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

3,292,155 Views | 60477 Replies | Last: 29 min ago by Mathguy64
EastCoastAgNc
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iBrad said:

mwm said:

I have little to no confidence in Brown anymore. Same for ownership & dugout staff.

Brown is off to a hell of a start in rebuilding the farm system, which is needed to sustain any kind of future success.

Keep in mind Brown has absolutely zero say or involvement in anything to do with the major league roster
Marvin
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At least Dana has dropped all the "we will" bravado and settled into "we have to" talk. Welcome to the party, pal.
I love Texas Aggie sports, but I love Texas A&M more.
texasaggie2015
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None (at least very little) of what's happening is because of Dana Brown. Him and Bagwell get a lot of blame from the fans for some reason. And unfortunately a lot of the Houston media is banging that drum too.

Brown brought in a good backup catcher, was the driving force behind Blanco's emergence, picked up Taylor Scott when nobody else wanted him because he saw something there, and so far has seemingly done very well in the draft.

Unfortunately, he can only do so much with Crane running the show. If it was up to him he wouldn't have spent so much on Josh Hader. That was purely a Crane signing.

The JV trade last year was also driven by Jim Crane, but he deferred to Brown on deciding which prospects to include. It's still early but neither Gilbert or Clifford have been necessarily lighting the world on fire. Too early to tell, but it seems he may have had a good read on them.

Dana Brown did go to bat for Espada and was able to convince Crane to get on board. So if that doesn't work out- I suppose some blame can be placed on him.

He's far from perfect but I don't think it's fair to cast judgement just yet. Let's hope Crane lets him do what he needs to do in the coming weeks.

To sum it up… the vast majority of blame should go to Jim Crane. The hard truth though is that a lot of the issues this year stem from injuries. The Astros have had a lot of good fortune over the last several years. This year has been quite the opposite of that.
Beau Holder
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Just need him to nail this draft as well and Crane to realize before the deadline that giving away what's left of the farm won't save this terrible team. Maybe we'll see some changes next year.
Marvin
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texasaggie2015 said:

None (at least very little) of what's happening is because of Dana Brown. Him and Bagwell get a lot of blame from the fans for some reason. And unfortunately a lot of the Houston media is banging that drum too.

Brown brought in a good backup catcher, was the driving force behind Blanco's emergence, picked up Taylor Scott when nobody else wanted him because he saw something there, and so far has seemingly done very well in the draft.

Unfortunately, he can only do so much with Crane running the show. If it was up to him he wouldn't have spent so much on Josh Hader. That was purely a Crane signing.

The JV trade last year was also driven by Jim Crane, but he deferred to Brown on deciding which prospects to include. It's still early but neither Gilbert or Clifford have been necessarily lighting the world on fire. Too early to tell, but it seems he may have had a good read on them.

Dana Brown did go to bat for Espada and was able to convince Crane to get on board. So if that doesn't work out- I suppose some blame can be placed on him.

He's far from perfect but I don't think it's fair to cast judgement just yet. Let's hope Crane lets him do what he needs to do in the coming weeks.

To sum it up… the vast majority of blame should go to Jim Crane. The hard truth though is that a lot of the issues this year stem from injuries. The Astros have had a lot of good fortune over the last several years. This year has been quite the opposite of that.

Agreed, but don't sweep the Espada hire under the rug in any context. Give Dana credit if it turns out good, but any failure SHOULD and RIGHTFULLY be hung around Dana's neck. There's no "some blame" about that one.
I love Texas Aggie sports, but I love Texas A&M more.
texasaggie2015
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Not sweeping it under the rug or defending the hire by any means.

I said "some" blame because at the end of the day Joe Espada is the one not performing. 99% of people on this board wanted to hire Espada as well. It made sense. Sometimes things just don't work out.

But you're right- he made the call and he should take blame when things don't work out just as much as he deserves credit for when things do work out.
Lonestar_Ag09
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This exactly. I don't blame Dana for any of this. Even the managerial hire. Everyone expected the hire and wanted the hire just like pretty much everyone was happy with the Abreu signing.

People complained when Click didn't talk, now they complain Dana talks too much. I just ignore all of that and take it for what it is…mostly rescheduled radio spots or pregame interviews where he has to say something.
Lonestar_Ag09
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Marvin said:

texasaggie2015 said:

None (at least very little) of what's happening is because of Dana Brown. Him and Bagwell get a lot of blame from the fans for some reason. And unfortunately a lot of the Houston media is banging that drum too.

