And it's starting to look like we're skipping a Gray start.

So add that to the "lets hope there's nothing more to this" pile.

Hitting .180 this year.

South Platte said:

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Tobias Funke said:

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What is it about Houston that makes fans of their teams so insecure and obnoxious? It's like the youngest child of every Texas family moved there and went all in on talking ****

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Having lived in several different metro areas, it's just a really weak and frustrated sports town. The Dallas Cowboys' success (and attention) created a permanent wound on the city's fanbase. The Rockets had a brief summit in the 1990's and had some good teams recently, but nobody really believed it could be sustained. The teams don't create a lasting relationship with the fanbase, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Texans eventually left Houston.

The fanbase only supports teams that win at a considerable rate, which is why the Astros' run has generated so much pride. These Astros teams have taken on MLB's best and won. They relish villain status and the players don't crater like all the other Oilers, Rockets, Texans, and Astros teams used to.

Let this pathetic town have their 1 team. We'll have to listen to it until we punch back with our own title.

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I wouldn't say great unless they only care about '23. All he has to do is pitch 140 innings next year and they have him for '25 as well. It was a very good move for '23

Not real sure what to make of the Hedges deal. On one hand it's a depth move which would seem to signal Heim may very well be on the shelf for a while. On the other hand, it's a catcher with zero offensive skills so surely that wouldn't be the answer.

The return for the Pirates was international pool money https://t.co/QWNoHXOumP

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) August 1, 2023

Not a bad deal in my opinion.

South Platte said:

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Tobias Funke said:

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What is it about Houston that makes fans of their teams so insecure and obnoxious? It's like the youngest child of every Texas family moved there and went all in on talking ****

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Having lived in several different metro areas, it's just a really weak and frustrated sports town. The Dallas Cowboys' success (and attention) created a permanent wound on the city's fanbase. The Rockets had a brief summit in the 1990's and had some good teams recently, but nobody really believed it could be sustained. The teams don't create a lasting relationship with the fanbase, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Texans eventually left Houston.

The fanbase only supports teams that win at a considerable rate, which is why the Astros' run has generated so much pride. These Astros teams have taken on MLB's best and won. They relish villain status and the players don't crater like all the other Oilers, Rockets, Texans, and Astros teams used to.

Let this pathetic town have their 1 team. We'll have to listen to it until we punch back with our own title.

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don't forget those WNBA championships!!!!

Per Evan Grant from earlier today:

Quote:

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--Austin Hedges of Pittsburgh grades out this year as the best receiver in the game. According to MLB's Statcast system, he's saved 10 runs behind the plate, three more than Heim (who ranks third). Hedges is a veteran who is solid at guiding a staff and excellent at calling games. Offensively, he's a non-factor. He's a career .569 OPS guy; over the last three seasons it's below .500. He's not going to solve the offensive issues, but, then again, the Rangers will solve a lot of those if Corey Seager returns to the lineup this week. He's a backup in Pittsburgh, free at the end of this year and, you would think, easily available. Of course, if the Rangers decide to consider any more bullpen arms, it could make doing a deal a bit more complicated.

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rbtexan said:

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Tough call. If I remember correctly, he's under contract through '26, and is 33. Not a great message to send to Heim IMO, but definitely a huge upgrade from Garver.

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I think that is something you can message to Heim and Perez.

2023, Perez has been C (69), DH (26), 1B (2). He has been averaging about 40G/Season at DH.
Heim has gone C (84), DH (7).

I'm wanting a Catcher to go no more than 110G behind the plate. I think if you gave Heim 100-110 G @ C, that'd extend his life at C.

DallasAg 94 said:

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rbtexan said:

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Tough call. If I remember correctly, he's under contract through '26, and is 33. Not a great message to send to Heim IMO, but definitely a huge upgrade from Garver.

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I think that is something you can message to Heim and Perez.

2023, Perez has been C (69), DH (26), 1B (2). He has been averaging about 40G/Season at DH.
Heim has gone C (84), DH (7).

I'm wanting a Catcher to go no more than 110G behind the plate. I think if you gave Heim 100-110 G @ C, that'd extend his life at C.

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Non factor now. We got our catcher in Hedges.

Shocked we haven't picked up another reliever yet. Hope they're working on something.

gigem1223 said:

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Shocked we haven't picked up another reliever yet. Hope they're working on something.

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They better work quickly. Deadline is in 2 minutes.

Come on Clase!

gigem1223 said:

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He's an excellent defensive catcher. I bet we see him catch 60% of the time with Garver being more DH.

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This is what I think. Good receiving really helped this staff, and I think part of their issue from the past week was lousy receiving

Deadline has passed correct?

PatriotAg02 said:

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Deadline has passed correct?

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Yes but doesn't mean something hasn't happened.

PatriotAg02 said:

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Deadline has passed correct?

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Yes, but several deals across the league, and hopefully for us too will be revealed in the next 30-40 minutes.

Praying for a reliever somehow

Flaherty to O's.

Solid get for them, but he too is really going to have to figure it out again.

Dwb22 said:

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Praying for a reliever somehow

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Why? We've essentially added 3 relievers (and possibly 4 depending on Eovaldi) to our 'pen already.

I wanted another bat in here.

Honestly, we put ourselves in about as good a position as we could have. I think we made our team better than most counterparts in the AL. 2 starters, 2 relievers, and a defensive catcher. Would have liked another bat, but we just got to hope and pray that Seager comes back soon and Duran and Taveras get back to their hitting ways.

I've written off Heim coming back and close to writing off Eovaldi too.

A reminder... the idea of "Revocable Waivers" went away 5 years ago. It used to be, you could dangle a player on Waivers after the deadline and if you struck a deal could trade to the claiming team... OR... pull them back and revoke the waiver and keep the player.

What about DFAs?

The Yankees took Spencer Howard off our hands for what I'd assume to be cash considerations.

Correct

Yankees Acquire Spencer Howard https://t.co/laKCPRzAZu

— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) August 1, 2023

dvldog said:

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Proposition Joe said:

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Not real sure what to make of the Hedges deal. On one hand it's a depth move which would seem to signal Heim may very well be on the shelf for a while. On the other hand, it's a catcher with zero offensive skills so surely that wouldn't be the answer.

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It has to be based on how horrible defensively Garver/Huff have been.

Per EG:

Quote:

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Austin Hedges of Pittsburgh grades out this year as the best receiver in the game. According to MLB's Statcast system, he's saved 10 runs behind the plate, three more than Heim (who ranks third). Hedges is a veteran who is solid at guiding a staff and excellent at calling games. Offensively, he's a non-factor. He's a career .569 OPS guy; over the last three seasons it's below .500. He's not going to solve the offensive issues, but, then again, the Rangers will solve a lot of those if Corey Seager returns to the lineup this week.

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I hate how they word that "non factor". His pathetic hitting is a factor. If he bats 60 times and only hits 10 times, there will be runs that won't score. Probably more runs than he would save with his defense.