cool I'm going to quit posting about it as it's all the same thing over and over and over I just don't think we have ever been in a better position to win it all, and certainly looks like that is headed south
He had two deals he felt pretty confident were done. Unless you think those deals didn't involve prospects......... The point is: this isn't as easy as cross-checking prospect rankings and screaming "WHY DIDN'T THE ASTROS TRADE (EQUIVALENT PROSPECT)?!!" The answer to that might very well be: the team viewed the prospects they got as better; not necessarily that Luhnow didn't make a similar deal.
This is why I'm "extra-salty". A bunch of ****ing guys posting on a BBS acting like they know what went on in these trade negotiations. I'm ****ing frustrated they're playing like crap and frustrated a bigger move wasn't made. But I'm also not going to effectively give up on the season like a lot of people seem to have done.
At this point, why should I even believe Luhnow was close to anything? Those were HIS WORDS. This reminds me of the talk years ago about how the Astros were always "runners up" to land big international players. Always "coming up short". To me, its propaganda. There is no hard evidence at all and I'm going to be a skeptic until Luhnow actually lets some prospects go.
Yeah, really. I'm disappointed too. He can be disappointed. Have some ****ing respect for yourself as a player and not whine about it to the media.
Aren't you the one that said you were embarrassed to root for them? I can't speak for the others that are posting about being upset that we did not get a deal done, but personally i'll never give up on this team, and certainly will never be embarrassed to root for them. I was there many times in 2011, 2012, 2013....and i'll dang sure be there to the end
Not only has he made several trades, but large segments of the fan base believed he got fleeced on those trades by giving up too much. Hell, it led to a 48-page thread dedicated to wallowing in the trades' inequity. Luhnow has always been up front about his management of the team, from its early stages of rebuild to investing in the international space through a promise to add talent/salary last winter. If you don't trust him.... that's your own bias. I can't think of any instance in which he's lied.
you absolutely and unequivocally do not know that, just as we don't know what packages we were offering (although we do know what other teams offered and have various insiders saying lunhow was incredibly conservative in his dealings, making several "non-competitive" offers). look i'm not jumping off the bandwagon nor do i think lunhow has been anything less than (almost) stellar so far in this rebuild. but they botched this deadline something fierce for a team that was at the time fielding a historically good offense. on top of absolutely needing the physical talent on the field due to regression and especially injuries, it is painfully clear that the players in the clubhouse were either lead to believe or simply took it upon themselves to believe collectively that they would be receiving an infusion of MLB talent to push them to towards the WS. this is just my opinion but they're playing like a team that is absolutely questioning this organizations willingness to commit fully to a World Series run and i don't blame them.
In my opinion, Luhnow has done a nice job evaluating young talent to see us through this rebuild. However, his negotiating skills are sub-par which has led to us either overpaying in assets, or overrating our assets.
I feel pretty confident in my statement. The singular impact of any one player on a five- or seven-game series is limited, especially if that player is a pitcher and even more so if he's a relief pitcher. Then, WADR, they could have added Sandy Koufax and Hank Aaron in their primes, and this team wouldn't have had the mental stability to win in the postseason. Look, the Astros tried. You can choose to believe their explanation is merely "propaganda" if it makes you feel better - but they identified needs, pursued those needs and could not get the deals over the finish line - and it sounds like it wasn't their fault. It's disappointing - but... It's not like this was a struggling team that needed a kick to get into the playoffs. When healthy, it's a team with almost no weaknesses that, again, when healthy, spent 3.5 months blitzkrieging the rest of baseball.
Luhnow is a fantastic GM. A bunch of posters (read: armchair GMs) need to quit whining (much like our players, themselves). I think it's clear that DK is still injured. Our pitching peaked too soon, but that's not a bad thing. We just need performances like last night for our pitchers to regain their mojo. Everyone in the bullpen included. We have a great roster. The bats will come around. Especially with Correa coming back. Another arm would be nice, but holy god not *everything* is Luhnow's fault. Hindsight is 20/20; our offense and farm could've survived the lose of Bregman, et al. for Sale. Verlander seems like a must, just from a chemistry/moral perspective if nothing else. But DK needs to get healthy or we have no shot, simple as that. I believe we will get an arm in the offseason, but we're fine people. Still have a healthy lead. Just need the squad to regain mojo/get healthy and have MMP *rocking* It's a long season. It's called the dog days of August for a reason.
I wanted a reliever of a starting pitcher. I am not saying to throw the baby out with the bath water, Luhnow has been an exceptional GM thus far. Based on the prospects traded, I find it hard to believe the Astros couldn't have improved and protected their top prospects. The Astros have a lot of depth in their minor league system, they likely would have been able to make moves and protect the players they view as elite prospects. I think Rosenthal summed it up best, Luhnow just really is attached to his prospects. In fairness in the past, Luhnow has admitted as such, look at the last deadline. No one knows anything for 100% certainty other than the half a dozen people with Luhnow at the time that deals were made. However, we have a pretty good idea. Wilson, Darvish and Gray were traded and we saw what they were traded for. It isn't very realistic to believe the Astros had to pay a lot more prospect wise. I have heard the argument that the A's and Rangers are in our division and so we would have to pay more. Well, we have traded with the A's numerous times including at the deadline. What we know is that the Astros never made a serious offer for Yu Darvish. The Rangers GM said the Astros didn't and now Heyman is saying the same thing. Luhnow is a very shrewd man, and if you delve into his background, it is amazing how successful he has been. I think very highly of him and have defended him a lot. He just had a very bad deadline, coupled with injuries that are highlighting the deadline.
ya but we're not healthy, our top 2 pitchers have never shown an ability to stay healthy, and our bullpen is and has been struggling mightily for going on a month +. it's hard to defend not making an impactful trade (positively i mean) when every other contender was able to walk away with key pieces without having to give up a king's ransom (sans cubs and quintana). i'm not believing in any "propaganda", i'm just calling it like i see it which happens to be the same way a few noted baseball insiders see it to... lunhow and co approached this deadline far, far too conservatively and there were potentially several impact pitchers we very likely could have nabbed had they made any sort of effort. unless you think those reports are flat out erroneous - and you have far less access to those sources - it's downright inexcusable to not even make a "competitive offer" for someone like darvish. explain the reasoning behind that? and to trade contributing pieces for an absolute dumpster fire in liriano??
But never for a young, cost-controlled pitcher with TOR capability. We know what was dealt; what we don't know is how the Astros' prospects are viewed externally. Sure, we could have "matched" deals based on Baseball America rankings - but you're presuming the A's or Rangers or Tigers' internal scouting departments are aligned with Baseball America.
