MaxPower said:

---

I was hoping Wallner would be on the list

---

Home grown kid and fan fave here doubt they move him

Last night saw an older gentleman take a screaming line drive off the side of his face out in right field section 132/133. Brutal. Medics got to him pretty quickly. He's feeling like hell today, no doubt.

Random
Does the Twitter guy still do those videos after a win?

I thought he was thinking of quitting but i saw some before. Liked watching those.

~egon

texasaggie2015 said:

---

I would be keeping a close eye on Minnesota over the next few weeks. Specifically keep an eye on Willi Castro, Trevor Larnach and Chris Paddack.

And for those new to the thread. When I start putting specific names out there, there's a reason…

---

Give me Castro and Paddack - I would be happy with that

But I like Lugo more than Paddack

Larnach is under contract for more years though. Castro is a FA this year

Lugo has been so good he will get a QO, which is a second round pick. Whatever we trade has to be more valuable than a second plus the value he brings them the rest of the year.

Ag_07 said:

---

Y'all Cam Smith is special.

That was fun to watch. Kid was great in his interview as well.

If Pena wants to test FA give his money to Cam. The Julio Rodriguez treatment.

---

Does he remind anyone else of a young Cesar Cedeno?

I'd rather add 2 bats than add 1 pitcher and 1 bat.

McInnis said:

---

Ag_07 said:

---

Y'all Cam Smith is special.

That was fun to watch. Kid was great in his interview as well.

If Pena wants to test FA give his money to Cam. The Julio Rodriguez treatment.

---

Does he remind anyone else of a young Cesar Cedeno?

---

God I hope you mean only as a baseball player.

McInnis said:

---

Ag_07 said:

---

Y'all Cam Smith is special.

That was fun to watch. Kid was great in his interview as well.

If Pena wants to test FA give his money to Cam. The Julio Rodriguez treatment.

---

Does he remind anyone else of a young Cesar Cedeno?

---

Cam had a ways to go to get to that level.

Cesar was a phenom. A young CC was hitting 20-25 HR in the old configuration of the Dome and stealing 50-60 bases a year. Plus he was a GG center fielder. He was an 8.0 WAR player in his second full season. He ended with a WAR of 53 and If he had not shattered his ankle he might have been in the gray area for the HOF.

Ronald Acuna is a closer comparison to CC.

I'm not saying Cam isn't real. He's converted me. I thought he should have started the season in AAA and the way he was used the first month it sure looked like the coaches weren't sold either. He's for real.

But he's not CC. Not yet anyway.

Prosperdick said:

---

McInnis said:

---

Ag_07 said:

---

Y'all Cam Smith is special.

That was fun to watch. Kid was great in his interview as well.

If Pena wants to test FA give his money to Cam. The Julio Rodriguez treatment.

---

Does he remind anyone else of a young Cesar Cedeno?

---

God I hope you mean only as a baseball player.

---

"Allegedly" is CC's favorite word.

Does anyone have a single for tonight's game?

We are looking for the dirt cheapest ticket just to get someone in the building

CC was never the same player after his 'incident'. The veil of invincibility had been pierced. He was one helluva talent, no doubt. He was my favorite Astro for a long time.

MaxPower said:

---

Lugo has been so good he will get a QO, which is a second round pick. Whatever we trade has to be more valuable than a second plus the value he brings them the rest of the year.

---

Lugo also isn't a free agent till 2027

Wabs said:

---

I'd rather add 2 bats than add 1 pitcher and 1 bat.

---

The back of the rotation isn't gonna hold up all year. They need an arm.

Somebody similar with what Coochie was for us last year would be awesome

FrioAg 00 said:

---

Somebody similar with what Coochie was for us last year would be awesome

---

Why not KUCHI himself?

My dilemma with adding an arm is this: while it is insurance against losing arms, where are you stashing guys if healthy?

We currently have a 6-man rotation:
Brown, Valdez, McCullers, Gordon, Gusto, Walter

You have 4 starters rehabbing:
Arrighetti, Javier, France, Garcia

Even if you only get Arrighetti and one of the remaining 3 back this year, you are at 8 starters.

If Dubin is out for the year, then I suppose you start creating bullpen room for someone like Gusto, but otherwise, you are just cramming guys back in AAA who are performing at a big league level.

It seems like a questionable value decision to send out scarce prospect capital to pick up someone that is only an insurance policy.

Aside from offensive production, I am much more concerned about our completely depleted depth of position players and bench.

Gusto, Walter, Gordon aren't gonna be in the rotation all year. They'll hit their cap on innings at some point.

If the Astros add an arm, it won't be insurance. It'll be someone who will be in the rotation.

