Ole Jimmy needs to realize pitchers can't score runs

MaxPower said:

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All I do is Nguyen said:

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As a lifelong conspiracy theorist I can actually see this happening

Looks like Tin foil @KFCBarstool was right pic.twitter.com/4EEc8AQtEa

— Babe Truth (@veryhotsoup) August 2, 2026

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Doubtful. The Dodgers just lined up perfectly. Tigers wanted a major league ready arm (Ryan can come up as soon as healthy and has #2 upside) and a near major league ready bat (Hope will contribute next year). People can poo poo it all they want but it was a solid trade for the Tigers.

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Grades for the Tigers from articles I perused this morning: B, B, B-, C+, C, C, C-, D. (All A's for LA, as you would expect for landing the best pitcher in baseball.)

Part of that, obviously, is trading the star. There's inherent loss in getting future potential as a return for current production. But, the Tigers went for very near-term return at the big league level, so that might have affected who they wanted back.

In general this is correct. What happened today specifically isn’t a salary cap issue - at least not directly. But the Dodgers can give up prospects and know they can replace them in the future with high priced free agents. The Brewers have to have cheap prospects under team… https://t.co/0pqFvgFKLD

— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) August 2, 2026

This is why the Dodgers should always have the best offer of minor league prospects - because they do not have the same utility for a team with limitless spending ability. For the Dodgers, prospects are primarily currency to acquire proven players that other teams can not afford to pay. Of course, it takes an NFL writer to point this out.

Yordan welcoming Robby Ray to the clubhouse if we do trade for him.

wcrew93 said:

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In general this is correct. What happened today specifically isn’t a salary cap issue - at least not directly. But the Dodgers can give up prospects and know they can replace them in the future with high priced free agents. The Brewers have to have cheap prospects under team… https://t.co/0pqFvgFKLD

— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) August 2, 2026

This is why the Dodgers should always have the best offer of minor league prospects - because they do not have the same utility for a team with limitless spending ability. For the Dodgers, prospects are primarily currency to acquire proven players that other teams can not afford to pay. Of course, it takes an NFL writer to point this out.

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Yea, it's an entire machine. Yes they have the capital to spend more than anybody. That alone doesn't guarantee success (why aren't the Mets the second best team in baseball?). They also have a great front office. They draft well, they spend well in free agency, they periodically restock the farm by trading older prospects they don't need or veterans at positions of depth.

Please do not trade Neyens or Alvarez

I don't understand why Jim can't see that offense is the biggest weakness on this team. I get he was a pitcher in his previous life, but he needs to wake tf up and let Dana try and improve the offense. They're gonna screw around and end up with nobody. I'd take nobody over Robbie "crap my pants in the playoffs" Ray

This is so short sighted though.

Give the astros an extra 60mil a year to spend and watch the natural trickle down effect. Where would the pitching staff be if they had spent 60 mil to bring in an ace? That plus a stud outfielder? We would be the best team in the AL. Then you draft high potential guys, knowing they wont play at the mlb level unless theybare stars. Because of course you just let other teams develop talent and then sign them once they are good. You trade 1 or 2 prospects to get the best pitcher in baseball, because you know only 1 will play at the major league level anyway out of thr whole draft. Rinse and repeat.

Lets see how our farm system is if we can sign skubal, ohtani, Yamamoto, edman, Rojas, Tucker, hernandez, muncy, Freeman, betts, ohtani, glasnow, snell, etc. Oh and then let's hit on 1 prospect over the last 10 years (smith) and he can catch for us. The rest we will draft for high potential, thats really what gets traded, and let them grow in the minors for a few years. They may never pan out, but of course we dont need them to, we just need to use their potential (that hasnt been tested in mlb yet) as trade pieces.

It's not hard to scout and draft when you just sign proven mlb all stars and mvps every single year.

Of course they have made good decisions. But, when they do make mistakes (however rare), they can just buy more players.

In 2025, they bought the best free agent closer, Tanner Scott (4 years, $72 million). He had a disappointing year (though he has been much better this year), so this offseason they again bought the best free agent closer, Edwin Diaz (3 years, $69 million).

This year, they are paying Snell and Glasnow over $66 million combined and have gotten a total of 42 innings from them, so they just go get Skubal.

Sad thing is I don't think the Dodgers are done. I expect them to trade for Rutchsman. With Will Smith out, they need a C.

Not sure what you mean by short sighted. They do an excellent job of drafting with limited picks that are always late. Plenty of teams with lots of high picks have mediocre farm systems. Theres skill involved in doing that.

