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2018 Houston Astros Season Thread

Planet Houston

By Planet Houston
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TexArcher
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Bregs is going Crawford Boxes right here.

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Prior to the footage being edited by Bender:

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Two Diamond Club tickets available for the Sunday night game.  Free.  Need to pick them up from me in 77027. Rules: Poster must be a big contributor to this thread/last years shag thread.  No gue

UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9789

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I don’t know man...



SEATTLE — Of the 107 words that comprised the prepared statement the Houston Astros released on behalf of president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow in announcing Monday’s controversial acquisition of closer Roberto Osuna, those touting the team’s “zero-tolerance policy related to abuse of any kind” stuck out most.

How can the Astros have a zero-tolerance policy yet trade for a player who has a pending assault charge, and who is currently serving a 75-game suspension he accepted for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy? “Zero tolerance means zero tolerance, right?” a reporter asked Luhnow during a media teleconference to address the deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“We don’t condone or support this sort of behavior from our players,” Luhnow said. “Having said that, Roberto did this as he was a member of another team and he has been appropriately punished and paid the penalty for the situation by Major League Baseball and complying with their policies and he has taken subsequent steps with trying to seek help and improve his outlook and his life. Quite frankly, I believe that you can have a zero-tolerance policy and also have an opportunity to give people second chances when they have made mistakes in the past in other organizations. That’s kind of how we put those two things together.”

Osuna remains on baseball’s restricted list while he serves his suspension, which runs through Saturday. The 23-year-old righthander from Mexico has his next court date on Wednesday in Toronto. His lawyer told reporters in July his client intended to plead not guilty to the charge levied against him by police on May 8. Very few specific details about Osuna’s arrest have been made public, but the allegations involve a woman with whom he has a child.

The Astros, whose press release announcing the deal omitted the reason for Osuna’s 75-game suspension, plan to activate Osuna on Sunday before their series finale at Dodger Stadium. Despite his suspension, the 2017 All-Star will be eligible to compete for Houston in the postseason. The Astros dealt three pitchers, including beleaguered former closer Ken Giles, to obtain Osuna, who is under team control through 2020.

Luhnow described the Astros’ level of due diligence before the trade as “unprecedented” by their front office. It included a phone conversation between Luhnow and Osuna, for which the Astros obtained the Blue Jays’ permission. “He and I had a lengthy conversation,” Luhnow said. “I won’t disclose the details of what we talked about, but suffice it to say I came out of that conversation with what I wanted to accomplish.”

Luhnow said he also spoke to several of Osuna’s former teammates, friends and acquaintances, “and feel I got a better picture of him as a person.” When asked if he reached out to Osuna’s alleged victim or any witnesses in the case, Luhnow declined to comment because of the active nature of the case.

Osuna, who will pitch in a rehab game for the Astros’ Class AAA or Class AA affiliate on Wednesday or Thursday, is expected to address his new teammates on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Luhnow, who didn’t accompany the team to Seattle, is also expected to be there with the team in Los Angeles.

“We did a lot of work on this deal over the course of not just the past few days but past weeks, and quite frankly our conversations with Toronto regarding Roberto go back many years. Based on the work, we are confident that the player understands the magnitude of what he’s being charged with and is remorseful about what occurred and has proactively taken steps to address any of his past behavior,” Luhnow said.

Public reactions from Osuna’s new teammates before Monday night’s series opener at Safeco Field were measured. Before the Astros’ clubhouse opened to the media three hours before the game, manager A.J. Hinch held a team meeting to address the news of their addition.

“We don’t really know what happened,” Carlos Correa said afterward. “There’s a court for that. It’s really hard to discuss that subject when you don’t know what really happened.”

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding kind of all it,” Collin McHugh said.

“It’s a tough situation,” Justin Verlander said. “I think the thing for us to remember here is that the details haven’t come to light. We don’t know the whole story. Obviously, I’ve said some pretty inflammatory things about stuff like this in the past and I stand by my words. But I think with an ongoing case, as is this one, it’s kind of just ‘see what happens.'”

Luhnow said he reached out to members of the Astros’ coaching staff and players to get a read on their feelings before the trade. None of Correa, McHugh or Verlander were among those consulted, though Correa said José Altuve was called. (Altuve, who’s on the disabled list, was back in Houston on Monday tending to a personal matter and thus not available for comment. He will rejoin the team in LA.)

The previous inflammatory remarks to which Verlander referred regarded former Astros minor leaguer Danry Vazquez. In March, graphic videos surfaced of Vasquez striking his girlfriend multiple times in a stairwell at the home ballpark of the Astros’ Class AA affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks. The incident occurred in 2016. Vasquez was arrested Aug. 4, 2016 and then suspended by the commissioner’s office and released by the Astros 12 days later.


“The club, as you saw with Danry Vasquez’s situation, if we have a player that is in our organization that violates the domestic violence policy, we will take appropriate action when that happens,” Luhnow said. “And so if anything happens going forward, we absolutely will adhere to our zero-tolerance policy. In addition to that, we do believe in second chances, and Roberto has served a penalty that MLB felt was appropriate for the information that they had about what he had done.”

