tjack16 said:
You can say what you want about making it to ALCS game 7 last year but let's be honest… this was back to back very flawed teams.
90-72
88-73
We got a very favorable ALDS matchup last year and then lost an ALCS we should have won. This year we had to scratch and claw our way to winning the clearly worst division in baseball.
Something changed after the 2022 World Series and I don't know what it is.
We officially pivoted from smart analytical approach in the front office, not overpaying for guys who wanted a fortune and trading away all of our best prospects every year. Bringing back Verlander was a Drayton type move. Signing Abreu was a Drayton type of move. Signing Hader was a Drayton type of move. We aren't turning over rocks and finding under utilized talent. We are overpaying for talent that has already peaked.
Luckily, we have tons of quality starters and plenty of depth there. But the lineup is aging and signing guys like Tuck and Bregman is going to cost more in the long term than keeping the status quo is going to reward.
We have guys like Caratini starting in the playoffs. Astros teams of the past would have him doing nothing more than pinch hitting. But we failed to develop and keep top farm pieces and overspent for an aging Abreu who forced us into this mess.
Kikuchi was a huge surprise, but I still wouldn't do the trade. Because we have no farm now. And we don't need him next year. We wasted multiple prospects for a sweep in the wild card round.