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10 random questions for Astros’ fans

Your faithful writer feels like (shaving cream), so this may not be my best effort, but at least it will give my faithful readers something to chew on.

So here are 10 questions for you to ponder and respond to…

  1. If George Springer and Justin Verlander never play another game for the Astros, which one will you miss the most and why?
  2. Were you at all surprised that Jeff Luhnow filed suit against the team this week? Do you think he will ever work in the sports world again?
  3. Who do you think will be the most important pitcher for the Astros in 2021 from the following list….Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez or Jose Urquidy?
  4. Who will be the Astros comeback player in 2021? Jose Altuve? Alex Bregman? Yuli Gurriel? Other?
  5. Is there anything more potentially exciting about 2021 than the return of Yordan Alvarez?
  6. Who do you think is the real deal out of the following pitchers – Blake Taylor, Andre Scrubb, Enoli Paredes and/or Luis Garcia? (You can pick more than one)
  7. Will we ever see Forrest Whitley in an Astros uniform? When?
  8. Will Ryan Pressly be the Astros closer in 2021? If not, who?
  9. If you could sign Carlos Correa to an extension or George Springer to an FA contract – which one would you pick?
  10. Who will have the better year in 2021 – Alex Bregman or Kyle Tucker?

There you go – will love to hear from you.

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51 responses to “10 random questions for Astros’ fans”

  1. dan please read my last comment on our discussion on the previous post.
    1. springer. he was the heart of the team
    2. no. yes but it may be a few years
    3. framber
    4. altuve
    5. there may be, but i dont know what it is
    6. i like all those guys. for now i would say paredes
    7. YES! this year
    8. no. someone to be determined
    9. correa. he is younger and coming onto his prime, plays a premium position and can hit. much harder to find a ss like that than an of. (disclaimer: george was the heart of the team and could be for another couple of years, but then inevitably he will start to decline)
    10. i think the smart money has to be on bregman to have the better year statistically, but tucker is poised to break out and is still very young.

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  2. 1. Springer. Maybe the other starting pitchers through the years have me spoiled, but I think Springer brought something special to the franchise.
    2. Not surprised at all. TBH, the punishments on Houston followed by lack of punishments against NYY, BOS, and CLE probably means he will settle out of court with MLB for a substantial amount of money. If it goes to trial he’s probably not going to win, but MLB’s reputation would be further tarnished. What surprised me is that I fully expected he would come out with guns blazing, dropping details about the knowledge of other cheaters around the league. The fact he did not do so makes me wonder just whether they actually had proof of other teams cheating beyond the time(s) our dugout was videotaped.
    3. Valdez – it’s the lefty tax
    4. Alvarez
    5. See above. He has the potential to be the most devastating hitter in the lineup.
    6. I like Taylor and Paredes to continue their success and improve.
    7. Yes. With JV missing 2021, I think FW is on track for starts with the big league team this year. The only reason that doesn’t happen is if Click thinks he can sell now and get more in return than FW is worth. He has no skin in the game from that pick so assume that FW is not on the list of players he wants to protect unless he believes his talent to warrant it.
    8. Ugh. I sure hope not. He’s been great in the setup role, but some games he just didn’t have it in 2020. I’d rather he be able to be honest and tell the manager when that happens rather than go out and blow a save. I don’t have an answer for who to use.
    9. Correa. I think he’s a great player. I can’t think of another SS in history who was as much of an offensive weapon without the use of illegal pharmaceuticals. His defense in 2020 was second to none and saved us on many occasions. However, I don’t feel the same attachment to him that I do Springer. I’m not sure that’s fair. Regardless, the age difference makes Correa the safer bet.
    10. Tucker. Please put down the torches and pitchforks…I know Bregman is the favorite guy on this blog. Bregman answered my one doubt by becoming a really solid fielder. Offensively he controls the zone better than anyone else on the team. I don’t think he ever approaches the numbers we saw in 2019. Tucker, on the other hand, reminds me a lot of Shawn Green. I think his plate discipline will improve a bit and we won’t see him chasing the fastball up. Once that happens and he forces them to throw it lower in the zone we’ll see the power numbers ramp up.

