EastCoastAgNc said:

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Enjoying a game at Minute Maid Park just got easier with the Astros implementing the MLB Go-Ahead Entry for the 2024 Season!

Go-Ahead Entry is a hands-free, free-flow entry experience that will be available at all gates. You can enroll in Go-Ahead Entry on the MLB Ballpark app… pic.twitter.com/ie0m3kvhV0

— Minute Maid Park (@MinuteMaidPark) March 20, 2024

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MLB version of PSA precheck?

243. I missed 6 names before the 90s, and 8 during that decade. I only missed one name since 2015... never would have guessed him as a leader in anything positive.

This is Schwab's prediction for the opening day roster:

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Here's my opening day roster projection:

Starting pitching (6):
-Framber Valdez
-Crisrian Javier
-Hunter Brown
-JP France
-Ronel Blanco
-Brandon Bielak (could be long relief)

Relievers (7):
-Josh Hader
-Ryan Pressly
-Bryan Abreu (Suspended first 2 games)
-Rafael Montero
-Seth Martinez
-Bennett Sousa
-Tayler Scott

Lineup (9):
-Jose Altuve
-Yordan Alvarez
-Alex Bregman
-Kyle Tucker
-Jose Abreu
-Yainer Diaz
-Chas McCormick
-Jeremy Peña
-Jake Meyers

Bench (4):
-Mauricio Dubon
-Victor Caratini
-Jon Singleton
-Grae Kessinger*

*If Kessinger's hamstring isn't ready by opening day, then Joey Loperfido

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What are y'all's predictions?

I also totally forgot Abreu is suspended the first two games because of the ALCS last year

229/270 on the RBIs.


Did anyone sign up for Julia?

All I do is Nguyen said:

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I meant three

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It all depends on who's doing the checking. AMIRITE?

bearkatag15 said:

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Urquidy said he has inflammation in his forearm and hopes to resume throwing in 10-15 days. The ligament is fine.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) March 19, 2024

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Really Tags? The ligament is just fine? The man sports exemplary ligaments, excellent ligaments, exceptional ligaments, the strongest in the land. His ligaments are the Sophia Loren of ligaments dude.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/insider/story/_/id/39766023/opening-day-2024-scouting-los-angeles-dodgers-pitcher-yoshinobu-yamamoto-mlb-debut

Not Astros related but I'm interested in seeing if Yamamoto translates to the MLB and if he ends up being a bust or not. I remember seeing a video of a former player saying he will get lit up because his fastball is so flat and has zero movement

Does that sound realistic? We know ridiculous amounts of information on movement, spin, tunneling, velo, etc. there were 3-4 teams offering 300 M. They know his stuff "should" play.

Farmer1906 said:

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Does that sound realistic? We know ridiculous amounts of information on movement, spin, tunneling, velo, etc. there were 3-4 teams offering 300 M. They know his stuff "should" play.

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Teams could have been obsessed with the hardware he received the last 3 seasons in Japan. I have no idea if he turns out to be a bust or Cy Young candidate but I'm interested in betting the over on runs scored for his start in the morning

bearkatag15 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Does that sound realistic? We know ridiculous amounts of information on movement, spin, tunneling, velo, etc. there were 3-4 teams offering 300 M. They know his stuff "should" play.

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Teams could have been obsessed with the hardware he received the last 3 seasons in Japan. I have no idea if he turns out to be a bust or Cy Young candidate but I'm interested in betting the over on runs scored for his start in the morning

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I was moreso refering to this "former player saying he will get lit up because his fastball is so flat and has zero movement"

Let me tell you how I would spend Jim Crane's money for the #Astros to maximize the dynastic run.@Astros @MLB @IBWAA #Relentless
https://t.co/CP4OCvUxJj

— Larry TheGM (@LarryTheGMman) March 20, 2024

201 today. Glad to see I'm not alone in the wasteland of the late aughts and early 10s though. I only got 12 total from 2008 to 2013. Also did not fare well in the the early 70s.

Interesting. That is a pretty strong case to prioritize extending Breggy. I wonder if the recent Boras flubs would make it easier.

I don't follow dismissing Dubon as an internal option. Just about anyone would tell you SS is more difficult than 3B. There's a reason guys go from SS to 3B and not the other way around. His bat isn't great but if he can give you a .700 OPS and above average defense it's worth considering. He's also very good vs lefties so if you can get a left handed utility guy as a backup to spell him against some righthanders then he's even more viable.

CFTXAG10 said:

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Interesting. That is a pretty strong case to prioritize extending Breggy. I wonder if the recent Boras flubs would make it easier.

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I wonder if Bregman would be a candidate for a shorter term, PO laden deal if Boras overplays his hand this winter and he's still unsigned in early Feb.

We weren't willing to do it for Correa but we also had Pena in our back pocket to replace him and still had a few years of championship window runway ahead of us. Both of those factors are a little different in Bregman's case.