Brown brought in a good backup catcher, was the driving force behind Blanco's emergence, picked up Taylor Scott when nobody else wanted him because he saw something there, and so far has seemingly done very well in the draft.

Unfortunately, he can only do so much with Crane running the show. If it was up to him he wouldn't have spent so much on Josh Hader. That was purely a Crane signing.

The JV trade last year was also driven by Jim Crane, but he deferred to Brown on deciding which prospects to include. It's still early but neither Gilbert or Clifford have been necessarily lighting the world on fire. Too early to tell, but it seems he may have had a good read on them.

Dana Brown did go to bat for Espada and was able to convince Crane to get on board. So if that doesn't work out- I suppose some blame can be placed on him.

He's far from perfect but I don't think it's fair to cast judgement just yet. Let's hope Crane lets him do what he needs to do in the coming weeks.

To sum it up… the vast majority of blame should go to Jim Crane. The hard truth though is that a lot of the issues this year stem from injuries. The Astros have had a lot of good fortune over the last several years. This year has been quite the opposite of that.

Agreed, but don't sweep the Espada hire under the rug in any context. Give Dana credit if it turns out good, but any failure SHOULD and RIGHTFULLY be hung around Dana's neck. There's no "some blame" about that one.

So your saying this should have been expected with the hire and you expected him to fail and we're calling for hiring someone else? Please quote where you said that in the past. Sometimes you hire the "right" guy and he fails. Heck I don't even really blame Espada, I mean yes the blame falls on him but I honesty think he's just over his head and can't help it. It sucks but it's just what it is. Hopefully he can land somewhere and maybe get another shot down the line somewhere else.
Texaggie7nine
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#1 in team batting avg

#14 in total runs scored.
7nine
linkdude
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Average doesn't mean much without power and on base skills.
Farmer1906
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linkdude said:

Average doesn't mean much without power and on base skills.


6th in slugging%
8th in OPS with runners on
linkdude
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Too bad most of those have the timing of coming with the bases empty, at least that's how it feels.
Farmer1906
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OPS that high with RUNNERS ON
htxag09
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Farmer1906 said:

linkdude said:

Average doesn't mean much without power and on base skills.


6th in slugging%
8th in OPS with runners on
and 14th in OPS w/ RISP....so I guess as runners get on and advance we just get worse....
linkdude
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Misread that lol. That's interesting since it seems counter to the narrative. Are we so mediocre because of our pitching? It just seems the whole is less than the sum of parts.
Serviam
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hey gents, another hypothetical.

If you could have traded Jose Abreu and Alvarez (zero retained salary) for Bryce Harper (25% retained salary) would you have done it?
EastCoastAgNc
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No
texasaggie2015
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Absolutely not
Farmer1906
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htxag09 said:

Farmer1906 said:

linkdude said:

Average doesn't mean much without power and on base skills.


6th in slugging%
8th in OPS with runners on
and 14th in OPS w/ RISP....so I guess as runners get on and advance we just get worse....


Yet higher than the Dodgers, Red Sox, Twins.

The offense could be better. But the pitching is what is ultimately letting us down.
texasaggie2015
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I believe 10 of the Astros pitchers who are on the 40-man are currently on the IL. 6 starting pitchers (though France wouldn't be in the rotation if everyone was healthy but you get it), a leverage reliever in Graveman, an arm in Sousa who many were high on, and a few others who easily could have ended up contributing.

10 pitchers. That's just insane. It doesn't really matter how good you are, it's hard to contend when that happens.

All that to say, yeah, pitching is the big problem right now.
dcaggie04
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We've already had way more games where we were ahead or tied after 6 innings and then lost than I would have liked to have seen.
texasaggie2015
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Think about it this way.. the Astros have a playoff caliber rotation on the injured list:

Verlander
LMJ
Javier
Garcia
Urquidy

As much as we want to point fingers (and many times rightfully so), there's not much anyone can do when they get hit with an injury bug like that. It just sucks.
Marvin
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Lonestar_Ag09 said:

Marvin said:

texasaggie2015 said:

None (at least very little) of what's happening is because of Dana Brown. Him and Bagwell get a lot of blame from the fans for some reason. And unfortunately a lot of the Houston media is banging that drum too.

Brown brought in a good backup catcher, was the driving force behind Blanco's emergence, picked up Taylor Scott when nobody else wanted him because he saw something there, and so far has seemingly done very well in the draft.

Unfortunately, he can only do so much with Crane running the show. If it was up to him he wouldn't have spent so much on Josh Hader. That was purely a Crane signing.

