***Official Houston Astros 2023-24 Offseason Thread*** [Staff Warning - OP]

986,821 Views | 11245 Replies | Last: 8 mo ago by Lonestar_Ag09
Marvin
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In reply to jkag89 • 4:12p, 12/26/23
AG
jkag89 said:
Odd seeing a photo of Mrs Marvin not in Astros gear.


She just asked me what week we are going to spring training. I told her to let me pay this trip off first, haha.

But she'll be there one way or the other.
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The Kraken
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In reply to The Porkchop Express • 4:22p, 12/26/23
AG
Interesting noting a few things in that videos.

No jerseys in the crowd and very few baseball caps.
Lots of silence between pitches...just the occasional organ medley.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
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Farmer1906
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6:48p, 12/26/23
AG
Bye bye. Glad he's not going to a contender.

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Mr.Bond
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6:57p, 12/26/23
AG
Perfect landing spot.... a s*** player for a s*** team
Im looking for Ray Finkle.... and a clean pair of shorts. Im just a very big Finkle fan. This is my Graceland, sir.


MAGA

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EastCoastAgNc
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In reply to Mr.Bond • 7:20p, 12/26/23
AG
Mr.Bond said:
Perfect landing spot.... a s*** player for a s*** team

Reunited with Lee
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agproducer
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7:28p, 12/26/23
AG
Paging 2015. Is this guy making stuff up again?

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Farmer1906
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In reply to agproducer • 7:29p, 12/26/23
AG
Pretty sure Ketcb has mentioned this before.
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EastCoastAgNc
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8:07p, 12/26/23
AG

Possible 2 years? Guess they aren't signing him for trade bait. Improve on defense is a stretch
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EastCoastAgNc
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8:38p, 12/26/23
AG


Well this certainly doesn't help him look innocent
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Mathguy64
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8:42p, 12/26/23
AG
He will never play again. The Rays better hope they had an out clause in the contract.
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EastCoastAgNc
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In reply to Mathguy64 • 8:48p, 12/26/23
AG
If they don't have an out, mlb will ban him for life and give them an out.
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Mathguy64
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In reply to EastCoastAgNc • 9:33p, 12/26/23
AG
EastCoastAgNc said:
If they don't have an out, mlb will ban him for life and give them an out.


The Rays aren't the Dodgers.
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Beat40
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In reply to Mathguy64 • 10:21p, 12/26/23
Mathguy64 said:
EastCoastAgNc said:
If they don't have an out, mlb will ban him for life and give them an out.


The Rays aren't the Dodgers.


You don't think if Wander is found being with minors he won't be banned for life?
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Mathguy64
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In reply to Beat40 • 10:50p, 12/26/23
AG
Beat40 said:
Mathguy64 said:
EastCoastAgNc said:
If they don't have an out, mlb will ban him for life and give them an out.


The Rays aren't the Dodgers.


You don't think if Wander is found being with minors he won't be banned for life?


Honestly I don't know that they can or can't do that. I have no clue what the CBA says. Or what his contract says.

I was more digging at MLB and LAD when they let LA off the hook for the rest of Bauer's contract and its cap implications.
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n_touch
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In reply to Mathguy64 • 11:33p, 12/26/23
I thought they were still paying Bauers full contract?
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The Porkchop Express
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9:10a, 12/27/23
AG
92 days until opening day means it's time to dive into 1992, the greatest moment in Astros history.
I was the sports columnist for my high school newspaper and the Houston Post advertised a contest for HISD journalism students to submit their best writing to win a prize of shadowing a sports writer for a night at the Astros-Expos game on June 2. I entered with the help of my journalism teacher and about a month later, they called me on the phone to tell me I had won first place. They gave my family 4 tickets in the first row behind the Astros dugout and told me where to be to get into the stadium and meet the reporter (Chris Haft). The second-place guy came along as well. He was from Pasadena Dobie and he was going to t.u., a fact that I did not make fun of at all considering I, bound for A&M, had finished first.

So we got to eat lunch in the media cafeteria and suddenly here I am surrounded by Craig Roberts and Bob Allen and Gifford Nielsen and a few other local media guys. I had a baseball with me and I got Milo Hamilton to autograph it and got to ask Andujar Cedeno a question in a pregame interview. Stood on the field at the Dome watching the Astros and Expos take batting practice, and as I have relayed several times, got to hear Mark Portugal scream at Gary Carter, "Get out of the cage, you f***cking pu**y!" Music to the ears of an 18-year-old who still remembered being 12 and watching Carter leap in the air after Kevin Bass struck out to end Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS.

