CoachRTM said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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CoachRTM said:

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Our 7-8-9 is going to be a black hole for most of the season, but our 1-6 can carry us to the division title barring any major injuries.

We do have $33 million to spend, so I would expect that we're not done putting the roster together yet.

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Why a black hole?

Between Chas and Jake they had almost 500 PAs last year and both had a 107 OPS+.

Pena had a 900 plus OPS in AAA in his limited time. He killed it in rookie fall ball. And was decent the last 2 years in LIDOM. ZIPs projects him at .728 OPS. Probably just below league average, but average for a SS.

You got me at catcher. If Dusty insists on player Maldonado 80% and inserting Castro in not idea platoon splits then it'll stay bad. But there is a path for it to not be bad.

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Catcher is a black hole, but one that you accept as a team when they give you good defense, etc.

Forgive me if I'm not bullish on Peña yet. He was a fringe prospect, barely on any radars who had a decent minor league season, thrust into a starting MLB job because we struck out on two better options. If he's league average for shortstop, I'll eat my crow, but he's only 10/1 on rookie of the year because he's one of the only ones shoe-horned into a starting spot on a contending team.

Chas/Jake might be serviceable. It's not fair to call them a black hole, I'll give you that. My 7-9 comment was more about the fact that during the regular season you normally have a "AAAA" type guy in the starting lineup giving a regular a day off.

Our "normal" starting lineup will more than likely look like this :

1. Altuve
2. Tucker
3. Bregman
4. Alvarez
5. Yuli
6. McCormick/ Meyers
7. Goodrum/Diaz/ other backup player
8. Peña
9. Maldonado

(I'm giving Brantley the day off here in this scenario, but it will obviously rotate around our normal top 6 guys)

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Well, there goes the season… and here I was being all positive!

Farmer1906 said:

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Why would our "normal" starting lineup mean we'd sit a starter?

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Most games during the regular season sees one regular getting the day off.

Marvin said:

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CoachRTM said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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CoachRTM said:

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Our 7-8-9 is going to be a black hole for most of the season, but our 1-6 can carry us to the division title barring any major injuries.

We do have $33 million to spend, so I would expect that we're not done putting the roster together yet.

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Why a black hole?

Between Chas and Jake they had almost 500 PAs last year and both had a 107 OPS+.

Pena had a 900 plus OPS in AAA in his limited time. He killed it in rookie fall ball. And was decent the last 2 years in LIDOM. ZIPs projects him at .728 OPS. Probably just below league average, but average for a SS.

You got me at catcher. If Dusty insists on player Maldonado 80% and inserting Castro in not idea platoon splits then it'll stay bad. But there is a path for it to not be bad.

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Catcher is a black hole, but one that you accept as a team when they give you good defense, etc.

Forgive me if I'm not bullish on Peña yet. He was a fringe prospect, barely on any radars who had a decent minor league season, thrust into a starting MLB job because we struck out on two better options. If he's league average for shortstop, I'll eat my crow, but he's only 10/1 on rookie of the year because he's one of the only ones shoe-horned into a starting spot on a contending team.

Chas/Jake might be serviceable. It's not fair to call them a black hole, I'll give you that. My 7-9 comment was more about the fact that during the regular season you normally have a "AAAA" type guy in the starting lineup giving a regular a day off.

Our "normal" starting lineup will more than likely look like this :

1. Altuve
2. Tucker
3. Bregman
4. Alvarez
5. Yuli
6. McCormick/ Meyers
7. Goodrum/Diaz/ other backup player
8. Peña
9. Maldonado

(I'm giving Brantley the day off here in this scenario, but it will obviously rotate around our normal top 6 guys)

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Well, there goes the season… and here I was being all positive!

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I'm still positive - I think we'll win the division. We just have more holes than we've had in the past.

I don't see anyone in our division truly threatening us late in the season. Mariners and Angels will probably hang with us for most of the season but end up 5-10 games back.

CoachRTM said:

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Forgive me if I'm not bullish on Peña yet. He was a fringe prospect, barely on any radars who had a decent minor league season, thrust into a starting MLB job because we struck out on two better options. If he's league average for shortstop, I'll eat my crow, but he's only 10/1 on rookie of the year because he's one of the only ones shoe-horned into a starting spot on a contending team.

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I don't necessarily disagree with your premise that 7-9 might go through some rough patches this year, but this statement is wildly inaccurate.

