If we pull a 5-1 road trip and beat Texas 2/3, I'll officially be all the way in and consider us buyers

We should be looking at this option but then RF just has the same issue. Our OF in general is awful.

linkdude said:

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This is all about Washington taking a guy DFA'd before the season and turning him into 5-ish years of team control to a pitching prospect that already has MLB time. Good on them.

Mead was designated for assignment on March 25. Credit to him for having a good enough four months for Washington to be in this position. Still, Connelly Early has been a good big leaguer the whole time.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 26, 2026

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It just illustrates this is a sellers market, unfortunately one in which we plan to be buyers.

txags92 said:

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3B Paul 97 said:

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Am I reading correctly that the Astros went over the draft pool by 5.04% (about $5,000) which carries a monetary penalty and loss of a first rounder?

Only monetary if the overage is less than 5%

If true, that seems like a big **** up by Dana and team.

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Reading some other sources on this, it sounds like if we signed all of our draft picks from the first 10 rounds, we only owe the penalty on the overage and won't lose draft picks. The source I saw said we were onky over by around $1000, so we would pay about $750.

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Thanks for the clarity. I was hoping the organization wasn't that dumb…..but Dana. I got my info from Spotrac.

Now let's go trade Pena to the Red Sox and get that window back open.

I think Crane and Dana are in a tough spot. Most fans would not understand going into sell mode. Yeah, the division is crap; but most of the AL is so it's not a unique thing.

There is some good analysis here on this thread but there's also some "this is a black and white" issue folks here who see no hope. I would think that line of thinking is in the vast minority of Astros fans.

After all, anything can happen if you make the playoffs...

This Day in Astros history gets a separate tag today. Because it's likely the most underrated and heart-warming moment in franchise history, perhaps even all of baseball history.


On April 30, 1962, a 9-year-old boy named Billy Bradley was struck by lightning while drinking from an outdoor water fountain in Arkansas. He survived, but lost his vision. His family took him to the Houston Medical Center. There he had a series of operations and started listening to the Astros on the radio. He decided Bob Aspromonte was his favorite player. The Colt .45s were alerted of the boy's presence at the medical center at some point. Aspromonte and Joey Amalfitatno visited him on May 7, 1962. They brought him a ball, a glove, pajamas, and a transistor radio. As he was leaving, the boy asked Aspromonte to hit a home run for him that night against the Dodgers. Aspromonte said he wasn't a home run hitter, but he would try.

Houston trailed LA 6-5 in the 7th inning when Aspromonte jacked a 3-run homer that powered a 9-6 Astro win. It was only his 2nd homer of the season. The kid heard it on the radio in his hospital room.

The Bradleys returned to Houston in 1963 for more treatment. Aspromonte took them to lunch on June 11 and Billy asked Bob if he could hit another home run for him. Bob was suffering from back pain and hitting .198. The game went into extra innings tied at 2, but the Astros loaded the bases on a walk, a single, and an error. Aspromonte was 1-for-4 when he came to the plate and hit a walkoff grand slam.


On July 26, 1963, 63 years ago today, the kid's eyesight was restored enough that he attended his first-ever baseball game, at Colt Stadium, vs. the Mets. He and his family got to get on the field and talk with Aspromonte and the Colts before the game, and Billy continued his tradition of asking Bob to hit a home run. Still suffering from the back injury, had hit .176 in his last 20 games. In the bottom of the first, he came to bat with the bases loaded, and hit another grand slam.


The Colts stopped the game, retrieved the ball, gave it to the kid, who hugged Aspromonte as the whole crowd and both teams gave the kid a standing ovation. After the game, the Mets' beat writer asked Aspromonte, "Are you doing it for the boy or is the boy doing it for you?" Aspromonte replied, "It's almost spooky, isn't it? But if Bill will stick around, I'll be tempted to buy him a season ticket. It's a great thrill to see how happy it makes the boy."

tjack16 said:

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If we pull a 5-1 road trip and beat Texas 2/3, I'll officially be all the way in and consider us buyers

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Meh, I wouldn't unload any prospects for an attempt on this season. Maybe if there is a cheap deal that cost nothing, fine, but if anything I just let this season play out.

Problem is Brown will be pressured to make a move to save his job.

Astros Bingo Update: 7-26-26
Spreadsheet Link

Reasons to Smile
5 in a row
Second place
Vintage Hunter Brown

Reasons to Barf
Rangers keep winning
Hunter Brown got his 2nd win of the season on July 26th.

And now, the newest sensation, sweeping the nation.