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  3. 1. George by far. I’ve read more than a few say JV is a supreme jerk, and what I’ll be watching closely is how he takes his $35,000,000 Astros money, and starts making plans, INSTEAD of hanging back to help our young pitchers. Maybe he’ll buy them all “Daddy” jerseys.

    2. I am surprised JL filed, but looking at the allegations and dismissing some of the things I believed based on the WSJ article re Koch-Weser’s word that Jeff was a giddy kid walking into the Codebreaker room…if this turns out to be false and part of TKW’s lies, then I’m all for an arbitration & settling the score. I am even for “it” really hitting the fan, if Crane turns out to be who it appears he is.

    3. Valdez and the other two a close 2nd. Good question!

    4. Pedro Leon being as “ready” as Yuli was? But yes the ManChild’s return is eagerly anticipated.

    5. I would think Altuve, but I have to add Solomon Solis Whitley and Ivey as guys who were once very highly regarded coming off injury.

    6. They’re all the real deal, including Raley. Paredes tops that list for me.

    7. Yes, of course, Whitley by mid-season at latest.

    8. I’ll say Closer by committee for part of the year as we sort through it, and especially if we acquire a Hand, or Yates. I’m not ruling out Astros learning the lesson from McQ and Peacock elbow/shoulder blowouts to begin utilizing LMJ in the backend of bullpen. Sounded crazy to me last season, but my belief in him as a starter took a hit, even though 1st year back TJ is trial & error. I’d be ready to breach that subject with him and Boras.

    9. Extend Correa through 2023 if he’d accept. Can’t see either one taking the Astros best scenario since they will both make $100m elsewhere.

    10. By WAR, Tucker. The biggest advantage will be how much havoc he wreaks on base paths. For some reason too, defensive metrics love Kyle and eat Bregman alive.

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      • JV seems charitable in donating his 2019 salary, and I hope he spends some time with the guys like it is reported he did with Cole. For some reason with the impressions several have left with me, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him start plans to retire in DET.

        The irony on one level for me is going back to grade the JV trade as an “A+”, I wonder now with Rogers being their top catching prospect, I think they got something for F Perez and then there’s #7Cameron. It would appear that now the jury is out for 5 years at least.

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  4. 1. If George Springer and Justin Verlander never play another game for the Astros, which one will you miss the most and why?

    Of course Springer because he was an everyday player. However… I feel Verlander had more of a leadership role with the club when he was active. I still feel Verlander WILLED the club to win the world series when he came out of the clubhouse and yelled at the team, in the dugout, to get their hearts right and win the game!!

    2. Were you at all surprised that Jeff Luhnow filed suit against the team this week? Do you think he will ever work in the sports world again?

    No surprise at all. Yes, someone will pick him up. (Houston Texans on line one!)

    3. Who do you think will be the most important pitcher for the Astros in 2021 from the following list….Cristian Javier, Framber Valdez or Jose Urquidy?

    Framber!

    4. Who will be the Astros comeback player in 2021? Jose Altuve? Alex Bregman? Yuli Gurriel? Other?

    If Jose can hit close to .340, then he will be the one. Alex needs to hit 35+ homers again and drive in 95+ RBI. Yuli needs to get with “He whose name we cannot speak of” again.

    5. Is there anything more potentially exciting about 2021 than the return of Yordan Alvarez?

    Maybe if the club signs Ozuna and he hits 30+ homers for us along side Alvarez’s 40+ homers and .340 BA.

    6. Who do you think is the real deal out of the following pitchers – Blake Taylor, Andre Scrubb, Enoli Paredes and/or Luis Garcia? (You can pick more than one)

    Enoli is the real deal. Let’s get him stretched out.

    7. Will we ever see Forrest Whitley in an Astros uniform? When?

    Yes we will. Probably later in 2021 to get an idea of which path he is on.

    8. Will Ryan Pressly be the Astros closer in 2021? If not, who?

    No, because Brad Hand will be here.

    9. If you could sign Carlos Correa to an extension or George Springer to an FA contract – which one would you pick?

    Carlos because of his laser on his right shoulder and the leadership he showed during the playoffs! What a horse he is.

    10. Who will have the better year in 2021 – Alex Bregman or Kyle Tucker?

    Alex because of his batting eye.