Correa’s mother in law shared the same tweets that stated the Astros ghosted him this week. That seems to confirm what several people reported. Weird. I hope Click and/or Crane is asked about it

— The Astros Locker (@TheAstrosLocker) March 20, 2022

I know most of y'all called bs on this, but it might have some merit

tjack16 said:

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Legends. #AstrosST pic.twitter.com/whHUmGO3MW

— Houston Astros (@astros) March 20, 2022

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Something very cool about seeing Reggie in an Astros uni!

If you don't want to make another offer, fine. Say "our previous offer stands, let us know if you're still interested". Complete radio silence isn't right if that's what happened.

It very well may have. I wasn't saying that it wasn't. The lockout was almost 100 days, so it can't hurt to reiterate, especially if Correa and boras are trying to make contact. Again, this is all assuming what was tweeted is true.

So the money that could have been spent on Correa or Story? Astros just gonna do nothing?

Wabs said:

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So the money that could have been spent on Correa or Story? Astros just gonna do nothing?

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Who knows. If their track record stands, probably not any big signings. Certainly you could spend through trade, but I don't see them doing that. Also keep in mind that arbitration hearings won't happen until after the season starts, so that's going to cut into some of what's remaining.

Unless Carlos was willing to stay for an extremely team-friendly deal (which he was not), Peña was always going to be our opening day SS.

There was nothing for the Astros and Carlos to discuss.

agproducer said:

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I'm sure it went like this:

Astros told CC and Boras that was the final offer.

CC and Boras wanted to negotiate.

The Astros offer was firm, had told them so, and didn't follow up, begging for CC to come back.

Boras and CC called trying to negotiate. Astros got messages asking for negotiations. They did not return calls, hence what CC claims was ghosting.

From the Astros perspective, if you've given your last and best offer, there's no need for negotiations and therefore, no need for conversation. Sometimes business is that way.

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Agree this is most likely what happened. I'm ok with the Astros approach. Loved what CC did here but as far as I'm concerned he can go have fun in lovely Minnesota. I just wish the Stros would have gotten Story, or have plans to spend the money on someone else.

I know it's not the right way to think of it but there is a part of me as an Astros fan that really likes watching young guys come up and start figuring it out, with that mindset I'm really excited to see what Peña can do.

This mindset also really excites me for when Lee gets his shot.

I can still remember when Castro first got called up and the excitement that came from that. And then again when it was Springer and Bregman and Correa and Tucker and Yordan. Just something exciting about youth and prospects.

bearkatag15 said:

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Correa wanted Crane to cup his balls while begging for him sign with the Astros. Good for Crane to stand firm.

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Oh come on guys. If we signed him to that deal we'd be shouting his praises and saying what geniuses the Astros are.

I still by what original thought. I would be for 3/105. I don't care about the opt out. Get us one more year of Correa prime and move on the Pena with a little more seasoning. If Pena looks like trash then you can move Leon back to SS and look at going after Turner (unlikely).

It is what it is. I think the organization has serious confidence in Pena by not keeping Correa on a short term deal.

Here is my plan B for this season. Pena sucks. Diaz isn't good enough to be an everyday SS. Move Bregs back to SS and pay what you need to rent Ramirez to go for it this year.

Here's my offseason question: how many games does Bregman (or any of the starters) play in a row before Dusty gives him 2 days off to "rest"?

Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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CoachRTM said:

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More importantly, we need to come up for the term when Peña hits a homerun.

Peñata
Peña popper
WhalloPeña

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These are very solid.

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I'm liking Peña popper for home runs.

WhalloPeña seems like a good nickname.

The look on Yordan's face!

No longer sad. It is what it is. Let’s ride my Astros 🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/Z6yalAIlkE

— 💎 space cowgirl euni 💎 (@xeunisse) March 20, 2022

agproducer said:

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Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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CoachRTM said:

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More importantly, we need to come up for the term when Peña hits a homerun.

Peñata
Peña popper
WhalloPeña

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These are very solid.

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I'm liking Peña popper for home runs.

WhalloPeña seems like a good nickname.

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His nickname is La Tormeta, but Dusty has been calling him Nino.

Didn't Crane say the Astros would reach out to Correa one last time? I know that was after the CBA but not sure when in the timeline.

They like Peña. That's the only explanation for not trying to get correa on a short deal like the twins got.

Either that or his medical reports look bad.