Better Know a Poster
Day 64 spotlight: mcmav13




Current Bingo Score: 2
Place: Tied for fourth with numerous folks
Squares Achieved: Rangers suck and Yordan > 25 HR
Squares Missed: Hunter > 190K, Hunter > 14 W, Altuve ASG, Hunter ASG, Judge > 50 HR, NL W ASG
Predicted Astros record: 86-76, just need to finish the season 34-22 (.607) to get there

Squares that look like future wins:
> 700 runs
Yordan > 80 RBi

Squares that are technically still humanly possible:
Bregman > 20 HR
Pena > 20 SB
Paredes > 20 HR

Squares that haven't aged so well:
Imai < 3.50
Altuve team hit lead

The Astros need 1 more win hosting the Rangers next weekend to earn the tiebreaker over them (Astros 6-4 so far). Seattle has it already over us (7-1 with 5 games left) and the Rangers need 1 win over Seattle to clinch that tiebreaker. Taking over the division could happen next week. I would love too see a sweep today then a 6-0 week at LAA and home vs Texas. That would be a 12 game winning streak and probably a 3 game lead in the division. I'd be fine with 5-2 and moving into first which is more likely. Take the lead and don't look back.

Astros featured in the Sportscenter top ten….from twenty years ago

Action from all across the diamond plus more in today’s edition of the SportsCenter top 10! pic.twitter.com/dl4FXiYnGX

— 20 Years Ago Sports (@20YearsAgoSport) July 26, 2026

All I do is Nguyen said:

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Astros featured in the Sportscenter top ten….from twenty years ago

Action from all across the diamond plus more in today’s edition of the SportsCenter top 10! pic.twitter.com/dl4FXiYnGX

— 20 Years Ago Sports (@20YearsAgoSport) July 26, 2026

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Nothing like being home from school during the summer as a teenager, kicking off your morning with an hour of SportsCenter before a full day of absolutely nothing.

Bobby Jimbo said:

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All I do is Nguyen said:

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Astros featured in the Sportscenter top ten….from twenty years ago

Action from all across the diamond plus more in today’s edition of the SportsCenter top 10! pic.twitter.com/dl4FXiYnGX

— 20 Years Ago Sports (@20YearsAgoSport) July 26, 2026

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Nothing like being home from school during the summer as a teenager, kicking off your morning with an hour of SportsCenter before a full day of absolutely nothing.

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Sometimes watching the replay of SportsCenter back to back.

superaggie73 said:

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Bobby Jimbo said:

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All I do is Nguyen said:

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Astros featured in the Sportscenter top ten….from twenty years ago

Action from all across the diamond plus more in today’s edition of the SportsCenter top 10! pic.twitter.com/dl4FXiYnGX

— 20 Years Ago Sports (@20YearsAgoSport) July 26, 2026

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Nothing like being home from school during the summer as a teenager, kicking off your morning with an hour of SportsCenter before a full day of absolutely nothing.

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Sometimes watching the replay of SportsCenter back to back.

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The best for me was the before church Sunday morning sportscenter during college football season. I'd set the alarm an hour early just to make sure I caught it.

Now the equivalent to that for me is late night SEC now after a big Saturday.

Ullola called up, Teng not on the lineup card according to Chandler

That was quick:

Today's transactions pic.twitter.com/rrDD8pfG0X

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 26, 2026

Hurt again and they just don't want to say it?

Bring LMC back on minimum deal????

This is a hilarious take on the Ohtani gambling situation

Stand up comedian making fun of Ohtani and the gambling situation 😂 pic.twitter.com/ZfvNBj5mJD

— El Cajon Wizard 👽💫🔮 (@elcajonwizard) July 25, 2026

All I do is Nguyen said:

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Bring LMC back on minimum deal????

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that's just throwing bad money after worse money. It would be more financially beneficial to claim him on waivers, otherwise we pay him extra for the minimum in addition to his contract we tried to get rid of

scd88 said:

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I think Crane and Dana are in a tough spot. Most fans would not understand going into sell mode. Yeah, the division is crap; but most of the AL is so it's not a unique thing.

There is some good analysis here on this thread but there's also some "this is a black and white" issue folks here who see no hope. I would think that line of thinking is in the vast minority of Astros fans.

After all, anything can happen if you make the playoffs...

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Its not black and white and I agree the casual fans think we should just be all in all the time. Thats where management needs to weigh the short and long term. Is a 40% chance of making the playoffs and 1% chance of a WS worth going "all in"? I say no but Jim may think otherwise. We don't know what moves can actually be made (whether buying or selling). We have just been so short-term focused for a long time I think it's time we start taking a long term view.