The JV trade last year was also driven by Jim Crane, but he deferred to Brown on deciding which prospects to include. It's still early but neither Gilbert or Clifford have been necessarily lighting the world on fire. Too early to tell, but it seems he may have had a good read on them.

Dana Brown did go to bat for Espada and was able to convince Crane to get on board. So if that doesn't work out- I suppose some blame can be placed on him.

He's far from perfect but I don't think it's fair to cast judgement just yet. Let's hope Crane lets him do what he needs to do in the coming weeks.

To sum it up… the vast majority of blame should go to Jim Crane. The hard truth though is that a lot of the issues this year stem from injuries. The Astros have had a lot of good fortune over the last several years. This year has been quite the opposite of that.

Agreed, but don't sweep the Espada hire under the rug in any context. Give Dana credit if it turns out good, but any failure SHOULD and RIGHTFULLY be hung around Dana's neck. There's no "some blame" about that one.

So your saying this should have been expected with the hire and you expected him to fail and we're calling for hiring someone else? Please quote where you said that in the past. Sometimes you hire the "right" guy and he fails. Heck I don't even really blame Espada, I mean yes the blame falls on him but I honesty think he's just over his head and can't help it. It sucks but it's just what it is. Hopefully he can land somewhere and maybe get another shot down the line somewhere else.


Um, no. That is not what I said at all. My exact words were that Dana should get credit or shoulder blame depending on how Espada works out. That goes with the GM job. I was just pointing out that Dana should and will wear more than "some blame" if it doesn't work out since he's the one who sold Crane on the hire.

I love Texas Aggie sports, but I love Texas A&M more.
cc10106
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Avoiding major injuries in 2022 especially with pitching was arguably the biggest reason for winning the title.
texasaggie2015
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Maybe I should have worded that differently I guess. I don't know
W
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one problem with blaming injuries...

the Astros were healthy in April

and that's when the season spun out of control

April was the worst month
texasaggie2015
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Slow starts happen. Injuries made it basically impossible to get right and get hot.
W
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Texaggie7nine said:

#1 in team batting avg

#14 in total runs scored.
it seems like the Astros have a ton of infield singles this year

wonder if that stat is tracked anywhere
Farmer1906
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W said:

one problem with blaming injuries...

the Astros were healthy in April

and that's when the season spun out of control

April was the worst month


Except for McCullers, Garcia, Graveman, Sousa, Urquidy, Framber, Verlander, & Javier.
Marvin
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texasaggie2015 said:

Maybe I should have worded that differently I guess. I don't know
No worries. I only referenced it again because Lonestar misread what I typed. All good!
I love Texas Aggie sports, but I love Texas A&M more.
texasaggie2015
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I agree that Dana Brown will deserve blame if Espada doesn't work out, which is exactly what I said in my post.

I just think it's foolish to say he deserves 100% of the blame when ultimately Espada isn't performing. He checked the boxes and it made all the sense in the world on paper. But sometimes things don't work out.

Without fully knowing what's going on in that locker room, a lot of this might not be Espada at all. I'm really not sure, but it's no secret he hasn't been perfect. At the same time, he's been dealt a pretty ****ty hand as a first year manager faced with all these injuries.

That's why I'm not calling for his head or saying he should take full responsibility. If it happened again, then yeah, my opinion of him might change some. But for now, I don't think any less of him for this one.

Just my honest opinion and that's why I said "some". Hope that makes sense.
The Porkchop Express
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Serviam said:

hey gents, another hypothetical.

If you could have traded Jose Abreu and Alvarez (zero retained salary) for Bryce Harper (25% retained salary) would you have done it?
How many times a day do I get to punch Bryce Harper in the face in this deal?
Feels so good, feelin' good again.
W
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Javier made 4 starts in April

Velander made 2 starts in April

you know who didn't make any starts in April?

Gerrit Cole

and Loaisiga was lost for the season after 3 games
texasaggie2015
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That's two guys. That pales in comparison to what we've dealt with.
tjack16
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Farmer1906 said:

W said:

one problem with blaming injuries...

the Astros were healthy in April

and that's when the season spun out of control

April was the worst month


Except for McCullers, Garcia, Graveman, Sousa, Urquidy, Framber, Verlander, & Javier.


Offensively we were fully healthy and struggled MIGHTILY outside of a few 10 run outbursts

Also the first month was a lot of bullpen failures by the back end. So the starting pitching injuries didn't effect it as much
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