I can't wait to beat the **** out of the Dodgers tomorrow.

Farmer1906 said:

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I can't wait to beat the **** out of the Dodgers tomorrow.

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Have you watched this team the last week or so? Or at all on the road? I'm not as optimistic

Going into this weekend ...

okay, D-Backs holding onto a 4-3 lead vs. the Mariners going to the 9th...

Mariners lost

Hugo Stiglitzz said:

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F@&$? LA! I Which one of our ****y bp arms grows a pair and beans Bellinger and Pederson?

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Don't throw at Bellinger and wake him up, he's been in the garbage dump all year.

Gap said:

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4 1-run loses on this road trip so far has made it extremely painful.

Astros lead MLB with 11 1-run loses on the season.

Gotta figure the bullpen out.

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I knew it was a lot but 11? Sheesh. Could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. Holding out hope that we flip the switch but even if the bats come around we need an answer in the pen.

Wonder if we could get some starter arms in the pen come playoff time similar to McCullers circa 17'

Full Proposed postseason plan to be voted on by union. Looks like bubble doesn't start until round 2. Which doesn't make sense to me

It's to give division winners some advantage in the expanded playoff

BMX Bandit said:

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It's to give division winners some advantage in the expanded playoff

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But what's the point of the bubble if it won't be the entire postseason? You have the possibility of playing teams from other divisions in the wild card ... so I'm just confused as to why the bubble is necessary

tjack16 said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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It's to give division winners some advantage in the expanded playoff

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But what's the point of the bubble if it won't be the entire postseason? You have the possibility of playing teams from other divisions in the wild card ... so I'm just confused as to why the bubble is necessary

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To make sure the playoff money is safe.

There's not perfect choice. This gives division winners some advantage and protects the investment

Yea I am thinking it has something to do with trying to eliminate any delays in games being played. They have the schedule and networks lined up. They don't want to **** it up and deal with all the travel.

Pretty good Tag mailbag today:

https://www.mlb.com/astros/news/will-astros-reach-full-strength-in-2020

-Injury update that most of us already know... Altuve and LMJ should be back soon. JV, Peacock and Devo still uncertain. JV return in some capacity looks promising but no guarantee.

-Mentioned possibility of Springer taking one year deal and then trying market again after 2021. Assuming he doesn't finish the year hot, this seems plausible. The obvious downside for him is that he's kinda old as it is and delaying a year would make him 32. But it would give him a full season to prove his production level/health and put the scandal another year in the rear view mirror. Grandal and Keuchel both delayed their long term deals by a year and each seemed to benefit. Regardless, he and his agent are going to have an interesting offseason.

-Mentioned possibility of trading Correa and Greinke next year if title window appears to be closing. If we're playing the long game, I wouldn't be opposed to this. Would be nice to get a big league ready OF prospect and more young arms.

I'm coming around more and more to the idea of not keeping Correa or Springer (long term). The lineup of death days may be over, but we would still have a very nice offensive nucleus going forward. Not perfect but good enough to win if combined with a good pitching staff. Hypothetical 2022+ lineup:

1. Altuve 2B
2. Tucker RF
3. Bregman 3B
4. Alvarez DH
5. Yuli 1B (continual short term deals until his production falls off)
6. Veteran free agent LF (possibly Uncle Mike on short term deal)
7. Diaz, Pena or Nova SS
8. K Lee or veteran free agent C
9. Straw CF

Altuve's contract will expire around the time we have to give Bregman a raise and Tucker/Alvarez arb starts to get expensive, but that's about all the money we'd have locked up. We'd be left with tons of cap space to sign some impact arms.

I'd be in favor of a one year deal for George. This year has been a cluster of injuries and poor performance. This group needs one more shot with a full season.

I'd rather lock up Correa and let him and Bregs be the foundation with Altuve hanging around until his deal is done.

He's come a long way in this short season and proven himself to be an elite SS that could anchor the middle of the lineup.

If we have to choose Springer or Correa .... which sucks because they have been my favorite players the last 5 years. I'd go Correa based on age, defense, and there will be less infield FA options coming up with guys getting locked into long term deals.

George's accepting a 1-year deal anywhere would be very risky.

that would make him 32 years old at the end of the 2021 season. And put mega-contract year pressure on him for 2021. And of course he has not responded well to the contract year pressure of this short season.

from the Astros' perspective it would be great if he would take a 1-year $25 MM contract

the problem with trading Correa or Greinke at this point...the new team would only have 1 year of control.

would get prospects in return but perhaps not any top prospects...unless Click can find a really desperate team.

I don't see the Astros trading either one

Ag_07 said:

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I'd rather lock up Correa and let him and Bregs be the foundation with Altuve hanging around until his deal is done.

He's come a long way in this short season and proven himself to be an elite SS that could anchor the middle of the lineup.

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Hanging around as in 4 more years at 29 M a year? Altuve is the foundation as much as anyone.

We're not keeping Correa unless we're willing to give him a Machado, Harper, Betts type deal.

agproducer said:

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I'd be in favor of a one year deal for George. This year has been a cluster of injuries and poor performance. This group needs one more shot with a full season.

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We should 100% give George a large 1 year deal if he will take it. I highly doubt he would. Hitting the market at 32 would be disastrous.

Here are the active contracts signed by 32 year old outfielders.

MuckRaker96 said:

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you're making a pretty big assumption about Yordan being healthy in 2021.

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That's why I said 2022

Deluxe said:

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MuckRaker96 said:

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you're making a pretty big assumption about Yordan being healthy in 2021.

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That's why I said 2022

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My bad, but I'm not sure we'll be seeing 2019 Yordan ever again.

whoa, that's a significant bump for whichever wildcard seed draws the A's --- the #7 or #8

Big hit to their defense and he's tied for 3rd in OPS+.

Hugo Stiglitzz said:

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F@&$? LA! I Which one of our ****y bp arms grows a pair and beans Bellinger and Pederson?

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I'd rather get them out than put them on base...

Troll your boat, Astros Twitter. Troll your boat.

I will have a personal riot if we trade Correa.

Not signing him will piss me off, too.