Astros at the break: Would you rather?

Today we revisit an oldie but a goodie called Would You Rather?

Would You Rather…..

1. The Astros fall out of the race in July and be sellers or stay in it and be buyers?

2. The Astros trade Jeremy Pena at the 2026 trade deadline or during the off-season or at the 2027 trade deadline or not at all?

3. The Astros sign a humongo extension with Yordan Alvarez or trade him for the king’s ransom in prospects?

4. The Astros fire manager Joe Espada or GM Dana Brown or both or neither?

5. The Astros repeat 2025 and finish barely out of the playoffs or repeat 2024 and get knocked out in the Wild Card?

6. Jim Crane keep his nose out of the baseball personnel decisions or keep his nose in on those decisions?

7. The Astros keep Jose Altuve for the rest of his contract ($59 million thru 2029) or try to nudge him to retirement or trade him?

8. The Astros continue to make so-so moves to stay relevant or go into a full rebuild mode?

9. The Astros continue to try and get value from Lance McCullers Jr. or swallow the rest of his salary (About $7 or 8 million at this point) and release him?

10. The Astros ride out Christian Walker’s contract (About $28 million thru end of 2027) or trade him and absorb half of that money for minor prospect(s)?

What do you think? And do you have any Would You Rathers you’d like to add to the list?

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2 responses to “Astros at the break: Would you rather?”

  1. Did anyone watch the HR derby yesterday? I did not – partially because it was on Netflix and partially because I don’t care. To be clear it would have taken too much effort for me to push a button my tv remote to load Netflix and find the event to put it on. Hopefully Manfred reads this comment.

    1. I’d rather be sellers AND stay in it. I think this team is pretty mediocre, but so is the rest of the league. They’re not moving Hunter or Yordan. I hated losing Shewmake as he was pretty solid in relief of the oft-injured Pena. My fear is that they move prospects and add a win or two to the total going into September, but then get cut down by a buzzsaw schedule.

    2. Offseason normally would be the right answer, but what if they are locked out until May? I’m fully listening to offers this month and hoping another team really knocks our socks off.

    3. Eventual trade. He is under contract for 2027 and 2028 at $27M each year. Make that trade after the 2027 season. I don’t want to get to a trade deadline and Crane decide we have to keep him because the team is only 2 games out of the wild card or something. In a rational world I’d extend him, but you have to think another team will outbid us and Yordan/his agent have to know that.

    4. I’m not a fan of either at this point. I’m leaning towards replacing Brown now and giving Espada a chance to prove to the new GM that he should be his guy. If you replace Espada first the new GM inherits a manager he may or may not want.

    5. Being non-competitive in the WC round again would be worse.

    6. I actually want the owner involved in every baseball decision, but deferring to his employees and not overruling them or going around their backs.

    7. Keep Altuve. The contract is bad now, but it’s not like Brice Matthews is going to outproduce him at 2B.

    8. Rebuilds are paintful. If you go that route you better stock the farm system with players I want to follow.

    9. I’d try to get value out of LMJ whenever he’s healthy. There are worse options they could promote from the minors. Heck, Arrighetti is often a worse option and he was pitcher of the month earlier this year for us.

    10. I don’t think we have a choice on Walker. It’s kind of a shame they changed the trade deadline rules as his contract may have gotten him through waivers and allowed for a panic trade by another team.

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  2. Oh, this is great Dan. One of my favorites.

    1. I accept that the Astros will remain in the West “race” with pretty much the same 26 man roster and a couple of tweaks. I just don’t see Crane shutting things down. But I sure don’t expect him to take on any big contracts though.
    2. Pena has to go this coming winter.
    3. I don’t think Yordan goes anywhere. I could see him signing a team friendly extension though.
    4. I think we get a new GM this winter. And a new GM should be able to choose who his manager is. By the way, anyone pleased with the Astros draft?
    5. The Astros finish out of post season play. They’ll hang around and annoy the crap out of us though.
    6. Jim Crane remains very quietly very much active in team personnel decisions. But he is letting Dana walk his own plank too. Is anyone going to mind if Dana goes home on September 28th?
    7. Altuve does not get traded. If he can’t play, Maybe he’ll just play less. But who’s our option, Nick? I don’t see him accepting his own decline as a detriment to the team though. Assuming the decline continues at pace, he should become the ambassador to the Astros in Latin America, more specifically overseeing a new Astro baseball academy in Venezuela.
    8. Maybe a new GM will be making subtle moves rather than so-so moves. And we’ve had too many stinky moves too. We have to avoid them. Except for Lambert, all that pitching depth turned out to be duds, unable to come in and help carry the club through all those injuries. That was the point, right?
    9. Lance will get at least one start unless he decides he can’t pitch. And he’s one guy that might be able to admit it.
    10. Walker is just one of several guys that should be offered this winter. I think in general, Dana has overvalued guys like Walker and Paredes and certainly Jake, to his own detriment. Come this winter I really want to see a new GM at the helm and significant roster movement. The Astros are 29th in stolen bases. That one little stat irks me.

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