2023 Houston Astros Thread

[Dnaguy 12023]

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

Bregman 

Pena 

Abreu 

 

those are the three people holding this team back. They have 48 games to wake up. We are trailing the rangers because of those 3 slap dicks 

they’re 90% of our offensive issues 

 

Pena to me is understandable. Sophomore slump is a real thing.

 

Bregman can be streaky too. Which is weird b/c he seems to approach hitting so professionally. But damn he can be so cold sometimes. At least the dude flashes leather.

 

Abreau is the real fucking downer here. Dude is stealing $. He's lost 2 steps and can't field his effin position. It's crazy to think if we just kept Pina that we'd be in a far better place offensively and be 25+ million dollars richer.... maybe with that we could have afforded a left handed hitter too!

Edited August 6, 2023 by Dnaguy

[tx 3 putt 77264]

1 minute ago, Dnaguy said:

 

Pena to me is understandable. Sophomore slump is a real thing.

 

Bregman can be streaky too. Which is weird b/c he seems to approach hitting so professionally. But damn he can be so cold sometimes. At least the dude flashes leather.

 

Abreau is the real fucking downer here. Dude is stealing $. He's lost 2 steps and can't field his effin position. It's crazy to think if we just kept Pina that we'd be in a far better and be 25+ million dollars richer.... maybe we could have afforded a left handed hitter too!

113 games in, turn it on 

[Dnaguy 12023]

1 minute ago, tx 3 putt said:

113 games in, turn it on 

[Rimbo 26028]

24 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

I generally stay out of y'all's thread, but I think we can find some common ground in the fact that Angel Hernandez and CB Bucknor are the fucking worst.

 

He has been, and always will be, a piece of doggy doo doo.

[Helobious 9464]

That series was lame.

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

37 minutes ago, Dnaguy said:

 

Pena to me is understandable. Sophomore slump is a real thing.

 

Bregman can be streaky too. Which is weird b/c he seems to approach hitting so professionally. But damn he can be so cold sometimes. At least the dude flashes leather.

 

Abreau is the real fucking downer here. Dude is stealing $. He's lost 2 steps and can't field his effin position. It's crazy to think if we just kept Pina that we'd be in a far better place offensively and be 25+ million dollars richer.... maybe with that we could have afforded a left handed hitter too!

95 ops+ for Yuli. He wasn’t the answer. 
78 OpS+ for Abreu. He was a much more expensive version of not the answer. Holy shit. 

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

Dana brown made it sound like Singleton is under serious consideration to get called up on the next week or two this morning on the Gm show btw. 
didn’t mention any nonsense about Brantley. 

[Dnaguy 12023]

Just now, Wulaw Horn said:

95 ops+ for Yuli. He wasn’t the answer. 
78 OpS+ for Abreu. He was a much more expensive version of not the answer. Holy shit. 

Abreau is making 15 times as much as Yuli.

19.5mm vs 1.25 mm. I mean.... Holy shit indeed.

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

Just now, Dnaguy said:

Abreau is making 15 times as much as Yuli.

19.5mm vs 1.25 mm. I mean.... Holy shit indeed.

Yeah- like I said much more expensive version of not the answer. 
I broke down for podcast all the FA signings from last year on July 15th or so. Holy shit it was just fail after fail after fail. Seeing Rodon be awful today after getting more money than any pitcher, and Judge clearly gimped after more money than any hitter, and following Correa and Brantley and Montero and Abreu with Astros ties, along with other guys hurt or performing like shit- it was just an absolutely brutal winter for everyone more or less shopping in FA. Whether luxury, middle class or bargain basement. 
I think Kiermeyer was by far the best FA value signed last offseason. 

[Dnaguy 12023]

3 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Dana brown made it sound like Singleton is under serious consideration to get called up on the next week or two this morning on the Gm show btw. 
didn’t mention any nonsense about Brantley. 

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

Only 16 1B with even a 100 ops+. That’s just absolutely brutal for the most bat first position in the sport (that actually plays defense). 

13 minutes ago, Helobious said:

That series was lame.

Y’all are only 6 back of a playoff spot. Chin up! 

[tx 3 putt 77264]

5 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Dana brown made it sound like Singleton is under serious consideration to get called up on the next week or two this morning on the Gm show btw. 
didn’t mention any nonsense about Brantley. 

