I think Espada has been a pretty bad manager, but I think the impact of managers in the regular season is over dramatized by the fans. If we have good injury luck and at least one of our young OFs produces, the talent on this team will get us a playoff birth. Manager’s can do harm over the long haul (overusing Hader for example) or can blow playoff games (Dusty with Maldonado, Hinch with Harris). Even with poor manager decisions if a team like ours gets hot at the right time, we can win it all. Dusty is a perfect example.
I have always believed that managers were over rated -- but last year, Joe Espada was directly responsible for the injury to Josh Hader.
“Untenable situation” “Tension in the clubhouse”… lol Why? Because ****-stirrers Chandler Rome & Ken Rosenthal say it is? One guy will start, the other will come off the bench and there will be injuries and days off.
Interesting comment from Brown in that article. One aspect to waiting is that one way or the other it will make his decision easier: If Houston suffers an injury to an infielder, his decision has been made for him and no trade is needed. If another team suffers an injury to an infielder and makes an irrefutable offer, his decision is made for him and the trade is a no brainer. If nothing changes, he can fall back to whatever offers he’s already gotten, as they are unlikely to be taken off the table.
Every one of Walker, Correa, Paredes, Altuve, and Alvarez expect to be starting everyday. That is impossible given the defensive liabilities that 3 of those guys have. There is going to 100% be tension about PT and Espada is a ****ing moron.
Rank of Houston’s 9 best hitters by Steamer wRC+ projections: 3. Alvarez 30. Paredes 73. Correa 89. Altuve 110. Pena 118. Diaz 196. Walker 259. Meyers 280. Smith Paredes being the 2nd best hitter isn’t really the issue. The dropoff from Paredes to Correa is a problem, as is the dropoff from Diaz to Walker/Meyers/Smith. In hindsight, Houston should’ve dumped whatever salary they could from Walker and paid the prospect cost to get Donovan, putting him primarily in LF. LF Donovan 1B Paredes DH Alvarez 3B Correa 2B Altuve SS Pena C Diaz RF Smith CF Cole That’s a lineup I’d be excited about.
Correa in an interview said that the Astros need to clear the “logjam” in the infield. Correa wants Paredes gone. There probably is tension. I hope Correa gives this offense the lift it desperately needs.
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Astros were on a 93 win pace and were leading the AL West last season with Paredes as our best hitter until he went down with the hamstring injury. The offense collapsed after that.
Astros opening day roster, 2025 vs 2026 projected: C: Diaz/Caratini vs Diaz/Salazar: Diaz is coming off a worse year and Salazar is a downgrade from Caratini. Advantage 2025 1B: Walker vs Walker: Walker is coming off a down year. Advantage 2025 2B: Dubon vs Altuve: Altuve is still a better player than Dubon projected to be last April. Advantage 2026 SS: Pena vs Pena: Pena is coming off a great year. Advantage 2026 3B: Paredes vs Correa: call it a push OF: Altuve/Meyers/Smith/McCormick vs Cole/Meyers/Smith/Trammell: Both groups were/are a mixed bag but Altuve was expected to be a pillar of the offense. Advantage 2025 DH: Alvarez vs Alvarez: Yordan is coming off a down year. Advantage 2025 UT: Rodgers/Dezenzo vs Paredes/Allen: Huge advantage 2026 SP: Valdez/Brown/Blanco/Arrighetti/Wesneski vs Brown/Imai/Burrows/Javier/Arrighetti: losing Valdez is big, but there’s a ton of optimism around Imai and Burrows, plus Brown is more established. I’m calling this a push. RP: Hader/Abreu/Scott/King/Montero/Contreras/Okert/Gusto vs Abreu/King/Okert/Sousa/DeLosSantos/Pearson/McCullers/Weiss: Hader starting the season on the IL makes this an easy call even though Okert, King, Abreu, and Sousa are coming off of monster years. I wouldn’t argue that if you were comparing 40 man rosters instead, 2026 would win. It’s a tough comparison. Lots of uncertainty in the 2026 roster.
Meh whatever. He likely will end up traded, but Rome is a **** starter and Rosenthal is like a 4 foot tall anorexic penguin. The clubhouse is fine. If they can deal with Espada being a moron - they can deal with Paredes.