About 15 minutes later, I was on the mound to throw out the first pitch with my name on the scoreboard and an irritated Scott Servais yelling "Hurry up!" at me from behind home plate. Got it to him without it bouncing and he signed it (great). Then we got to do an inning of fantasy play-by-play, calling the game with headsets on and a producer (still have the VHS tape). Then watched the rest of the game with my family a 5-0 Portugal complete game.

I graduated from high school the next night, and a super hot girl in my class, who absolutely became a stripper at Heartbreakers a few years later, came up and touched me on the arm and said, "Hey, I saw you on TV last night!" I very suavely replied, "Uh, yeah!" and that was the end of that opportunity.

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Mathguy64
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In reply to n_touch • 9:16a, 12/27/23
AG
n_touch said:
I thought they were still paying Bauers full contract?


They didn't pay $37.5MM. That's the amount equivalent to his "administrative leave" period.

Given he was never charged with a crime (as slimy as it was), LA was given a gift.
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Farmer1906
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9:34a, 12/27/23
AG


Mentions Hader, Stephenson, & Hicks then later mentions the Dodgers, Angels, Rangers, Yankees, and Jays.

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Farmer1906
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In reply to Farmer1906 • 10:46a, 12/27/23
AG
On a Yariel Rodriguez kick this morning.

The New York Yankees and Houston Astros seem to be the favorites to sign Cuban pitcher Yariel Rodrguez.

Which of these two franchises would you like to see it in?




https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/yariel-rodriguez-astros-bullpen-18570602.php

Shapiro makes it sound like he's the run-of-the-mill middle relief guy, but I think he's got potential high leverage in him or as a rotation piece.

Francys Romero has the most on him. There is a bunch on his youtube from the showcase. You can turn on English subtitles.



Here is a little more on his stuff



Comps to match velo and spin. I generally find guys who have high usage of the particular pitch and some name recognition. This ignores spin axis, tunneling, L/R, and a bunch of other stuff but its all I have to go on.

Tyler Glasnow 4 Seam - 97.2, 2586
Zack Wheeler 4 Seam - 96.8, 2575
Dylan Cease 4 Seam - 96.7, 2595

Dylan Cease Slider - 86.7, 2911
Chris Stratton Slider - 86.8, 2922
Tanner Bubee Slider - 85.5, 2861

Framber Valdez Curve - 79.0, 2833
Corbin Burnes Curve - 79.2, 2798
Justin Verlander Curve - 78.2, 2788

Kevin Gausman Split - 87.4, 1767
Nathan Eovaldi Split - 88.1, 1645
Most guys who use a split often have lower spin than Yariel, but if this is a true #4 type pitch it should be fine.,

Alex Wood Change - 85.1, 1655
Shane McClanahan Change - 86.8, 1636
Ross Stripling Change - 84.3, 1670

Expected contract
Fangraphs - 3/30
MLBTradeRumors - 4/32
A recent article said multiyear 40-70 M

I think the first two make a of more sense. High-leverage relievers get 10+ a season on the open market. Solid back-end starters do too. If you're confident that the likely floor spot starter and middle relief then you'd be slightly overpaying assuming he stays at his floor. But if he ends up working, then you'd be getting a value piece in the prime of his career. I think it would be smart to structure the contract with multiple team options at the end of the deal. Something like 2/20 with team options at 1/11, 1/12 in '26 and '27. At worst he hits the market 30.
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bearkatag15
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11:39a, 12/27/23
AG








Fightin' Texas Aggie and Sam Houston State Bearkat
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bearkatag15
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11:51a, 12/27/23
AG


Looks like no additional offensive support
Fightin' Texas Aggie and Sam Houston State Bearkat
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Beat40
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In reply to bearkatag15 • 11:55a, 12/27/23
bearkatag15 said:


Looks like no additional offensive support


The Astros weren't looking for starting pitching at the deadline last year either. Ended up with starting pitching.
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Farmer1906
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In reply to bearkatag15 • 11:55a, 12/27/23
AG
They've been pretty consistent with that stance publicly. Just FYI that was from 2 weeks ago. Not that it makes it less true.
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EastCoastAgNc
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1:26p, 12/27/23
AG

Obviously fake, still funny
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tjack16
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1:41p, 12/27/23
AG


Put me down for Jake Myers as the pleasant surprise player for the 2024 season. I have a good feeling about him with consistent playing time given.
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superaggie73
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In reply to tjack16 • 1:48p, 12/27/23
AG
tjack16 said:


Put me down for Jake Myers as the pleasant surprise player for the 2024 season. I have a good feeling about him with consistent playing time given.


