. I think it's been since the trash can scandal. Maybe he's just an average, to below average hitter, and he was greatly helped by knowing what pitch was coming. I'm happy to be proved wrong. 

He was great in 18-19 when there was no trash can method. I think it’s his life change (engaged) and his focus on making trivial amounts of money on non baseball stuff (salsa and seltzers). 

probably a nagging injury too

[Mo Horn 8,831]

2 minutes ago, HoustonFrog said:

What do we do about Siri?

Use him as a pinch runner, and maybe put him in when we have a 10 run lead. Chas is also struggling, but at least he swings with some control. 

[Mitch Hedberg 2,090]

12 minutes ago, Mo Horn said:

Thinking about Bregman's struggles, and the last time he was consistently good. I think it's been since the trash can scandal. Maybe he's just an average, to below average hitter, and he was greatly helped by knowing what pitch was coming. I'm happy to be proved wrong. 

It’s time to put Yuli in the 3 hole and Bregs at 7. We need Yordan batting with men on not leading off every time. Solo HRs are ok but I’d rather have a chance at a couple multi run dingers. It keeps the RLRL so that’s not an issue. But I don’t know if you mess with the order in WS. 

[htown85 159]

Do we all prefer roof open now?

[Gourmand 7,774]

Just now, htown85 said:

Do we all prefer roof open now?

If the weather is like that, hell yes.

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

6 minutes ago, htown85 said:

Do we all prefer roof open now?

I prefer the roof open with temperatures between 50 and 80 (in houston- b/c any higher than 80 with high humidity still kind of sucks).  Unfortunately there aren't a lot of baseball days in Houston where this is the case.  They always keep it open as long as they possibly can at the beginning of the season imo and do a pretty good job shutting it down. 
I liked it before when they could open it up in the 6th or 7th once it cooled down but MLB took that simple pleasure and joy away from us for... reasons...

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

29 minutes ago, htown85 said:

He was great in 18-19 when there was no trash can method. I think it’s his life change (engaged) and his focus on making trivial amounts of money on non baseball stuff (salsa and seltzers). 

probably a nagging injury too

Yeah- that shit with the salsa is annoying when he's not producing.  That's probably unfair and irrational on my part, but that's sort of how life is.  I'd like to see him get back to what he was in 2018 and 2019 because his trade value right now is sinking like a rock.

[WBT 20,561]

4 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Yeah- that shit with the salsa is annoying when he's not producing.  

Counterpoint, it brought us this:

[Gut Wagon 8,065]

43 minutes ago, HoustonFrog said:

What do we do about Siri?

Even with the infield in, I have him try to bunt every strike. Maybe one actually gets on the ground and stays fair. Maybe he beats it out. Maybe someone makes a bad throw and he ends up on second. Unless he bunts into a DP (not that likely, with his speed), any of that effort beats another feeble K. 

[Rip76 4,925]

3 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

Even with the infield in, I have him try to bunt every strike. Maybe one actually gets on the ground and stays fair. Maybe he beats it out. Maybe someone makes a bad throw and he ends up on second. Unless he bunts into a DP (not that likely, with his speed), any of that effort beats another feeble K. 

I said this last night.

[mbtex 683]

 

https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-fans-heckle-commissioner-Rob-Manfred-letter-16566945.php

Edited October 28, 2021 by mbtex

[Guadaloopy 10,960]

19 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

Even with the infield in, I have him try to bunt every strike. Maybe one actually gets on the ground and stays fair. Maybe he beats it out. Maybe someone makes a bad throw and he ends up on second. Unless he bunts into a DP (not that likely, with his speed), any of that effort beats another feeble K. 

Worked for Willie T

[henrygandorf 29,189]

35 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

…because his trade value right now is sinking like a rock.

i love a good callback.

[cabowabo 4,484]

19 minutes ago, mbtex said:

 

https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-fans-heckle-commissioner-Rob-Manfred-letter-16566945.php

He should get a real warm welcome in Atlanta.  Spineless fuck......

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

1 minute ago, henrygandorf said:

i love a good callback.

I mean- I was the guy that wanted to trade him and got mocked for it.  Of course- I wanted to trade him for Chris Sale which everyone seems to conveniently forget about- not a bag of shag balls. And I think that deal was definitely on the table. I wonder if Bregman was swapped for Sale in 2016 if the Astros would have the same, more or less World Series championships?  

