BadAggie said:

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Just hire Espada and be done with it.

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No not really. They need hire the best candidate for the job.

If that's Espada then cool we got our guy but we don't need to hire someone just to be done with it.

Hey, I would've been pumped about a Counsell hire, the bet that maybe he would fare better in the postseason with better talent isn't a bad one, and haven't seen anything about him being adverse to analytics. Also would've signaled that Crane is opening up the checkbook.

I wouldn't be surprised to see someone other than Espada.

I think this search ends with Bagwell.

no freaking way

BadAggie said:

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I think this search ends with Bagwell.

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The guy with no experience in coaching except for a poor half season as a hitting coach a decade ago? No way Crane does something that stupid.

Farmer1906 said:

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BadAggie said:

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I think this search ends with Bagwell.

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The guy with no experience in coaching except for a poor half season as a hitting coach a decade ago? No way Crane does something that stupid.

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Crane thought he was a baseball GM last fall….

Bagwell is hanging around the team, Crane, too much.

He's just waiting for the "Hey, Jeff, would you be interested…" to come out of Crane's mouth.

iBrad said:

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Beat40 said:

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Beau Holder said:

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I don't even think managers have that much impact over 162 unless they're outliers like Dusty who intentionally kneecap the team. I feel like as long as someone listens to the FO and has some decent sense as far as managing pitching, that's enough.

That salary for a manager is absolutely insane.

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I heartily disagree.

Buck Showalter has had extremely talented teams and they have all ended in disaster.

Bochy is a great example of a manager helping to directly change the direction of a team with the Rangers this year. Yes, they moves they made at the deadline for pitching were awesome, he had that team balling up to the deadline.

Just two off the top of my head.

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You could argue that Bochy let his team cough up the division and almost let his team collapse to the point of missing the playoffs altogether. If he gets credit for the players performing in the playoffs, he has to also bear the responsibility of struggling down the stretch.

Because we had Dusty ****ing up the lineup card day in and day out, I think we overvalue the impact a manager can have, especially for a team that has team leadership like we have.

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I'm not saying a manager's value isn't overvalued, but I don't think the Rangers would have even been in a position to potentially collapse to the point of missing the postseason if Bochy wasn't the manager.

If they still had Chris Woodard, they may barely have been over .500.

BadAggie said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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BadAggie said:

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I think this search ends with Bagwell.

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The guy with no experience in coaching except for a poor half season as a hitting coach a decade ago? No way Crane does something that stupid.

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Crane thought he was a baseball GM last fall….

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I think you're just making this up.

AgLA06 said:

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texasaggie2015 said:

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Counsell has always been a great manager. I've honestly been surprised with how many on here didn't want him

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Great managers don't get bounced out of the playoffs early as often as he has. Since 2018 they've consistently had a top 8-10 type of team and only have one division series that even went 5 games to show for it including not even making the playoffs last year.

I'm not a Brew Crew fan, but my sister in law is from Wisconsin and all her dad and brothers talk about is the damn Brewers and Packers.

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Respectfully disagree. The Brewers are never even close to some of the other playoff teams in terms of talent. You could argue he overachieves a bit just by getting there. Craig Counsell is a fantastic manager- and there's a reason the Cubs paid him like they did.

On a scale of 1-10, Bagwell's influence on the signings last offseason was probably a 2 or 3.

Bagwell has 0 desire to be the manager. He's set for life and isn't up for the travel grind plus dealing with the media everyday.

Why? I'm just curious why you think that.

Bagwell always has had a very high baseball IQ. I have no problem with him providing insight on how would fit with their on-field skills.

Now I gather that he wasn't but he doesn't need to be providing any input on contract issues, negotiations, etc but I got no problem getting his thoughts on players as far what they're doing between the lines.

Kinda like I'm OK with him working with Yuli in the past and Yordan at 1B and providing thoughts and input on players swing mechanics. Just not money matters

Ag_07 said:

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Why? I'm just curious why you think that.

Bagwell always has had a very high baseball IQ. I have no problem with him providing insight on how would fit with their on-field skills.

Now I gather that he wasn't but he doesn't need to be providing any input on contract issues, negotiations, etc but I got no problem getting his thoughts on players as far what they're doing between the lines.

Kinda like I'm OK with him working with Yuli in the past and Yordan at 1B and providing thoughts and input on players swing mechanics. Just not money matters

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I agree. I have no problem between the lines. But he should have effectively no input on signings.

