redline248 said:

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July hasn't been that kind to a lot of our hitters. Thank goodness for Yordan, Pena and Bregman. Chas's game yesterday shot his wRC+ up about 54 points

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It hasn't been great, but it also grades out as our most unlucky month. Hopefully, we see a bit of a bounceback soon.

Month - wOBA / xwOBA (Diff)
Mar/Apr - .328 / .331 (-.003)
May - .311 / .315 (-.004)
June - .337 / .327 (.010)
July - .305 / .323 (-.018)

Sher Thing said:

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What would a hypothetical trade for Paredes and/or Fairbanks look like? Loperfido would certainly need to be included no?

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Hard to say. We have seen the Rays trade guys that were thought of as high end prospects for seemingly under market value (Manzardo for Civale and the Arozerena trades come to mind). Similar to 2015's comments, they have their own evaluations of players. My dream trade would be to get Paredes and Springs.

How much I would give up depends on our strategy going forward. I'm more willing to trade Matthews if we are committed to extending Tucker. Especially if you get Paredes, I think you can build an offense around Altuve, Tucker, Yordan, Paredes and Yanier with bargain bin free agents and mid range prospects.

Our July 1B production. Find someone Dana. Please don't go 2 more months and try to go into the playoffs doing this.

On MLB network, Mark Feinsand discussing AL west trades, links seattle to Yandy Diaz and us to Fedde.

I'm told Seattle is going to be very, very aggressive and will likely add two bats. And they'll overpay if they need to.

Astros-Dodgers probables:

Friday: Framber Valdez vs. Gavin Stone
Saturday: Ronel Blanco vs. Justin Wrobleski
Sunday: Spencer Arrighetti vs. TBA

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 25, 2024

I could see the Astros going for Fedde. Would be a lot cheaper than some of those other high end starters and would complete a solid 5 man rotation. Especially if they are also pursuing a 1B replacement like Paredes.

From what I understand, everything is kind of in a stand still right now because there's a handful of teams that are still undecided on if they want to sell. I think this will be the new norm with the expanded playoff.

Best case for Houston (and other buyers) is that those fringe teams lose the next few games and the market widens a good bit. Right now the market is pretty slim. The wider the market, the more the asking prices will come down.

Some team needs to fleece Seattle for one of their starters.

spadilly said:

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Mose Schrute said:

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Anyone know which game Skenes is slated to pitch?
Trying to make it to a game next week.

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I believe Monday would be his regular day in the rotation, but still showing as TBD
https://www.mlb.com/pirates/roster/probable-pitchers

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I bought tix for Monday night, so I hope he stays on schedule!

And they are still relatively cheap, so pull the trigger as soon as you know.

Farmer1906 said:

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txags92 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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The mention of our Dynasty got me thinking, what has been the single biggest factor? I pulled the WAR from 2017 to 2024.

During this time our WAR has been 369.2. I looked at everyone with at least a 3 WAR during that time (33 players).

Here is the breakdown:

Aquired - WAR
Draft - 132.2
Trade - 95.2
Int Signing - 81.8
FA Signing - 17.6
Waiver Claim - 6.1

It is probably safe to say the draft is the highest for most teams. I would guess that no one has hit international signings like we have or had success of hitting the jackpot on trades. (JV, Cole, Yordan, Pressly).

One thing that does stand out if the lack of FA signings. Have we just sucked at acquiring new players from other orgs on the open market? Or is that a flawed way of doing business? We all know it is the most expensive way of doing business. This makes me want to make some splash trades for multiyears even more now.

Just for ****s & giggles here are the bottom 5.
Nivaldo Rodriguez
Joe Biagini
Robel Garcia
Carlos Beltran
Jose Abreu (dead last)

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Would be interesting to see the WAR on the guys we traded away over that same time period. Did we make good trades?

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Not all have worked out, but we have made some extremely lopsided trades. The JV (first time) & Yordan ones were massively unfair. Even the Cole one worked out nicely and we gave up some solid pieces. Pressly was a steal. No one should be mad at the ZG one. Some others less impressive, but I can't think of a trade outside of Hader-Gomez/Ratface where we got the bad end by a longshot. Mancini-McDermott may end up hurting and the 2nd JV trade too. Those are TBD.

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You could put Liriano for Teoscar with the Mancini-McDermott trade. But -- I still make both of those. Both players had key parts in the championships.

Tells me two things. First, they want Cole getting regular PT in CF in AA. Two, Joey is staying in the bigs because there are a lot of OF in AAA now.

Dodgers at Astros baseball tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. CT/5:00 p.m. PT.

Watch on #FridayNightBaseball live, only on @appletv.

🔗: https://t.co/4a1ER8BcOs pic.twitter.com/qBWcA3ZNQ8

— Houston Astros (@astros) July 25, 2024

Farmer1906 said:

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agproducer said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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txags92 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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The mention of our Dynasty got me thinking, what has been the single biggest factor? I pulled the WAR from 2017 to 2024.

During this time our WAR has been 369.2. I looked at everyone with at least a 3 WAR during that time (33 players).

Here is the breakdown:

Aquired - WAR
Draft - 132.2
Trade - 95.2
Int Signing - 81.8
FA Signing - 17.6
Waiver Claim - 6.1

It is probably safe to say the draft is the highest for most teams. I would guess that no one has hit international signings like we have or had success of hitting the jackpot on trades. (JV, Cole, Yordan, Pressly).

