Not close to panic level yet, but allow me to dip my toe into the waters of concern. The Montero deal seems very Dusty-influenced. Guessing he could have gotten 3/$34 elsewhere but we've never been the team to give a three year deal to a RP for their age 32-34 seasons. A little off brand.

With that said, we obviously tapped into something with him this year and maybe there's more.

um, er, 3 years for Montero?

that does not bode well for an upgrade at first base...especially if JV re-signs.

maybe Dusty is the new GM.

I hope the financial side is making enough sense for Crane to go into luxury tax land

W said:

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um, er, 3 years for Montero?

that does not bode well for an upgrade at first base...especially if JV re-signs.

maybe Dusty is the new GM.

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Crane knows he has a 2 year window. He he gonna be super aggressive in hopes that we can grab one more title and he will be the captain of one of the greatest 10 year stretches of baseball all time

Still trying to figure out what's not to like about bringing back the top reliever on the market on a fair short term deal.

Don't know about you guys, but I remember losing to the Royals in the playoffs because of a crappy bullpen. Sign me up for a great bullpen any day of the week please.

12law said:

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Don't know about you guys, but I remember losing to the Royals in the playoffs because of a crappy bullpen. Sign me up for a great bullpen any day of the week please.

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I remember it also being a SS that made an error

agproducer said:

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to sportrac, the Astros with estimated arbitratuon and the Montero deal are at $178. The luxury tax this year is at $233. That gives us 45-50 to play with. I don't think this prevents us from signing JV or a 1B, especially if they defer some money. Keep in mind, the Astros are still on the hook for Baez and ZG this year.

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Addressing a few comments, not just the person I'm replying to

What makes you assume we'll go anywhere near the tax limit? Crane only did it once ever and that was due to the ZG trade. I hope we spend and build the best team ever, but we can't assume anything yet.

This Montero deal is very puzzling. It might work out, but in no way is it "value". Show me another team paying a set up man 30+. His deal is now larger than Pressly is Pressly doesn't vest.

Why is the window 2 years? We have Alvarez, Tucker, McCullers, Framber, Javier, Pena, Urquidy, Garcia, Abreu, all locked up longer plus an ASS load of money coming off the books.

RC_57 said:

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Just curious

As I'm not as seasoned and learned on baseball as a number on this board are, what's the predominant feeling about our batting coach? Isn't I he the same one once since at least last year?

The bats went cold last post season and for long stretches during the season. And pretty much a repeat this year.
So should they also be looking for a new batting coach?

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What people on here forget is that in the playoffs you typically aren't seeing the #4 and 5 starters, or the back end of the bullpen. You are seeing a much higher concentration of good pitching so hitting will always dip. It's why guys like judge are terrible in the postseason when they can't feast off backend starters and relievers.

That sounds like a leak from his agent to drive up the price for Arlington.

All I do is Nguyen said:

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Do we let JV walk for DeGrom?

Sources: Jacob deGrom has made it clear his preference is to play for the #Rangers or #Astros. Unknown if #Astros have mutual interest.

— Jack Rose (@jrosemln) November 12, 2022

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Montero and his periodic lack of control makes me nervous…which makes me nervous about this deal. Hope it works out.

for a setup man...I would consider a 1 or 2-year deal to be a "short" contract

3 years feels "medium" in length

W said:

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for a setup man...I would consider a 1 or 2-year deal to be a "short" contract

3 years feels "medium" in length

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There are only 10 relievers with 4-5 year deals. 6 with 3 year deals. This is a very significant investment.

As of now we're only 2nd to the White Sox in bullpen spend. Mets May pass a up though.

Astros fans in season: "I only trust 2 or 3 arms in the bullpen"

Astros fans in off-season: "WHY ARE WE SPENDING THIS MUCH MONEY ON THE BULLPEN!!!!"

AggiEE said:

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kegstand said:

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Giving a journeyman reliever a 3 year contract coming off a career year is…interesting

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Yeah…I worry that Montero just had an outlier year….

I am not sure his stuff is that good, just managed to get a bit lucky…. He got into some big jams in the postseason

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Walks is his only major flaw. He's got great velo, extension, fastball spin, and a rare true 4 pitch mix.

CFTXAG10 said:

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Astros fans in season: "I only trust 2 or 3 arms in the bullpen"

Astros fans in off-season: "WHY ARE WE SPENDING THIS MUCH MONEY ON THE BULLPEN!!!!"

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People just want to bttch.

Jose Abreu is a free agent.

We have Tuve and Bregs under contract for 2 more years. No guarantee either will be here moving forward. Strike while the iron is hot. The balance of power in the AL is shifting behind us. We need to commit heavily to the next couple of years and try and grab another title. Mccullers is a health question mark every year moving forward. We need the pitching.

MAROON said:

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Not upset with the Montero deal. Elite bull pen is a great advantage.

From what I've heard JV wants a monster contract. If that is the case I think we ride with our other six starters and use that cash to upgrade the offense.

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I REALLY hate giving up on JV but if he wants a monster deal at 39 coming off TJ where he was one or two pitches away from being 0-7 in the World Series I guess we have to let him go.

I'd love for him to get a ton more hardware with us but if he can't see that this is BY FAR the best situation for him I guess we wish him the best and tell him to ask Correa how life has been post Astros.