I think what this stretch has proven if nothing else is how Yordan is this team's MVP.

the top 3 position players by salary:

1. Bregman...$30 MM........OPS .709
2. Altuve.......$29 MM........OPS .731
3. Abreu.......$20 MM........OPS .607

$79 MM in payroll has combined to hit a grand total of 15 home runs...approaching the halfway point of the season.

that's a tough way to do business...as many other teams have discovered in past seasons

If I was going to tell you that the Rangers would go 3-7 in their last ten and we would be playing the Guardians, Nationals and Reds you would've thought for sure we would gain some ground on them.

W said:

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the top 3 position players by salary:

1. Bregman...$30 MM........OPS .709
2. Altuve.......$29 MM........OPS .731
3. Abreu.......$20 MM........OPS .607

$79 MM in payroll has combined to hit a grand total of 15 home runs...approaching the halfway point of the season.

that's a tough way to do business...as many other teams have discovered in past seasons

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That's the issue. Altuve isn't totally fair considering his health, but nevertheless true.

Bregman isn't an all-star. He's an average offensive 3rd baseman (high tier defensive) we count on too much. He goes on high tier caliber streaks that bring his numbers to average because he's awful the other times.

His post season numbers are down from regular season, that makes sense because pitching is better but I feel like he's had so many big moments in the post season that could be forgiven.

Idk, I'm trying to be fair but it seems like we are always talking about Bregman being down, then he goes on week or 4 run that we relax on him. But his downs are down.

He's about to drop below Abreau soon if trends continue.

What would Bregman be worth if he was a free agent?

Chas should ask to be traded. Julks at leadoff? What a joke

redline248 said:

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Chas should ask to be traded. Julks at leadoff? What a joke

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Dusty has Julks batting leadoff??? This should be a fireable offense. In what universe is it a good idea to bat a guy with a terrible OBP leadoff?

Unfortunately Crane picked the wrong side in the offseason and this looks like potential downhill side of the dynasty. I miss the days of just knowing the Astros were the smartest organization in baseball. While sometimes disagreed with decisions, you know they had specific analytical support to back it up and were always looking to improve processes and analysis. It feels like we have gone back in time to just being an old school, gut feel approach.

Julks leading off? This might be the worst one yet. I don't know how much more of this I can take. They always say a team takes on the personality of their coach/manager and we've been seeing it lately. Just lackadaisical play.

Lost two in a row with 0 offense so Dusty waves the white flag today. 37D chess from the Lizard.

Mathguy64 said:

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Lost two in a row with 0 offense so Dusty waves the white flag today. 37D chess from the Lizard.

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I appreciate all the good will Dusty brought to the club after the Lunhow/Hinch/front office moron debacle but we are witnessing first hand why he's been fired from every other talented club he's been at. Every single one of them.

JDUB08AG said:

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Bregman has been on the gravy train since coming up. I'm not trying to rip him because he's been a critical piece of what we've achieved since 2017. But he hasn't really faced any career adversity or have to grind it out in a ****ty team to lock in a contract. No idea if that has anything to do with it, but AB is a very rare situation if you think about it.

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By all accounts, Bregman is the ultimate grinder/baseball junkie. Lives and breathes baseball 24/7, so I think his issue is that those type of personalities are always tinkering with mechanics etc so believe he has ended up tinkering too much and cannot find his way back to old form. Golfers with these type of personalities have similar issues.

Dusty seriously just needs to go

"You know we traded for Ohtani and Trout, but we got guys like Julks who need at bats too. So we are going to rotate those guys around to get them all some time" - Dusty probably

To compound the craptastic idea of Julks leading off, he puts Abreu as DH and Kessinger at first which just robs Diaz an opportunity of playing first tomorrow.

Why does Dusty insist resting Abreu and Maldy on same day just screwing Diaz over.

F/JC this, I ain't watching until I see a lineup I agree with

texasaggie2015 said:

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Julks leading off? This might be the worst one yet. I don't know how much more of this I can take. They always say a team takes on the personality of their coach/manager and we've been seeing it lately. Just lackadaisical play.

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Julks at leadoff is probably the worst of some really bad decisions this season.

Furthermore, I have bit my tongue till now. I watched the "Reggie" special on Amazon Prime a while back and he just preaches about blacks not getting a fair shake in MLB leadership roles. And here we are with a black special assistant to the owner, black GM, black manager leading off a black man who would never lead off on any MLB team because why?

I don't give a f/ck if Dusty is red blue green yellow black or white, he is a f/cking idiot and putting out a sh/t lineup card.

Do better Dusty. I dream of a day when ABs are about the content of their statistics and not the color of their skin.

OMG, you guys were serious- Julks really is batting leadoff.

I have absolutely no words. Just when when you thought Mr. Potato Head could not shove his head up his wrinkly ass any further, he tells Houston fans to hold this beer. I'm stunned.

I have to wonder what Espada thinks of all this. It's getting into negligence territory, malfeasance, dereliction of duty, sabotage, crimes against humanity, whatever the phrase.

MaxPower said:

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This is all Dana's fault. If he put together a roster of 26 all stars Dusty's decisions would be irrelevant.

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Not directed at you, so forgive my frustration seeping through, but what is so damn difficult about writing Jose Altuve's name in the leadoff spot? It's truly the easiest decision Potato Brain has to make outside of making sure his socks match- Altuve 1, Alvarez 4... with one of those not being an option right now.

It's like the free space on a Bingo card. How difficult is this????????

From baseball to politics, I have never been so convinced that mandatory retirement ages are a good thing.