So the Astros are on a seven-game losing streak. Time to consider some not-so-fun thoughts.
Can 2015 still be a lost season?
Yes, possibly, but not in the sense of a 100-loss season. Jeff Luhnow assembled a crazy, high K, low OBP, high homer type of roster. Early on, there were days when the roster had seven of the same type of hitters.
Still, the Astros have been in first place in the AL West for the last 57 days and there have been unexpected highlights to go along with the horrifying dark side. But, this will not be a 100-loss season and Houston should still realize an improvement over its 70-92 season from 2014. Playoffs? Yes, it would be terrible if the Astros didn’t make the playoffs after this start, but it still may not be the focus since that could ultimately take 88 wins.
But, could it still be a lost season? Yes. If the Astros gamble and “go for it” and miscalculate by attempting to add one big player by giving up 3-4, including top prospects, it could backfire. For example, give up a Mark Appel and Preston Tucker or perhaps even a Vincent Velasquez or another top gun for a #1 pitcher who straps the team with a large salary. It could have an impact on the 2017 team and even a short-term beyond.
It’s the tough decision facing the Astros’ front office.
Were the recent moves too little, too late?
Houston has promoted several pieces in recent days and weeks. Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers Jr, Preston Tucker and now Velasquez have joined the roster. Only Tucker might have been realistically thought to be here so soon when we spoke on the subject during spring training. Correa was slightly pushed and rushed and probably would still be incubating in Fresno if Jed Lowrie had not been hurt.
Certainly these players have offered some infusion into a struggling team, but will these moves make the difference Houston needs?
But: Is it time to panic? Were the recent moves too late? Does the team still need a major shakeup?
Maybe. Maybe. Yes.
Only Luhnow, manager A.J. Hinch and their main men know for sure what lies ahead in the coming days, but the holes are evident and time may be of the essence. The season is at a point where teams with good early starts begin to wane, when players out of the gate quickly (umm, Roberto Hernandez) begin to slow down and come back to earth. To be sure, the Astros have more players who started slow that may pick up the pace, but the real danger is in those handful of players who have played well slowing down. Dallas Keuchel, Jose Altuve, even George Springer and now Evan Gattis, who is on pace for a 100-RBI season after a crazy slow start.
Despite the recent youth additions, the Astros will get Lowrie and Scott Feldman back by next month, but unless someone else steps internally (e.g. Luis Valbuena, Chris Carter, Jon Singleton), Houston will need to go shopping, and that could take them to Nordstrom’s rather than Wal-Mart.
Creative may be the watch word of the summer.
If Luhnow isn’t able to or is hesitant to pull off that blockbuster — and who could blame him? — the Hinch may have to continue to be creative with his lineups and substitutions on his march to manager of the year honors.
McCullers and Velasquez simply cannot remain in the rotation all season as is as the innings mount up. The tandem possibility with the two could work. Moving them to the pen with spot starts is another possibility. Using one as a starter this summer, the other in the pen and flipping their roles come August should also be a consideration.
And the recent issues in the bullpen? Are those a blip on the radar? And, without adjustments first base and third base will continue to cause everyone to shudder.
A mish-mash of lineups and patchwork roster does not a playoff team make. Multiple platoons and shuffling generally is not what you see from those teams destined for greatness.
And some questions for your Friday…
- Care to adjust your projected wins for the Astros now?
- If you had to pick one and only one key for the Astros to have a successful season now, that would be?
- What could still make this a disastrous season? Define “disastrous” in terms of that season for Houston.
- Of all the moves the Astros could make, which one would be the absolute worst to consider?
- Should the timeline for a World Series run still be 2017 or should the Astros be all-in in 2015?
ALL THINGS ASTROS 
62 responses to “Free Blog Weekend: Time to entertain those not-so-fun thoughts”
The moves the front office has made recently are awesome. This season has never been about this season. It’s about getting everything ready for next season and beyond. The winning this year is a bonus.
The organization needs to keep focusing on the future and that means getting Luhnow’s guys ready this year to compete next year.
Seeing the way Tucker, Correa, Springer, McCullers, Velasquez can compete would make me want to get more young, hungry, smart and toolsy guys up and expose them to the majors.
That should be the focus and a winning record is a bonus.
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OP, Luhnow may be in a can’t win situation with fans though. Can you imagine that outrage if he does NOT make a significant move to shore up the team and the team falls off the pace? He could say it’s about the future and get pummeled for sticking with the same guys or adding just Singleton, etc.