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utxmike05

utxmike05 1833

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Easiest disappointment of the season has to be Marwin. Feels like he fell off a cliff. Sad because he was a huge piece last year. 


Definitely, last year was his ceiling (and probably a lil above it). It’s baseball and slumps happen, but he has fallen off the most. The role players are who helped balance the team last year, and carry them when the stars were having off days.

I was at Sat and Sun games...disgusting to watch in person.


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kevwun

kevwun 16270

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It's going to be bad with Correa and Altuve out at the same time, but right now it's as bad as it can possibly get because Springer, Bregman and Gurriel are all slumping at the same time. Gurriel is real bad as he's hitting .108 over the last 28 days.  It doesn't make any sense having Kemp bat 9th right now.  He needs to be getting more at bats than the minor league contingent.

Edited by kevwun
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kevwun

kevwun 16270

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It means that he agreed to a 75 game suspension without an appeal, so we can be 99.99% sure that he's guilty.  He may convince his gf/wife/whatever to refuse to testify so the charges get dropped because it's financially in their best interests, but that won't change what happened.

Edited by kevwun
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Planet Houston

Planet Houston 4949

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Ugh, the more I think about the Osuna situation, the shittier it becomes.  Maybe it's a romantic and naive notion, but the guys we have in our clubhouse makes us forget about the business side of baseball.  We were fortunate enough to draft great talent that grew together into a formiddable core, while adding pieces via trades or signings that fit into the clubhouse culture.

Now, all of a sudden, I feel like I can't unconditionally root for the greatest team to root for in my lifetime.  That makes me a little sad.  Goddammit Luhnow - I don't think this was necessary.  

However, one bad apple doesn't change all the great things that Springer, Altuve, Correa and the like have done in our community.  So maybe I'll get to a point of disliking one player while still supporting the team fully.  

Edited by Planet Houston
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Foosters

Foosters 18229

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Posted (edited)

I'm holding out to see what actually happened. DV conduct covers a pretty wide spectrum of behavior.  None of which is acceptable, but some is obviously far less egregious. 

Edit: Overall, not too happy with it though

Edited by Foosters
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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29223

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agreed with above.  all we can do now is root that (a) he kicks ass on the field and (b) this becomes a story of redemption, and how a great clubhouse helped turn a talented 23 year old's life around.

from everything i've seen, heard, and read, osuna is saying the right things.  he doesn't strike me as some loose cannon troublemaker.  he represents himself as someone who wants the second chance.  what he does with it is anybody's guess.

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David Dennison

David Dennison 19441

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1 hour ago, Planet Houston said:

Ugh, the more I think about the Osuna situation, the shittier it becomes.  Maybe it's a romantic and naive notion, but the guys we have in our clubhouse makes us forget about the business side of baseball.  We were fortunate enough to draft great talent that grew together into a formiddable core, while adding pieces via trades or signings that fit into the clubhouse culture.

Now, all of a sudden, I feel like I can't unconditionally root for the greatest team to root for in my lifetime.  That makes me a little sad.  Goddammit Luhnow - I don't think this was necessary.  

However, one bad apple doesn't change all the great things that Springer, Altuve, Correa and the like have done in our community.  So maybe I'll get to a point of disliking one player while still supporting the team fully.  

What if he fits right in?

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29223

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6 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

One from a team that will take Marwin Gonzales, pretty please.

i know marwin is having a bad season, but he's great in his role - utility infielder.  he's playing out of position because our ss can't stay healthy.  it's not totally marwin's fault.

he homered off jansen in g2, and for that, he gets a lifetime pass.

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David Dennison

David Dennison 19441

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7 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

i know marwin is having a bad season, but he's great in his role - utility infielder.  he's playing out of position because our ss can't stay healthy.  it's not totally marwin's fault.

he homered off jansen in g2, and for that, he gets a lifetime pass.

I was joking (sort of). My point is that a big time bat is going to require giving up a regular starter. I'm just wondering who we're willing to part ways with to get that bat.

 

 

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FondrenRoad

FondrenRoad 4378

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17 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

I was joking (sort of). My point is that a big time bat is going to require giving up a regular starter. I'm just wondering who we're willing to part ways with to get that bat.

 

 

What trades in the past would be comparable to a Harper rental?  Certainly the Nats arent expecting to get the same quality, but I imagine they at least want someone who could start for a few years for them. 

Edited by FondrenRoad
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Guadaloopy

Guadaloopy 11128

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11 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

we're not "one bat" away from having a good offense.  

we're getting everyone healthy and having (most of) them perform up to their capabilities away from having a good offense.

This, this, this.  This is the same group of bats that won the WS last year.  If McCann makes it back, it will be the same group with Kemp replacing Maybin.  If Tucker figures things out soon, 'Tuve and Correa come back fresh, and others get to 80% of what they were last year, the league is going to be sweating the Astros again.

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29223

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48 minutes ago, cabowabo said:

Osuna hasn't even been tried yet. Let's wait for the case to get resolved legally before we pass judgment. I have not seen a video of the incident. Maybe the woman is lying, or maybe she deserved it. Keep an open mind.

"deserve's got nothin' to do with it..."

 

 

(quoting movies, not getting involved in...whatever this is)

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