***** 2024 Houston Astros Season Thread ***** [Staff Warning]

4,154,912 Views | 67712 Replies | Last: 2 mo ago by jkag89
Ag4life80
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Last night was a snapshot of the entire season. The guys who have let the team down all year showed up and a winnable game was thrown away. Just brutal
FrioAg 00
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Agree. Last night's loss sort of broke my faith in these guys.
tjack16
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Seems like any positive momentum is followed by a frustrating series loss (nationals + cubs, home vs Seattle, last week vs LA, and potentially this series)
The Porkchop Express
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Other than my angry Yuey Guperfido memes, this is my last post on Abreu.

Even if management thinks he found his swing again in WPB, he didn't magically become a better fielder in 28 days.

By having him play the field over Singleton in the first 2 games of the biggest series of the season to date, they are intentionally making the team worse. There is no justification for that whatsoever.
Wabs
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The Porkchop Express said:

Other than my angry Yuey Guperfido memes, this is my last post on Abreu.

Even if management thinks he found his swing again in WPB, he didn't magically become a better fielder in 28 days.

By having him play the field over Singleton in the first 2 games of the biggest series of the season to date, they are intentionally making the team worse. There is no justification for that whatsoever.
Don't worry. We've got a good amount of flexibility in the standings to tinker around with the lineup. It's not like we dug ourselves an enormous hole at the beginning of the season. We have plenty of time, so playing our best players isn't very important right now.
Ciboag96
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To mend this pain in my soul, I will summarize this message board in haiku

Abreu is back,
He ain't got any better,
Oh, Loperfido

King Tuck, oh, King Tuck
You're bat, electricity
May your contract bloat

We love Sleepy Joe,
The Angel Hernandez of
MLB Skippers

Bregman hit a bomb!
Finally, he has some life!
Where are you throwing?

Pressly is throwing
Like a drunk monkey on speed
No more song for you

Oh Framber Valdez,
What has Manfred done to you?
The baby is sad

Oh Astros, my love,
Your rings shine deep in my heart,
I will not leave you
astroboy
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I don't know why they brought him back unless it's just ego. We have a first baseman, Singleton, and when he finally got stuck in the lineup we started winning.
Mathguy64
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I am tired of this.
A beat down every day.
This board has become.

It gets obsessed.
Repeated and repeated.
Over and over.

Taking a small break.
I'm headed to Boca Chica.
To check out SpaceX.
_veeyah_
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I thought they would be able to split the series cus the Ms offense isn't too great, but after last night's clown show I won't be surprised if they get swept. Espada keeps saying that he wants to see some sense of urgency out of the guys yet he shows none himself.

Something needs to change and it needs to happen fast, maybe one of these days Espada starts calling out some of the players, himself or the front office but I really doubt he will.
MaxPower
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Rookie manager calling out the brass. Please tell me you aren't a high school guidance counselor.
n_touch
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Anyone member the excitement on opening day

Ag_07
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_veeyah_ said:

maybe one of these days Espada starts calling out some of the players, himself or the front office

Yeah...I can't think of a manager who would/could.
htxag09
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astroboy said:

I don't know why they brought him back unless it's just ego. We have a first baseman, Singleton, and when he finally got stuck in the lineup we started winning.

While I agree with the idea of rather having big Jon in the lineup…how much of the we started winning was because we were playing **** teams vs increased production from first base?

Not at all defending abreu or advocating for him.
Texas A&M
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If Abreu is in the lineup tonight, we're not serious about winning this division.
htxag09
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Texas A&M said:

If Abreu is in the lineup tonight, we're not serious about winning this division.

I have confidence he won't be. We'll see.
EastCoastAgNc
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htxag09 said:

Texas A&M said:

If Abreu is in the lineup tonight, we're not serious about winning this division.

I have confidence he won't be. We'll see.