Now, I don’t disagree with your premise, just wondering if Luhnow can ride that course without the wrath of fans and media!
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Chip, if he sells Qualls and gets a decent minor leaguer for him, and then replaces Qualls on the roster with Feliz, nobody is going to complain.
If he sells Thatcher and gets a decent minor leaguer for him and replaces him on the roster with Lambson, nobody is going to complain.
If he sells Rasmus and gets somebody decent for him and gets rid of that salary, and then replaces the lefty strikeout machine with a lefty OBP machine like Kemp, nobody is going to complain.
If he sells Castro for a good young 3B or 1B and replaces Castro on the roster with a young catcher like Heineman who is hitting over .300 and throwing out over 50% of base runners and doesn’t strike out and hit .205 like Castro, who is going to complain? We were hoping for a better Castro this year and instead he’s worse. and he’s making $4mil and will get double that next year.
I’m not talking about selling the guys who have helped us this season, I’m talking about selling the guys who aren’t helping us this season.
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OP, again, I don’t disagree with your premise, but I’m just not sure it’s that simple. If he does that and gets the team to .500 there will still be an outcry…especially if he doesn’t address the starting pitching or key positions.
The other “problem” is bringing up the kids and not playing them everyday. Do you really want Kemp on the bench or on the field every 2-3 days? If Kemp replaces Rasmus, what does the OF look like? At some point you get so many kids up and no place to get them regular playing time…that’s a potential downside.
I’m also fine with researching trades for Qualls, Rasmus, Castro, Thatcher and others, but that could also be a gamble since depth is still a big issue…If someone goes down or doesn’t perform or gets shut down due to IP, suddenly you’re falling back on Villar, Deduno, Buchanan, Wojo, Grossman, et al.
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I should know better than to get into the middle of you two brutes, but I think you both are saying the same thing. Good or bad, 95% of the people in Houston that MIGHT buy a ticket this year know Altuve and 50% know Castro. If he moves either, to the great unwashed it will be seen as another “fire sale.” JL has improved the team beyond what is “reasonable” with this current team. He is now walking a tightrope in my opinion. For the future “good” he has to dump salary and promote. To the unknowing, he will be big trouble unless they make it to the playoffs. That will teach JL to make his improvements too fast. 🙂
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So, there is an article on fangraphs saying this will likely be a decidedly seller’s market. If so, the worst thing might be to make the type of trade we’ve been clamouring for over the last few years. At this point, if I’m Luhnow I pursue deals, but try to limit the prospects on the table to guys eligible for the Rule V this winter who fit into our current plans only questionably. In other words, don’t save Ruben Amaru’s job.
Also, if things do go South in a hurry, maybe Carter/Rasmus/etc. will have a market.
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Devin, I read that article and things are setting up for sellers, not buyers. I think we should be sellers at the deadline: Carrter, Rasmus, Villar, Hoes, Thatcher, Hernandez, Qualls.
We need to make room on this team for some guys of the future.
Here’s one thing that floored me yesterday. Singleton has spent the entire season in AAA and has had a total of 13 plate appearances against pitchers younger than him. He’s still incredibly young and we need to keep our 22 year old power hitting first baseman and trade the 28 year old power hitting first baseman who still cant hit.
Sell Rasmus and keep Marisnick and Aplin until Phillips is ready.
Sell Villar and keep Kemp and wait for Bregman.
Sell Carter and keep Singleton and Gregor and even Duffy until Reed is ready.
Keep Lowrie and move Valbueena after the season is over. Keep Sclafani and use him where needed.
Keep Santana as long as we can till he’s ready or wanted by somebody else.
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I’m on board with all that. You didn’t mention our rotation, which I appreciate, because I’ve flipped back to thinking there are enough serviceable arms in the system to get it done if our hitters can do their job at even an average, MLB rate.
BTW, Alex White has signed with the Braves. I’m disappointed it didn’t work out here, but he was Lucas Harrell level of hittable at AAA this year.
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OP – Totally agree with your comments. DO NOT sacrifice the future for a quick expensive fix that I’m not sure will work. The goal was for the 2017 season and maybe 2016. We still might get there this year but I’d stick with the original plan. I think most of the fans will understand. The guys on the current roster that you mentioned were “short term” anyway until the farm arrived. Maybe they will be here earlier but don’t “give the farm away”. That would make me and a bunch of others PO’d.
