Houston Astros 2024 Season Thread

[WBT 20411]

5 minutes ago, Scraps said:

DID YALL READ THE BACK OF HIS BASEBALL CARD?? HIS 1ST HOMER LAST YEAR WAS.....AT OAKLAND.

And he sprinted around the bases and slid into the dugout.  If you didn't like that, you don't like baseball!

[Overlord 366]

1 hour ago, uoftorange said:

On the one hand you're not wrong.

On the other, it's not your 38MM that's being lit on fire if you do.  If they think they saw something in him and he can contribute then I have to respect the professional org evaluators.  Now did they see enough to put him in the starting lineup?  Or did anyone in the org say he would be in the starting lineup?  I haven't seen that if so

I can go with you on that. But wherever the fuck he was sent and how he hit, aside from if he snuck off to the DR, I know he wasn't looking at pitches even close to what he’ll see in his first at bat back in the Show. 

Did he get his timing back on 84 mph four-seamers? Did he lock himself in the high speed batting cage for two weeks? Did he dump Jesus for Allah?

Lets just say that I’m a little less than cautiously optimistic.

I've never been an MLB team owner or a Hall of Fame first baseman with the second best batting stance/swing ever. (Griffey, Jr obviously first), but I was an extra on that Jimmy Fallon Drew Barrymore baseball love story. I was top deck row 82 at Fenway. So I kind of know a little about the game. Well actually I left after 4 1/2 hours with zero takes. So I never got my SAG card. 

All it would have taken me to pass on tendering an offer to Abreu would be watching him swing once in a live at bat facing a 92-95mph fastball. One swing. Pass. Move on. I don't care if he even barreled it. Pass. Describing his swing with one word? Arthritic. 

So I hope you are right. I will gladly accept a thorough thrashing if he ends with 28 homers and a 890 OPS. 

I have been wrong before. 

But I'm usually always right. 

What is Oxymoron? Thanks Ken. 

Good evening. 

[Overlord 366]

Jesus. Corey Julks went 2-3 with a dinger. Against the Yankees. 

Then he reached his glove well over the wall and saved a home run. 

Good for him. No ill will. 

Oh shit. He’s playing with Martin Rasputin Maldonado. Surely he had a part in the output.  

Go get you some Corey. 

[HtownHorn 14468]

White Sox hoping the Corey and Korie former Astros show leads to more wins.

[runthebone 7931]

Probably the subtracting Abreu show will help them even more.

[tx 3 putt 76294]

9 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

White Sox hoping the Corey and Korie former Astros show leads to more wins.

 

them 2 + Maldy  = 35 More wins !!!!

[Scraps 13538]

They still got blown the fuck out today guys everyone calm down...calm down sirs


Julks, mashitty, Lee

[tx 3 putt 76294]

Astros general manager Dana Brown told @raford3 that  José Abreu could rejoin the team this Friday in Oakland. Brown, Joe Espada and Jeff Bagwell had a conversation yesterday about it, Brown said. Abreu will play a few more games — either in WPB or Triple-A — before Friday

[WBT 20411]

Right before word came out that Abreu was going to be killing himself in Florida, someone posted that the White Sox wanted to trade to get him back.  Let's revisit that one.  I think they need one more ex-Astro.

Edited May 20 by WBT

[Scraps 13538]

I thought like 3 days ago he hadnt even played in a "game" or whatever the fuck they do down there. How the fuck is he ready

Bagwell is such an asshat. Can we trade him back to Boston?

[tx 3 putt 76294]

4 minutes ago, WBT said:

Right before word came out that Abreu was going to be killing himself in Florida, someone posted that the White Sox wanted to trade to get him back.  Let's revisit that one.  I think they need one more ex-Astro.

Abreu + Julks + Lee + Maldy = 33 wins added 

[tx 3 putt 76294]

Chas and Abreu coming back, who’s going back to sugarland ?

[tx 3 putt 76294]

Last season, Kyle Tucker hit his 15th home run on July 21, part of a three-homer game against the A's.

Today, on May 19, he hit his 15th home run as part of a multi-homer game against the Brewers.

