redline248 said:

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Too soon

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I know... I felt like we could just rip the bandaid off and move forward to better times.

2021 is going to be our year

My predictions for opening day lineup

I do think we re-sign one of Springer/Brantley .. but for this I'll assume we lose both of them until they are re-signed.

1. Tucker - RF
2. Altuve - 2B
3. Correa - SS
4. Alvarez - DH
5. Bregman - 3B
6. Gurriel - 1B
7. Diaz - LF
8. Maldonado - C
9. Straw - CF (or free agent/rookie)

Rotation
1. Greinke
2. Valdez
3. Urquidy
4. LMJ
5. Javier/Offseason acquisition

Top bullpen arms
Parades
Taylor
Scrubb
Bielak
Garcia
Pressly
Peacock

Page one and back from temporary ban.

Dear god I hope we can keep George and Brantley. I know it's a pipe dream.

Also no pics of Kate in a see through wet t-shirt. I don't know what was more frustrating, That game or not being able to post past the 4th inning

Let's do this

Ugghh in

Big Al 1992 said:

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Click and Crane need to throw an offer to George that he has to at least think about it. Don't let him walk away - make it a hard decision for him then maybe Altuve, Bregs, Correa can y'all him into not leaving.

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What do you think it would take? I'm really curious what someone like Springer is worth.

He's 31, great spirit and offensive numbers.

5/120?

4/100?

3/80?

I'd be a bit hesitant to take on a 5 year or greater contract. Ideally, a 4 year contract gets you to 2024 when we have other expiring contracts

AggiEE said:

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Big Al 1992 said:

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Click and Crane need to throw an offer to George that he has to at least think about it. Don't let him walk away - make it a hard decision for him then maybe Altuve, Bregs, Correa can y'all him into not leaving.

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What do you think it would take? I'm really curious what someone like Springer is worth.

He's 31, great spirit and offensive numbers.

5/120?

4/100?

3/80?

I'd be a bit hesitant to take on a 5 year or greater contract. Ideally, a 4 year contract gets you to 2024 when we have other expiring contracts

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I think he will get offers from a lot of teams ranging from
3 years/75 MM, to 6 years/130 MM

I think if we can get him for 4-5 years at 20-25 MM per.. that would be amazing

Current 40 man roster (with likely 26-man roster bolded, assuming no acquisitions, italics are free gents or other losses).

I didn't do a ton of research on contract situations and 2020 impact, but feel free to let me know my mistakes and I'll correct this list. My biggest confusion was on Devenski and Garneau.

BATTERS
Dustin Garneau
Martin Maldonado
Garrett Stubbs
Jose Altuve
Alex Bregman
Carlos Correa
Aledmys Diaz
Yuli Gurriel
Taylor Jones
Jack Mayfield
Abraham Toro
Yordan Alvarez
Michael Brantley
Chas McCormick
Josh Reddick
George Springer
Myles Straw
Kyle Tucker

PITCHERS
Bryan Abreu
Rogelio Armenteros
Brandon Bailey
Brandon Bielak
Humberto Castellanos
Chase De Jong
Chris Devenski
Luis Garcia
Zack Greinke
Josh James
Cristian Javier
Lance McCullers Jr.
Roberto Osuna
Enoli Paredes
Brad Peacock
Cionel Perez
Ryan Pressly
Austin Pruitt
Brooks Raley
Nivaldo Rodriguez
Carlos Sanabria
Andre Scrubb
Joe Smith
Cy Sneed
Blake Taylor
Jose Urquidy
Framber Valdez
Justin Verlander


Projected Rotation:
Valdez / Greinke / Urquidy / McCullers / Javier

Projected Bullpen:
James / Peacock / Scrubb / Raley or Abreu or Bielak / Taylor / Paredes / Smith / Pressly

Projected Lineup:
Alvarez (DH) / Madonado (C) / Gurriel (1B) / Altuve (2B) / Correa (SS) / Bregman (3B) / Diaz (LF) / Straw (CF) / Tucker (RF)

Projected Bench:
Stubbs or Garneau (C) / ???? (IF/OF) / Toro (IF) / ??? (OF)

That leaves us with a few questions to answer. I'll leave the salary cap details to someone else to dig up, but these aren't going to be easy questions to answer this off-season.

