Going to Thundercat/Strokes/RHCP tomorrow at MMP. Anyone that's been to a concert there, are all or most of the food concessions open? Was hoping to hit up the Elote and Pupusas before the show starts.

Only done club level for concerts. Most food options are there but not sure about main level. Just remember all the outfield consessions are closed off.

Make sure to get there early for Thundercat, he is a great opener! The Strokes and Peppers are always solid, saw their show in San Antonio last week and it was a blast.

W said:

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it sounds crazy...

but if the Astros are looking for a 1st baseman at the trade deadline...

they need to find a rental player from a non-contending team (i.e. low cost to acquire)

get the Marlins on line one...we have a match

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The guy that went 4-4 today and is batting .291 on the year? He's essentially having a 2017/2018 type year for himself. Albeit in less games.

Can someone please help me remember a more disappointing buzz worthy free agent acquisition for the Astros? I am sure one exists but the sting of how horrible Abreu has been must be clouding my memory.

I don't think there's been a big splash FA signing since the Drayton days come to think of it. I started to say Gerrit Cole but he was an offseason trade.

It's just amazing how incredibly worse Abreu has been than anyone else at the position. Especially for the money. He was one of the big 3 free agent 1B on the market, along with Rizzo and Bell. We were supposedly in the hunt for all of them, at least for a short time (no idea how real the Rizzo interest was). In the end, we decided to pay Abreu more than the others.

Here is just some fun with numbers:

Rizzo (age 33) - 17 million, 157 wRC+, .533 slug, 1.8 war, 11 home runs
Bell (age 30) - 16.5 million, 98 wRC+, .348 slug, 0.0 war, 3 home runs
Mancini (age 31) - 7 million, 89 wRC+, .353 slug, -0.2 war, 3 home runs
Yuli (age ~39) 1.25 million, 90 wRC+, 384 slug, 0.0 war, 3 home runs

some guy named Dominic Smith who the Nationals signed for 1 year
(age 28) - 2 million, 91 wRC+, .309 slugh, -0.1 war, 1 home run

Abreu (age 36 allegedly) 19.5 million, 52 wRC+, .260 slug, -1.0 war, 0 home runs.

Josh Bell looks like it could have been a bad signing with those numbers, and we'd all jump for joy if Abreu came anywhere f-cking close to it.

Recently no, because the front office didnt sign big name FAs. We would bring up talent or sign guys to fill holes. Not throw big money at a FA or a set up man coming off a career year. Tony sipp maybe? That was years ago.

Agree. That's probably why I am having such a hard time remembering - it's been 12-15 years since a similar type of signing and who knows how much longer since one was truly a bust.

Technically didn't we re-sign Verlander as a free agent? That counts as a splash, no?

speaking of Trey Mancini...

he might have been a trade deadline target for the Astros...

but he signed a 2-year contract with the Cubs.

it's not going to be easy...finding a decent first baseman on a bad team

Brian McCann
Reddick

Not real big names but that's about as big name as it gets besides JV.

Jim Clancey

Miller Time continues to absolutely deal!

Bryce Miller's first 5 MLB starts:
🔥 6 innings, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 run
🔥 6 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs
🔥 7 innings, 3 hits, 0 walks, 0 runs
🔥 6.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 3 runs
🔥 6 innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs

It's totally insane. pic.twitter.com/LdwuXT8aP2

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 25, 2023

the Mariners are whipping the A's

outscored them 20-5 in the series so far

going for the 4-game sweep on Thursday

Odo was a little disappointing, but at least had his moments.

Carlos Gomez was a trade, but was was pretty terrible. Also got The Rat in that trade. Gave up Josh Hader and Adrian Houser for those scrubs, too.

Carlos Lee is about the worst position player FA signing I can think of, pre-Abreu.

I think the solution, at least for this season is to teach Dubon to play 1B once Altuve comes back.

I thought about Carlos Lee but at least he hit bombs here.

Lee made an All Star team while in Houston. He wasn't terrible. He was expensive, but not terrible.

It was always his lack of hustle that drove me insane. He produced okay.

Yesterday's Top Batters
Gleyber Torres (2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R)
Zach Neto (3-3, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R)
Yuli Gurriel (4-4, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 SB)
See all of yesterday's batters at: https://t.co/vRCbTY9stN

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) May 25, 2023

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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Can someone please help me remember a more disappointing buzz worthy free agent acquisition for the Astros? I am sure one exists but the sting of how horrible Abreu has been must be clouding my memory.

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When Drayton McLane bought the Astros he made a pretty big splash signing Greg Swindell and Doug Drabek. At the time it gave us a lot of hope when we really needed it. Drabek was a disappointment, but Swindell was a disaster. His era the first year was 4.16 and it got worse every year until the Astros finally gave up on him.

But your request to find an example as bad as Abreu sets an impossible hurdle.

McInnis said:

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ttha_aggie_09 said:

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Can someone please help me remember a more disappointing buzz worthy free agent acquisition for the Astros? I am sure one exists but the sting of how horrible Abreu has been must be clouding my memory.

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When Drayton McLane bought the Astros he made a pretty big splash signing Greg Swindell and Doug Drabek. At the time it gave us a lot of hope when we really needed it. Drabek was a disappointment, but Swindell was a disaster. His era the first year was 4.16 and it got worse every year until the Astros finally gave up on him.

But your request to find an example as bad as Abreu sets an impossible hurdle.

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Its not a great comparison, but the JV signing after 2019 was 66 M for 1 start. He delayed his surgery and didn't work to get back more quickly to pitch in the postseason. Obviously, its not apple to apples to compare a pitcher to a position player, but Harper made it back in <6 months. Why couldn't JV make it back in 16 if it meant a shot at a WS?