Mr.Bond said:

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I'll be in 127 row 11

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One of my best friends will be in seats 1 & 2 about 5 rows in front of you

I didn't have the money in 2017, so I just watched all the games on tv but this year is different

Off season topics I look forwards to

1. In depth analysis in to ranking Astros WAGS, this will bring in assistance from Math for past and current photographic evidence. We can then set up a pecking order like a sorority group shot.
2. What will the qualifying offer number be for Cole?
3. I still think we have a chance to land Cole but with two scenarios
-Crane says just **** it and drops the tailgate of a dumptruck in his front yard because he just won us a WS and with that kind of production it will eventuially pay its self off
-Cole surprises us all and just truly loves this team and is willing to take a small discount to keep playing with his guys. With this I am not saying a crazy discount the dude wants to get paid but maybe Yankees/A's/Angels offer 7 years 300 mill and we offer 6 years 225 mill? Im not a math wiz so I dont know how much you lose in taxes and housing to live and work in new york/ commiefornia but its got to be a lot which brings the numbers closer together plus playing for a team that allows you to compete for rings and get more performance bonuses

mazag08 said:

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Look,

If we win tonight or tomorrow, I don't see any reason to chase Cole in FA. Use the money saved to pre-emptively sign Springer (liked we did for Bregs and Altuve), shore up the contracts in the pen, sign a mid level starter, and put ourselves in position to pick up a mid year acquisition.

Without major trades of key players (which I advocated for before the playoffs started), we can't sign Cole and realistically expect to have enough money to keep our stars home when they hit FA.

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I really agree with this. Keep our core guys.

nm

jetch17 said:

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I'm just looking to bring my 'cheap seats' mojo from 2017 to be in the building hopefully for some hardware raising

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Were you sitting in the first or second pic? First pic is close to Springers game 7 HR!

Truth is, we were spoiled this year. Unless you're comfortable over the luxury tax, you can't have an elite team full of veterans every year. You can't expect to be the WS favorite EVERY year. The money isn't there.

You need rookies to come up and produce. Alvarez, Tucker, Whitley, and Urquidy are who will determine how elite we are in a few years. You lock up a few key elite everyday veterans and 1-2 pitchers.

On that note, we are NOT signing Cole. Every interview, even last night, he talks about this opportunity and thanks the players who came before him for negotiating, etc. to allow him this opportunity. He gets to control his destiny. He wants to be closer to home (west of the Rockies), and wants the biggest paycheck. For him, he's lucky that the Angels are in such dire need of a pitcher and will likely be that biggest offer.

mm98 said:

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jetch17 said:

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I'm just looking to bring my 'cheap seats' mojo from 2017 to be in the building hopefully for some hardware raising

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Were you sitting in the first or second pic? First pic is close to Springers game 7 HR!

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first pic, it landed 1 section to the left of us

mazag08 said:

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Look,

If we win tonight or tomorrow, I don't see any reason to chase Cole in FA. Use the money saved to pre-emptively sign Springer (liked we did for Bregs and Altuve), shore up the contracts in the pen, sign a mid level starter, and put ourselves in position to pick up a mid year acquisition.

Without major trades of key players (which I advocated for before the playoffs started), we can't sign Cole and realistically expect to have enough money to keep our stars home when they hit FA.

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Agreed.

Let's get this win and enjoy it for five minutes before stressing over 2020... but in the meantime let's not forget that, at worst, we should have Verlander/Greinke/McCullers/Urquidy and Peacock/Whitley/whoever as a starting point with the pitching rotation.

While I would love to sign Cole, or better yet flip Greinke to resign Cole, I just don't see it. Look at Boston as exhibit A for what financial stress can do. They are in a mess and fired their GM over the heavy contract load. They might not be able to sign Betts because they are so strapped.

Really sucks for Scherzer. He's the dude for that team... and I'm sure he's a fan favorite in the same way Biggio was for the Astros in that era.

I'm sure it's devastating he can't pitch in what would have been arguably the biggest game of his career.

Now back to the most important topic.

Who gets the start in right tomorrow?

My vote if TED.

Reddick's OPS is only higher than Urquidy, Cole, Greinke, and Diaz (only 2 ABs).

He's made contact 15x (includes foul balls) and has yet to crack 90 MPH exit velo. His hit was smashed a whopping 62.1 MPH/

Teddy Baseball on the other hand show the ability to draw a few walks and actually hit the ball with a little velocity in his very limited ABs. (hard hit foul off of Hudson & a line drive single just under the hard-hit minimum).

suburban cowboy said:

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I will bet you a ticket to Game 6 Tucker doesn't start tonight

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yeah yeah yeah

tomorrow

game 6

Ag_07 said:

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Reddick and it shouldn't even be a debate.

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Why is that?

Farmer1906 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Reddick and it shouldn't even be a debate.

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Why is that?

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Gonna need that stellar defense in the outfield. Sheriff Woody doesn't give me that warm fuzzy with his defense just yet

Aggie Pharmer said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Ag_07 said:

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Reddick and it shouldn't even be a debate.

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Why is that?

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Gonna need that stellar defense in the outfield. Sheriff Woody doesn't give me that warm fuzzy with his defense just yet

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Just because you don't get warm fuzzies doesn't mean he's a poor defender. TED is just as capable as Reddick out there.

Tucker looks way more awful than Reddick

I can at least give it to you and EE that you're consistent but how anyone can make an augment for Kyle Tucker to start a WS game is beyond me.

Ag_07 said:

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Tucker looks way more awful than Reddick

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According to who?

He hits the ball harder than Reddick, has drawn walks at a better clip, and is a threat to steal bases. They've both been terrible over their 43 combined ABs, but there is a reason Hinch has been using TED over Reddick in PH situations.

.500 OPS TED vs .408 OPS Reddick.