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  5. 1. I would miss Springer because the Astros drafted him. We have followed him every step of the way throughout his entire pro career. It’s not the same with JV.
    2. I was not surprised by the lawsuit because of everything else that has happened this year. I couldn’t care less about Luhnow. He either hired or signed every person involved in the scandal and he deserved to get fired. After everything I have seen and heard this year, I recognize horse dookie.
    3. I think Javier could be the most important pitcher because he is farther down the totem pole in acceptance which could make his success all the more meaningful.
    4. Jose Altuve’s playoff comeback in 2020 leads me to believe his comeback could be imminent.
    5. If the Astros sign Pedro Leon and he delivers the goods in 2021 that would be even more exciting than the return of Alvarez, because I already have confidence in Alvarez.

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  6. Dan, nice job changing the subject! Hope you start feeling better.

    1. I’ve been watching George since he was drafted. He’s one of our kids.
    2. Not at all. Luhnow might well be done in MLB.
    3. Javier. I think we can pretty safely count on the other two guys at this point.
    4. Altuve should be an automatic. He better be.
    5. Yes, Alvarez staying healthy.
    6. Enoli, Luis, but there will be bumps in the road. Andre? I don’t know.
    7. I’m dubious about Forrest.
    8. I hope not. He’s our 8th inning guy.
    9. Tough call, because I don’t have enough confidence that what we saw from Correa in October will stick.
    10. Bregman will kick ass in 2021. I think he was a lot more hurt than many realized.

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  7. 1. Springer by a long shot. JV was a piece that was needed at that time but Springer exemplifies what the team was all about.
    2. Not really surprised and maybe in the future but that remains to be seen. At this point do we really know what happened and the “IT” came to be. I’d still like to know but we may never know the Truth.
    3. Framber, Urquidy and Javier in that order but I hope they all perform beyond expectations.
    4. Altuve because he’s been there before. Bregman should also bounce back and Yuli hopefully. We need all three to perform.
    5. Not that I can think of outside of us signing Springer.
    6. Enoli, and then Scrubb, Garcia and Taylor. I think Garcia will eventually come into his own. Taylor should do well in lefty situations.
    7. Your guess is as good as mine. Hopefully sometime in 2021. Just not sure what the prognosis is on him.
    8. I hope not maybe a trade or up and coming farm hand.
    9. Depends on the money. As for youth and talent I say CC. What is he worth? I’ve seen talks where he is worth 10 – 15 per year but not 20MM or more. This year will say plenty about his contribution and value.
    10. I actually think Tucker will have a better year but I wouldn’t count Bregman out.

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  8. 6. I think Paredes is the real deal as a late inning reliever. Next, I think Garcia has a shot as a starter if he spends time in the upper minors this year. I think Taylor and Stubbs could be better in 2021 than they were in 2020, because of a full spring training with Strom and the rest of the staff.
    7. I think Whitley pitches for the Astros this season.
    8. If he’s healthy, I think Pressly closes and Paredes also gets some chances to close.
    9. I would rather sign Correa to an extension because of his age and his position as a SS. I don’t think Springer will finish his next contract as a CFer, but most likely as a COF.
    10. I will go with Bregman on this one because I believe he is back to having to prove himself.

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  9. 1. Springer, because whoever plays CF next year will likely not come close to replacing his offense, defense or heart. We already learned to live without JV for most of this year.

    2. Not surprised. I could see where someone might hire Luhnow as a consultant, but not a GM. He could write a book, but I wouldn’t buy it.

    3. Since the question is “most important” pitcher and not “best”, I will say Javier, since I expect the other two to have continued success.

    4. Yordan. I think Altuve and Bregman will also improve from this year and all three will contend for AL Comeback Player of the Year, but the voters for the award will ignore them because of “it”. Yordan will put up numbers that won’t be ignored.

    5. Whitley has the potential to be the next AL Rookie of the Year. That would be exciting if it happens because it would be a big surprise.

    6. Paredes and Garcia, because they both had better control. Taylor and Scrubb were lucky to have low ERAs with high walk rates per 9 innings (5.2 and 7.6).

    7. Yes, in spring training. After that is up to him.

    8. Pressly will be the closer and the Astros highest paid reliever. He will learn to adapt and we will spend our FA money in the OF.