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Great post Chip and as usual O.P., I agree with your thoughts. I hope that basically we stay the course for better or for worse and be danged with the bandwagon fans who want to go for broke. That said, I would trade Singleton if the right offer came along. I saw him in Spring training a couple of times and he just seemed to have no clue to how to play the position and he seemed worse than Villar about keeping focus.
I hope that A.J. Reed is promoted soon. I absolutely feel that he is our first baseman that we are waiting for.
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Great post Chip so much to digest. I have to admit winning was way more fun than loosing, but i think we need to be smart here. If we could just play .500 ball from today till the All Star break. Then when Lowrie gets back platoon him at 3rd and 1st. Then package Valbuena, Carter, a couple minor league guys that wont get a chance with us for a #2-3. Maybe we could have fun the last half of the summer ,at least being in the hunt till 2016.
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First, the results of the draft this week has reinvigorated my fandom. It had lost some of its luster from the 7-game losing streak, but I love how Luhnow manipulated the draft to the Astros advantage.
Next, I have been on record stating I wouldn’t be opposed to a trade for Cole Hamels, and I’m still not opposed, but there are a handful of players I absolutely would not include in a trade. Considering the team control of Hamels I am open to acquiring him, moreso than someone like Cueto, who will be a free agent at the end of the year. However, I won’t be disappointed if we don’t get Hamels. The recent rankings of farm systems was released by Baseball America post-draft and they have the Astros at #2 behind only the Twins. Most of this has to do with the fact we have promoted some of our top prospects.
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If this squad ends up winning the 78 games I guessed at prior to the season starting, I might not be dissapointed as long as the 25 man roster is remade by the end of the summer. As old pro succinctly notes, I too want to see this team made up of young, hungry, smart, toolsy guys. I want to see the one tool and minimal tool guys gone. That means Gattis and Carter both. In the new day of defensive shifts for every batter, fewer runs are getting scored. That means to me that we need guys that will take a walk, create havoc on the bases, learn how to lay one down and move guys over and manufacture runs again, just like we did in the days when Craig Reynolds and Terry Puhl were master bunters. I don’t want any defensive liabilities anywhere on our field. I don’t think this changing game is Earl Weaver baseball that we’ll be playing going forward. Our homerun guys are fun to watch when going yard, but jeez, it’s excruciating to watch us leave guys on base the way we do. That’s the kind of thing that helps create significant losing streaks.
I’d get Conger out of here too. He’s one of those defensive liabilities. I’d also bring a guy up to replace Marwin, a guy that can provide a solid OBP and steal a base too. Kemp, Sclafani? I don’t know, but Marwin, as much as we seem to love him, is not going to help us get over the hump.
I’m excited about McCullers and Velasquez. I still want to see a significant trade for a starter though. I don’t need a top of the rotation guy but it certainly has to be a guy that wants to pitch here. How about a Mike Leake? We’ve got quite a bit of real minor league talent, and at the same time, we need space on the 40 man going forward. So move some of that talent for more pitching depth. I really think the game is cycling back to more low scoring affairs, and the best teams will need a dozen quality pitchers.
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Here’s what I’m shooting for in the spring of 2016. I want Phillips and Reed and Mengden and Bostick in CC and have the first two ready to be in AAA by July and in Houston by Sept. callups Have Tyler White playing every day in AAA and ready to be called up. Get Nottingham to CC as soon as you can.
Astros 25-man:
Kemp LF
Correa SS
Springer RF
Tucker/ Gattis Platoon DH
Lowrie 3B
Singleton 1B
Altuve 2B
Heineman/Stassi C
Marisnick CF
Bench: Sclafani, Aplin
I want Tucker to concentrate on LF fielding in the off season and Gattis to concentrate on 1B fielding, so they are the backups there.
Now, that lineup is speed, power, defense, hitting for avg and OBP. Strikeout guys have been replace by VERY high OBP guys.
Pitching
Keuchel
McCullers
McHugh
Velasquez
Fifth starter from Feliz, Ober, Appel, Musgrove, Devenski or trade.
Bullpen
Lambson,
Gustave,
Neshek
Gregorson,
Fields
Feliz/Musgrove
Flamethrower from this year’s draft.
That roster is the least expensive roster in the majors and leaves a ton of money available if needed at trade deadline to spend big. It also allows you ample room to extend Keuchel and sew him up for years.