Yuli wasn’t the answer, but that’s a 1 year contract 

[Dnaguy 12023]

2 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Yeah- like I said much more expensive version of not the answer. 
I broke down for podcast all the FA signings from last year on July 15th or so. Holy shit it was just fail after fail after fail. Seeing Rodon be awful today after getting more money than any pitcher, and Judge clearly gimped after more money than any hitter, and following Correa and Brantley and Montero and Abreu with Astros ties, along with other guys hurt or performing like shit- it was just an absolutely brutal winter for everyone more or less shopping in FA. Whether luxury, middle class or bargain basement. 
I think Kiermeyer was by far the best FA value signed last offseason. 

So last year's FA market was pretty much this?

Spoiler

It's NSFW

Spoiler

I'm telling you.....

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[billfromlaketravis 11520]

I’ll take a split. Pitched like shit today and Angel Hernandez was the home plate umpire. It feels like 2 wins. 

[billfromlaketravis 11520]

19 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Dana brown made it sound like Singleton is under serious consideration to get called up on the next week or two this morning on the Gm show btw. 
didn’t mention any nonsense about Brantley. 

So they call up Singelton, and he’ll play less than Salazar. I like it? 

Edited August 6, 2023 by billfromlaketravis

[Dnaguy 12023]

3 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I’ll take a split. Pitched like shit today and Angel Hernandez was the home plate umpire. It feels like 2 wins. 

The 2-2 record for the weekend reflected our play.

Thursday night was winnable and we somehow tried ... but failed to lose today. 

As much of a  🤷‍♂️ consequential series as I've seen in a while.

[tx 3 putt 77264]

15 minutes ago, Dnaguy said:

The 2-2 record for the weekend reflected our play.

Thursday night was winnable and we somehow tried ... but failed to lose today. 

As much of a  🤷‍♂️ consequential series as I've seen in a while.

Both teams look like wild card teams. Baltimore and Texas look like division winners 

49 games to go. Let’s fucking go !!!!

Edited August 7, 2023 by tx 3 putt

[Rimbo 26028]

57 minutes ago, Helobious said:

That series was lame.

I hate to agree with you, on anything, but yeah.

[UTHornFan014 710]

1 hour ago, Dnaguy said:

Abreau is making 15 times as much as Yuli.

19.5mm vs 1.25 mm. I mean.... Holy shit indeed.

I just try to focus on the fact that Abreu has at least been serviceable the last couple months (other than the Yankees series). Hopefully he can at least be average the rest of the way. 

[Dnaguy 12023]

6 minutes ago, UTHornFan014 said:

I just try to focus on the fact that Abreu has at least been serviceable the last couple months (other than the Yankees series). Hopefully he can at least be average the rest of the way. 

 

Avitar checks out.

 

 

 

I keed, I keed................ I hope?!

[TonyTexas 10519]

41 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Both teams look like wild card teams. Baltimore and Texas look like division winners 

49 games to go. Let’s fucking go !!!!

The Yankees are not making the playoffs. Their rotation is in shambles. Who knows if Rizzo will be able to play again. Concussion symptoms 2 months after the event is ominous. They’re currently 4 1/2 games out of the 3rd wild card spot. They are just not a good team

[patrickdrinksbeer 793]

Yeah- like I said much more expensive version of not the answer. 
I broke down for podcast all the FA signings from last year on July 15th or so. Holy shit it was just fail after fail after fail. Seeing Rodon be awful today after getting more money than any pitcher, and Judge clearly gimped after more money than any hitter, and following Correa and Brantley and Montero and Abreu with Astros ties, along with other guys hurt or performing like shit- it was just an absolutely brutal winter for everyone more or less shopping in FA. Whether luxury, middle class or bargain basement. 
I think Kiermeyer was by far the best FA value signed last offseason. 

Justin Turner has been pretty damned good. Played 30-something games at 3B, though mostly DHing. Not real cheap, but definitely had gas left in the tank.

[dr99 560]

17 minutes ago, patrickdrinksbeer said:

Justin Turner has been pretty damned good. Played 30-something games at 3B, though mostly DHing. Not real cheap, but definitely had gas left in the tank.