[billfromlaketravis 11357]

53 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Astros general manager Dana Brown told @raford3 that  José Abreu could rejoin the team this Friday in Oakland. Brown, Joe Espada and Jeff Bagwell had a conversation yesterday about it, Brown said. Abreu will play a few more games — either in WPB or Triple-A — before Friday

It gets worse. Bagwell has been on the ground in Florida “supervising” Abreu’s  “stint in the minors.” Bizarre even for the misterioso Astros. 
 

Singleton kind of, sort of is starting to figure it out. This is going to kill the poor bastard’s career, again. 

[Jshep34 2303]

Why bring back abreu? Team is finally rolling in the win column without him. Whoever is pushing for him to come back and take time away from singleton, Joey, and dubon should be fired.

[Pablo 494]

31 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

It gets worse. Bagwell has been on the ground in Florida “supervising” Abreu’s  “stint in the minors.” Bizarre even for the misterioso Astros. 
 

Singleton kind of, sort of is starting to figure it out. This is going to kill the poor bastard’s career, again. 

 

2 minutes ago, Jshep34 said:

Why bring back abreu? Team is finally rolling in the win column without him. Whoever is pushing for him to come back and take time away from singleton, Joey, and dubon should be fired.

Has to be Bagwell trying to fix his fuckup.  Everybody around him has to be killing him about Abreu.

[hornmpa96 2598]

9 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Abreu + Julks + Lee + Maldy = 33 wins added 

Julks and Lee - 1 win each

Maldy - 40 wins

Abreu - -9 wins

8 hours ago, Jshep34 said:

Why bring back abreu? Team is finally rolling in the win column without him. Whoever is pushing for him to come back and take time away from singleton, Joey, and dubon should be fired.

Can’t fire the owner 

He better play in AAA first.

[Snake Diggity 4614]

10 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Chas and Abreu coming back, who’s going back to sugarland ?

Kessinger and Cabbage.  Neither have been playing anyway.  Singleton, Dubon, and Loperfido are going to lose playing time now.  Although it would not shock me if Yordan went on the IL or got a few games in a row off; he looks like he’s battling something in his arms/upper body.

I HATE that they are bringing back Abreu.  He was clearly washed up and all theyre doing is destroying their team momentum to satisfy somebody’s (Crane or Bagwell) ego and pay courtesy to a guy who couldn’t live up to the contract he signed.  Fucking stupid.

[Smax 3800]

9 hours ago, Jshep34 said:

Why bring back abreu? Team is finally rolling in the win column without him. Whoever is pushing for him to come back and take time away from singleton, Joey, and dubon should be fired.

Have you seen the back of his baseball card?

[Scraps 13538]

They really should move Chas if the opportunity presents itself.  

Loperfido has been fine and I don't like the idea of his rotting away on the bench.  Would rather send him back down and let Cabbage or Kess rot if we aren't going to play Loperfido consistently.  

[texashorne 1177]

10 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

It gets worse. Bagwell has been on the ground in Florida “supervising” Abreu’s  “stint in the minors.” Bizarre even for the misterioso Astros. 
 

Singleton kind of, sort of is starting to figure it out. This is going to kill the poor bastard’s career, again. 

Singleton is having a solid season and the team has been great with him as the starter. He plays solid defense and can draw some walks and is always a homerun threat. So yes, it sucks that old man winter (who can do none of that anymore) is going to derail him yet again.  I don't understand how anyone in the organization thinks we are a better team with Abreu, nor how they think a stint in Florida will knock 5 years off his life and he'll be productive again. This is the same organization who sent Brantley off on an iceberg because they thought he couldn't hit anymore. Its baffling. 

[Chuckie Finster 22598]

Morbidly funny that what could end up being one of this front office's shrewdest moves (picking Singleton off the trash heap and letting him develop into an everyday player) is gonna be prevented by their ego and forcing Abreu down everyone's throats.

Homie is done.

[texashorne 1177]

The way I look at it is the Astros paid bigtime for production at first base. Now they are getting it somewhat, so who gives a crap who the actual player is. Let Singleton cook

[HtownHorn 14468]

Can we please stop using Dubon in the OF now.

