Quit? Not ready to go there. Disappointed? Yeah and maybe didn’t want it as bad as the M’s and Rangers… but I don’t think they quit.
I think there's an element of quitting there. That's for sure. Now did they run out of gas as well? I guess so. Fire Baker. Bring in some better pitchers. Give Javier a ****ing rest with a real offseason and reload. Maybe next year will be better. On a serious note, how many times have WS champs completely missed the playoffs the following year? Elias?!
Yo, is Maldy going to post on IG how he'll prove all those against him wrong? How he'll make those who doubt and betrayed him regret it? Lmao
I don't even know what to say. These guys are so lost right now and at just about the worst possible time. I don't think they have quit, and I'm not going to give up on them after all they have done, but it's apparent that this group is simply not right. Maybe they will get it going, but...
I dont think they quit. I think they lost their mojo. They didnt have that burning desire to prove something like they did previous years (proving they can win without cheating). Add in the Dusty factor, possible FO friction, games lost to WBC injuries, a bad offseason and improved Mariner and Ranger teams and that seems like enough to explain what we have witnessed.
Do you mean all time? Until about 1994 or so, only 4 teams made the playoffs total…in all of MLB. So teams would win a title and miss the playoffs the next year probably more often than they’d make the playoffs the next year. If you mean since 1994 and the wild card…it happens pretty frequently. Sustained success like what the Astros have done over the last 6 years or so is ridiculously rare in the history of the game. Very few franchises have ever had an era in their own histories like the Astros have had since 2015. 2019 Nats didn’t make the playoffs the next year…the 2018 Red Sox missed the playoffs in 2019…2015 Royals missed the playoffs in 2016….2014 Giants missed the playoffs in 2015…2013 Red Sox missed the playoffs in 2014. No team has repeated a championship since 2009. I came in this season hoping the Astros would be different…that their depth in pitching would be the difference. That all got eliminated pretty early with injuries…and the WBC taking Altuve for a month or so didn’t help.
If dumbass management played its best players throughout the season and skipped the starts of certain pitchers who so obviously needed it, the team wouldn't be desperate for every win right now. Thus, everyone could get more rest now and throughout the season. Dusty played with fire and got burned.
It is fun. I just think it is at the wrong part of the year; and all jammed into too short a span. I don't have a good answer for when to do it though. It is the same question that people bring up for all sports and whether it overtaxes their players. The problem is that MLB and WBC seem at odds with either other. You would think they should be able to work together to benefit both entities.
It's very possible. It is also true that this is the least deep team the Astros have had in their run. In past years, it seemed no matter who they had on the bench or brought up would often produce. That isn't the case this year. Even when they would have a bunch of injuries to say the pitching staff; they had enough guys to get through it. But some of the core has gotten older and some have moved on, and it isn't that easy to keep producing young guys or finding diamonds in FA rough that live up the challenge/expectations. Especially for a franchise with as much turmoil as the Astros have had with 3 GM's and 2 managers and major scandal during that span. Most elite 6 six year stretches have the same GM and manager, even if there is a drain brain at other FO positions.
Did they really? Wow. I tried Googling it real quick thinking Elias surely had this stat on lock. I found some stuff, but nothing too recent. Fascinating. And the Giants were actually really good in that time period too.