• What to do in the Outfield? Going to have to spend money in free agency here no matter what. We're losing three people here. Need to fill out a team and spend some money. Is there any way to make the money work for Springer? Or do we need to sign two mid-level Brantley specials and hope they work out the same way to build the roster up? Do you consider re-signing Brantley.
• Is there anything we can do to solidify the starting rotation with?another season of no Verlander? Is the current crop good enough? Can we trust a young gun like Whitley to step up for us? Is there even money to do this when we have to spend elsewhere?
• Bullpen strength and depth looks to be a surprise. Will the veterans that were hurt come back next year on top of their game? Will any of the young kids earn their spot? Do we have to use any of these kids as trade bait?
• What to do with Josh James? We thought he was a starter then we thought he could be a reliever But there isn't a lot of room in a suddenly crowded bullpen. Should he be traded as part of a package for young OF help? Do you pull the plug right now?
• Do you spend money to re-sign Correa right now? Will he even accept an offer? What impact to these initial discussions have on Springer decision?

The OF is the biggest issue, followed by the back end of the starting rotation. Right now, with no acquisition, your starting OF is Diaz, Straw, and Tucker, one of the absolute weakest in the league.

You're forgetting Joe Smith. And Josh James will certainly be in the bullpen mix if Dusty is around, even if we don't like him. Would love to see Garcia come back.

I've looked up conflicting info on Osuna. I thought we had him for one more year, but very confused. This site has him as a UFA in 2022. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/houston-astros/roberto-osuna-16612/

With the perspective of not have Alvarez, with Urquidy missing so much time, Verlander and Osuna going under the knife, 10 rookie pitchers, and then all the injuries... it was a hell of a run.

Looking forward to talking baseball with you guys over the winter.

Too soon. Hopefully it's a smooth offseason with regular time next year instead of some garbage 60 game stuff.

Page 1. Nice work tjack! Will be back later with plenty of TLDR posts and far reaching ideas that likely won't happen.

Do we *gag* have to resign Reddick if we lose both Springer and Brantley...

This offseason is real simple. Sign Uncle Mike for a Yuli deal (1 year plus a second option) and resign your heart and soul. Do not let George go. That's Click's job. Convince Crane to spend the cash on George and Mike. If we start the season with Straw in CF we will regret it.

Buck Compton said:

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You're forgetting Joe Smith. And Josh James will certainly be in the bullpen mix if Dusty is around, even if we don't like him. Would love to see Garcia come back.

I've looked up conflicting info on Osuna. I thought we had him for one more year, but very confused. This site has him as a UFA in 2022. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/houston-astros/roberto-osuna-16612/

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He is under team control for 2021 but will almost certainly be non-tendered. Injured players generally get a flat arbitration number, which means we would have to pay him $5 million to miss the season and then become a free agent. They could negotiate a lower amount but what's the point when you factor in his baggage?

I know there are bigger issues, but we also need a backup catcher. Maldy cant work as much as he did this year. Whats on the roster now is a no go.

We've got a lot of pieces in the mix once everyone gets healthy over the offseason and has a full spring training.

Such an enjoyable run of baseball having been to 4 consecutive ALCS. Time to make it 5 and tack on a second WS

Hey Click - hop in this bad boy and head to George's house

If he has "baggage" it's universally applicable across the league. He could be a pretty good signing if we get lucky. The only thing I can't figure out is whether he has already had TJ surgery.

I think there is a good chance that Robinson Chirinos gets bought out of his deal, owed $6.5M in 2021. He likely wouldn't command the same amount on the market.

I have a bet with one of my students (he's a massive Braves fan), and if the Braves win today I have to buy him a WS pennant

I'm actually hoping I have to make that purchase

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