Loperfido/Chas = LF

Meyers = CF

Tucker = RF

Alvarez = DH

Dubon be used on the IF to give Bregman, Altuve, and Pena in that order days off. Play him 2-3 times a week when you have a long stretch of games in a row.

I am guessing they will bring Abreu back for a platoon with Singleton, but they are going to jack up the chemistry of the  team to do it.

Fuck Jeff Bagwell, which is the sentiment I heard plenty on the radio during the drive in to work this morning.

[David Dennison 18646]

9 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Morbidly funny that what could end up being one of this front office's shrewdest moves (picking Singleton off the trash heap and letting him develop into an everyday player) is gonna be prevented by their ego and forcing Abreu down everyone's throats.

Homie is done.

It's not ego. It's how much money he's making.

[Snake Diggity 4614]

55 minutes ago, Scraps said:

They really should move Chas if the opportunity presents itself.  

Loperfido has been fine and I don't like the idea of his rotting away on the bench.  Would rather send him back down and let Cabbage or Kess rot if we aren't going to play Loperfido consistently.  

Loperfido has a 40% strikeout rate masked by a .571 babip.  He’s on the cusp of the plate appearance threshold where k rate starts to stabilize.  He is probably going to improve somewhat but it is very likely that he is going to be a 30%+ k rate player, which will put a lot of pressure on his power, speed, and defense to make him an everyday caliber player.  He will be able to maintain a higher than normal babip because of his speed and how hard he hits the ball, but not anywhere close to what he’s done so far.

Anyway, Houston shouldn’t cut McCormick loose until Loperfido has 150+ pa and they have a better idea of how good he really is, and even then they should only trade McCormick if they get a really good offer.

[tx 3 putt 76294]

 

[Guadaloopy 10917]

Why fuck up what’s finally working?  Surely these folks are smart enough to understand the sunk cost fallacy.   

[hornmpa96 2598]

Hope in one hand - shit in the other 

[kevwun 15608]

1 minute ago, Guadaloopy said:

Why fuck up what’s finally working?  Surely these folks are smart enough to understand the sunk cost fallacy.   

These are the same people who dismantled an analytics dept that won 2 World Series.  They are in fact that dumb.

[tx 3 putt 76294]

1 hour ago, Scraps said:

They really should move Chas if the opportunity presents itself.  

Loperfido has been fine and I don't like the idea of his rotting away on the bench.  Would rather send him back down and let Cabbage or Kess rot if we aren't going to play Loperfido consistently.  

trade Abreu and Chas to chisox, Astros lite

[David Dennison 18646]

22 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

trade Abreu and Chas to chisox, Astros lite

The White Sox would probably do that if we picked up the cost of Abreu's contract.

Edited May 20 by David Dennison

[WBT 20411]

Y'all know Singleton is still at negative WAR for the season right?  And he'll probably regress from here.

Yes he's better than Abreu but there's some real stockholm syndrome stuff going on here.

[tx 3 putt 76294]

There’s no place to play him, but Leon has earned a promotion 

[LCHorn 2585]

1 hour ago, texashorne said:

This is the same organization who sent Brantley off on an iceberg because they thought he couldn't hit anymore. Its baffling

Literally no one thought that.  If he was healthy enough to play he wouldn’t have retired.  

 

2 hours ago, Scraps said:

They really should move Chas if the opportunity presents itself.

You want to start a rookie (and not a broadly regarded one) on a team with championship aspirations?  He’s had about 220 AAA at bats between last season and this one and there’s only the early 2024 hot streak to justify claiming Chas’ spot.  
 

As far as Abreu, there’s a pretty good chance that this was always the plan and he’ll be on notice once he’s back.  If you want him gone you should see this as a positive.  $40m is a lot to eat for anybody that isn’t in NY or LA. 

[tx 3 putt 76294]

Just now, WBT said:

Y'all know Singleton is still at negative WAR for the season right?  And he'll probably regress from here.

