AustinCountyAg said:

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The amount of idiot, non baseball knowing posting in this thread for the past four hours is sickening. What the Astros have accomplished over this run has been nothing short of a DYNASTY. It's unsustainable and unrealistic for everyone to have expectations of a World Series team every year. Yes, that is the goal but to think it will happen with ease every year is just impossible. Everyone needs to sit back and enjoy what we've all witnessed over the years.

All the "trade tuck", "trade breg", "shoulda kept Hinch" crap is ridiculous. It should be obvious for everyone to see that post season baseball is all about getting hot in October. End of story. The best, complete team does not consistently win the WS. The Astros bring back a great young staff and will be in position to compete for next year and the following years. Name of the game is being good enough to get in the playoffs and then see what happens. This doom and gloom stuff is sickening to read.

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BTKAG97 said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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Only 2 WS out of this run is realistically a failure. I think it's finally over. Altuve is going to have an extremely hard time getting the HR record.

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The Braves won the NL East 11 years in a row and only made it to the WS 3 times and only winning one of those. Were they are failure?

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No. But a lot more people remember the 96-01 Yankees than the 95-05 Braves.

The post you're replying to has been amply piled on so I won't do the same although I agree with you all. It's just a sad fact that if this is the end, I will remember 19 and 23 as much as I remember 17 and 22.

The rotation can still be very good next year and Dana knows what needs to be fixed on the other side of the ball. I hope it's not the end.

As did I, greatest sports memories of my life.

You already know the answer to your question.

cone said:

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Furlock Bones said:

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Only 2 WS out of this run is realistically a failure. I think it's finally over. Altuve is going to have an extremely hard time getting the HR record.

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this might be the dumbest thing said in this thread

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No Houstonian hates Houston more than Furlock.

And it's totally a move crane would make

txags92 said:

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bullard21k said:

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With the sheer amount of arms we will have next year any possibility of making an offseason trade for a stick?

Framber
Javier
Garcia
Arrengetti
Blanco
Brown
France
Urquidy
LMJ (lol)

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Off-season trades should theoretically be cheaper than trade deadline deals. I think it would be crazy not to at least look around at what is out there, including trading Tucker if he is determined to test free agency before considering an extension/new contract. We should be realistic about where we are as a team and be prepared to stock up for the future instead of trying to hang on for one more big season. Not advocating for a fire sale, but I would not be upset if we tried to make some deals for young bats with high ceilings and years of team control left.

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Yes this is kinda where my thought process was. Framber being the main target followed by Tucker. Last year in his deal packaged with another arm like urquidy and see if we can plug some holes with a good young bat.

I know offseason trades aren't super common but I absolutely think we need to kick tires on the market. Moving 1 or 2 of those pitchers isn't a rebuild it's a re tool. It's your main asset currently and can afford to deal a few of them to improve the roster

Re-sign Bregs if a Chapman-type deal can be made.

If not, we are looking at Whitcomb, Dezenzo or Matthews coupled with probably Dubie at 3B.

At 1B, get Christian Walker. If payroll is a concern, move Diaz to 1B full time and roll with Caratini and Salazar at catcher.

For OF help in LF, Tyler O'Neill could likely be signed for about $6M a year.

SP, I think we are in good shape. I'd like more Kuchi.

Bullpen, buy out Pressly. We are still on the hook for Montero, so hopefully, he figures something out. Give Whitley a shot in the BP.

bullard21k said:

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I think it's also time for our organization to just cut the cord and embrace Diaz as your full time first baseman.

Someone thats this good of a hitter…start prolonging that career this offseason…it's the perfect time to do it. Carantini is a better hitting catcher than you will find in FA and Diaz at first reduces the amount of bats we need to find.

Put all our resources into finding an outfielder and third baseman

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I kind of lean this way. He could be a long term solution at 1B. Caratini and Salazar would be serviceable.

Relievers are known to be really variable year to year and after a longer off-season, I choose to believe these guys are going to come back dealing on the back end of the bullpen next year.

We didn't lose because of Espada, but I am not sold on his in-game decision making after year 1. I hope that is another area we improve with more experience next year.

Maybe some insight into Yordan's injury from Dubie. He said, "Broken knee." Maybe a cracked knee cap?

Love Dubie's candidness.

Mauricio Dubón on the loss and the season pic.twitter.com/RUG4tgM7Mg

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) October 3, 2024

Wabs said:

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AggieJ2002 said:

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Relievers are known to be really variable year to year and after a longer off-season, I choose to believe these guys are going to come back dealing on the back end of the bullpen next year.

We didn't lose because of Espada, but I am not sold on his in-game decision making after year 1. I hope that is another area we improve with more experience next year.

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Agree for the most part, but not when it comes to Pressly. I think he's washed and hope to not see him pitch again for the Astros. My liver agrees with me.

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Yeah, Pressly's performance in Houston is nothing short of incredible. Very fortunate to have had him. But this year? His stuff was just plain hittable. He had no swing and miss. Always had traffic.

I just think he's regressed unfortunately and there's no getting the old Pressly back...

What's unfortunate is that Crane has decided to place all his eggs on the Montero and Hader basket. Hader was a massive overpay. People can point to his saves all they want this season, but he too does not have as much "swing and miss" stuff as you would expect from the highest paid reliever in baseball. Hader is extremely hittable. Poor movement on his stuff, throws nothing but gas that's either straight down the middle or obviously outside for a ball with hardly any perfectly placed pitches. He just doesn't have the finesse of a truly amazing reliever like we experienced with Pressly during most of his tenure here.

Hader had a 3.8 ERA for a "Closer" that only has to pitch one inning in 2024. That is downright awful. There's no ifs-ands-or-butts about it even though we've had plenty of people defend him throughout the year. He's a massive overpay and makes more than the vast majority of the Tiger's prized bullpen combined. Jim Crane's flaw is overpaying for a guy while not paying for multiple guys that are "good enough".

I'd rather have Team Chaos where you can bring in guys situationally and tactically rather than rely on a single closer in a robotic fashion simply because of the back of their baseball card or how much they're getting paid or any such absolute nonsense. That may require too much IQ for our current manager to deal with, however....