In retrospect we got one title and Bregman was certainly instrumental in that (more for his defense than his offense in the later stages of the 2017 postseason) and a monster near MVP year for Bregman- combined with a couple average-ish years and nagging injuries for him.  Sale was awesome for a couple years, had the Tommy John thing, and then this year has been... good?  above average-ish?  Sale has made more money than Bregs over the same time- but after Bregman got his 6/100 he hasn't exactly been a screaming deal anymore for the money- falling to a good contract value not great or phenominal.  I hope the Astros sign Tucker and Alvarez to matching- ish type 6 year deals this offseason to buy out the last year of club control- their arbitration years and 2 FA years.  That would be pretty cool.  The number is likely higher for Tucker than Alvarez b/c he's got the glove.  Maybe 6/130 for Tucker and 6/110 for Alvarez?  That probably is a win for both the team and the guys when you consider long term security when they only have one chance at a career, and the hassle and danger of being on 1 year contracts and under paid for the next 4 years.  If those guys signed those contracts this off season I would bitch a hell of a lot less about Correa being gone- especially if Simien gets a 5/150 deal.  That would be 70 million dollars a year for those 3 guys.  JV at 34, Greinke at 25 (our portion) and Correa at 12 make 71.  So, that's pretty sustainable going forward and I guess maybe you ask Bregman if he wants another 3/90 and Altuve if he wants 3/40 right now and then your window is through 2026 and all you need to find is a Catcher, 1b or DH or corner OF, depending upon when and where Alvarez plays.  Your pitching is fine with LMJ, Urquidy, Garcia, Javier and Framber all being locked up and a couple prospects in the wings.  You probably have enough chances with Catcher prospect to do fine, and replacing Machette isn't an insurmountable task.  

That's a lot of what if's and future forecasting for a team that's in game 3 of the world series, but lots of big and important questions are coming this offseason for the Astros. I feel like we are more likely to answer them in a fun way if we do so as defending WS champions.  There's lots of opportunities.  Damn it- Jeff Lunow built one hell of an organization.  

[Guest]

1 hour ago, htown85 said:

Do we all prefer roof open now?

If it’s what our team wants, then cool.

It begins and ends there, IMHO.

[utxmike05 1,828]

7 minutes ago, slorch said:

If it’s what our team wants, then cool.

It begins and ends there, IMHO.

I either heard on the radio or during the game that MLB is the one who decides if the roof is open for these games.  That it isn't even up to the Astros.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, utxmike05 said:

I either heard on the radio or during the game that MLB is the one who decides if the roof is open for these games.  That it isn't even up to the Astros.

Fuck Manfred.

Home field advantage should be just that. 

[runthebone 7,967]

1 hour ago, Mo Horn said:

Thinking about Bregman's struggles, and the last time he was consistently good. I think it's been since the trash can scandal. Maybe he's just an average, to below average hitter, and he was greatly helped by knowing what pitch was coming. I'm happy to be proved wrong. 

That's the problem with the trash cans, this is what pops into your mind.  The only way to back up being a heel is to produce.  I wonder how messed up his legs are right now.  His pitch selection was always really good, though, and that is fucked now.

[runthebone 7,967]

Siri has too much power to bunt every time up, but he has to know the situation, as does Chas.  If you're hitting eighth, sometimes your job is to try to get Machete to bat in the inning.  Well, neither will play that much in Atlanta except as a late inning defensive sub to protect a huge lead, hopefully.

[kevwun 15,771]

The

2 hours ago, Mo Horn said:

Use him as a pinch runner, and maybe put him in when we have a 10 run lead. Chas is also struggling, but at least he swings with some control. 

This is the answer.  Tucker is starting in center the next 3 games, but Chas needs to go back to starting.  He strikes out too, but he doesn't look like a spaz at the plate and in the field.  Siri is a ticking time bomb for doing something dumb as someone mentioned last night.

Edited October 28, 2021 by kevwun

[TonyTexas 10,509]

I don’t know why y’all are running down Chas. He didn’t have a good game last night but he was fine in the ALDS and ALCS. .316/.391/.316 in 19 ABs

Edited October 28, 2021 by TonyTexas

[kevwun 15,771]

He needs to stop trying to hit a homer with every swing.  Every time he gets on base means the lineup turns over because Machete is going to get to bat that inning.