Farmer1906 said:

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Thinking outside the box on a Bregman replacement... what about Ke'Bryan Hayes. The Pirates have him locked up for years at a very reasonable price. Normally, they'd have no interest in trading him away, but they may be frustrated he hasn't put it all together yet. If we stack enough prospects then it might make sense. They get out of from under 45 M owed to him over the next 5 (2025-2029) and get some AAA prospects to bring up. We get an elite defensive 3B with offensive upside for the next 5-6 years at a price where we can afford to extend someone else.

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That seems like the dollar store option but sometimes you can find good stuff at the dollar store

bearkatag15 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Thinking outside the box on a Bregman replacement... what about Ke'Bryan Hayes. The Pirates have him locked up for years at a very reasonable price. Normally, they'd have no interest in trading him away, but they may be frustrated he hasn't put it all together yet. If we stack enough prospects then it might make sense. They get out of from under 45 M owed to him over the next 5 (2025-2029) and get some AAA prospects to bring up. We get an elite defensive 3B with offensive upside for the next 5-6 years at a price where we can afford to extend someone else.

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That seems like the dollar store option but sometimes you can find good stuff at the dollar store

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Depends on how you value defense.

2021-23 Third Base
Def WAR
1. Hayes - 44.4
2. Aremado - 28.7
3. McMahon - 27.0
4. Chapman - 26.6
7. Bregman - 12.4

Fielding Run Value
Hayes - 36
McMahon - 22
Arenado - 22
Chapman - 15
Bregman - 3

Blake Snell contract, per source:

$17M signing bonus, payable 1/15/2026

$15M in 2024

If Snell does not opt out…

$30M in 2025, with $15M deferred without interest

Deal is two years, $62M. Factoring in deferrals, union values present day value at $59,396,694

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 20, 2024

Farmer1906 said:

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Thinking outside the box on a Bregman replacement... what about Ke'Bryan Hayes. The Pirates have him locked up for years at a very reasonable price. Normally, they'd have no interest in trading him away, but they may be frustrated he hasn't put it all together yet. If we stack enough prospects then it might make sense. They get out of from under 45 M owed to him over the next 5 (2025-2029) and get some AAA prospects to bring up. We get an elite defensive 3B with offensive upside for the next 5-6 years at a price where we can afford to extend someone else.

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And he's a hometown kid. I like it!

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Blake Snell contract, per source:

$17M signing bonus, payable 1/15/2026

$15M in 2024

If Snell does not opt out…

$30M in 2025, with $15M deferred without interest

Deal is two years, $62M. Factoring in deferrals, union values present day value at $59,396,694

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 20, 2024

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So the Giants got Snell to take a semi Ohtani deal. Just defer the **** out of it.

But that reduced AAV from 31 to 30 would have still caused the same issues to our CBT penalties.

Farmer1906 said:

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Thinking outside the box on a Bregman replacement... what about Ke'Bryan Hayes. The Pirates have him locked up for years at a very reasonable price. Normally, they'd have no interest in trading him away, but they may be frustrated he hasn't put it all together yet. If we stack enough prospects then it might make sense. They get out of from under 45 M owed to him over the next 5 (2025-2029) and get some AAA prospects to bring up. We get an elite defensive 3B with offensive upside for the next 5-6 years at a price where we can afford to extend someone else.

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I don't see why the Pirates would trade him and, if they did, don't see how we could beat someone else's best offer.

MaxPower said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Thinking outside the box on a Bregman replacement... what about Ke'Bryan Hayes. The Pirates have him locked up for years at a very reasonable price. Normally, they'd have no interest in trading him away, but they may be frustrated he hasn't put it all together yet. If we stack enough prospects then it might make sense. They get out of from under 45 M owed to him over the next 5 (2025-2029) and get some AAA prospects to bring up. We get an elite defensive 3B with offensive upside for the next 5-6 years at a price where we can afford to extend someone else.

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I don't see why the Pirates would trade him and, if they did, don't see how we could beat someone else's best offer.

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Yeah, it's a bit of a reach. More so they'd have Heyes fatigue. He was supposed to be a superstar, but has been kind of so-so on offense and failed to break out. Others could, but would they? How many teams will be hurting for a 3B like us after this year? We'd be motivated like a MFer.

You do bring up a good point about this guys analysis. There are options beyond just resign or use someone internally. A few other examples:

Maikel Garcia - Royals - excellent defensively. Hits the ball very hard but not showing in his power numbers. He wasn't a big time prospect and they have Cayden Wallace as a more traditional 3B that is their #3 prospect.

Graham Pauley - Padres - 3B is his natural position but he is blocked there by Machado (when healthy) and Bogaerts at 2B. He has done nothing but put up numbers. Kind of similar to his former Duke teammate Loperfido in getting much better since being drafted. Also a lefty so he pairs well with Dubon if you want to platoon.

Farmer1906 said:

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But that reduced AAV from 31 to 30 would have still caused the same issues to our CBT penalties.

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In this case the deferral didn't really affect the AAV like the Ohtani deal did. But it shifted the money they owe him massively to the back end.