First game you went to: can't remember but likely a Little league appreciation game in the Dome because we got to go on the field pregame.

Most recent game you've been to: 2023 ALCS Game 5

Best game you've been to: 2004 NLCS Game 5. Brandon Backe and Woody Williams both were unhittable. Kent's homer made me think the roof was going to explode.

Worst game you've been to: 2023 ALCS Game 5

Favorite game you've been to: 2022 WS Game 6

Favorite memory: Yordan turning game upside down bomb in person. Got to celebrate a with my son and my boss.

Bonus, favorite sports memory in person not involving the Astros: Katy winning state if high school glory counts, if not comeback vs Ole Miss in 2013

Free agent spending this winter, by team:

Dodgers: $717M
Phillies: $172M
Diamondbacks: $122M
Giants: $113M
Royals: $105M
Cardinals: $99M
Reds: $87M
Tigers: $42.75M
Braves: $30M
Rangers: $26.5M
Mets: $18M
White Sox: $16.75M
Orioles: $13M
Astros: $12M
Brewers: $10.25M
Angels:…

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2023

The tweet is idiotic and misleading. LA didn't spend $700MM this offseason.

Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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They committed to that over the life of the contract. It's like when we said Arlington spend a Billion for a title. It's true because they had to commit to the full length of those deals otherwise they wouldn't have signed.

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Arguing numbers with Mathguy?
Bold strategy, Cotton…

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I'll argue with a brick wall.

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Fat? Check
Old? Check
Brick wall? Bwahahaha

Seriously though they have committed $20MM for 10 years. That's the joke here. The rest is a Bobby Bonilla day payoff. And I don't for a minute thing they will end up making that remaining payment. There will be something else. Maybe he gets a part of the club. Something.

Mathguy64 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Marvin said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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They committed to that over the life of the contract. It's like when we said Arlington spend a Billion for a title. It's true because they had to commit to the full length of those deals otherwise they wouldn't have signed.

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Arguing numbers with Mathguy?
Bold strategy, Cotton…

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I'll argue with a brick wall.

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Fat? Check
Old? Check
Brick wall? Bwahahaha

Seriously though they have committed $20MM for 10 years. That's the joke here. The rest is a Bobby Bonilla day payoff. And I don't for a minute thing they will end up making that remaining payment. There will be something else. Maybe he gets a part of the club. Something.

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Someone posted that according to the CBA they had to start putting that money up within 2 years of the season it was deferred. Since they are just doing an annuity he will se a lot of the money, it just wont cost them the full $70 per year since it is being put up and will grow interest. This is where this contract breaks baseball imo.

1. The annuity + interest makes the contract look crazy when if paid out as normal it may have been 40-45m per year.

2. Since its deferred they get a break on how it counts against their cap and I am guessing they believe there will be a much higher cap when it starts hurting then in the future.

This is just setting up to allow crazy stupid contracts in the next few years.

Although the clause about ownership really does lead to what you are saying about the actual payment changing even though they have to put some up.

One agent in contact with the Astros says club officials are signaling that money is an issue. Under owner Jim Crane, the team has exceeded the threshold only once.

From last week - https://t.co/aeBYP819sx https://t.co/vUASedgJhV

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) December 18, 2023

I could see Eddie Rosario as a low cost corner outfielder. Average bat but a lefty and not a liability on the bases.

Did yall know that not only were Pressly, Abreu, and Neris good enough to close games, but apparently Maton & Stanek have "closer potential"?

Quote:

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2) Phil Maton
Maton has become a valuable part of the Astros' bullpen over the last three seasons as part of the bridge to closer Ryan Pressly. But he's been good enough that on another team without an established closer, he could earn some save opportunities himself.

Not only has the 30-year-old right-hander posted a 3.67 ERA in 162 relief appearances for Houston in the regular season, Maton has also allowed only one run in 18 postseason outings, all while averaging about 10 strikeouts per nine innings. He was particularly effective in 2023, combining high swing-and-miss, strikeout and chase rates with very low exit velocities and hard-hit rates allowed.

The key to Maton's success was his pair of breaking balls: a high-spin curveball that averaged an elite 3,156 rpm, and a "sweeper" slider that averaged 19 inches of horizontal break. Those two pitches accounted for nearly two thirds of Maton's total usage, and for the first time, his curveball, not his fastball, was his most-used pitch.

4) Ryne Stanek
Here's another Astros reliever who could find closer work somewhere else. Unlike Maton, though, Stanek is a power pitcher. His 98 mph fastball comes first, and then he mixes in his high-80s secondary pitches, a splitter and slider that both generated whiff rates of 40% or higher in 2023.

