Ag_07 said:

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I think there needs to be a deep dive into the home/road splits. Like unleash the nerds type of deep dive.

They've got to figure out why it's been a reoccurring issue and how to fix it.

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I dont think there is any doubt that the last 2 months of the season it was mental.

This team needs individual and group therapy in a bad way. There are a lot of head cases on this roster. Hopefully a fresh start with a new manager cures some of that.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good:
Altuve's return, 2K and playoff success
Dubon's emergence as more than dependable utility guy
Chas taking the next step
Diaz giving us some life behind home plate
Yordon Yordonging in the playoffs
Tucker, Bryan Abreu and Neris regular seasons
1st half pitching and the no-no
Abreu's last month and playoffs
The Frenchman keeping the pitching staff afloat
JV coming back

The Bad:
Dusty falling back on old coaching habits, veteran nepotism, pitching mismanagement and rookie mismanagement
Javier's regular season
2nd half pitching
Yordan injuries accumulating
Maldy

The Ugly:
Jim Crane's off-season
Last 30 home games
Jose Abreu until September
Montero
Hunter Brown, Framber and Pena's second halfs
Tucker in the playoffs

mAgnoliAg said:

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So it begins with a quote from premium:

"Agree. I am disappointed oye Astros couldn't win it at home. Congrats to the Rangers. Keep the World Series trophy in Texas. Let's Go Rangers!"

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Pathetic hope they get swept

2017 Marwin was really good. Like All Star level good. Dubon ain't that. He's probably good enough to start some places but he'll be 30 next season. He's KT some young guy trying to take the next step. I think back up INF & OF (mainly vs LHP) is his best role moving forward. He should not be anywhere near 500 PA.

Farmer1906 said:

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2017 Marwin was really good. Like All Star level good. Dubon ain't that. He's probably good enough to start some places but he'll be 30 next season. He's KT some young guy trying to take the next step. I think back up INF & OF (mainly vs LHP) is his best role moving forward. He should not be anywhere near 500 PA.

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Wasn't 2017 Marwin cheating his ass off with the trash can? I thought I remembered seeing him using it the most of all players

Boiling Denim said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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2017 Marwin was really good. Like All Star level good. Dubon ain't that. He's probably good enough to start some places but he'll be 30 next season. He's KT some young guy trying to take the next step. I think back up INF & OF (mainly vs LHP) is his best role moving forward. He should not be anywhere near 500 PA.

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Wasn't 2017 Marwin cheating his ass off with the trash can? I thought I remembered seeing him using it the most of all players

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Yup. Cheating Marwin was excellent.

07ag said:

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bodaciousbood14 said:

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wangus12 said:

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Agreed. Playoff teams being swept at home has only happened twice. Both times to the Astros in the last 5 years. Have to solve the MMP issue. Burn it down if you have to

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MMP is 15th on the list of oldest ballparks, after our run this last decade, are there not even whispers about potentially building a new stadium?

Other than the Trop, which is Tampa's first stadium that they still play in, we have the second-fewest ballparks.

Fun fact: Altuve is 31 home homeruns away from becoming the leader in MMP over Berkman who has 157.

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https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/Astros-extend-Minute-Maid-Park-lease-through-2050-13060770.php

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Crane has done a decent job at keeping MMP up to date. It's a well designed park and as long as money keeps flowing in for upkeep and renovations, I don't see why MMP can't be around for a long time.

After sleeping on it, I'm surprisingly at peace. Extremely frustrated.. but at peace.

Things are damn good when falling a game short of the World Series feels like a catastrophic failure.

We're not far from winning another championship. A couple good offseason moves, a new manager and some better fortune next season and we're right there once again.

It's extremely difficult to win a World Series. We've had such a great run of not only excellent teams, but also great luck as well. I hate to say it, but we were sort of due for a season like this. And we still got so damn close.

I know it doesn't make it better but I think it's important to keep things in perspective.

This thread is so fun and I love interacting with you guys throughout the season. As far as the off-season goes... here's what I've been told as of a week or so ago. Again, this is just what I'm told.