But he's a covid super spreader

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

22 minutes ago, patrickdrinksbeer said:

Justin Turner has been pretty damned good. Played 30-something games at 3B, though mostly DHing. Not real cheap, but definitely had gas left in the tank.

Yessir. I’d be worried that he sucks next year on his player option for 13.5M at 39,  but yeah- that one worked out just fine.  It as good as Kiermeyer. It probably 2nd best value. 
Dansby Swanson looks fine but there’s a lot of meat left on that bone. I think he lives up to his contract or close to it at least. 
Wade Miley/ believe it or not- might have been the best pitcher contract/value. Other than the Astros getting JV for 2.5 years 39M of course. 

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

31 minutes ago, patrickdrinksbeer said:

Justin Turner has been pretty damned good. Played 30-something games at 3B, though mostly DHing. Not real cheap, but definitely had gas left in the tank.

Brandon belt was a good signing and good value. If you could do a do ober on the off-season with what you know now he’s probably the guy. Really it’s and belt holding down 1B and Lf combined for you instead of Abreu and Brantley. That even would have saved you 6M this year. But you’d have 2 more holes to fill at the end of this year. Which would be preferable to Abreu on the books. 

[tx 3 putt 77264]

I guess he’s a full time staff member ?

 

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

17 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

I guess he’s a full time staff member ?

 

I literally can’t believe every team doesn’t have one on staff. 

[BornOrange 1441]

2 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

I literally can’t believe every team doesn’t have one on staff. 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Both teams look like wild card teams. Baltimore and Texas look like division winners 

49 games to go. Let’s fucking go !!!!

I'm cool with not having seen the best baseball this club can play in 2023.

I don't like the deliberate dipsy-doo's with the lineup card and bullshit like that; but I do feel like the best days are well ahead of this team.

[The Earl of Texas 3159]

PSA: This is an informational post only, not anti-Maldonado. They clearly see value with Maldy as backstop, not worth crying about.

[The Earl of Texas 3159]

Good for Jake. He and Chas had similar splits through ~100 games, and Meyers had an injury after that. May be a solid player if given the chance, has definitely shown flashes.

Edited August 7, 2023 by The Earl of Texas

[billfromlaketravis 11520]

12 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

I guess he’s a full time staff member ?

 

Can he teach Dubon to bring back his golf wedge/automatic single swing back? 

[Dutchrudder 11150]

I can't wait for the human element to be gone. HPUs calling strikes and balls is incredibly stupid in today's game. Technology is better, just let the ump manage the game and throw people out once in a while. 

[runthebone 8026]

1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Can he teach Dubon to bring back his golf wedge/automatic single swing back? 

Just be thankful that Dubon waited until Altuve was back to regress to the mean. 

[HtownHorn 14757]

16 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

95 ops+ for Yuli. He wasn’t the answer. 
78 OpS+ for Abreu. He was a much more expensive version of not the answer. Holy shit. 

Brandon Belt 130 OPS+ for $9.3M

[HtownHorn 14757]

1 hour ago, The Earl of Texas said:

Good for Jake. He and Chas had similar splits through ~100 games, and Meyers had an injury after that. May be a solid player if given the chance, has definitely shown flashes.

Fuck no. He's not a solid player. He's your 4th or 5th OF, that crushes LHP. He has a place on the team, but he should never be given starter's ABs again.

[tx 3 putt 77264]

We need to send Cleveland a muffin basket ….

 

 

[UTHornFan014 710]

Julks optioned to Sugarland. Guessing it is Singleton time? 

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

47 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Brandon Belt 130 OPS+ for $9.3M

Yep. I mentioned him a couple posts down after that one, along with Bellinger.  Those guys were the best FA signings. I'd go with Kiermeyer 1st, Bellinger 2nd, Belt 3rd and someone mentioned Justin Turner.  I think Dansby Swanson is going to earn his contract and be just fine.  Everyone else looks to be a huge fucking mess, and none of those guys are swinging a pennant race types.  

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

7 minutes ago, UTHornFan014 said:

Julks optioned to Sugarland. Guessing it is Singleton time? 

The heart is not for Singleton up its for Julks down.  So happy he can't thieve any more AB's.