Stanek has had some up-and-down results in Houston -- he had a 1.15 ERA in 2022 and four scoreless postseason outings on the Astros' World Series run, but a 4.09 ERA in 2023 and a rockier playoffs. All that being said, there's no question the 32-year-old has a big enough arm to be an overpowering relief ace, especially if he can figure out how to use that fastball-splitter-slider combo to put a few more hitters away.

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https://www.mlb.com/news/free-agent-relievers-who-could-become-closers-in-2024

from a financial standpoint it would make a **** ton of sense, but not sure I believe that,

Farmer1906 said:

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Money is an issue because we've already spent it. If anyone thought Crane was going to was well into the luxury tax like never before they were mistaken. This is one of the reasons why I was torn on the JV trade. Between getting him, Graveman, and last offseason we used up about 55 M or just under a quarter of the luxury tax payroll.

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There is light at the end of the tunnel.

In 2025 - Between JV, Atuve, Bregman, Pressly, & Graveman we can have as much as 98.5 (83 AAV) come off the books Then in 2026 -between Abreu, Montero, Caratini, Valdez, Tucker, & Urquidy we can have as much as 74 M come off the books. I realize that is a **** ton to replace, but that also leaves room for 2 30 M deals, 3 20 M deals, & 5 10 M deals.

Looks like last night Astros twitter was dropping #s about how much was lost from AT&TSW going under and the Astros/Rockets taking it over.

A person with knowledge of the lack of spending by The @astros shared with me that the team has lost and is losing significant money with their new TV deal.
As shared with me they lost 20 million on the tv deal last year and had to pay out a significant amount of money in…

— Htown Wheelhouse™️2X World Series Champs '17, '22 (@HtownWheelhouse) December 18, 2023

The Astros are losing $73M per year in broadcast rights fees, after leaving ATT SW Sportsnet in November.

With owning their own network with the Rockets, Space City Network, the Astros will most likely only get close to $50M per year from the channel as it starts.

This…

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) December 18, 2023

Farmer1906 said:

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Looks like last night Astros twitter was dropping #s about how much was lost from AT&TSW going under and the Astros/Rockets taking it over.

A person with knowledge of the lack of spending by The @astros shared with me that the team has lost and is losing significant money with their new TV deal.
As shared with me they lost 20 million on the tv deal last year and had to pay out a significant amount of money in…

— Htown Wheelhouse™️2X World Series Champs '17, '22 (@HtownWheelhouse) December 18, 2023

The Astros are losing $73M per year in broadcast rights fees, after leaving ATT SW Sportsnet in November.

With owning their own network with the Rockets, Space City Network, the Astros will most likely only get close to $50M per year from the channel as it starts.

This…

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) December 18, 2023

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Time to bump the ad cost. Seems simple

Astro alert.

https://www.mlbpickle.com/

Farmer1906 said:

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Astro alert.

https://www.mlbpickle.com/

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took 4 guesses

All I do is Nguyen said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Astro alert.

https://www.mlbpickle.com/

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took 4 guesses

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Same. It messed me up when I guessed France and it didn't turn green for SP so I eliminated Brown from the pool I was guessing from.

Mr.Bond said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Looks like last night Astros twitter was dropping #s about how much was lost from AT&TSW going under and the Astros/Rockets taking it over.

A person with knowledge of the lack of spending by The @astros shared with me that the team has lost and is losing significant money with their new TV deal.
As shared with me they lost 20 million on the tv deal last year and had to pay out a significant amount of money in…

— Htown Wheelhouse™️2X World Series Champs '17, '22 (@HtownWheelhouse) December 18, 2023

The Astros are losing $73M per year in broadcast rights fees, after leaving ATT SW Sportsnet in November.

With owning their own network with the Rockets, Space City Network, the Astros will most likely only get close to $50M per year from the channel as it starts.

This…

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) December 18, 2023

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Time to bump the ad cost. Seems simple

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It's much more than just ads though.

So I've turned away from the Aggies to the Astros for comfort and I feel like I'm hearing the same thing from them that I'm getting out of College Station.

Maybe Tillman will sell the rockets and buy the Astros

Matt Carpenter has been released. The Braves initially hoped to be able to trade his bad contract like they had Stassi’s and Gonzales’.

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) December 18, 2023

What is keeping them from going direct to consumer? Is it something with Baseball and the front office? There are a lot of cord cutters out there that would pay for a monthly sub just to have baseball games. This would increase revenue monthly as well as another avenue for advertising dollars.