Mengden, Santana, Fisher, Hader, Nottingham, Bregman and others march upward toward the big leagues.
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OP that is exciting to look at – probably an over-reach in a few places (Stassi is a mess at AAA this season) but something to strive for. The talent is finally reaching the bigs or is within reach of the bigs and that is something we have been wating on for a very long time.
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If Stassi continues to regress, we have a tremendous defensive back-up for Heineman in Roberto Pena. Ultimately Jake Nottingham will likely challenge as well. Max needs to get it together fast, or he will just be our mandatory AAA-on-call-if- desperately-needed-due-to-injury guy forever. Conger? Even Stassi’s having a better year than Conger.
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I may be overreaching on Stassi, but I think Stassi has a case of Delinoitis. He is sick of being in the minors and may well outperform his AAA performance in the majors, just like DDJ is doing in Arlington.
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I’d keep Castro for now, and see what we get out of Stassi and Heineman. But get Conger out of here now, so we can start to see what S and H can do.
I’m already on record with Jake. Take away his first month and there is simply not enough production from him. So again, I want to see what other guys can do in the outfield at some point this summer. Have we given up on Santana based on his terrible two weeks last year? I hope not. He’s still very young, is hitting for average and combines a solid OPS and OBP.
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Marisnick is an adequate placeholder in CF in 2016 while Phillips gets ready for 2017. I have not given up on Santana, which is why I mentioned him, but I think he is not ready, yet. Santana and Singleton are just like JD Martinez. It is going to take time for them to recognize major league pitches.
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old pro, if Jake does not start hitting considerably more than he has in May-June, he won’t be place holding much longer in 2015.
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Heineman is doing good so far in AAA and Pena is also having a way better year than last year n i think its gonna be Pena n Heineman in the big club pretty soon.
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1OP, I don’t disagree with your team to start 2016, but in looking at it, I am so glad that I never worked for you. If I had a flat tire on the way to work, my job would gone before I arrived. You are tough.
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On board with a lot of that – though I would probably keep Castro or Conger to go with Stassi or Heinemen – its just so hard for two rookies that have seen little to no major league time to have books on hitters, and catch major league pitchers. Some continuity is required – its not all about offense.
I also don’t see Marisnick as a major league hitter. If your boy Kemp is going to steal anyones job, it might be his. I could live with a fast, leadoff type CFer more than I could deal with his athleticism getting wasted (and us getting no power production) at 3B or LF. I am not convinced Kemp can have a very high OBP in the majors, but given his minor league one so far this year its hard to imagine him not having one.
I am still on board with Hamels – if the price is right. I can’t think of much I would give up from your list – maybe straight up for McCullers, but I don’t see the Phillies making that deal. I don’t see Houston as the landing spot.
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Love the post, Chip and I love the passion and great ideas from everybody.
Thoughts
– I think I’ve convinced myself that this should not be an all-in season. I would rather get the young guys from the high minors the experience rather than go chase Moby Dick – I mean a TOR pitcher.
– Even in the midst of a 7 game losing streak, I feel positive for the long run. Correa, Tucker, LMJ and Velasquez look like they belong in the majors and that is a big positive after bringing up so many guys that did not look like they belong.
– I predicted (I think) 83 wins – I think they will beat that by a little and that is still a big bump over last season. But I would be OK with less if I thought we were not selling the future away. (Whether the not so rabid fans would be OK with that? Probably not.
– I would like to say something about Castro. He is not hitting well. A lot of catchers don’t. But I think he is playing defense at a higher level than before – throwing out 38% of runners and I think with younger pitchers coming up I think you need some kind of veteran present out there for them to work with (I am saying move Conger first – maybe Castro next season).
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Dan, I’ve been watching the stands at MMP. As my wife likes to point out, there are always plenty of good seats available. It is not too big a stretch to say we are the rabid fans.
Also, there is no excuse for the local ‘fans’ to skip tonight’s game. It should be standing room only so Correa, McCullers, Velasquez, and everyone else can see what a great environment the park is when it’s full. Daveb, I hope you gave your tickets to someone that can use them tonight.
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Devin, those seats are used every night by my equally Astro-loyal brother’s and their families. The tickets do not get wasted, ever. Indeed, tonight should be a great night at the park. I’ll be watching it from here on the porch.
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We’ve really seen the high strikeouts come back to haunt is the last couple of weeks. When Lowrie returns I think things will improve offensively.