[HtownHorn 14757]

5 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Yep. I mentioned him a couple posts down after that one, along with Bellinger.  Those guys were the best FA signings. I'd go with Kiermeyer 1st, Bellinger 2nd, Belt 3rd and someone mentioned Justin Turner.  I think Dansby Swanson is going to earn his contract and be just fine.  Everyone else looks to be a huge fucking mess, and none of those guys are swinging a pennant race types.  

I was banging the Belt drum all offseason. Though he is more of a +side platoon guy at 1B. Plenty of RH 1B/DH types to had for cheap. You could have had a Belt/Turner platoon at 1B for cheaper than Abreu, and then had the extra $12M because Brantley likely doesn't fit in this scenario. 

Turner could also DH when Alvarez plays LF in place of the Julks/Meyers/Dubon experience.

Edited August 7, 2023 by HtownHorn

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

47 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Fuck no. He's not a solid player. He's your 4th or 5th OF, that crushes LHP. He has a place on the team, but he should never be given starter's ABs again.

I don't know man- you sure he's not our 9th best player? I think he probably is. I know he is against LHP for sure, but I think I prefer him in CF against RHP to Dubon in CF or Maldy catching.  IF Singleton can hit RHP then yeah- he's not your 9th best player against RHP, but I think he still is, obviously, against LHP.  He would have been a perfect platoon partner for Brantley.  

Which do you like better:

Lineup A

DIaz, Abreu, altuve, Bregman, pena, chas, meyers, tucker, yordan

Lineup B

Maldy, abreu, altuve, bregman, pena, yordan, chas, tucker, diaz

Lineup C

Diaz, abreu, altuve, bregman, pena, chas, dubon, tucker, yordan

Lineup D

Diaz, abreu, altvue, bregman, pena, Yordan, chas, tucker, Singleton

I think Lineup A is my favorite for best 9- but if singleton hits RHP then it's A against lHP and D against RHP.  Not that we will see any of that. The best we can hope for in non hunter brown starts is lineup B, against RHP only b/c Dusty doesn't understand small sample size.  

[Wulaw Horn 19145]

4 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

I was banging the Belt drum all offseason. Though he is more of a +side platoon guy at 1B. Plenty of RH 1B/DH types to had for cheap.

You were right on Belt then, I was wrong. I thought he was done. But yeah- he's not a full time guy he's a platoon bat.  I don't know how much I'd say plenty of RH 1b/DH types to be had for cheap though. The numbers say only like 16 guys in MLB have a 100+ OPS at 1b.  I don't know about the splits on the other side though- maybe they are fine.  Hell, maybe Yuli would have been fine to bring back if you could play him just against LHP, but I think he had to move on or Dusty was going to use him too much. Just like Maldonado at this end of this year needs to move on, especially if Dusty is back. 

[HtownHorn 14757]

5 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

You were right on Belt then, I was wrong. I thought he was done. But yeah- he's not a full time guy he's a platoon bat.  I don't know how much I'd say plenty of RH 1b/DH types to be had for cheap though. The numbers say only like 16 guys in MLB have a 100+ OPS at 1b.  I don't know about the splits on the other side though- maybe they are fine.  Hell, maybe Yuli would have been fine to bring back if you could play him just against LHP, but I think he had to move on or Dusty was going to use him too much. Just like Maldonado at this end of this year needs to move on, especially if Dusty is back. 

Not only FAs. A guy like Garrett Cooper, .862 OPS against LHP. Could have been had for like 35+ prospect. Of course, you'd actually need a manager that understood matchups and derived lineups that exploited them, we don't have that with Dusty.

Edited August 7, 2023 by HtownHorn

[kevwun 15816]

The problem with signing guys for a platoon relies on Dusty playing them at the right times.

[The Dog 44073]

 

[Gourmand 7774]

no doubt it's Singleton coming up

[BornOrange 1441]

2 hours ago, The Earl of Texas said:

PSA: This is an informational post only, not anti-Maldonado. They clearly see imagine value with Maldy as backstop, not worth crying about it's the end of the world as we know it.

FIFY

Edited August 7, 2023 by BornOrange

[tx 3 putt 77264]

17 minutes ago, kevwun said:

The problem with signing guys for a platoon relies on Dusty playing them at the right times.

he gets input from the analytics team to help decide stuff like this and days off 

[tx 3 putt 77264]

11 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

no doubt it's Singleton coming up

he’s not on the 40 man, need to see that move next