Deluxe said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Wonder what kind of contract he's looking for as a FA?

I'd love to have him but I don't want to lose him after this season then back to square one with a patchwork rotation behind JV and post-TJ Lance.

No doubt he'd be a nice fit for a playoff run but he's a rental. Maybe he's the second-tier acquisition and Luhnow gets a Stroman, Bauer, Syndergaard type as the headline deal.

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I'd be pleased if we add MadBum and Bauer

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JV
Cole
MadBum
Bauer
Miley

Me likey.

CFTXAG10 said:

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Deluxe said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Wonder what kind of contract he's looking for as a FA?

I'd love to have him but I don't want to lose him after this season then back to square one with a patchwork rotation behind JV and post-TJ Lance.

No doubt he'd be a nice fit for a playoff run but he's a rental. Maybe he's the second-tier acquisition and Luhnow gets a Stroman, Bauer, Syndergaard type as the headline deal.

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I'd be pleased if we add MadBum and Bauer

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JV
Cole
MadBum
Bauer
Miley

Me likey.

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Yeah and be ok with losing Tucker and a handful of solid prospects of we could roll with that rotation.

third coast.. said:

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Want.

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Found it

https://express.milbstore.com/store_contents.cfm?store_id=75&dept_id=-1&product_id=125037

It feels like the Astros need to make a minor move just to bring in a guy who can at least be serviceable for 4-5 innings just to cover while we wait for the big addition and Peacock's return.

Frok said:

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It feels like the Astros need to make a minor move just to bring in a guy who can at least be serviceable for 4-5 innings just to cover while we wait for the big addition and Peacock's return.

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I see what you're saying but i think we're good enough to hold out with out minor league types filling in. I don't think Jeff what's to mess with the 40 man and losing prospects (even minor ones) to get a guy who probably won't make the postseason roster.

Farmer1906 said:

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Frok said:

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It feels like the Astros need to make a minor move just to bring in a guy who can at least be serviceable for 4-5 innings just to cover while we wait for the big addition and Peacock's return.

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I see what you're saying but i think we're good enough to hold out with out minor league types filling in. I don't think Jeff what's to mess with the 40 man and losing prospects (even minor ones) to get a guy who probably won't make the postseason roster.

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For the most part I agree, but there's other ways than trading prospects. There's guys on the 40 man that are expendable (Rogers, Deetz) that can be DFA'd. Also, Corbin still isn't on the 60-day IL, so that could free up a spot. As far as what to trade, if it's a guy without a lot of value, the Astros can do things like player to be named later and international signing money. For someone who isn't a big name, the payout doesn't have to be large.

Ouch

What do we think we could send the Mets to get Syndergaard, not including Tucker?

Do we think something like Whitley, Beer, Fisher, white and Kemp (not for practical purposes but just to get rid of them) and James...maybe throw in another young arm not named Bukauskas

Farmer1906 said:

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/07/16/mlb-trade-deadline-deals-wed-like-see-get-done/1724103001/

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Madison Bumgarner to the Astros
Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are two of the best in the game and Wade Miley has been good, but Houston's rotation has been shaky beyond those three. Even though he's not as dominant as five years ago, Bumgarner brings the postseason pedigree and bulldog mentality that could prove crucial in what's going to be a hard-fought October.
The Giants don't have much leverage since Bumgarner is a free agent this winter, so the Astros probably wouldn't have to part with a top prospect like Kyle Tucker or Forrest Whitley in order to land the 29-year-old lefty.

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I could get down with that. For the right price of course.

it might be MadBum at the deadline, because he simply would be the cheapest.

and the front office decides to worry about 2020 in the offseason

when evaluating the Luhnow ledger for 2019...unfortunately due to injury the Diaz trade goes back into the TBD category.

Diaz was good in April and great in May. But then he got hurt when the team needed him the most. So June was a bust. And he may only play a handful of games in July.

the Astros need him to pick up where he left come August

Quote:

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"A longer-term asset such as Boyd should be particularly attractive to the Astros considering that both Cole and [Wade] Miley are free agents after this season," Rosenthal writes (subscription required). But will the Tigers move him?

One executive told Rosenthal that, "I don't think they will trade him, just based on their history. They played the same game with [Michael] Fulmer. He was always 'available,' but the price was so high that they could never make a deal. I see the same happening with Boyd."

Boyd isn't the Astros' only option, of course. Rosenthal writes that the AL West leaders will likely compete for other top starters on the market like the Blue Jays' Marcus Stroman, the Indians' Trevor Bauer and more.

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They offered him a 1 year at less than the QO with a club option for the second year. So both a lowball & a short offer.

You can't say this about Luhnow very often but this was not only dumb, it was also shortsighted and shows lack of understanding of what Morton's market value was.