Just realized the rangerettes are now in 4th place. That dork is going to have to update his second half predictions.

More likely he'll lose interest and switch to jerking it to the cowgirls.

In need of a fresh bullpen arm after Friday's 22-8 loss, #Rays call up LHP Joe Rock from AAA @DurhamBulls and to make room on active roster they DFA recently acquired RHP Forrest Whitley.

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 28, 2025

What a waste. A combination of between the ears and can't stay healthy I guess.

Astros are $5 mil under Competitive Balance Tax Threshold per a recent article.

For deadline moves obviously Crane being willing to go over the threshold would allow more opportunities to be pursued.

And of course you can send a contract(s) out to offset. And what you take back is I think prorated for the remaining part of the year.

It'll be interesting to see what happens, this team is looking like a serious contender, and between Dana's comments and other rumors they are being active on the trade front.

Forrest had a decade's worth of opportunity with all kinds of support to succeed

He's just not that good. Goes to show, all the baseball minds in the world can be wrong sometimes.

Mathguy64 said:

---

McInnis said:

---

Ag_07 said:

---

Y'all Cam Smith is special.

That was fun to watch. Kid was great in his interview as well.

If Pena wants to test FA give his money to Cam. The Julio Rodriguez treatment.

---

Does he remind anyone else of a young Cesar Cedeno?

---

Cam had a ways to go to get to that level.

Cesar was a phenom. A young CC was hitting 20-25 HR in the old configuration of the Dome and stealing 50-60 bases a year. Plus he was a GG center fielder. He was an 8.0 WAR player in his second full season. He ended with a WAR of 53 and If he had not shattered his ankle he might have been in the gray area for the HOF.

Ronald Acuna is a closer comparison to CC.

I'm not saying Cam isn't real. He's converted me. I thought he should have started the season in AAA and the way he was used the first month it sure looked like the coaches weren't sold either. He's for real.

But he's not CC. Not yet anyway.

---

Oh I agree with that. It's just the confidence he seems to have as a rookie and having the same skill sets even if not being at that level yet. But definitely not personality wise.

BadAggie said:

---

Forrest had a decade's worth of opportunity with all kinds of support to succeed

---

I hope he saved up his signing bonus. It was substantial

Hornbeck said:

---

He's just not that good. Goes to show, all the baseball minds in the world can be wrong sometimes.

---

He's extremely talented. He just refused to make the adjustments the Astros wanted him to make.

Astros injury updates: Yordan Alvarez and Chas McCormick are heading to West Palm tomorrow to get some live at-bats, per source.
Afterwards, they MAY head to Sugar land for some rehab starts.

Schedule (tentative)
⚾️Monday: vs Luis Garcia
⚾️Tuesday: vs Cristian Javier

This is…

— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelV) June 28, 2025

Big developments.

Seems like Garcia has turned a corner.

That's for Javier and Luis' next bullpen sessions?

Forrest is going to figure it out once he finds himself in the Vietnam League isn't he?

wmitchell said:

---

MaxPower said:

---

Lugo has been so good he will get a QO, which is a second round pick. Whatever we trade has to be more valuable than a second plus the value he brings them the rest of the year.

---

Lugo also isn't a free agent till 2027

---

Its a player option so he isn't going to exercise that.

NM.

When I say insurance, I mean someone who is not an upgrade over a current arm.

Is Paddock, for example, a competitive upgrade over what we have? His purpose would literally be to give innings in the place of someone else. He certainly wouldn't be a qualitative upgrade. Someone like Lugo would be an upgrade, but it is also going to cost you.

You have a bunch of arms with question marks in 3 categories:
Youth/Innings: Gusto, Gordon, Walter
Health/Rehab: Arrighetti, Javier, Garcia, France

Realizing that McCullers himself always carries inherent risk, you have 3 starters that aren't being relegated if healthy: Valdez, Brown, McCullers.

Which means you already have 2-3 spots for as many as 7 starting pitchers without adding an arm.

I totally understand the wisdom of "you can never have too much pitching", but I am struggling to resolve the numbers game here.

I would go big on a LHH 2B provided you think all the arms (or some at least) can come back and take innings.

Lance is back today. Let's see what he has. Spencer is back next. That's 2 starters to help with Gordon, Gusto and Walter. Now those guys get rest.

Then it's CJ, Garcia and France. If one of them is back that's the same as a trade. If 2 are back it's better than a trade. If none are back you need a trade.

If at least 1 is back blow your wad on a LHH 2B.

Your wad includes some part of Chas, Dezenzo, and Melton. I like Melton to hang around because he's LH and fast. I want that on the bench in the playoffs. Fast being the biggie.

Trammell and Hummel are expendable and can just be sent down or cut as needed.

Double post