Astros announced they have outrighted RHP Enoli Paredes to Triple-A Sugar Land. They have 37 players on their 40-man roster.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 6, 2023

As expected

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Astros announced they have outrighted RHP Enoli Paredes to Triple-A Sugar Land. They have 37 players on their 40-man roster.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 6, 2023

As expected

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It was so excited about him in 2020. Potential closer of the future.

I found another Lee to HOU supporter.

With free agency starting today, let’s try to predict where the top free agents are heading this winter. Thoughts?

Shohei Ohtani: SFG
Yoshinobu Yamamoto: LAD
Aaron Nola: BAL
Blake Snell: NYM
Cody Bellinger: NYY
Jordan Montgomery: TEX
Sonny Gray: STL
Matt Chapman: CHC
Josh Hader:…

— MLB Metrics (@MLBMetrics) November 6, 2023

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Astros announced they have outrighted RHP Enoli Paredes to Triple-A Sugar Land. They have 37 players on their 40-man roster.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 6, 2023

As expected

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We need to make room for the 40 before the rule 5 draft.

Quote:

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Who needs to be added to the 40-man roster this winter to avoid the Rule 5 Draft?

Outfielder Kenedy Corona (Houston's No. 11 prospect per MLB Pipeline), shortstop Shay Whitcomb (No. 25) and right-hander Misael Tamarez (No. 30) are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft if they aren't added to the 40-man roster. Teams must decide by Nov. 15 to add players to the 40-man roster.

Corona, a versatile outfielder, played all but six games last year at Double-A Corpus Christi, where he slashed .244/.324/.449 with 20 homers, 61 RBIs and 31 stolen bases, making him a power and speed threat. Whitcomb whacked 35 homers, which tied him with Twins prospect Yunior Severino for the most in the Minor Leagues. Whitcomb split the season between Corpus Christi and Triple-A Sugar Land, slashing .240/.281/.434 with 178 strikeouts and 42 walks. The hard-throwing Tamarez, who was 13th on the team's preseason Top 30 list, had a rough year at Sugar Land, going 1-10 with a 5.08 ERA in 26 games (19 starts). His biggest issue was walks -- 60 in 101 innings.


Relief pitcher Joe Record needs to be added to the 40-man or become a Minor League free agent, and Houston could create room with pitchers Forrest Whitley, Enoli Paredes and Joel Kuhnel and first baseman Jon Singleton on the 40-man at season's end.

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Feels like we need to make a trade to offload another player or two.

Whitley can and should be released outright. That'll free up another spot

But why?

Atlanta is exercising its $20 million option on right-hander Charlie Morton, sources tell ESPN. There was significant discussion within the organization about declining it, but ultimately the Braves decided to bring back Morton, who is beloved in Atlanta, for another season.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 6, 2023

None of these guys concerns me much if we lose them.

I would love to get Jung Hoo Lee. Hopefully there is some truth to their predictions

Farmer1906 said:

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I found another Lee to HOU supporter.

With free agency starting today, let’s try to predict where the top free agents are heading this winter. Thoughts?

Shohei Ohtani: SFG
Yoshinobu Yamamoto: LAD
Aaron Nola: BAL
Blake Snell: NYM
Cody Bellinger: NYY
Jordan Montgomery: TEX
Sonny Gray: STL
Matt Chapman: CHC
Josh Hader:…

— MLB Metrics (@MLBMetrics) November 6, 2023

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I wouldn't mind Lee. Might be a good platoon with Jake since Jake is awful against righties. Move Chas to LF or use him as trade bait.

Count me in as one who is in for Lee. That would be a nice signing.

What would it take to get him? Would he get a Yoshida contract of 5/90?

agproducer said:

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Count me in as one who is in for Lee. That would be a nice signing.

What would it take to get him? Would he get a Yoshida contract of 5/90?

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I don't pretend to be an expect on international players, but I don't think he's considered Yoshida's level as a prospect.

The only projection I found (athletic) had I don't think he's quite at Yoshida's level. The only prediction I found had 4/52 (or something similar to that).

I need a world series appearance before calling a manager "great"

Counsell has accomplished about the same as Larry Dierker did

Top 10 here maybe. Top 30 in a good farm. Not saying you go out of your way to let him go, just saying I'm not going to be heartbroken if we don't have the space on the 40 man because of other moves.