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It seems like every night they are facing a left handed starter and I go “Crap” before we even come up to bat.
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DanP: Did you really mean “I say Crap?”
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I read up on Justin Ferrell today who is a RHP that was assigned to Quad Cities from extended spring training yesterday. A low-round draft pick in 2014, he was throwing 86-88 mph in college and was up to 90-92 last year in the GCL.
He’s added 20 lbs to his frame an is now 6’7″ and 210 lbs and says his fastball is in the 92-94 range before spring training began.
Remember what 2014 extended spring training did for Musgrove? I’d keep my eye on Justin Ferrell. He’s been working with Astros coaches in Kissimmee for four straight months. Let’s see what he’s got!
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That would be awesome – especially if Riley Ferrell signs and progresses. They could even bring back Will Ferrell’s Alter ego for a spot appearance.
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Houston has quite an interesting history with big right handed pitchers named Ferrell/Farrell. Looking forward to our renaissance man!
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It looks like we are about about have our first two signees from the 2015 draft. I wonder if 5th round RHP Trent Thornton and 8th round Catcher Garrett Stubbs have played catch yet? And I wonder if they have seats at MMP for Carlos Correa’s Minute Maid Park debut?
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That reminds me. Astros County has their annual draft signing tracker up now. You can track signings, amounts and read some related articles on the newest Astros. They update it often and it is a great resource
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thats for that OP, ill check it out
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If Carter can’t hit this home stand……it’s time for him to have an ingrown toe nail
and bring Singelton up. I’m not saying Carter needs to hit a homerun every time the guy comes to the plate, but he simply HAS to get the guys on base in. PERIOD.
I’m tired of waiting for Carter to re-find his bat. This is going to be a VERY important home stand. If we get our rear ends handed to us again the next few games, the alarm bells are going to go off in Jim Crane’s office and heads will roll. Man, the pitching the Hooks have is AWESOME……and I wanna see more!
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Mr OP, Kemp is now at Fresno playing 2B. What do you think that really means for him, Altuve I doubt is going to be moved?
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It simply means he had done everything he could in AA ball. Kemp hits and he walks a lot. Drellich had a diagram of Kemp’s professional hits on his twitter account yesterday and it is amazing. The entire outfield is covered the same with no gaps. He hits the ball to all fields all the time. He is a fine second baseman, he is a good left fielder and he could be a productive DH. He is super smart, gets a terrific jump out of the box from the left side and strikes out very, very little. He has a fabulous eye and a small strike zone and a terrific teammate. He could be a player on any team in the majors when he is ready, except for the Royals, who have an all-star at every position. Ha Ha!
He has little power, but he is capable of hitting HR’s as he had eight last season. He definitely has tried only to get on base this season as a leadoff guy and I think he led the league in hits when he was promoted.. I have him in LF in my projectied 2016 lineup, leading off for the Astros. I think Correa would absolutely love hitting second behind him.
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I saw Kemp’s hit chart and someplace a note that he has no power. Well if a guy gets a single, and the power hitter strikes out – give me Punch and Judy hitter.
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Awesome input TY OP
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The Dodgers have decided to take a flyer on Ronald Torreyes. Good luck, RT!
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Why do I keep thinking that pitching Obie against King Felix is like bringing a knife to a gunfight?
And I don’t mean a Crocodile Dundee knife either.
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Though it looks like King Felix forgot to bring a weapon at all in the first inning..
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Back to your questions: (Sorry for all the above noise). A. I will stick with 82 +/- for now. B. One Key – finish at or above .500 without mortgaging the farm. C. Right now – disaster would be key injuries. D. Doing another “Randy Johnson” or you could include Beltran. E. I think the WS should be every year. But that does not mean do “anything possible” to get there 2 years early and then go back to 2006 and come forward.
And in the spirit of honesty, I was not sold on “the plan.” I am not sold on it, but must admit it is working a lot better than I expected and apparently quicker than most expected. The line-up still has holes, but the improvements over the lineup that started 2014 – well lets just not go there.
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This team will drive us all crazy before it’s done. 6-0 Astros
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Sorry 8-0
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OMG!
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What a great game. You never know what’s going to happen! So what if Jose goes on the 15 day, who comes up?
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That is a very good question. Do you do the Villar crap all over again? Or do you stop putting off the inevitable and get Kemp on the 40 man.