[henrygandorf 29,189]

31 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I mean- I was the guy that wanted to trade him and got mocked for it.  Of course- I wanted to trade him for Chris Sale which everyone seems to conveniently forget

no, i remember.

32 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I wonder if Bregman was swapped for Sale in 2016 if the Astros would have the same, more or less World Series championships?  

33 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Bregman was certainly instrumental in that (more for his defense than his offense in the later stages of the 2017 postseason)

his hit won the pivotal game in the 2017 world series.

34 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Sale was awesome for a couple years, had the Tommy John thing, and then this year has been... good?  above average-ish?

he pitched 40 innings this year, so no.  he hasn't been "chris sale" since 2018.  he's also making $30mm per year.

36 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

falling to a good contract value not great or phenominal.  

phenomenal.

37 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I hope the Astros sign Tucker and Alvarez to matching- ish type 6 year deals this offseason to buy out the last year of club control- their arbitration years and 2 FA years.  That would be pretty cool. 

yes, please.

38 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I would bitch a hell of a lot less about Correa being gone- especially if Simien gets a 5/150 deal.  

semien.  and yes, please.

40 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

That would be 70 million dollars a year for those 3 guys.  JV at 34, Greinke at 25 (our portion) and Correa at 12 make 71.  

so much money coming off the books, especially when you consider it's from guys that aren't even contributing.  no other contender is in our shape as far as money tied up/freed up.  correa can bitch about "the astros don't do long term contracts" but i think i'll side with the team in great payroll position coming off 5 straight lcs and 3/5 world series appearances.  maybe we know what we're doing.

44 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

and replacing Machette isn't an insurmountable task.  

machete.  and you hush your face.  he'll play til he's 50.

45 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

There's lots of opportunities.  Damn it- Jeff Lunow built one hell of an organization.  

luhnow.

[Mez2 4,023]

Luhnow

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

12 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

no, i remember.

his hit won the pivotal game in the 2017 world series.

he pitched 40 innings this year, so no.  he hasn't been "chris sale" since 2018.  he's also making $30mm per year.

phenomenal.

yes, please.

semien.  and yes, please.

so much money coming off the books, especially when you consider it's from guys that aren't even contributing.  no other contender is in our shape as far as money tied up/freed up.  correa can bitch about "the astros don't do long term contracts" but i think i'll side with the team in great payroll position coming off 5 straight lcs and 3/5 world series appearances.  maybe we know what we're doing.

machete.  and you hush your face.  he'll play til he's 50.

luhnow.

So, what we can really tell from this whole post is that I can't spell for shit- especially when we are talking about proper nouns.  

Sale's lines from 16-18:

2018	Red Sox	27	0	37	237	12	4	0	0.86	2.11
2017	Red Sox	32	1	69	308	17	8	0	0.97	2.90
2016	White Sox	32	6	84	233	17	10	0	1.04	3.34   He was pretty fucking awesome. It's possible that he would have put us over the top of a shitty Rangers team in 16 and that we wouldn't have needed Bregman's big hit in Game 5 if he would have been pitching in that game and shoved it up their ass.  Also, maybe we win the World Series in 2018 if he's pitching for us against Boston or New York instead of against us. Of course then you look at would we have done the JV trade? Or the Cole trade? And who might we have signed to play 3rd for Bregman.  It's impossible to know how it would have all played out.  Also, keep in mind he pitched through 19 on a 5 year 32.5 million dollar contract-so he wasn't making dick (relatively speaking) in 16, 17, 18 or 19. I think 19 he was only making like 12 million?  So it's possible luhnow might have extracted that value and he would have gone on down the road and we would have dodged that tommy john from the last 2 years- or maybe not.  It's a huge what if no doubt.  I wouldn't go back and do it now since I know we have at least 1 world series doing it this way, but I'm also not at all willing to say it would have been a bad deal for us either. Sale was fucking awesome through the end of his contract that he had in 2019 which was the term we would have had him for and the value was amazing. Just like the value Bregs provided you while making minimum wage was off the charts in 17, 18 and 19.  Neither contract would have precluded the team from making other moves, but both of those positions being filled constrained us from making moves. Maybe, and this is my favorite alternate scenario now since the 19 team tanked- we trade for JV still in 2017, we win the world series pretty easily, we don't trade for Cole in 18, we win the World Series behind JV and Sale in 18, we sign Josh Donaldson in 17 or 18 and we win again in 2019 as a Yankee like dynasty, Gerritt Cole doesn't ever get unlocked by Brent Strom and we don't have to see him wearing that stupid fucking Team Cole hat while still with the Astros like the mega douche he is.  It's impossible to say what happens with any of these sliding door moments.  But I'm naturally sort of risk averse so I wouldn't go chase a higher upside with any of these moves we've ever done. I'd still even draft Appel over Kris Bryant even though I wanted Bryant at the time just b/c of the butterfly affect. If you like your life now then any change in the past has a chance of making your present day life either better or worse, and I'm more concerned with avoiding worse than chasing better as an Astros fan sitting on the top of the world right now.