    9. Captain Correa. He should have won the Gold Glove this year.

    10. Bregman will have a good year but Tucker will have a slightly better one.

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  10. Dan P’s answers to Dan P’s questions:

    1. I will miss JV, because I think he showed guys how to have the right approach to the game, but I will miss George more. He was like Hunter Pence with a bit more talent, played hard all the time, could carry a team for weeks at a time and played with joy. You can’t teach everything that George could do – some of it is inside him.
    2. I was not surprised about Luhnow suing, when he really did not fall on the sword early on – I figured he had a long game he was working to. I think also that he is not concentrating on getting a job in baseball in the future anyway – he worked outside sports before, but also showed he would be willing to work on other sports. I think it will be tough for him to get a job with people working for him in sports when he pulled the Sgt. Schultz “I know nothing” defense.
    3. I’m very intrigued by what happens with Javier going forward, though admittedly Framber may be shaping into the short term ace – so I will pick him. I love all three, they all did big things for this team this year and showed that Astros’ pitcher development is a plus thing for the organization
    4. I think Bregman will be the Comeback Player of 2021, though it may really be Alvarez for coming back from the injury. I do wonder if Alex was playing through something. He just did not hit the ball with any zing for quite a while
    5. I was really psyched to see Yordan hit this year and he hit an opposite field HR in his first AB. I really can’t wait to throw him in the middle of this lineup he is absolutely must-see TV when he bats.
    6. All four of these pitchers did good things. Scrubb with that insane breaking ball is very intriguing, though the control is maddening. I really saw Paredes as a possible one day closer -though he could go back to starting. Taylor was the first decent lefty out of the bullpen for us since Tony Sipp was good. I did not see enough of Garcia, but he sure pitched with poise.
    7. I keep thinking that Whitley is Mark Appel v. 2. I think he will get a shot this year, but whether he finally grabs a hold of it…..I don’t know
    8. I think Pressly will start as closer, but I feel like someone – Paredes? Javier? will get a shot at it along the way.
    9. If there was a choice, which there probably isn’t you have to sign the 26 y.o. Correa over the 31 y.o. Springer with SS trumping OF also
    10. I think Bregman will return to his 2019 self and be the Astros best player, but I think Tucker will not be far behind.

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    • There are plenty of pitchers who don’t make it, but I think Whitley and Appel are different. Consider the following about Whitley:
      2017 – 23 games, 92 1/3 innings pitched.
      2018 – 8 games, 26 1/3 innings pitched
      2019 – 18 games, 59 innings pitched
      2020 – LOST
      Career K/9 – 13.2
      Career BB/9 – 4.3

      Mark Appel had a career K/9 in the minors of 7.6 to go against a BB/9 of 3.8. Appel threw in 81 milb games across 5 seasons compared to the 57 from Whitley in 4 seasons, thus far.

      My personal opinion was that Appel was burned out from his time in college – physically and mentally. Had he gone to a different system he might have thrived. Instead, he went into our minors where pitchers threw in the tandem and players who dominated were passed over and traded away. If you looked at his QC starts, he would be fine and run into one inning where it fell apart. He couldn’t miss bats the way we all expected. His fastball was flat and barely moved. That’s not what we saw at Stanford. Whitley, on the other hand, couldn’t stay on the field because of errors in judgement. It’s clear the Astros either didn’t have the collective intelligence to guide him or Whitley had no interest in following their directions. On the field, he dominated through 2018 and AA. His 2019 was a huge letdown. It started poorly in Spring Training and never really got off the ground. 2020 could have been a huge year for him…but it was lost. Let’s see what happens in 2021 as he goes to ST as a 23 year old – more physically and hopefully mentally mature. Regardless, he showed dominance against professional hitters that Appel never did. In retrospect, I think he should have signed with the Pirates.

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  11. If you simply dismiss Luhnow’s story; I’ve been there and understand, that’s up to you. Discussing it all the time has gotten tedious. But, did we get it right?

    According to his latest Ben Reiter interview, his 1st interview since being fired, I can see where Jim Crane was/is an absolute a**! Remembering that Jim lied about telling Jeff Luhnow to “knock it off” after the memo, then saying later he didn’t know. What little respect was left is gone.