• Josh Hader will be the number one target in free agency
• If we miss on Hader, we're still willing to spend big to beef up the bullpen
• They want to add a veteran innings eater to the rotation. We've seen how important that type of guy is.
• The managerial search will begin right away. No known frontrunners but Joe Espada and Alex Cintron will likely be in the running. Dana Brown will have a list of his own guys as well which has been speculated to include Walt Weiss.
• The Astros have discussed a role on the staff with Maldonado. I previously said it's been offered to him, but I've heard two different things (one said it's been offered and the other said it's being discussed) so I don't want to be definitive here. I'm not sure what position- but he's very analytically advanced and it wouldn't surprise me if it's some sort of hybrid role where he works behind the scenes and also with the pitchers and catchers on a day-to-day basis.
• Expect a couple additions to the front office- primarily in the scouting/R&D departments.

Obviously things can change but that's where things seem to be right now.

Hey man, just want to say, I really appreciate your insight.

bearkatag15 said:

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Everyone is saying Espada is the likely next guy up if an internal hire is made to replace Dusty, but 2015 and others I've talked to say Cintron is more likely.

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I don't think he's more likely. I do think he'll get serious consideration if we're keeping the conversation limited to internal candidates. I'm trying to get a feel for which direction they want to go.

Dusty and Dana didn't see eye to eye at all and that's why I believe Dana will play a huge role in the managerial search.

The rangers got hot at the right time. We worked magic to win the Division, pants'd the twins, and then did our typical Home game swoon as if on cue.

The Rangers took advantage of everything. At Minute Maid park they batted .352 with RISP (13-37), we batted .138 (4-29). They had more than 3x the hits with runners in scoring position than we did. How they hell can you win a series like that when you get 4 hits with RISP in 4 home games?

Read that again, 4 hits with runners in scoring position by the Astros at MMP in the ALCS.

Your contributions on this thread are greatly appreciated!

Enough with the tip of the hat posts from Astros fans

Hope they lose and come back to an empty WS trophy case year after year

Quote:

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The Astros have discussed a role on the staff with Maldonado.

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Does Maldy have incriminating pictures of crane or something? Every pitcher that threw to him got worse. Anyone involved in pitching coaches probably needs to be gone honestly, complete regression across the whole staff.

Aggie Therapist said:

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Enough with the tip of the hat posts from Astros fans

Hope they lose and come back to an empty WS trophy case year after year

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Agree, I am an Astros fan, indifferent at best at this point.

texasaggie2015 said:

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The Astros have discussed a role on the staff with Maldonado. I previously said it's been offered to him, but I've heard two different things (one said it's been offered and the other said it's being discussed) so I don't want to be definitive here. I'm not sure what position- but he's very analytically advanced and it wouldn't surprise me if it's some sort of hybrid role where he works behind the scenes and also with the pitchers and catchers on a day-to-day basis.

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I haven't gotten the vibe that Maldy thinks his playing days are over. If he wants to play next year, he'll find a job... even if it's just a timeshare or backup role.

If he does to hang it up and retire, I have my doubts whether he'd want to just jump back into the 162 grind as a coach/analyst without taking a year or two off. Who knows though.

I don't doubt that our front office wants him back in the dugout next year in some capacity and there's almost certainly a contingent that prefers it be in a coach/analyst capacity (as opposed to catching). So I'm not doubting your info. It's just ultimately up to Maldy.

To me, the more interesting question is what our reaction would be if he still wants to play. I know I'm in the minority on this board, I'd love to have him back as a 50-60 game per year backup to Diaz. JV personal catcher (who will stump for him to be back if he wants to play).

It seemed like most people's issue with Maldy wasn't that he existed on the team, it was the strange allocation of playing time between him and Diaz throughout the regular season. A new manager and upfront alignment of expectations can resolve that.

No more personal catcher. That's all bull****

Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

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Quote:

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The Astros have discussed a role on the staff with Maldonado.

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Does Maldy have incriminating pictures of crane or something? Every pitcher that threw to him got worse. Anyone involved in pitching coaches probably needs to be gone honestly, complete regression across the whole staff.

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I don't think that has anything to do with Maldonado. It has more to do with guys like Javier pitching more innings than they ever have in their life and Framber just not having it. Plus injuries to LMJ and Garcia

The blame on Maldonado is a bit of a reach IMO. And trust me.. I'm just as tired of him as everyone else.

Losing last night certainly sucked But I'm already counting the days to next season. Yanier as full time catcher, new manager, and a few other new FA additions. Add in another full year of JV. There's a sense (by non-Astros fans) that the Rangers put an end to our run. LOL - not even close.