Hader or Abreu can go play RF for a minute and then come back to pitch. It's a great plan. I want Collins in the dugout just to yell at everyone and let them know how much they suck. Hal Lanier can yell at them in the clubhouse.
Don’t let the orioles fleece us for Paredes. Unless we get Beavers and Jackson (then we are fleecing them) Kjerstad and Mayo are JAGS edit: Bradfield would be nice too. Elite CF defense, apparently.
Imagine today's lineup being our rebuild team and we have several studs in our farm ready to come up over the next few years. Cole cf Matthews 2b Smith rf Loperfido lf Dezenzo 1b Whitcomb 3b Bush dh Allen ss Salazar c Gordon sp Blubaugh sp
If you want someone to tell the players they suck - go with the grizzled old man type and Jimmi Williams. The guy would make eye contact with a player, move his finger to his belt and back to his face to make sure the player was focused and aware and then tell them in ten words or less why they were not as good as their parents told them.
I thought about Jimy, but he's my infield coach. Hell of a teacher, terrible manager. Fun Fact: he was the Braves 3B coach who waved speed demon Sid Bream around 3rd in the 92? NLCS, knowing that Barry Bonds had a weakish arm and had a bad angle on the throw
Jimy was about 20 years too early in his tactics and going full SABR on decisions, regardless of players’ salaries, egos, or what the fans thought. 910 wins as a manager nonetheless.
Yes !!!! I was not a fan of bringing him here. Either bring in a legitimate upgrade or let the kids play.
I have no statistical or trending basis to support...but I feel like Dezenzo is going to take a big leap this year.
Had the exact same thought. Dude has not hit after shoulder injury and he was driving Dodgers fans nuts last season with horrible AB's and batting results plus OAA -8. We have those AB's here in spades with lesser price tag and better defense .
He has become somewhat of a forgotten man but he’s a pretty high ceiling player. 75th percentile bat speed and easy plus exit velo. He has an extremely good arm and very good footspeed. His main issue by far is whiffs but until he gets 200+ pa of consistent big league run I won’t consider it a fatal flaw. His outfield defense is also not as good as it could be but that should get better with more experience. I think he could be a very good defensive 1B too. 25 HR, 15 SB, with plus defense across 1B/LF/RF with the ability to play 3B in a pinch is very possible for him and seeing him settle in as a 1.5-3.25 fwar/yr player with an above average bat wouldn’t shock me at all.
It is an interesting situation - and not an ideal one for a team trying to win a title. The good news is there are plenty of talented candidates: Cam Smith, Zach Dezenzo, Zach Cole, Brice Matthews, Joseph Sullivan. All of those players have the upside of being regulars if they make some adjustments successfully - but all have some serious warts as well. No team wants to go into a season with two outfield spots up for grabs - but it is not that remote a possibility that Cam steps up and another one is at least good enough to be a platoon bat. The Astros could potentially open up their window if Smith and another young outfielder become competent starters.
I think the situation plays to Dana Browns strength which is scouting young players. If he can figure out which one to ride in spring and it pans out then Houston has no holes in their lineup. I actually think Houston has 3 relative competitive advantages and they seem to be leaning into them: Dana Brown scouting young position players (which follows Click’s prowess, and is responsible for Yainer Diaz, Cam Smith, Isaac Paredes, Zach Cole, Zach Dezenzo, and Brice Matthews), Miller finding and leveling up pitchers (basically all the pitchers except Hader), and their owner being willing to step up with the check book when needed (Yordan, Altuve, Correa, Hader). They also have the benefit of starting off with a pretty robust foundation (Yordan, Pena, Altuve). Christian Walker is the main player I don’t think fits any of those lanes and why he stands out as a limiting factor on the roster. I’m kind of settled into the idea that 2nd tier free agent position players should be avoided unless there’s a big shift in the typical market; too much downside relative to upside. Brown/Click/Luhnow scouting: Diaz, Blanco, Cole, Dezenzo, Loperfido, Smith, Meyers, Paredes, Pena Miller maximizing: Brown, Imai, Burrows, Abreu, Alexander, Arrighetti, Blubaugh, King, Okert, Pearson, Sousa, Teng, Ullola, Weiss Crane seizing an opportunity: Hader, Correa, Yordan, Altuve Oops: Walker, Javier, McCullers
I think this is a very good point. The strength of the Astros organization is scouting/player development. While luck plays a real part in the draft and even to some extent in player development --- there is a real and long track record that shows that Brown and Bove are very good at identifying talent and also developing them. Yes - this is basically the "blood" of the Astros and should continue to hold true. If the Astros are able to draw two starting outfielders (Smith and one of the rest), they will be set up very well for the next handful of seasons from a financial perspective. In hindsight Walker really stands out as a mistake -- very similar to Abreu. I understand why they signed them at the time, they believed they were immediately filling holes and would compete for a title immediately. However, I think part of the issue was the position (1st - easier to fill) and part of it was that signing those guys really limited the budgetary room the Astros had over a few years. Even Javier is up in the air - I don't know what to expect from him in 2026. He is capable of being a really solid middle of the rotation arm for the Astros. Then again, it is possible Walker has a 775-800 OPS and hits 30 bombs in the 6 hole.
Yep, with Walker my main issue is that 1B is VERY easy to fill with a relatively capable player for very cheap. Even outside of lowering the risk by bringing in a lesser FA like Josh Bell or Carlos Santana, Houston would have been much better served letting Dezenzo have a crack at 1B or trading for a post-hype prospect. I understand why they did what they did but moving forward I want them to avoid those types of deals. With Javier, there just wasn’t really a good reason to extend him at that time. I felt like Brown extended him just to say he was doing extensions, rather than because it was a great value for the Astros or because there was some big amount of upside in it. With McCullers, he at least had shown the ceiling, if he’d stayed healthy it would have been a good deal. It basically ended up as worst case scenario but by itself didn’t really have much impact, only when aggregated with Abreu, Walker, and Javier has it become a really limiting factor.
Prediction. LMJ starts 20 games with a sub 3 ERA and earns another 3 year contract... only to get injured again for the duration.
I'll take that in heartbeat, only if that 3 year deal has vesting options based on innings pitched. A sub 3 ERA LMJ this season would solve quite a bit of issues this season. One can dream