    I am seeing this more so as JL the architect, Crane quadruples his money on Luhnow’s coat tails, then ghosts him. Seeing Crane try to handle the public apology, fumbling all over the place — starting to put this puzzle together.

    Seeing that A-Rod lost his NYM bid simply by talking to Luhnow, nothing makes me more mad than falsely accusing someone, then taking away their ability to make a living. Shame on Jim Crane. Sell this team and get out!

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-edge-houston-astros/id1531522658

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    • GoStros
      1) I believe Jim Crane threw Luhnow and Hinch under the bus and then drove the bus over them with Rob Manfred as his relief driver. He worked it so he got no blame and the players he kept got no punishment.
      2) I don’t believe that Luhnow knew nothing, but if he knew nothing then I think he should be fired for not being more involved in what was happening under his nose or should be fired as someone who no one would go to and report this situation because of his attitude/management style.

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      • I would have agreed with #1 for sure, and #2 was my knee jerk reaction all along.

        But Luhnow just said the same thing I did when I first heard of this: Who would be stupid enough to beat on a trash can that everyone could hear?

        This tells me that it’s not about “knowing about it,” but rather this entire department funding of Codebreaker that was subverting his authority. Hasn’t anyone understood the gravity of Tom Koch-Weser (who Crane KEPT) using his knowledge of what Astros did in 2017 to parlay or “threaten” the team by saying he knew the secrets that [ACTUALLY CAUSED] the World Series win? Does this not stick out as brazen and arrogant — to take credit for players, coaches and the architect who brought it all together, and to say that if you don’t hire me back in 2018 I could always flip on you?!

        No, I see Jeff as having kept his mouth shut, Crane promised to address his contract, and then completely ignored him.

        [After witnessing the full weight of the mainstream media at work in crushing the Astros, in stifling truth & tailoring disinformation in elections as well (Media, Communications and History were my graduate studies), I am more than willing to listen to Jeff as Crane’s side of the story crumbles.]

        So, circling back around, Yes Luhnow will get a job as a GM and it could probably be any sport. The only thing keeping him from baseball is a concerted Lying Machine interested in scapegoating, so the select few making most of the money skate by. Kind of like the war profiteer himself.

        The “toxic environment” wasn’t Jeff Luhnow’s making, and I’m glad this is coming to light. What I see more clearly than ever before is Luhnow was way ahead of the game, and MLB didn’t like it. One point he made in the podcast,…after the 2017 season 20% of the league employed ex-Astros personnel. We lost pretty much everyone who made it all happen; including Ocampo Elias Medjal Rosenbaum Stearns White Steinhorn on and on and on. The league was JEALOUS, and they got what they want because they always do. They don’t care who gets crushed underfoot. Meanwhile, the darlings who know where the bodies are buried continue to stay employed.

        A simple question to ask is, why would Cora Hinch and presumably Beltran once this blows over, get cushy jobs while Luhnow is The Guy to take the fall? It’s rotten in Denmark, hamlet!

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  13. Since it is early in the off season and there is a huge amount of speculation everywhere about which club needs who and who is going where, I would like to add a little perspective to the situation.
    I read a projection of rankings of MLB teams this week, based on projected WAR. The Astros are projected to be the fifth best team in baseball behind The Dodgers, Padres, Yankees and Rays, all of this being based on current rosters.
    Mind you, the Athletics are not rated ahead of the Astros in this power ranking.
    Now, the Astros, as currently constructed and rated as the 3rd best AL club, have the sixth highest payroll salary structure in baseball with $171 million total payroll according to Roster Resourses at Fangraphs and $175 million according to Spotrac.
    In the season of 2021 with a lot of questions yet unanswered concerning the pandemic, attendance, rules, free agency, minor league setups, financial restrictions, political climate, CBA, playoffs, etc, I would look carefully at the Astros current status in the rankings and in the payroll areas before I go predicting who the Astros add to their team and what they will shell out for additional players.
    -The Astros have six players on their current roster who were part of the 2017 WS Championship team. One of those six, Justin Verlander won’t play in 2021 and three more of them are eligible to be free agents after 2021, Correa, LMJ and Gurriel.
    It is possible that entering 2022 the Astros would have only Bregman and Altuve left from that 2017 team.

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    • We all take it day by day, whatever 2020 throws at us,..

