Astros will have a few lefty relievers in camp: Gage, Austin Davis, Parker Mushinski, Blake Taylor. https://t.co/bPql9G7jJM

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 13, 2023

Once you get one lefty, you want to get two

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 13, 2023

Even adding 1 lefty to the bullpen, we're gonna have a roster crunch out there. I wonder if we'll try to trade someone away for prospects

Ag_07 said:

---

It's a BS beer league softball rule that has no place in the professional game.

---

Maybe the players can start drinking during the 10th?

PrestigeWorldwideAg12 said:

---

Ag_07 said:

---

It's a BS beer league softball rule that has no place in the professional game.

---

Maybe the players can start drinking during the 10th?

---

some start before the game is over with

MLB will also have new rules for when position players can pitch, per @JesseRogersESPN.

Position players can only pitch when:
• leading team is up by 10+ runs in 9th inning
• trailing team is down by 8+ runs anytime
• the game goes into extra innings pic.twitter.com/QVHTgmrZKN

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) February 13, 2023

Ag_07 said:

---

It's a BS beer league softball rule that has no place in the professional game.

---

Probably 90% of the people that starred your response said the same thing about the DH before the Astros moved to the AL.

Trying to be objective about the sign stealing stuff--yes, it seems like multiple teams were doing it. Most of the winning teams probably were, if not every team. Enough tweets/interviews/tell all books have implied or outright stated so at this point.

The reason the Astros got put under the spotlight was the Fiers quotes in the Athletic article detailing the trash can bangs, coupled with the fact that it was very obvious to anyone with an MLB.TV subscription and decent speakers. Suddenly, every middle aged fan of any non-Astros team could be an internet sleuth and point out every time it happened.

I think the Astros got what amounted to a pretty mild punishment due to the fact that once the Fiers story broke, it MLB couldn't claim ignorance any longer. I have no doubts the commissioners office knew about the Astros/Red Sox/Yankees/et al allegations, and didn't really care unit it had to.

Ag_07 said:

---

FredMc92 said:

---

Ag_07 said:

---

It's a BS beer league softball rule that has no place in the professional game.

---

Probably 90% of the people that starred your response said the same thing about the DH before the Astros moved to the AL.

---

The DH isn't changing the way the game is played after XX amount of innings.

Ok so for 9 innings the rules of the game are this. But after that then we're gonna play it like this.

It's completely asinine.

---

Don't want to play the game that way, win the game in 9 innings. This is not something that is new to sports with shootouts in soccer/hockey that is totally different than the regular game. Hell in College Football, both teams automatically get the ball at the 25 in OT.

I know some of you will lay claim to being a baseball purist, and say that baseball is different, but I ask you, is it? With the DH, steroids, mickey mouse home run fences, lowering the mound and shrinking the strike zone in '69, sorry that argument doesn't hold water to me. This game has changed drastically over time, and it will continue to do so.

In my opinion, this is something that IMO makes regular season games more interesting and is better for the average fan not sitting through an 18 inning regular season game where 8 of the last 9 innings had nothing going on.

We can certainly agree to disagree on what is best for the game and I can appreciate the point of view of not changing it because those long games can be some of the most memorable games.

loma_vista78 said:

---

I have come around on the ghost runner rule. Nobody cares about an 18 inning Tuesday night game and it ruins your teams bullpen for 3-4 days after

---

doesn't necessarily ruin your bullpen...if the starter goes 7 or 8 innings.

if the starter only going 5 innings...it will ruin your bullpen in extras...even if it's only 10 or 11 innings

Ag_07 said:

---

The average fan isn't watching an extra inning game on a random Tuesday night against the Royals.

This rule has absolutely nothing to do with making games interesting and making it better on fans.

---

lmao ... your statements have no basis in fact.

The Average fan isn't watching an Astros-Royals game on a Tuesday that goes to extras? I know lots of average fans that would happen to be watching any random game. Sure not every game, but I'll bet there are more "average" fans watching than there are true die-hards.

Like it or not, MLB sees value in getting games done with in a timely manner, "making it better on fans", and this rule certainly does that. To argue otherwise is just burying your head in the sand just because you don't like the rule.

Ag_07 said:

---

I have two issues with the rule is that

1) It' so drastically different than how the previous 9 innings were played
2) A pitcher can come into the game and literally do his job and get 3 up and 3 down and his team lose

That's insane to me

---

#2 is my main issue.

Curious how they treat it statistically? I'm guessing it's just like an inherited runner from a previous pitcher, but if that run scores it isn't assigned to anybody?

Yes, the Red Sox got off with damn near nothing. But when many "journalist" and joe average sports fan were all calling for the Astros to be stripped of the WS title, and players to be suspended and/or banned, and the whole city of Houston to have sulfur rained down on it by God, I think it was relatively mild.