One thing that does stand out if the lack of FA signings. Have we just sucked at acquiring new players from other orgs on the open market? Or is that a flawed way of doing business? We all know it is the most expensive way of doing business. This makes me want to make some splash trades for multiyears even more now.

Just for ****s & giggles here are the bottom 5.
Nivaldo Rodriguez
Joe Biagini
Robel Garcia
Carlos Beltran
Jose Abreu (dead last)

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Would be interesting to see the WAR on the guys we traded away over that same time period. Did we make good trades?

---

Not all have worked out, but we have made some extremely lopsided trades. The JV (first time) & Yordan ones were massively unfair. Even the Cole one worked out nicely and we gave up some solid pieces. Pressly was a steal. No one should be mad at the ZG one. Some others less impressive, but I can't think of a trade outside of Hader-Gomez/Ratface where we got the bad end by a longshot. Mancini-McDermott may end up hurting and the 2nd JV trade too. Those are TBD.

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You could put Liriano for Teoscar with the Mancini-McDermott trade. But -- I still make both of those. Both players had key parts in the championships.

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Good call. We basically gave up on Teoscar. He ended up with ~10 WAR in

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Teoscar has had a nice career so far -- 2X All-Star, 2X Silver Slugger and recent HR Derby champ.

I didn't realize his career WAR is over 15.

MaxPower said:

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Tells me two things. First, they want Cole getting regular PT in CF in AA. Two, Joey is staying in the bigs because there are a lot of OF in AAA now.

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Zach Cole is trending up really fast

MaxPower said:

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Tells me two things. First, they want Cole getting regular PT in CF in AA. Two, Joey is staying in the bigs because there are a lot of OF in AAA now.

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Joey is staying in the bigs because Tucker is still weeks away.

And speaking of Joey, he's doing what rookies do and that is struggle. This is his July.



He's been a little unlucky but still, Tucker needs to get his artificial leg attached yesterday.

I think the waiting game is going to benefit us in the long run

texasaggie2015 said:

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MaxPower said:

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Tells me two things. First, they want Cole getting regular PT in CF in AA. Two, Joey is staying in the bigs because there are a lot of OF in AAA now.

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Zach Cole is trending up really fast

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Hmmm
His AA stats don't blow me away at all
He's also 23

Massive improvement with his approach at the plate and he's elite defensively.

astros4545 said:

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texasaggie2015 said:

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MaxPower said:

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Tells me two things. First, they want Cole getting regular PT in CF in AA. Two, Joey is staying in the bigs because there are a lot of OF in AAA now.

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Zach Cole is trending up really fast

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Hmmm
His AA stats don't blow me away at all
He's also 23

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He looks like he's got some power. Just watched a couple of his oppo homers that were kind of surprising based on the swings

Garrett Crochet plan with White Sox is to pitch normal workload as starter until end of regular season. If traded would need extension to pitch in October. He won’t move to bullpen and will not take any break. Views starter routine as best for health.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 25, 2024

Does this take him off the market?

Altuve on track for the HOF.

Cooperstown Notebook

Quote:

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After suffering a broken right thumb in the World Baseball Classic last year, Altuve played just 90 games, though he wielded a potent bat, hitting for a 154 wRC+. The pint-sized 34-year-old is back down to a more representative 129 wRC+ (.304/.350/.452), but unlike so many of his teammates, he's been healthy all season, totaling 14 homers and 15 steals in 98 games. He's been uncharacteristically free-swinging; his 39% chase rate is over eight percentage points ahead of last year and represents his highest mark since his 2011 rookie season. His 5.8% walk rate is about five points below last year and is his lowest mark since 2015, while his 19.4% strikeout rate is a career high.

While it's not a typical Altuve season, he's making progress towards Cooperstown. He's projected to reach the 40-WAR peak mark this year, and would leapfrog 2025 candidates Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler to move into 19th in JAWS if he matches the above projection. He just made his ninth All-Star team; only eight second basemen have been selected more often. He's run his hit total to 2,170, and at last check had ZiPS odds for 3,000 that were higher than any player beside Freeman. The further we get from the Astros' sign-stealing scandal, the less it seems likely to affect his Hall chances, particularly given reports that he rejected the help provided by the trash can signaling system. Between that and the absence of contemporary second basemen who could gain entry (Kinsler, Pedroia, and twice-suspended Robinson Can), he's got an open lane to Cooperstown so long as he can stay on the field.

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Farmer1906 said:

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Garrett Crochet plan with White Sox is to pitch normal workload as starter until end of regular season. If traded would need extension to pitch in October. He won’t move to bullpen and will not take any break. Views starter routine as best for health.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 25, 2024

Does this take him off the market?

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What does "extension" mean? Is he wanting extra money in a contract extension or is that referring to extending him in terms of IP?

Does Heyman just mean, he would need to extend the amount of games needed to pitch from the end of the regular season to include the postseason?

Or is he talking about a contract extension?

Heyman is very unserious.

So for him to pitch this year into Oct for a contender he wants a contract extension for future years?

Yeah...Enjoy playing for the cellar dwellers.

He already had TJ. It is his first full season as a starter. He has an innings limit and the Sox have been keeping his outings shorter so he doesn't reach that limit in Aug. A contender will need him to blow past the innings limit. He's worried about overextending and turning into LMJ or Strasberg.

And? Every pitcher in this game is worried about turning into LMJ.

If he wants those assurances he can enjoy playing on the White Sox. Playing into Oct won't be an issue for them for a while so he should be ecstatic.

It's insane to ask for an extension for future years or you won't pitch into the postseason for this year.