I'm hoping it's all a smokescreen and we all really working on a deal for Robert behind the scenes. Outfield of Chas-Robert-Tucker with Alvarez as DH.
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spadilly
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In reply to The Porkchop Express • 1:54p, 12/27/23
S
Mark Portugal was the first autograph I got as a kid. He's a legend in my own mind, and I love this story so much.
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The Porkchop Express
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In reply to spadilly • 2:11p, 12/27/23
AG
He is one of the Astros' greatest ever under-the-radar trades. Got him from the Twins for minor leaguer Todd McLure who was a relief pitcher who never got past A ball for us or the Twins. Portugal didn't make the post-season roster in 87 with the Twins when they went to the WS, but he was 52-30 in 5 years with the Astros with a 3.34 ERA. He had the Astro record for highest winning % as a starter (18-4, .818) until Clemens broke it in 2004 and he was a decent hitter too. In 1993, he hit .231 with 1 HR and 8 RBi in 80 plate appearances.

He must have really benefitted from the dimension of the Dome because he was not good after he left in free agency in 1994.

Looked up his 2 homers - 1993 was off Doug Brocail in a game the Astros ultimately won 5-4. 1989 was probably the most unlikely offensive effort in MLB history - the Astros beat the Giants 6-2 with homers by Portugal, Steve Lombardozzi, and my dad's all-time favorite player, Rafael Ramirez.

I feel like the team had some pitcher hit an inside the park home run in that era. Maybe Butch Henry?



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spadilly
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In reply to The Porkchop Express • 2:21p, 12/27/23
S
It was Butch and it was his first career hit as well. Baseball is so wild sometimes. He may still be the only pitcher in history to hit one.

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Hub `93
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In reply to spadilly • 2:28p, 12/27/23
AG
I remember watching that game in my apartment in Bryan with a buddy of mine. We freaked out when that happened.

We also went to Houston and saw Portugal pitch against the Reds that year. Seems like he had a beef with Joe Oliver in that game. The memory, it's fuzzy.
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Sea Speed
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In reply to The Porkchop Express • 2:54p, 12/27/23
AG
I've got a game used Rafael ramirez bat. Loaded up with pine tar. Cracked as well.
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EastCoastAgNc
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In reply to tjack16 • 3:04p, 12/27/23
AG
tjack16 said:


Put me down for Jake Myers as the pleasant surprise player for the 2024 season. I have a good feeling about him with consistent playing time given.

Meyers in center is a big no for me. I can take a player bring poor offensively if they are very good defensively, but he's got the arm strength of a toddler. Overall the throwing ability of our entire outfield is very subpar. Meyers might be the worst at a position where you need someone with the strongest arm.
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Farmer1906
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In reply to EastCoastAgNc • 3:05p, 12/27/23
AG
EastCoastAgNc said:
tjack16 said:


Put me down for Jake Myers as the pleasant surprise player for the 2024 season. I have a good feeling about him with consistent playing time given.

Meyers in center is a big no for me. I can take a player bring poor offensively if they are very good defensively, but he's got the arm strength of a toddler. Overall the throwing ability of our entire outfield is very subpar. Meyers might be the worst at a position where you need someone with the strongest arm.


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superaggie73
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In reply to spadilly • 3:09p, 12/27/23
AG
spadilly said:
It was Butch and it was his first career hit as well. Baseball is so wild sometimes. He may still be the only pitcher in history to hit one.



lol at Bonds
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Lonestar_Ag09
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In reply to EastCoastAgNc • 3:23p, 12/27/23
AG
EastCoastAgNc said:
tjack16 said:


Put me down for Jake Myers as the pleasant surprise player for the 2024 season. I have a good feeling about him with consistent playing time given.

Meyers in center is a big no for me. I can take a player bring poor offensively if they are very good defensively, but he's got the arm strength of a toddler. Overall the throwing ability of our entire outfield is very subpar. Meyers might be the worst at a position where you need someone with the strongest arm.
Unfortunately for you, Dana wasn't asking for an East coast opinion, this is the Gulf Coast
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