[Official] Astros Offseason

this roster construction is just ass. literally no plus OF's, tons of duplicative IF depth, logjam at DH with guys who love being injured.

working with the premise that this team is much closer to missing the playoffs again than they are contending for a title, you have to start thinking about dealing Yordan. He can't realistically play LF, he routinely misses 40+ games per year, and he's on a friendly contract. these are the conversations the FO should be having, not deluding themselves into thinking this team is a contender.

 

Mostly agree. I think OF is very thin and has about the 3/4th the odds of injury as the IF. I'd probably just play an IF in the OF when everyone is healthy, but have no objections if the Astros traded an IF for an OF. If an injury happens, some place is going to have a backup playing.

 

True - it just doesn't seem like a crisis to me. And our current OFers are all very young (hopefully less injury prone) and, frankly, we have no idea how good any of them are. So replacing one of them with the 4th outfielder might not even be a downgrade. It's all much more interchangeable there with them all being potentially mediocre. If Cole or Meyers or Smith get hurt and you replace them with Dezenzo or Loperfido, are we any worse? I don't think anyone knows.

IF is the Astros' strength so losing one would be more damaging to the lineup without Paredes. The exception is if you can trade an IF for an equally good OF. But taking a downgrade just to solve the logjam seems like a fool's errand.

But yeah, I also agree that if the OFers don't prove themselves, then Yordan and Altuve can get some extra playing time out there.

 

I WANT Altuve to play about 130 games.

I just don't know how much Altuve pushing for more and necessity due to injury and/or standings will impact him playing more.

My guess is it will result in him playing more.

 

I’ve been saying this about Yordan for a while - be prepared to get flamed. I love the guy but his type of injuries are likely to resurface and what good is it to have a perennial mvp candidate sidelined a majority of the time. If a team offers something amazing you do it IMO.

 

You want Altuve to play about 130 games but you also insist the Astros absolutely need to make a trade that would almost definitely result in him playing more.

Also, Altuve's best route to 3000 hits is by him staying healthy and playing well. Pretty sure he knows that. This is a guy who was willing to go to and be a mess in LF to help the team. Not sure he's going to be the one complaining about much of anything.

 

ya I'm sure it'll be considered a hot take even though it really shouldn't. This team isn't good enough to carry a full time DH that wants to play LF but routinely misses 1/3 of the season. then add a 2b who really doesn't play 2b well anymore but doesn't have anywhere else he can play along w a dud 1b and two 3b's. they're just jamming square pegs into round holes.

 

I will be SHOCKED if Paredes, Correa, and Alvarez play 150 games each (Walker can hit 140 without much trouble). If they do, we might be running away with the division. I know that's not point of the post . . . I just can't fathom that healthy of a roster. Which is why I don't want to trade Esock, roster construction be darned.

 

If a trade doesn’t happen it will make Dana Brown’s behavior seem very odd to me. You don’t stand in front of your players with media within earshot and loudly say “we’re not done” after making a trade if you don’t have something on the 1 yard line. He must’ve publicly repeated “we are still looking to add a lefthanded bat” over 20 times in the last month. All of that just seems weird and foolish if he doesn’t make a trade.

 

dana talks out of his a$$ half the time without consideration (IMO) of tactics and how that could impact team dynamics. “The jury is still out on Dana” people are running out of time… I personally don’t think he’s gonna take us to the promise land but I’m hoping for the best. His floundering around gives me doubt

 

Yes I think Altuve would be a much better player at 130 games than at 150, but I see zero chance Espada is willing to put him on the bench more than 5-10 healthy days

Furthermore, I think regardless of how Altuve acts, his teammates will project frustration and unhappiness and spread dissent even if its just indirectly.

And I think the outfield is in desperate need of improvement and a 5th All-Star level infielder is a waste of resources and will also cause dissent in the clubhouse and dugout as soon as any of them are given more days off than he expects or wants.

The outfield is weak enough that it is malpractice to sit one of those 5 on the bench and start those 3 outfielders.

Also, I tend to post both what I want and what I expect at various times so it may be difficult to follow my own views.

 

Your first mistake was taking anything Dana said at face value.

 

Let's "settle" with the Red Sox and go with Paredes for Kristian Campbell and Early. Campbell and Early are talented but unproven, and the Red Sox would be trading from a position of depth (they don't really need neither for the next several years).

 

Honestly, from what I gather of your posts as whole, you come up with a lot of wild hypotheticals about how you think people will feel and what people will do, and then make very definitive judgments of what the Astros absolutely must do based on that.

Given that this is a team that's had very few malcontents in the past decade (Fiers and Chas are the only two I can recall), it seems like you're assuming a lot of crazy things that are unlikely to happen. I think if you take a breath and give it some time, you will see things will work themselves out. With a few exceptions, MLB players are not as grumpy or whiny as you seem to believe. If they do b**** uncontrollably, someone can always be traded midseason.

 

The Astros should just keep the better player in Paredes. Campbell is another right-handed bat and doesn’t fit what the Astros need.

It’s not hard to find four or five starts a week for Paredes, and that’s if Walker hits like he did between 2022-2024. If Walker struggles again, they can just start Paredes at first base.

 

I can understand your opinion of me.

FTR I do not expect players to be grumpy or whiny. I expect any and all issues to be indirect and hidden.

Just like Pressly, when Hader was acquired. He said all the right things but had a very poor season after which it was reported his relationship with the organization was broken beyond repair and he ended up getting traded.

I expect there to be frustration and tension and a few players having less of a good time than in the past and for that to cause a few losses that should have been wins.

But I don't expect any of them to show anything negative to the fans or media.

 

There’s a difference between talking to the media using meaningless vague language and non-sequiturs versus speaking pretty specifically to your players/employees about things you are going to do.

I don’t much mind him babbling to the media or misleading them with generalities and executive-speak. But telling the players you’re doing something while not being sure or even not havin any intention of doing it is really stupid imho.

 

That's fair, Campbell does hit RH. But I would play him between LF and RF. I think the bat can be special (and we'd be buying relatively low on him). And then we also would be adding a solid, potential 2-3 SP for the future as well.

It's all probably a moot point, with the Red Sox adding Durbin.

 

You're forgetting, this is Dana Brown, who will say anything, and the majority of it is BS.

 

He said they weren’t done making moves. There’s still a solid chance he adds a backup catcher like Vazquez. I’m not sure why you think it had to be a trade.