You mention the casual fan sentiment. My only counterpoint is that management has a lot of goodwill built up. How long will that last? We failed to win 90 games in 2024 and got bounced in the first round. Then missed the playoffs last year after a late season nosedive. Now we are a sub .500 club. A reasonable outcome this year is you make the playoffs by default but get bounced in the first round while likely setting yourself up to be worse this year (or at least constrained from getting better). How much longer can that go on before fans really turn? 2 years? 3? Point being, my opinion is you are better off ripping the bandaid and using that grace period to set yourself up for another run.

spadilly said:

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That was quick:

Today's transactions pic.twitter.com/rrDD8pfG0X

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 26, 2026

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Bring him back, put him in the pen

The "we can't waste a Yordan historic season" argument is also starting to weigh on me. Does Yordan deserve an opportunity to shine in the playoffs (again)? Absolutely but everyone is looking at this wrong. The Astros are a sub .500 team with the greatest hitter on the planet. Let that sink in. How crappy is this team without him? The Royals? The Reds? Why don't I hear noise from those teams saying, "If only we could trade for Yordan, we'd be contenders!"? Because they know they don't have the horses and one horse can't win a Roman chariot race.

spadilly said:

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That was quick:

Today's transactions pic.twitter.com/rrDD8pfG0X

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 26, 2026

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pic.twitter.com/KaYtqZBVwd

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 26, 2026

spadilly said:

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That was quick:

Today's transactions pic.twitter.com/rrDD8pfG0X

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 26, 2026

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Hey Milwaukee….

after 106 games:

2024 ---> 55-51

2026 ---> 52-54

and the '24 squad loses game 107

“The Red Sox are not expected to stop with this deal, either, continuing to consider larger deals for another bat, sources said.”

- @JeffPassan pic.twitter.com/qxTbB2rPTE

— Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) July 26, 2026

truth to power right there

spadilly said:

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That was quick:

Today's transactions pic.twitter.com/rrDD8pfG0X

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 26, 2026

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4 walks in 1.2 IP his last appearance. Crazy they only gave him 2 appearances, though

Shea Langeliers suffered a torn knee meniscus and could miss the rest of the year. Another blow to the A’s. @JeffPassan on it

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 26, 2026

Yainer becoming more valuable to teams?

This a real who's who. I wouldn't be surprised if we get Freeland. With the amount owed this year, he will probably be near free to acquire and may be tolerable away from Coors. I'm not advocating for that love but at least it wouldn't put us in an even deeper farm talent deficit going forward.

Rockies letting teams know these players are available, per @BNightengale:

Mickey Moniak
Jake McCarthy
Willi Castro
Antonio Senzatela
Kyle Freeland
Michael Lorenzen
Tomoyuki Sugano pic.twitter.com/jYr1Exxxnn

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) July 26, 2026

redline248 said:

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spadilly said:

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That was quick:

Today's transactions pic.twitter.com/rrDD8pfG0X

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 26, 2026

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4 walks in 1.2 IP his last appearance. Crazy they only gave him 2 appearances, though

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He'd already racked up -.2 bWAR in those two appearances to go with the -.6 bWAR he came saddled with in the trade. It's pretty clear at this point what Lance has to give on the mound is going to hurt the team he's playing for far more often than not. At least as to this season and last (-1.2 bWAR).

scd88 said:

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I think Crane and Dana are in a tough spot. Most fans would not understand going into sell mode. Yeah, the division is crap; but most of the AL is so it's not a unique thing.

There is some good analysis here on this thread but there's also some "this is a black and white" issue folks here who see no hope. I would think that line of thinking is in the vast minority of Astros fans.

After all, anything can happen if you make the playoffs...

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I think most Astros fans are smart and would understand... in fact have been asking for the team to sell for a long time... for a few years in fact.

Have never heard Freeland's name mentioned to me but I know the org has coveted McCarthy for a while now.

This news only has relevance to us because Anthony is a name who hasn't been mentioned in trade rumors amongst the Red Sox glut of OF's. If they won't trade Arias, could Anthony for Pena work? My thoughts for both teams

Astros - Value wise, it's an obvious yes. The question is what do you do with SS going forward? I still go back to the Adames option. Get the Giants to eat some money and the Adames / Anthony combo could give you the net offensive upgrade you are looking for this year while also giving you some certainty the next couple. It also leaves your farm intact so you could still acquire a pitcher or CF.

Red Sox - It's an overpay but if they continue to value Duran then where does Anthony play? Pena gives them a bat they need right now at the only position of need. Going forward, Mead can DH when Arias comes up to play 2B.

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2026/07/24/mlb-red-sox-comments-roman-anthony-marcelo-mayer/