5M dollar fine? Crane's literally a billionaire. The franchise is worth 2B.
The draft picks lost were (or at least could be) painful
Manager, GM, and bench coach suspension? A few heads had to roll. Sucks they were the sacrificial lambs. I don't think the results since the 2020 season would change if Hinch was still the coach, or if Luhnow was still the GM. Cora was already with the Sox when the scandal broke.

When you look at the Astro's results post punishment (Lost 4-3 in 2020 ALCS, 2021 ALCS winner, 2022 WS winner), I can't honestly say the punishment has been severe. More harsh than the Red Sox and Yankees--of course. But overall, it hasn't really impacted the results in any way I can see right now. I guess we'll see in the 2025 and 2026 season if the draft pick punishment impacts the team then.

Just for the record, I do think the Astro's punishment was bs and the franchise was made to be the scapegoat in the media and the court of public opinion, but the penalties, at least so far, has been much ado about nothing.

Extra inning rules should be BananaBall.

The Porkchop Express said:

---

Bag said:

---

Bag said:

---

Ag_07 said:

---

It's a BS beer league softball rule that has no place in the professional game.

---

agree 100%

---

would rather start each batter off with a 2-0 count than this stick ball bs

---

i want the rule to be that the last batter out starts out on third, but he has to run home either stealing home or on a hit and run in the first 3 pitches of the inning.

Also, any fielder who makes an error has to leave the field and cannot be replaced, like a red card in soccer.

Also, if the game gets to the 15th inning, your pitching coach has to pitch until the game is over, your first base coach is the runner on second, and the third base coach leads off the inning.

If the game gets to 20 innings, each team gets to pick one guy from the other team. They each have to run around the bases as fast as they can, and whoever makes it to home fastest, his team wins.

---

I mean all the coaches dress in a full uni like they're gonna play anyways, might as well get some dirt on those jerseys

SOURCE: Framber Valdez could sign extension with Astros by Opening Day. According to a person close to the talks, he's looking for a contract of $150 million and up.@z101digital @ZDeportes pic.twitter.com/z4CU7UfrMU

— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) February 14, 2023

Boras is leaking stuff (edit I think boras is his agent)

How would a 150 M deal work? My guess would be 3 years of arb plus another 4-5 years.

Assuming ~35 M in arb years that's either 4/115 (28.75) or 5/115 (23).

This is probably too rich for my blood for someone for ages 30-36/7. I would prefer something more like 6/116. That's more like a 3/81 extension. (Same AAV as Rodon)

The Astros and Framber Valdez have had no negotiations about a long-term extension, his agent said on Tuesday morning, calling a report of Valdez signing before opening day for at least $150 million "absolutely 100 percent made up information.” - https://t.co/Qs9cHSIDwt

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) February 14, 2023

Quote:

---

A report from the Dominican Republic, which cited one anonymous source, suggested Valdez is seeking a deal of at least $150 million and could sign before opening day. Cabrera called the report "absolutely 100 percent made up information."

"That is 1,000 percent categorically false," Cabrera said on Tuesday morning. "I haven't even had a conversation with (general manager Dana Brown) with respect to Framber Valdez. There are no negotiations. Whatever conversations that do exist will not be handled in the press."

"Framber, as of right now, has won two World Series games and won a ring last year," Cabrera said. "All he knows is Houston. He likes Houston. Whatever conversation (happens) beyond that is something we'll address if necessary. Until then, there's no use in speculating."

---

That's kind of disappointing, but also a relief because 150 M for Framber age 32+ isn't ideal.

I wonder if the option was Javier or Framber and not both.

Farmer1906 said:

---

That's kind of disappointing, but also a relief because 150 M for Framber age 32+ isn't ideal.

I wonder if the option was Javier or Framber and not both.

---

Like you said in your earlier post, the 4/$115 implied tack-on isn't enough of a value price to justify us pulling the trigger on that right now. I'd rather just roll the dice, gauge his value after 2025 and see if he can be signed for something similar.

"Worst case scenario" is he piles up Cy Youngs between now and then and gets too rich for our blood. But I'd be ok "settling" for that scenario because if that's the case, we're going to be very hard to beat the next few years.

There's also probably something to be said for seeing how he fares this year as a ground ball pitcher sans shifts before committing a mega extension.

I'd be fine tacking on two years (through his age 33 season). Maybe three years if the money is right. Like we discussed a few days ago, we gave LMJ through his 32 season and he had/has more mileage.

One other idea I've been thinking about (if Framber really wants a mega deal) is to go ahead and plan for him to leave after 2025. Over the next couple years, get extensions locked-in for Garcia, Urquidy and Abreu at roughly the same cumulative price. Hopefully by the end of 2025, someone in the farm has emerged to plug and play Framber's spot.