Yes he's better than Abreu but there's some real stockholm syndrome stuff going on here.

much better glove 

[WBT 20411]

1 minute ago, tx 3 putt said:

much better glove 

Yes but still not good

[Snake Diggity 4614]

3 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

There’s no place to play him, but Leon has earned a promotion 

Shay Whitcomb is also looking like a meaningful prospect.  Had 30 HR and 20 SB across AA/AAA last season and has cut his k rate dramatically this season while increasing his walk rate.  He looks like Corey Julks but with the ability to play an adequate SS/2B/3B.  If Houston doesn’t figure something out at 3B next season, I’d let Whitcomb compete with Dubon with the loser getting the utility job.  But if I was a rebuilding team, Leon and Whitcomb are 2 guys I would ask for from Houston’s farm.

[HtownHorn 14468]

5 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

Literally no one thought that.  If he was healthy enough to play he wouldn’t have retired.  

 

You want to start a rookie (and not a broadly regarded one) on a team with championship aspirations?  He’s had about 220 AAA at bats between last season and this one and there’s only the early 2024 hot streak to justify claiming Chas’ spot.  
 

As far as Abreu, there’s a pretty good chance that this was always the plan and he’ll be on notice once he’s back.  If you want him gone you should see this as a positive.  $40m is a lot to eat for anybody that isn’t in NY or LA. 

This team is full of guys that weren't broadly regarded prospects in Altuve, Diaz, Framber, Javier, McCormick, Meyers, B. Abreu, etc. 

[LCHorn 2585]

6 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

This team is full of guys that weren't broadly regarded prospects in Altuve, Diaz, Framber, Javier, McCormick, Meyers, B. Abreu, etc. 

I’d like to think we’re on the elite side when it comes to maximization, but if you look at other teams you’ll see a lot of guys that outperform their prospect pedigree.  
 

My point was that Loperfido isn’t Wyatt Lankford or prospect Kyle Tucker, and in whom at bats at the expense of a veteran might be justified because the expected ceiling is so high once they’ve gotten comfortable.  

[tx 3 putt 76294]

3 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

Literally no one thought that.  If he was healthy enough to play he wouldn’t have retired.  

 

You want to start a rookie (and not a broadly regarded one) on a team with championship aspirations?  He’s had about 220 AAA at bats between last season and this one and there’s only the early 2024 hot streak to justify claiming Chas’ spot.  
 

As far as Abreu, there’s a pretty good chance that this was always the plan and he’ll be on notice once he’s back.  If you want him gone you should see this as a positive.  $40m is a lot to eat for anybody that isn’t in NY or LA. 

imo, Chas has peaked

 

[LCHorn 2585]

12 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

imo, Chas has peaked

 

Good, a team full of dudes playing at their peak is ideal from a resource allocation and team building perspective 🙂

Or, do you think we should be selling off an outfielder and he’d bring the most in return?   I used to espouse that kind of fantasy baseball stuff, and maybe you can do it on the margins but it’s also a great way for a GM to get fired.  

[billfromlaketravis 11357]

52 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

There’s no place to play him, but Leon has earned a promotion 

Trade Chas. 

[kevwun 15608]

You put Leon and Loperfido in the lineup everyday and the Astros may lead the league in strikeouts.

[HtownHorn 14468]

4 minutes ago, kevwun said:

You put Leon and Loperfido in the lineup everyday and the Astros may lead the league in strikeouts.

Well, they would be doing some heavy lifting considering we are currently 1st in least amount of Ks.

[kevwun 15608]

Leon really likes to strikeout when he moves up a level. 

Edited May 20 by kevwun

[LCHorn 2585]

4 minutes ago, kevwun said:

You put Leon and Loperfido in the lineup everyday and the Astros may lead the league in strikeouts.

I haven’t really dug into this but I have a suspicion that the offensive struggles from the second half of last season are caused or exacerbated by a change in personnel and approach that lowered team contact frequency (selling out for power?) and that maybe didn’t result in a cumulative loss of runs scored, but it made the for streakier output.  We end up with too many 10-5 wins and 4-0 losses and the Pythag looks like we should be better than our record.  

[tx 3 putt 76294]

26 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Leon really likes to strikeout when he moves up a level. 

 

[runthebone 7931]

I think some of you are nuts.  You have to give Chas a chance to bounce back if he is healthy

[tx 3 putt 76294]

16 minutes ago, runthebone said:

I think some of you are nuts.  You have to give Chas a chance to bounce back if he is healthy

up His trade value !