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If you want an infielder other than Villar, it’s got to someone new to the 40 man. And that would probably mean Fontana, Kemp or our friend Joe. But yes, I think it would be the Villar crap all over again.
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we really needed that kind of game. many positive things. the one downer, the injury to altuve, but even that could be a blessing in disguise. he has really been scuffling, maybe he has some nagging bumps/bruises etc besides the hammy. a little rest may be a good thing and a chance to reset mentally as well. i’d like to get a look at kemp.
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DANG……..I bet Correa is just getting introduced to “Club Astro” tonight!
I hope that music is so loud it wakes people in Kingwood up! Let ’em dance
and hoot, and holler till they fall in place……these guys DESERVED IT!!!
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There was a lot of good things to come out of it. A big crowd gets to see a big win and then goes home and tells their friends. Seven game losing streak broken. Big, big win for Obie and a confidence booster for him and the team. Valbuena gets a big hit with men on.
Now, maybe Doc McHugh can have a good game tomorrow and get himself back in the groove
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Chip, I don’t see the pressure on Luhnow to act at the deadline as severe. There will be some pressure but I think that ‘The Plan’ has us picking up a #1/#2 starter in free agency. We probably pick up someone around the Feldman line at the deadline.
If we were 27-35 and losing ground going into the deadline, well, that would be another question and one I wouldn’t want to answer.
— record — Staying with 80-82.
— success — Playoffs. Only success worth having.
— disaster — Major injuries to any current starter, or Correa
— worst move — Hamels. Too expensive.
— WS –2017
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Hamels too expensive? But you think you can get a #1 or #2 starter in free agency? Any #1 starter you get in free agency will be one and half times more expensive.
Hamels is worth the take as long as the deal is right. No McCullers, no VV, no Correa, no Tucker, but in the end, all of that probably means no deal – which most of us can live with.
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Yes, a guy like Hamels will certainly be expensive. But who cares? Are we here to protect the financial interests of our tight assed owner or we here to build a winner? Correa shows up yesterday in Houston and we draw the biggest crowd since opening day. Crane does not seem to grasp that correlation. Open the pocket book and finally move away from being a low budget franchise. The 4th largest city in MLB deserves a representative payroll. A quality product on the field will fill seats.
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If Altuve does go on the DL, and the Astros are serious about winning this year, then they have to call up Kemp. There is still some dead weight on the 40-man that can be DFA’d. If they recall Villar again it will signal to me that they aren’t really serious. It will be a big drop off to go from Altuve to MarGo or Villar.
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Tim………..*EXACTLY*. I NEVER want to see Villerror in that clubhouse again..
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Joe Musgrove’s debut in Corpus goes like this:
7ip-6h-1r-1er-*0* bb- 3k’s
Just another soon to be GREAT pitcher!!
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What was amazing about that first inning – in what one would consider a free swinging group against a strikeout pitcher – the first five hitters stretched out Hernandez to 32 pitches and only chased ONE pitch out of the strike zone, and that was Rasmus who still drew a walk on a tough 3-2 pitch that had to be hard to lay off of. For a team typically 4% higher than the major league average on swinging outside the zone against a pitcher with a lot of movement, incredible first inning.
The more I see of Tucker the more I love this kid. Even when he isn’t hitting he is right there – in that 7 game losing streak he was hitting .056 and was 1 for his last 18, but in that 18 at bats he had just 5 K’s – which means on balls in play he was just 1-13 – not the kind of numbers you expect to continue. He is a welcome change from Carter and gang.
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my answers to Chip’s questions
projected wins – i believe my number was 87, i’ll add one to make 88.
key to a successful season – this could be a lot of things, health, rarely overworked bullpen, lineup generating more runs etc. but really the key is this – playing .500 or better ball the rest of the way. right now we are 35-27, that leaves 100 games, if we go .500 thats 85 wins. i think we can play .500 or better the rest of the way. if so the playoffs are a very real possibility.
cause of disaster – a series of injuries or terrible trades. disaster would be 70 or fewer wins.
worst move – any trade that includes our top prospects. we are getting to gather a pretty good club, if all of the sudden 3 – 4 of the best prospects are gone that will effect long term success.
timeline for world series – i think the 2017 is a reasonable, realistic goal. However if a game changer deal comes along that doesn’t involve correa, springer, altuve, keuchel, mchugh, mccullers, appel, valasquez, the top 4 in the bullpen, or more than 1 of our top ten prospects then go for it.
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ah spell check got me again – to gather should be together.
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