bigjag19 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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JDUB08AG said:

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I will root for Yuli more than any other former Astro if he lands somewhere else. I absolutely love that guy and he has quietly become one of my favorite Astros of all time.

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If Yuli the greatest non All Star in Astros history?

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How many batting champs weren't all stars?

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Probably not many historically, but there have been several lately (Yuli, Tim Anderson, LeMahieu) and I bet more in the future as batting average is de-emphasized.

There were no All Stars in 2020.

agdaddy04 said:

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I was holding out hope they'd sign Yuli. This really makes me sad.

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What role would he possibly have on our team next year? This is why fans aren't GMs.

Farmer1906 said:

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There were no All Stars in 2020.

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Yes. And?

Buck Compton said:

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agdaddy04 said:

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I was holding out hope they'd sign Yuli. This really makes me sad.

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What role would he possibly have on our team next year? This is why fans aren't GMs.

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Backup 1B, 3B and DH. I'm not saying it makes the most sense, but I've seen dumber moves.

Harry Dunne said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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There were no All Stars in 2020.

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Yes. And?

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Most recently when he won the title he couldn't make the All Star team.

Farmer1906 said:

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Harry Dunne said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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There were no All Stars in 2020.

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Yes. And?

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Most recently when he won the title he couldn't make the All Star team.

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Yes, but he (also) didn't make it the other year he won.

agdaddy04 said:

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Buck Compton said:

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agdaddy04 said:

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I was holding out hope they'd sign Yuli. This really makes me sad.

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What role would he possibly have on our team next year? This is why fans aren't GMs.

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I personally think we'll miss his leadership and postseason experience. Time will tell.

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I agree. I would have been happy if he would've signed a one-year deal at a reasonable price and had a farewell tour.

Although I have a feeling that whatever Boston is paying him is more than great leadership & a .700 OPS 1b is worth.

We also have to start getting Hensley & some of these young guys some ABs to see what they've got and if they are part of the future.

Harry Dunne said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Harry Dunne said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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There were no All Stars in 2020.

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Yes. And?

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Most recently when he won the title he couldn't make the All Star team.

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Yes, but he (also) didn't make it the other year he won.

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True. Anderson & DJ are both multi time All Stars in their career. This differentiates Yuli somewhat.

The Porkchop Express said:

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I mean, Click tried to trade for a 1B to replace him last year but Dusty wouldn't have it. Then they signed a guy who I'm sure is expected to play 150 games at 1B this year. Yuli is an all-time bad ass for this team, but he's not going to just become a backup cuz we're all pals.

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I mean the guy is 42…err, I mean 38. I do think his days of being a productive every day 1B are over.

Yep.

If Yuli had played his prime here he would have been a multiple-time All-star, especially playing 3b…and if he was a future Hall of Famer, which he very well might be, he might get that sentimental courtesy treatment if he won a batting title without as much pop as he used to have.

bigjag19 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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JDUB08AG said:

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I will root for Yuli more than any other former Astro if he lands somewhere else. I absolutely love that guy and he has quietly become one of my favorite Astros of all time.

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If Yuli the greatest non All Star in Astros history?

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How many batting champs weren't all stars?

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Was also GG that year as well. Has to be a very small list of batting champ gg"s that aren't All Stars.

Astros prospect catchers Korey Lee and Yainer Díaz changed their numbers from 38 to 11 and 63 to 21, respectively.

Niko Goodrum was the last Astro to wear No. 11 in 2022. Zack Greinke was the last to wear No. 21 in 2021.

— Kenny Van Doren (@thevandalorian) January 6, 2023

The position that haunts all 30 MLB teams and what it means

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How we ranked the teams

What is a hole score? Simply put, the score attempts to measure the size and duration of each organization's biggest positional sore spot. The basis of the ratings is the Baseball Reference version of WAR, as found on the site's handy positional analysis tool. The annual WAR totals for each position were converted to standard scores, which were then sorted into various buckets that reflect the 20-80 scouting scale.

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29. Houston Astros
Position: C (hole score: 6, added three in 2022)

Last green: Robinson Chirinos era in 2019 (6% overall)

2022 review: This is a spot that has been mostly red throughout franchise history, featuring a lot of defense-first catchers. Last season's 35 grade behind the plate was the team's worst since the rebuilding years. As with the 2018 Red Sox, who also featured Christian Vazquez, the bWAR woes behind the plate handicapped the Astros so thoroughly that all they were able to do was win the World Series.

2023 outlook: There was some smoke about the Astros making an aggressive move for a catcher this winter but as of now, it looks like Martin Maldonado will again be the primary backstop. He could be pushed for playing time by Korey Lee, the Astros' first-round pick in 2019 who made his big league debut a season ago. FanGraphs ranks Houston 29th for now, but with youth comes hope. And, not for nothing, there are good reasons teams like Maldonado even if his game doesn't shine in the WAR framework.