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I agree that not offering him the QO is probably stating that they did not think he was worth 17.9m a year. Tampa didn't think so either and offered him 15m. Does that mean they low balled him? Would that be considered low balling since he took the contract. Doesn't that mean that even Charlie agrees he is not worth 18m per year?

The debate isn't about did Lunhow make a mistake (he did), but did he low ball Morton.

Edit: What number constitutes a low ball offer?

Agnzona said:

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I think we need two Arms a rental for the playoffs and a younger under contract for the next few years.

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What role would they fill?

#3 and.... lefty specialist?

Do you not trust Miley in the postseason as a #4?

Farmer1906 said:

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Agnzona said:

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I think we need two Arms a rental for the playoffs and a younger under contract for the next few years.

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What role would they fill? #3 for stretch run, playoffs, and #2/3 next year when Cole walks
#5 that can give us more than 2 IP every 5th day so our BP guys can actually something left and be effective in the playoffs.

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Farmer1906 said:

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Agnzona said:

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I think we need two Arms a rental for the playoffs and a younger under contract for the next few years.

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What role would they fill?

#3 and.... lefty specialist?

Do you not trust Miley in the postseason as a #4?

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In a perfect world we'd trade for a top arm and then trade for a 4th or 5th type who can help us get TO the playoffs and maybe convert to the pen when we get there.

n_touch said:

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Quote:

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They offered him a 1 year at less than the QO with a club option for the second year. So both a lowball & a short offer.

You can't say this about Luhnow very often but this was not only dumb, it was also shortsighted and shows lack of understanding of what Morton's market value was.

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I agree that not offering him the QO is probably stating that they did not think he was worth 17.9m a year. Tampa didn't think so either and offered him 15m. Does that mean they low balled him? Would that be considered low balling since he took the contract. Doesn't that mean that even Charlie agrees he is not worth 18m per year?

The debate isn't about did Lunhow make a mistake (he did), but did he low ball Morton.

Edit: What number constitutes a low ball offer?

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CFM was classy enough not to just throw the number out there so I doubt we will ever know, but he was clearly devastated not to come back to Houston. That came across loud & clear in the interview. I heard the audio on 790 last week, Chuck was truly sad.

Lowball not lowball - whatever. The point is we could have had him for 2 yrs/30 million and probably for a bit less than that. Getting a good offer near his home didn't happen so at the point he took the TB offer he was just looking for the best situation and clearly preferred coming back to Houston, so it stands to reason that if we had offered anywhere in the vicinity of what they did he would have signed with us.

Maybe we weren't comfortable doing two years at that rate considering all the free agents we have in 2020...In which case it would have made perfect sense just to make the qualifying offer.

I also don't by being QO gunshy bc of Rasmus. That was not a great deal for us but it was also not that badHe put up a 2.3 WAR that season and got paid 15M and change. Not great but not team-killing and he was off the books the following season.

Like we've discussed before Luhnow and crew have very precise valuations that they stick to pretty strictly.

Charlie is just another instance of this. Whether it's just a little more or a lot more. Overspending is overspending and they've shown multiple times whether it's a FA or a trade that they're not into overspending.

I'm trying to remember which poster it was during spring training who kept stroking our back end starters claiming we had the best #4 and #5 starters in MLB???

Ag_07 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Agnzona said:

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I think we need two Arms a rental for the playoffs and a younger under contract for the next few years.

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What role would they fill? #3 for stretch run, playoffs, and #2/3 next year when Cole walks
#5 that can give us more than 2 IP every 5th day so our BP guys can actually something left and be effective in the playoffs.

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Who are you ditching from the pitching staff?

JV
Cole
Miley
New 2/3
Pressly
Osuna
Harris
McHugh
Smith
Devo
James
Rondon
Peacock

I think you go land your 2/3 type then figure out the #5 spot between Peacock, McHugh, & James.

I think we know Luhnow by now. Rental arms or bats aren't in the cards. They would have to come to Hou in a trade for a case of bats and a concession voucher.

He will not swap 7 years of control and cheap payroll on someone he thinks is going to be a highly productive MLB talent for a year or less of work. I just do not think he is going to do a rental. Unless there is an agreement in place to sign longer term.

AustinCountyAg said:

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I'm trying to remember which poster it was during spring training who kept stroking our back end starters claiming we had the best #4 and #5 starters in MLB???

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That was me.

Peacock and McHugh were killing it. Both started to struggle and went to the IL.

irish pete ag06 said:

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AustinCountyAg said:

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I'm trying to remember which poster it was during spring training who kept stroking our back end starters claiming we had the best #4 and #5 starters in MLB???

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Ha. That wasn't a crazy thought thinking that Whitley would have not been butt chugging at tu frat parties and working on his game.

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That too. He was supposed to contribute this year. Now its looking like it'll be questionable for next year.

And don't forget that July 31 is important, but not the end. Justin Verlander was Aug 31 at 11:59 PM.

Crap, maybe they did. I have 2 kids now and man I can't keep up anymore.