I just finished the podcast series from Ben Reiter, The Edge: Houston Astros.

Did anyone else listen to it in its entirety?

I personally thought it was a pretty good and fair series. I especially thought the last episode of the series is exactly the frustration from Astros fans throughout the ordeal.

I also thought the criticisms of the Astros were fair.

I think Jeff Lunhow comes off not good, and I think it will be a long time, if ever, that he finds a job in baseball.

I listened to the whole thing. It was a decent synopsis of the saga I suppose. I was mostly just disappointed that he didn't have any real new information to share. It was basically seven hours of repeating stuff we already knew, with more Luhnow "I'm innocent" proclamations.

There's probably going to be alot of reporting on the scandal over the next few years. Podcasts, books, documentaries, etc. But I'm guessing none of them will be worth much unless they feature some key players going on the record to tell their side of the story.

It's pretty likely that the contract he signed with the angels spans age 34-44 in reality.

Deluxe said:

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I listened to the whole thing. It was a decent synopsis of the saga I suppose. I was mostly just disappointed that he didn't have any real new information to share. It was basically seven hours of repeating stuff we already knew, with more Luhnow "I'm innocent" proclamations.

There's probably going to be alot of reporting on the scandal over the next few years. Podcasts, books, documentaries, etc. But I'm guessing none of them will be worth much unless they feature some key players going on the record to tell their side of the story.

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But it was nice to see it consolidated in one place and I don't think Ben had a view that the Astros ruined the sanctity god baseball. I took away that he was trying to see how he missed it, ultimately blamed the owners and MLB for allowing an atmosphere for this type of stuff to happen.

I think he believes the Astros weren't the only team doing this stuff and believes the league did hang this all around the Astros' neck.

I thought the previous interview with Beltran where he pulled audio was interesting.

Maybe. On paper it's from 32-41.

Jose Ramirez should have won the MVP

I haven't listened to the whole podcast, but I've listened to the last two episodes. There is something Luhnow said about 30 minutes in to the final episode that baseball know it has a systemic problem and it was easier to pin it on one team.

Also, Luhnow's reaction to the Red Sox punishment was good.

Educated take

Is he really suggesting the players should have told Manfred to pound sand? And that the MLBPA told ever other player that's what to say? That is not what anyone has reported.

Farmer1906 said:

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I like Logan.

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He's said from the beginning that it's more than the Astros.

Ben Reiter's episode 6 part 2 basically says the same thing.

Everyone knows it wasn't only the Astros, but fans love to have a villain and are a lot less willing to really find out what their team has been really up to.

Mathguy64 said:

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Is he really suggesting the players should have told Manfred to pound sand? And that the MLBPA told ever other player that's what to say? That is not what anyone has reported.

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Well, I don't know that the MLBPA would have come out and said, "the players would have never been in trouble for not talking and we failed to communicate that to the players." That would be a bad look for the MLBPA for sure.

Whether it's true or not that the players wouldn't have gotten in trouble based on the CBA is a different matter.

Here is the source.

I keep assuming that it's an either/or situation with Brantley and a new player. Has anyone heard about the team retaining Brantley AND adding someone like Bradley or Ozuna? Or not Brantley, but Bradley and Ozuna.

Just wondering if there's any talk at all about spending for 2 outfielders.

If we're spending for two I would take Springer & Ozuna off your list. Hell, even if it's just for 1 I can see us committing long term to either.

Clearly, we're trying to get JBJ, but there have been talks with Brantley too. No way to know if it's an either or. I would assume we'd pay for both. We have 50 M coming off the books in the OF alone. I would hope we can spend 15-25 M this year in short term deals to get get replacements.

No one is going to sign Bradley or Ozuna before Springer, right?

Not always.

Wheeler signed a week before Cole last year.

Harper & Machado waited all the way until Feb before they signed. If George does something similar, I don't think he'd hold the whole OF FA class hostage.

If a team wants to try and hash out a negotiation with George they may not but if Springer's asking price is out of your budget and you're pretty far apart why wait?

I've seen some wild numbers thrown out for George. At 31 in this market, I have a feeling it's going to be on the low side. So low that a lot on here will be upset we wouldn't pay it. I hope I am wrong for his sake.

I don't see how a team can offer a big multi-year contract until they have a better idea about fan capacity for 2021.

if the owners thought they lost money in 2020...go ahead and play 162 games at full payroll with no tickets sold

Farmer1906 said:

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I've seen some wild numbers thrown out for George. At 31 in this market, I have a feeling it's going to be on the low side. So low that a lot on here will be upset we wouldn't pay it. I hope I am wrong for his sake.

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I promise if it's less than about 30 million for the first couple years I will be pissed if he's not an Astro

Well now I AM pissed!

The headlines coming out of Boston now that Cora was hired back are absolutely laughable. It's like they completely forgot the Red Sox were punished for sign stealing. These are just that have popped up in my social media feed. Sure there are more out there

TMZ:

Quote:

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ALEX CORA
On Astros Cheating Scandal
I SERVED MY PENALTY AND I DESERVED IT

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NESN:

Quote:

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Why Alex Cora Didn't Bring Sign-Stealing Tactics From Astros To Red Sox
' I didn't feel like we needed to do something like that, honestly'

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https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-farm-system-analysis-2020?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

This is a really good breakdown of the Astros farm system and some of the names to keep any eye on.

bearkatag15 said:

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https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-farm-system-analysis-2020?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

This is a really good breakdown of the Astros farm system and some of the names to keep any eye on.

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Confirms what we all have discussed regarding the lack of position players. Good thing we have Altuve, Tucker and Bregman for a while, and hopefully Correa also.

Quote:

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TOP 30 BY POSITION
C: 1
1B: 1
2B: 1
SS: 4
OF: 5
RHP: 18

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Farmer1906 said:

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I've seen some wild numbers thrown out for George. At 31 in this market, I have a feeling it's going to be on the low side. So low that a lot on here will be upset we wouldn't pay it. I hope I am wrong for his sake.

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from what I've been told it really doesn't matter what the Astros offer (unless it was just stupid money). Springer is not signing with Houston. It's not a money issue - there are other things at work here.

MAROON said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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I've seen some wild numbers thrown out for George. At 31 in this market, I have a feeling it's going to be on the low side. So low that a lot on here will be upset we wouldn't pay it. I hope I am wrong for his sake.

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from what I've been told it really doesn't matter what the Astros offer (unless it was just stupid money). Springer is not signing with Houston. It's not a money issue - there are other things at work here.

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Am I going to also hate Springer after this?

redline248 said:

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MAROON said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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I've seen some wild numbers thrown out for George. At 31 in this market, I have a feeling it's going to be on the low side. So low that a lot on here will be upset we wouldn't pay it. I hope I am wrong for his sake.

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from what I've been told it really doesn't matter what the Astros offer (unless it was just stupid money). Springer is not signing with Houston. It's not a money issue - there are other things at work here.

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Am I going to also hate Springer after this?

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Probably pissed at how he was treated coming up from the minors and then they way they treated Hinch.