      Start the projection out by spending a little to get to 190m, and leaving room for future moves; trade, or acquisition. If we land _____ [insert big name], then outlook improves to spend a little more! I’d love to take a flyer on Rusney Castillo cuban superstar free agent. What a story that would be

      I’m so excited like you, Op, about Zach Daniels freak of nature.
      Just what is teeming on this farm, and look at that ranked #5 power, losing JV Springer Osuna Pea Devo and others..

      I thought this had some Next level interesting ideas, and it was written after I’d already mentioned several of the same trade targets (McCann etc), trade pieces inside (LMJ Correa) , FA’s (Kike, etc), non tender Diaz (for Toro Tanielu). Lots of ideas this Winter.

      https://www.crawfishboxes.com/2020/11/4/21549140/annual-sb-nation-simulation-astros-recap

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      • We definitely share excitement for the future.
        -I don’t think the Astros will go near $190 million. -I think they like Diaz too much to non-tender him.
        -Tanielu became a free agent on November 2nd.
        -I think McCann will cost more than they want to spend on a backup catcher.
        -They have five healthy starting pitchers, as far as we know. We are one of very few who already have that. Click is a guy who comes from a club who moves their young pitchers with talent to the big club. I think he will do that
        here.
        -I don’t believe they will trade LMJ or Correa because they are very, very reasonably salaried for 2021 compared to their value.
        -I firmly believe they will try to pull off another deal like the Pruitt/ Taylor/Raley deals to get another young reliever.
        -I like the Kike idea, but(I can’t believe I’m saying this) Grossman’s LH bat is more needed in this lineup than Kike’s RH bat. The Astros only have Tucker and Alvarez as LH bats and their manager likes more flex in his lineup. I would think about Toro in RF with that arm of his, but I’m not sure that is something they see as workable.

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    • Didnt I write the Mets a few weeks ago?
      Reunited with Big Fudge, & Mets moving on from Cespedes..
      What a cool thing to get an instant Broadway MakeOver, “From Villain to Star” — probably had JD and Jake writing home saying how much fun the hi rises. Please pass the Grey Poupon.

      Now Georgie can put his mom and pops up in some real DIGS! 100 million plus baby just ask Beltran, spends better in the Big Apple. It’s going to be close to home, you can almost walk that to the bank.

      I was thinking even a few yrs ago that if BOS was going to try a salary dump (Mookie Porcello and they floated guys they couldnt get rid of Bogaerts, JBJ), they wouldn’t really be able to make a run at Springer. BOS is so bad, they started this season in Spring thinking Jonathan Arauz would stick in their IF.

      https://sny.tv/articles/mets-have-ongoing-interest-in-adding-a-star-outfielder-report

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  16. First I gave MLB the Hinch suspension (one season). If they go back to politics, they get the Pete Rose Suspension. In my last post here, DanP politely asked for no politics which I honored. (A volunteer DanP suspension). But I just can’t contain myself after the post of Dan’s father-in-law passing.

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    • First Ronald Reagan was a Democrat and later s Republican. He had a good quote but sure what he was when he made it.

      “ There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

      With that being said, the back in forth struck me as humorous. In researching in England, Edward Jenner discovered that a small cowpox would ward off the smallpox plague. However I can not find if he was a Tory or Labour.

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      • I also found that Dr Jones Salk worked for 7 years starting in 1948 researching the olio vaccine. He started with Truman and ended with Eisenhower. It is not clear which political party got credit.

        And now in 2020, we have all suffered to some extent from Covid 19. It appears good news on a vaccine may be on the horizon in less than a year. So now we need to determine who gets credit. To me that is humorous. Maybe gallows humor but still. Get a vaccine, end this nightmare, and give credit to the political party of your choice. But we all know it was everyone’s tax dollars that will end up paying for. Which is fine by me.

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      • I love seeing that you’re still Astros blogging, AC45! Still recall some of your best comments. Missed seeing you. Just wanted to say, “hello.”

        Now, about this little baseball outfit, Astros.
        What do we have to do to get over the hump of being so close, yet so far?

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  17. To reply, I am not sure how we get over the hump. I did not watch a single MLB game this year so I am currently lost. However I noticed that at year 30 Altuve had a worse year 30 than the Mendoza line (Mario Mendoza). So I have to go with him as the Comeback Kid.

