k20dub said:

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Marvin said:

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Not sure if already discussed...

Altuve is arguably on a HOF pace. I wonder if he will face a steroids-like protest from the baseball writers for a few years.

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If he retired today, would he get in?

03_Aggie said:

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Marvin said:

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Not sure if already discussed...

Altuve is arguably on a HOF pace. I wonder if he will face a steroids-like protest from the baseball writers for a few years.

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If he continues on, no. I think people either do t realize, or choose to ignore, the time period this happened in. They have played almost two full seasons post sign stealing gate and I'd say they did ok without it.

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Hell even prior to all this. Remember Altuve was banging out 200 hit seasons when this team was losing 100 games.

Other than because he was with Rangers, why all the Bannister hate?

BMX Bandit said:

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Quote:

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If he retired today, would he get in?

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no.

but I don't see how anyone could argue hes not on a hall of fame pace.

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I guess my point was assuming status quo... but we went down the wrong rabbit hole regardless.

The hypothetical is whether you think the baseball writers (maybe even led by a Buster Olney type) would hold the cheating scandal against Altuve and keep him out of the HOF for several years as punishment? I could see it from that sanctimonious group, but I might be way off base.

BMX Bandit said:

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Other than because he was with Rangers, why all the Bannister hate?

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That was my only reason, and the fact that he seemed like a big jerk when he was with the Rangers. I've seen a couple of interviews with him online today, and he actually seems like an ok guy with deep Houston ties. Plus Joe Musgrove said he's a good guy. So, I think I'm ok with him now.

Because he constantly threw at astros players?

Ags #1 said:

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Because he constantly threw at astros players?

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and don't people here complain Hinch didn't bean guys enough?

BMX Bandit said:

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Other than because he was with Rangers, why all the Bannister hate?

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I could be completely off but from what I've seen and from what I've gathered he comes off as a smug, stubborn guy who no matter what thinks he's the smartest in the room.

He gives off a very Tom Herman vibe.

Again, that's just my take from what I've seen of him during his time with Texas.

BMX Bandit said:

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I haven't seen him kissing any dudes or swinging a sledge hammer around

This team needs someone not afraid to stand up to media and other teams. If that means being smug, I'll take it

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I'm going Al Davis at this point- just win, baby!

True

But I don't think that's the only thing this team needs and from what I can tell that's the only thing Bannister brings to the table.

Big Al 1992 said:

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Here's the thing -wrong or not they didn't do it every game or every batter, claimed it didn't work really well anyways, and even if you know what the pitch is you still gotta make contact - ie Correa, Reddick, Springer 17 playoff slump until he got to LA.
Astros still should put up great numbers whoever the manager is - Springer in a contract year, Alvarez is gonna rake, and massive chip on their shoulders.
They will be back in ALCS with chance to win it all. Again.

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this is the part of the report that is lost on just about everyone - and is very frustrating. They stopped the "system" because they felt it wasn't effective. The stats bear this out.

I wish someone like Gattis who is out of the game now, would do an interview and tell the truth about this system and its effectiveness.

How do we feel about our lineup from a +/- standpoint heading into 2020? I considered 2019 as a comparison. Someone may have already done this, but the whole cheating narrative kind of wiped out prior discussions.

Neutral- any reason to expect better or worse this year?

• Springer
• Bregman
• Reddick
• Brantley
• Greinke
• Pressley
• Osuna
• Maldonado
• Peacock
• Diaz
• James
• Smith

Better

• Altuve (health)
• Alvarez (full season)
• Tucker (more time)

Worse

• Gurriel (no clue, just assuming age creeps in a bit)
• Verlander (same reason)

Unknown

• Correa (health)
• McCullers (health)
• Urquidy (workload)
• Devenski (which Devo will we get?)

The Cole loss will be significant, but the entirety of the starting rotation should be equivalent on par, considering we are replacing Miley with Urquidy, Cole with McCullers and adding a full season of Greinke. Maybe I'm being optimistic there.

Thoughts?

I expect a lot more from Diaz. His availability will determine that though. I imagine if he has a healthy year he will help out a lot

I think we're going to like contract year George.

will be interesting to see how Yuli and Brantley do...being another year older in their 30's

I personally think Alveraz is going to be very average this year. I hope I'm wrong but with a full offseason to dissect his weaknesses I think pitchers are going to be ready for him with a different approach this year.

I pray I am wrong and he rakes, but my gut tells me he will struggle.

irish pete ag06 said:

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How much raw ass will Rangers fans have when Banister wins the World Series with the Astros this year?

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I have to admit I partially want to hire Banister for this possible scenario alone. Oh man that would be glorious.

AustinCountyAg said:

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I personally think Alveraz is going to be very average this year. I hope I'm wrong but with a full offseason to dissect his weaknesses I think pitchers are going to be ready for him with a different approach this year.

I pray I am wrong and he rakes, but my gut tells me he will struggle.

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And if/when he does struggle, the pitch fork mob will claim it's because he's not cheating this year. Even though he was nowhere near the 2017 roster, and MLB said they found no evidence of cheating in 2019.....

Bannister getting the nod

AustinCountyAg said:

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I personally think Alveraz is going to be very average this year. I hope I'm wrong but with a full offseason to dissect his weaknesses I think pitchers are going to be ready for him with a different approach this year.

I pray I am wrong and he rakes, but my gut tells me he will struggle.

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Idk about very average, but he's going to take a step back because it's pretty much impossible to play at that level consistently unless you're Bonds or Trout.

Yuli is another year older.

Everyone else is pretty much in their prime between Altuve, Bregman, Correa, Springer, and Brantley. Those 5 should continue to rack.

Reddick has 2 years of meh. Ted's time should be now. I think we'll see more production out of RF this year.

Chirinos has a great first couple of months then fell off a cliff. We'll see less production for the new group, but it'll be fine if that's our only weakness.

If Bregman wins MVP, is that upside? Because that's what gonna happen.

I will wait until Jomboy to tweet to confirm

Bregman, Springer, Alvarez should all go +40 homeruns if healthy.
Maybe Altuve too.
Alvarez probably drops back to Delgado type stats, 280 average and lots of 3 run blasts.

Oh yippee, Boras says the Astros' players have nothing to apologize for. They were given a system installed by management and were told to use it. At bottom, the players were just following orders. I agree but we don't need Boras chiming in on this, he's far from the moral ideal.
Rosenthal: Why Scott Boras says the Astros players don't need to apologize


Stripling directly asked Reddick if they used buzzers, Reddick said no.
Stocks, workouts and Astros questions: A day in the life of Ross Stripling

Big Al 1992 said:

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NSIAP
Imagine what NY media would be saying if reverse was true. Anything to say Mr Judge??

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A lot of yankee fans like to look over this or mention Altuves Home/Away splits in the playoffs...

Well, Mr. Judge hit .074 away (27 ABs, 2 Hits, 1HR) and .333 Home (21ABs, 7 Hits, 3HR) in the playoffs. Home cookin??

Saw the Bill Burr podcast on this was already posted!