The fact he is even on the roster is enough proof that this organization is not serious about contending for the playoffs. Bad luck combined with organizational incompetence is a death sentence.
CFTXAG10
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I'm chalking the Abreu situation up to the almighty dollar. 19.5 million this year. 19.5 million next year. Even a guy like Jim Crane with money out the ears is going to be absolutely sure an investment of that magnitude cannot be revived before pulling the plug and taking a very sizeable loss. Like it or not, we have to suffer until he and the org realize what many of us already do. Abreu is no longer a major league level baseball player, at least not on a contending roster.
gambochaman
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CFTXAG10 said:

I'm chalking the Abreu situation up to the almighty dollar. 19.5 million this year. 19.5 million next year. Even a guy like Jim Crane with money out the ears is going to be absolutely sure an investment of that magnitude cannot be revived before pulling the plug and taking a very sizeable loss. Like it or not, we have to suffer until he and the org realize what many of us already do. Abreu is no longer a major league level baseball player, at least not on a contending roster.


If the season doesnt turn around, the revenue loss from decreased fan engagement is going to cost him far more
Booma94
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htxag09 said:

astroboy said:

I don't know why they brought him back unless it's just ego. We have a first baseman, Singleton, and when he finally got stuck in the lineup we started winning.

While I agree with the idea of rather having big Jon in the lineup…how much of the we started winning was because we were playing **** teams vs increased production from first base?

Not at all defending abreu or advocating for him.
If the team uses the games against the crap teams to get right and find what works, then reverts to what clearly isn't working versus better teams, then there was nothing learned by the decision makers when things were improving.

If you're saying the wins came as a result of lesser opponents, then keep the lineup the same as it was versus the lesser opponents and see if the result was due to things working or was only due to crap opponents.

But putting a guy with a skillet glove, a limp bat, and confidence issues in the lineup immediately up bringing him back to the club to face the best pitching staff in the division when a chance at taking the division lead is possible and sitting/demoting guys who have been productive in the last month is idiotic. It's not on Abreu- he didn't fill out the lineup card. But whoever is filling out the lineup card is a blithering idiot with no true desire to win.
MaxPower
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On Hunter Brown, Rome had an article a week or two ago about him bringing in a sinker to his arsenal, which the team attributes to his success. He has long struggled against righties, which makes sense to me now because all of his pitches break to the glove side. That's generally good against lefties but allows righties to lean over the plate. His two seamer hits 95 and while it doesn't have tremendous movement compared to a sinker ball pitcher, it does have arm side run allowing him to come inside on righties.

Last night he threw it 9 times. It resulted in 4 strikes, 2 balls, 2 outs and 1 HBP. That's a pretty good result but it also likely had downstream impact on the effectiveness of his other pitches. Rodriguez was the only righty to get a hit against him last night.
htxag09
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gambochaman said:

CFTXAG10 said:

I'm chalking the Abreu situation up to the almighty dollar. 19.5 million this year. 19.5 million next year. Even a guy like Jim Crane with money out the ears is going to be absolutely sure an investment of that magnitude cannot be revived before pulling the plug and taking a very sizeable loss. Like it or not, we have to suffer until he and the org realize what many of us already do. Abreu is no longer a major league level baseball player, at least not on a contending roster.


If the season doesnt turn around, the revenue loss from decreased fan engagement is going to cost him far more
First, you're implying that cutting Abreu would result in the season turning around. Honestly, at this point it's more on the core guys and pitching, regardless of who's at first. Yes, having big Jon in the lineup over Abreu helps, but isn't going to be big enough to overcome guys like Bregman & Yordan slumping, the starting pitching woes and injuries, and Pressly pissing all over himself over the length of a season.

Then, how much would "decreased fan engagement" really cost him? I mean he's still likely to sell out season tickets with local companies, don't think it'll be enough for any of the big advertisers to leave, etc.
RO519
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htxag09 said:

astroboy said:

I don't know why they brought him back unless it's just ego. We have a first baseman, Singleton, and when he finally got stuck in the lineup we started winning.

While I agree with the idea of rather having big Jon in the lineup…how much of the we started winning was because we were playing **** teams vs increased production from first base?