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  19. Does anybody know where I can find a Rule 5 eligible list for the Astros – I used to get it from Jayne Hansen’s What the Heck Bobby site, but she has gone Facebook it appears and I don’t do FB

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    • She wrote the article on R5, have you not seen it on What the Heck?

      Btw, I’m very disappointed in her coverage this year.

      All you’d have to do is look at my posts, Dan. I can tell you from memory who are being considered.

      You can do your own research too from the Fangraphs/Roster Resource I posted 3 times here.

      The for sure guys are; Whitley Nova (the 2 Jayne expounded on, iirc)
      Solomon Solis Ivey (would’ve been BDLC but Astros signed to a MiLB deal)

      Now the bubble guys are JA Rivera, fireballer seeking control — I would definitely sign him. Even though Tanielu can be taken and has not (a good sign), he’s in line to take a roster spot probably vacated by Mayfield, maybe Diaz. Heck, if nobody claims him in Off Season, no reason to roster him til needed.

      Seems like I’m missing one other guy had my eye on..

      https://whattheheckbobby.blogspot.com/

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      • Thanks Gostros – for some reason I could not get her blogspot to pop up.
        My problem is that I have a full time job, am doing tons of chores with my wife sick and just don’t have the time to do deep research right now.

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      • I understand about Tanielu, that is why I said that if he is not claimed, then there won’t be a reason to roster him. Just because it hasn’t happened since Nov 2 doesn’t mean it won’t happen … is my reasoning. He’s in a logjam anyway with Toro Diaz Mayfield De Goti, then 1B Jones Adams and Diaz. I don’t have the answer of what to do, until we sort out this mess. And it might get sorted right quick if we sign DJ LeMahieu as UTIL!

        “Tanielu turned heads during major league spring training with one of the organization’s most consistent offensive showings. At the end of this season, he will be Rule 5 draft-eligible if the Astros do not protect him on the 40-man roster.” Apr 4, 2019

        Since then he’s turned even more heads in-house, and bulked up. Watching his twitter page the last year, I think he’s getting antsy.

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      • Comparatively speaking, Nick is a bit of a codger at this point. This might not be the best organization for him if he wants to play ML ball. He needs a club with a crappy infield.

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      • Nick, the codger like Mayfield, who stuck with it and got his shot.
        Ends up being solid depth, AAAA-type.\

        His window is shrinking though, as we drafted Shay Whitcomb and this will be a telltale year for Joe Perez.

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      • Yeah, and Jack is an older codger. He was terrible at the plate again in his 2020 short sample. I’m concerned about our bench. Hopefully someone steps up. Tough to bring any young guy up if they are just going to sit though. I hope Diaz is around and healthy. Toro got a whole month to play pretty much everyday and did not take advantage. I still have some hope for him though.

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  21. I honestly thought Brantley should command 2-yrs/$30m a month ago.

    Having to re-calculate, this is what I’ve come up with

    Fangraphs has him between 12-15m

    Astros could offer
    $13m first yr (a lot more than $4m for Grossman)
    $10m team option in 2022

    Brantley’s smart enough to know we’ll be loaded then, though.
    This is where 2 years is sticky with him.

    Sure, we lose GS and Reddick outfield salary but we’re putting in $4m for Pedro Leon in January (unless we’re able to renegotiation that estimate too).

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  23. This may have already been pointed out, I wondered Back in Spring Training what effect (if any) having Altuve and Bregman come out and apologize. Especially if one or both we not participants.

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    • I believe the team rallied around Altuve who ended up taking a lot of heat since he won the MVP, when according to Tony Adams who tracked every trash can beat, Altuve Reddick and Kemp did NOT participate.

      It still got to the little guy, I think.

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  24. I’m talking to some folks who say not to bank on Pedro Leon to play in short run (HOU can still choose NOT to sign him), leading me to believe Astros might pay both JBJ (est. 3/30), and Brantley 2/24). I’m still not a fan of it.

    I’d choose one only, and not run into a Reddick situation when Barber, Straw and McCormick can fit in 2022.

    Plus Glove with Pop, good clubhouse guy — it’ll cost that much more to get Bradley.

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