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

30 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

no, i remember.

his hit won the pivotal game in the 2017 world series.

he pitched 40 innings this year, so no.  he hasn't been "chris sale" since 2018.  he's also making $30mm per year.

phenomenal.

yes, please.

semien.  and yes, please.

so much money coming off the books, especially when you consider it's from guys that aren't even contributing.  no other contender is in our shape as far as money tied up/freed up.  correa can bitch about "the astros don't do long term contracts" but i think i'll side with the team in great payroll position coming off 5 straight lcs and 3/5 world series appearances.  maybe we know what we're doing.

machete.  and you hush your face.  he'll play til he's 50.

luhnow.

Out of rep so I will just say here I appreciated the post. Thanks

[UTexasFight 9,431]

1 hour ago, runthebone said:

Siri has too much power to bunt every time up, but he has to know the situation, as does Chas.  If you're hitting eighth, sometimes your job is to try to get Machete to bat in the inning.  Well, neither will play that much in Atlanta except as a late inning defensive sub to protect a huge lead, hopefully.

This! I feel like machete is leading off an inning every time his spot is due on the order 

[henrygandorf 29,189]

7 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

So, what we can really tell from this whole post is that I can't spell for shit- especially when we are talking about proper nouns.  

Sale's lines from 16-18:

2018	Red Sox	27	0	37	237	12	4	0	0.86	2.11
2017	Red Sox	32	1	69	308	17	8	0	0.97	2.90
2016	White Sox	32	6	84	233	17	10	0	1.04	3.34   He was pretty fucking awesome. It's possible that he would have put us over the top of a shitty Rangers team in 16 and that we wouldn't have needed Bregman's big hit in Game 5 if he would have been pitching in that game and shoved it up their ass.  Also, maybe we win the World Series in 2018 if he's pitching for us against Boston or New York instead of against us. Of course then you look at would we have done the JV trade? Or the Cole trade? And who might we have signed to play 3rd for Bregman.  It's impossible to know how it would have all played out.  Also, keep in mind he pitched through 19 on a 5 year 32.5 million dollar contract-so he wasn't making dick (relatively speaking) in 16, 17, 18 or 19. I think 19 he was only making like 12 million?  So it's possible luhnow might have extracted that value and he would have gone on down the road and we would have dodged that tommy john from the last 2 years- or maybe not.  It's a huge what if no doubt.  I wouldn't go back and do it now since I know we have at least 1 world series doing it this way, but I'm also not at all willing to say it would have been a bad deal for us either. Sale was fucking awesome through the end of his contract that he had in 2019 which was the term we would have had him for and the value was amazing. Just like the value Bregs provided you while making minimum wage was off the charts in 17, 18 and 19.  Neither contract would have precluded the team from making other moves, but both of those positions being filled constrained us from making moves. Maybe, and this is my favorite alternate scenario now since the 19 team tanked- we trade for JV still in 2017, we win the world series pretty easily, we don't trade for Cole in 18, we win the World Series behind JV and Sale in 18, we sign Josh Donaldson in 17 or 18 and we win again in 2019 as a Yankee like dynasty, Gerritt Cole doesn't ever get unlocked by Brent Strom and we don't have to see him wearing that stupid fucking Team Cole hat while still with the Astros like the mega douche he is.  It's impossible to say what happens with any of these sliding door moments.  But I'm naturally sort of risk averse so I wouldn't go chase a higher upside with any of these moves we've ever done. I'd still even draft Appel over Kris Bryant even though I wanted Bryant at the time just b/c of the butterfly affect. If you like your life now then any change in the past has a chance of making your present day life either better or worse, and I'm more concerned with avoiding worse than chasing better as an Astros fan sitting on the top of the world right now.