Not at all defending abreu or advocating for him.
I get what you're saying, but the Mariners aren't exactly what I would call a good team. Yes, they're the division leaders, but they're only 4 games overs .500, and would be at .500 if we didn't **** the bed the last two nights...
MaxPower
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Agreed. Two things are true. The team should cut Abreu and he's also not the main reason this team is floundering. Expectations were low for him to begin with. Bregman turning into 2023 Abreu is a bigger issue. Yordan's worst slump of his career is hurting badly. The SP injuries have forced guys into the rotation who weren't ready.

Crane also isn't losing revenue with or without Abreu. He isn't a star and the average fan doesn't care if it's Abreu or Jon at first. Singleton isn't very good either so this isn't like Yanier and Machete last year.
MaxPower
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One thing to keep in mind for the Mariners is they have a very good, deep farm system. They can and almost certainly will make a trade for a bat or two before the deadline. We don't have similar ammo to improve so that makes series like these more important. We need to beat them before they get stronger.

I wouldn't be shocked if they get Yandy Diaz, Vlad, Bo Bichette, Chisholm, or Pete Alonso (or two of those guys). They have the ammo to get Vlad AND Bichette to lead them this year and next.
RO519
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You're absolutely correct. They have the farm system to make a few key trades and be legit contenders this season. At the time of this series (biggest series of the season so far IMO) they aren't a great team.
_veeyah_
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I am....no Im jk. Hahah
Farmer1906
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Last night was a real demoralizing loss. I think more drastic measures need to be made to right the ship. We can't keep doing the same flawed things over and over. Whether it is Bregman in the top 4, Abreu on the team, not playing matchups, not having your best players on the 26-man, not using your bullpen creatively and sticking with players being assigned certain innings, not attempting to address your 1st-inning problems, and the list goes on. With as bad as the division is and 3 wild cards, it's not too late. You need to start treating every game with importance because we cannot afford to keep trading series wins. Now is the time to make up ground and push up the standings because the schedule is manageable. Show ownership and leadership that you're competing for titles and can be buyers at the deadline, not sellers. Give yourself breathing room to handle an injury or slump.




Ag_07
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Whether in striking distance or not this team can't be a buyer because they have no currency to buy with.

Maybe they could get creative and trade someone for prospects then flip those guys to get an upgrade but I just don't see it even if they're close.
EastCoastAgNc
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I'm today's edition of "let me piss down your leg and insist it's raining" starring Dana Brown



EastCoastAgNc
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Sounds like Urquidy has a blowout, which is consistent with what we saw from the video. Second opinions mean surgery.
Farmer1906
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MaxPower said:

One thing to keep in mind for the Mariners is they have a very good, deep farm system. They can and almost certainly will make a trade for a bat or two before the deadline. We don't have similar ammo to improve so that makes series like these more important. We need to beat them before they get stronger.

I wouldn't be shocked if they get Yandy Diaz, Vlad, Bo Bichette, Chisholm, or Pete Alonso (or two of those guys). They have the ammo to get Vlad AND Bichette to lead them this year and next.
The composite of the main 6 rankings has them 18/30.

They're usually very strict on their payroll. Adding both Vlad & Bo would mean over 40 M added for 2025. They only have 14 M coming off the books which will be more than negated by arbitration raises. They have to be willing to go into uncharted payroll territory.

Farmer1906
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Ag_07 said:

Whether in striking distance or not this team can't be a buyer because they have no currency to buy with.

Maybe they could get creative and trade someone for prospects then flip those guys to get an upgrade but I just don't see it even if they're close.
Good thing we have currency. Our system ranked similarly last year and we landed JV. We also have a crowed outfield that could generate something back.
MaxPower
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Considering the shoulder issues he's already had and that he doesn't throw hard to begin with, I fear his career may be over.
f1ghtintexasaggie
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Fire Dana Brown, aka Baghdad Bob.
MaxPower
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What can he say? He's living with a bad hand. He inherited a horrible farm system and several stupid contracts handed out by Crane and Bagwell. The owner also won't commit to extending a star long-term and expects Brown to just crap out Tucker 2.0 when he inevitably leaves for nothing next year.
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