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One stat that will make -- or break -- 2023 for all 15 American League teams

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The number: 1.75 ERA

Justin Verlander's ERA in his Cy Young-winning season.

Verlander is now a member of the New York Mets and replacing his starts -- let alone his production -- will be a key factor in the Astros winning 106 games again and repeating as World Series champions. It helps that the Astros already had the deepest rotation in the majors with Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy. They'll also have Lance McCullers Jr. back for a full season after he made just eight starts in 2022, plus rookie Hunter Brown, who displayed his big-time stuff out of the bullpen in the postseason after posting a 2.55 ERA as a starter in Triple-A. So that's six pretty good options.

It does thin out after that, but how often have the Astros needed their seventh or eighth starters? Here's how many starts they've had from their top six guys since 2017:

2017: 134
2018: 157
2019: 133
2021: 150
2022: 152

It's worth noting that in 2017 and 2019, the two "down years" for the rotation, the Astros made trades to acquire Verlander and Zack Greinke. Outside of Brown, the farm system isn't regarded highly, but I suspect if the Astros need a starter for some reason come July, they'll figure out a trade. And they've overcome the loss of Verlander before, reaching the World Series in 2021 without him.

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It looks like we may just need to figure out another 5-20 starts depending on health. I agree, the deadline may be the way to go since we have a full 6 man team ready now.

Ag_07 said:

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Correa is not in a good spot at all

He's lost all leverage not only with the Mets but with any team that may come along after them.

Should've never opted out of his deal with MIN

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I still think the Giants and Mets are being a little slimy in this deal with Correa. They both were and have paid guys just as old or slightly older than Correa big long term deals like those guys won't break down at the end of those contracts.

All it is is Correa has an injury history they think they can take advantage of to get a lower deal. They can be frustrated all they want, but signing 29-31 year olds to 8-10 year deals and not expect them to break down at the end doesn't exactly jive with their concerns with Correa.

Hell, the Mets willingly paid a guy at 41 one year removed of TJ in a 6 man rotation $45/M for 2 years.

They've caused Correa to lose a ton of leverage and he should be pissed.

However, I still think he should take the largest AAV for 6-7 years and play with a chip on his shoulder.

The Mets are still paying Ronnie Cano $24MM not to play all because they signed him to a 10!year contract when he was 30 and he got caught using PED. Twice.

Their attention to details in contract negotiations are not exactly top notch.

It's cause once the physical news got leaked, insuring correas deal became almost impossible. Maybe it was before the leak. I think lawsuits are coming… gonna get messy

And correa is a perfect addition to our team. He's a rotating utility. If everyone is healthy in the playoffs he plays 2B and Altuve is DH.

He's the perfect hedge against injuries and gives ability to give guys days off once a week.

He won't do that but it would be a major plus for our team facing a 162 game season. Of course if he himself is healthy which is the biggest concern

I don't know for sure because I don't know what the medical reports say and what it is they're concerned with.

But I gotta think there's some legitimacy to it when 2 teams back out.

My initial thought when the Giants backed out was them being slimy but now the Mets are doing the same thing. And yeah the Mets aren't ones to sit back and try find ways to skimp on the contracts they give out.

But yeah either way he's losing a ton of money on top of having no where to play.

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My initial thought when the Giants backed out was them being slimy but now the Mets are doing the same thing. And yeah the Mets aren't ones to sit back and try find ways to skimp on the contracts they give out.

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I could easily see a team agreeing to it and then saying "well know that we have seen it all" in hopes that he is desperate and will sign anyway. Every team he talks with will now do this no matter how bad the ankle truly is.

CC and Boras simply don't want to acknowledge the obvious. His value is now diminished on a long term deal and it's not going to return. An arthritic condition on a mobile joint is a big deal, whether they like it or not.

I don't think it's "slimy" to back out (during the "option" period) of a long-term commitment that you've paid top dollar for with someone who, after due diligence, it turns out may not be able to keep that commitment. It's no different that buying a house and backing out after inspection. It doesn't matter if you are the 2nd or even buyer to do the same and it doesn't matter if you have seen the previous inspection. You want your guys to look at him and make their own determination. I'm sure that the Mets' hope was that the Giants just got buyers remorse and that whatever they found was not serious enough for their deep pockets to be afraid of. I doubt they went into it looking to be slimy and leverage that situation into a better contract leaving Carlos with a bad taste in his mouth. Like others have said, it's not like they are afraid to throw money around.

With a condition that can't be remedied, you get to a point when you're selling a property where you lower the price to reflect the defect(s) and the buyer agrees to waive inspection and buy "as is". If we get to a 3rd team making an offer, it's Boras' job to be transparent about what the issues are and agree to a contract that a team enters into with its eyes wide open and takes Correa's potential health issues into consideration. Provided no new issues come up in the 3rd team's medical exam, then it would be slimy to back out.

What was the Astros offer that CC declined?

5/160