i think this is a pretty fair assessment.  i loved sale as a pitcher, but i remember even back with the white sox hearing that his motion and delivery was going to be hell on his elbows.  always makes me nervous when people are predicting 18 month injuries before any pain comes. 

i also trust our approach to team building, and i think it's worked for other teams as well.  develop as much as you can through advanced scouting, especially internationally.  draft smart and risk averse (take mlb-ready hitters from college).  avoid signing long (7+) year deals for huge dollars.  trade young talent for guys who can help you win now.

keep doing that shit and you'll hit more than you miss, which is what we're seeing play out now.  if i'm another al team, i'm not happy about the next several years and what the astros are looking like moving forward.  the helo's of the world see "an aging altuve", but a smart baseball fan sees yordan, tucker, a bunch of young pitchers just starting to figure it out, a bunch of cash moving off the books, and a front office committed to winning.

i think the red sox and yankees are likely due for some down years considering their rosters and payrolls.  i think toronto is a top 2 al east team next year and really should win the division.  and the white sox should dominate the central for the next 3-5 years.  i just don't see us winning any fewer than 90 anytime soon, and the rest is speculation, blind luck, and team chemistry, which we have in spades.

[TonyTexas 10,509]

Kulpa had a good game

 

[kevwun 15,771]

I would have gave him a perfect rating if he had thrown Joc out after his last at bat.

[Gourmand 7,774]

 

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

6 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

i think this is a pretty fair assessment.  i loved sale as a pitcher, but i remember even back with the white sox hearing that his motion and delivery was going to be hell on his elbows.  always makes me nervous when people are predicting 18 month injuries before any pain comes. 

i also trust our approach to team building, and i think it's worked for other teams as well.  develop as much as you can through advanced scouting, especially internationally.  draft smart and risk averse (take mlb-ready hitters from college).  avoid signing long (7+) year deals for huge dollars.  trade young talent for guys who can help you win now.

keep doing that shit and you'll hit more than you miss, which is what we're seeing play out now.  if i'm another al team, i'm not happy about the next several years and what the astros are looking like moving forward.  the helo's of the world see "an aging altuve", but a smart baseball fan sees yordan, tucker, a bunch of young pitchers just starting to figure it out, a bunch of cash moving off the books, and a front office committed to winning.

i think the red sox and yankees are likely due for some down years considering their rosters and payrolls.  i think toronto is a top 2 al east team next year and really should win the division.  and the white sox should dominate the central for the next 3-5 years.  i just don't see us winning any fewer than 90 anytime soon, and the rest is speculation, blind luck, and team chemistry, which we have in spades.

Yep yep yep.  

I asked the Boston fans- hey- is this like a building block year or a one off year. Because I saw a good team for Boston but not even very good, and I didn't see any guys I thought of as young stars on the come or anything.  The Yanks are getting old and expensive and played out and I don't think they have another great run in them with Cashman being on the downside and Hal being cheap relative to his market.  I think the Jays will be an absolute bitch for the life of Springers contract.

I see good things in Detroit's future in the central- especially if they decide they are going to spend some money.  That's a nice core they have there, they have a ton of money to spend and could do something like 10/350 for Correa and 4/80 for JV like it was nothing without hamstringing anything they are doing.  And I think the world of AJ Hinch as a manager.  Tony LaRussa is a clown and he puts a lower ceiling on them than they should have but that team is good and young and will be a bitch at the top of the division for a long time.

I see absolutely nothing that scares me in Seattle or Texas.  The A's are absolutely going to take a step back and retrench and move on from the Matt's here, combined with having moved on from Semien that's not a team that concerns me in the least. The Angels have the stars without a doubt to be a bitch, they just haven't figured out that stars and scurbs don't work. What you need is stars and average.  They have deep pockets, they have as good a top 5 of the roster as any team in the league- the minute they can figure out how to do what Atlanta did and rebuild 3 or 4 spots on the fly, for short money and prospects, and make them average they become a mother fucker to deal with. I'm not shitting my pants over it or anything but I think it's likely that they have at least  1 or 2 really good years in the next 5 and maybe steal a division crown.

Beyond that I'm a firm believer that playoff baseball is luck, voodoo and happenstance, with top tier talent on your roster being the best thing you can do to slightly stack the deck in your favor.  That's why I'm so worried about Carlos leaving, not in the regular season.

But yeah- this team looks like it's going to be just fine through the duration of LMJ's contract and Yordan and Tucker's time under team control.  Maybe not 5 alcs in the next 5 years fine (which is too much to reasonably expect) but win 90+ games, make the playoffs and have a chip and a chair in the post season tournament fine.  If we are right about that it will be a 12-15 year run if you count 2015 as the starting point- which is just stupid good for a baseball team. We are blessed. Truly.  

[Jshep34 2,308]

Liked straw always seemed like a good guy. With how close the players are and how highly the majority of former players speak of the core of this team is all i need to know on what kind of players/people they are.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[TonyTexas 10,509]

Wulaw is putting out a lot of words today. 

[henrygandorf 29,189]

13 minutes ago, Jshep34 said:

Liked straw always seemed like a good guy. With how close the players are and how highly the majority of former players speak of the core of this team is all i need to know on what kind of players/people they are.

considering how homegrown our team is, it's no mystery how close our guys are who came up through the system together.  and i knew back when our minor league teams were winning so much that it would develop into some good shit at the mlb level.  listening to guys like graveman who "always heard about our family culture" but are now seeing it in person and realizing how real it is just confirms shit we all already knew.

and the cheating scandal bullshit only made us stronger and amped the team chemistry up to 11.  good luck replicating that, everyone else.

and yeah, it's great straw is coming.  i loved that joe smith and chirinos and reddick have already been spotted.  that tells me a lot.  and gattis stirring up shit on twitter is also fun.

seeing donaldson and bassitt defend us on social media makes me think they "get it" and i would welcome anyone like that.

[Gourmand 7,774]

 

[billfromlaketravis 11,448]

Bullshit. But OK Verlander. Have fun in Detroit. 

[Gourmand 7,774]

 

 

 

DAVE WARD!!!!

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

40 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

Wulaw is putting out a lot of words today. 

Off days are always hard.  Off days during the world series are about as bad as it can ever be during the season. 

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

18 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

considering how homegrown our team is, it's no mystery how close our guys are who came up through the system together.  and i knew back when our minor league teams were winning so much that it would develop into some good shit at the mlb level.  listening to guys like graveman who "always heard about our family culture" but are now seeing it in person and realizing how real it is just confirms shit we all already knew.

and the cheating scandal bullshit only made us stronger and amped the team chemistry up to 11.  good luck replicating that, everyone else.

and yeah, it's great straw is coming.  i loved that joe smith and chirinos and reddick have already been spotted.  that tells me a lot.  and gattis stirring up shit on twitter is also fun.

seeing donaldson and bassitt defend us on social media makes me think they "get it" and i would welcome anyone like that.

Don't forget McHugh who, along with his wife, is as ride or die as you can get for an active player

[kevwun 15,771]

That's the lamest excuse ever and I was a big JV fan.

[henrygandorf 29,189]

2 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Don't forget McHugh who, along with his wife, is as ride or die as you can get for an active player

i want him back too.  seeing his wife, pressly's wife (and mom) and other wives on twitter is always fun.  if you talk shit, you will get hit.  those chicks don't play.

[henrygandorf 29,189]

19 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

 

i love verlander.  the player and the person.  but he has really let me down this year, multiple times, in multiple ways.  i will always remember him sleeveless in the dugout in g2 at dodger stadium.  there's a right way to handle this, and he did not do it. 

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

1 minute ago, henrygandorf said:

i want him back too.  seeing his wife, pressly's wife (and mom) and other wives on twitter is always fun.  if you talk shit, you will get hit.  those chicks don't play.

Yep.  Always missed him leaving.  Wanted to see him come back.  The Rays got a great value. 

[David Dennison 18,851]

I just hope there's baseball next year.

[Texas St. Armadillos 1,381]

Just now, David Dennison said:

I just hope there's baseball next year.

Dumb Question Amnesty:

How would a full-year strike/lockout effect contracts?  Does that year get burned, or do all contracts get pushed out a year?  Or, is that part of the CBA?

[Scraps 13,561]