Theres nothing preventing Jim from spending that extra $60M you speak of. Would he lose money? Maybe but that's his choice to make. One could argue we could become a bigger brand and there would be trickle down effect from spending more resulting in making more.

As for a cap specifically, it isn't necessarily good for us. Maybe it brings the Dodgers down but maybe it brings other clubs up, with the net result being its overall harder to win consistently. If there's a cap then teams with great farms will be at an inherent advantage, which puts us clearly behind the 8-ball.

EastCoastAgNc said:

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I don't understand why Jim can't see that offense is the biggest weakness on this team. I get he was a pitcher in his previous life, but he needs to wake tf up and let Dana try and improve the offense. They're gonna screw around and end up with nobody. I'd take nobody over Robbie "crap my pants in the playoffs" Ray

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statistically pitching is a far bigger issue (specifically starting pitching) and this bears out when you consider Imai, Areghetti, McCullers, and Burrows have all flamed out. We don't have enough starting pitching.

The outfield specifically sucks, but by most metrics the Astros are above average offensively.

We should give Bryce Mayer a shot. He is dominating AA

MaxPower said:

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As for a cap specifically, it isn't necessarily good for us. Maybe it brings the Dodgers down but maybe it brings other clubs up, with the net result being its overall harder to win consistently. If there's a cap then teams with great farms will be at an inherent advantage, which ours is clearly behind the 8-ball.

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All true, but I'm all for it. Would force us to get better in areas we suck. The downfall though is the teams that already have good farms will be at a significant advantage for about 5 years before things smooth out.

Yordan's current paces in Astros' team history:

110 runs scored: Tied for 22nd all-time
187 hits: Tied for 14th all-time
51 home runs: 1st all-time (Bagwell current record 47)
119 RBI: Tied for 11th all-time
369 total bases: 1st all-time (Bagwell current record 363)
111 walks: 7th all-time
32 intentional walks: 1st all-time (Bagwell current record 26)
.324 BA: Tied for 12th all-time
.641 SLG: 2nd all-time
.438 OBP: 5th all-time
1.079 OPS: 2nd all-time
7.5 Offensive WAR: Tied for 8th all-time
169 runs created: 1st all-time. (Bagwell current record 161)
81 extra-base hits: Tied for 7th all-time
307 total times on base (H+BB+HBP): 5th all-time



* formula for runs created by Bill James

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7486691/2026/08/02/texas-rangers-mlb-trade-deadline/
Tldr: if the rangers lose today, they could start selling

Do we want to take anything from Arlington?

The Texas Rangers are “not ruling anything out” and could still consider selling in a big way, per @Ken_Rosenthal.

They current sit 0.5 games back of Wild Card spot, and 1.5 games back of the Astros for first place in the AL West. pic.twitter.com/qQyO9L5RdS

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 2, 2026

Astros Bingo Update: 8-2-26
Spreadsheet Link

Reasons to Smile
It's August 2 and the Astros have a 1-1/2 game lead.

Jeremy Pena has turned into a superstar over his last 162 games he's got a .875 OPS, a .317 batting average, and a .503 slugging percentage. Don't worry about where he'll be in 2028. He's on our team right now.

It's the seventh day, but I will not rest. It's a HOFA Sunday.


Reasons to Barf
The Dodgers.


Reasons to Mock
It's August 2nd, he's played in 104 out of 111 games, and Kyle Tucker has 9 home runs. That would be good for 7th on the Astros.


Astros' Flashback: August 2, 1998. Randy Johnson makes his Astros' debut, beating Pittsburgh 6-2. In the next 2 months, he'll got 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 4 shutouts. He'll also strike out 116 batters in 84 innings, giving him 329 K's for the season, beginning a stretch of 5 straight years leading the NL in strikeouts; unfortunately 4 of those years are with Arizona.




And now, the newest sensation, sweeping the nation.


Better Know a Poster
Day 70 spotlight: CCAg95



Current Bingo Score: 4
Place: Tied for 2nd with a few folks
Squares Achieved: Rangers suck, Yordan > 25 HR, Loperfido < 100 games, AL wins All-Star Game
Squares Missed: sips beat Ags, Hunter > 14 W,
Predicted Astros record: 89-73, just need to finish the season 32-18 (.640) to get there

Squares that look like future wins:
> 700 runs
Altuve < .275
Jake < .280

Squares that are technically still humanly possible:
Dodgers > 102 wins
Rangers < 80 wins

Squares that haven't aged so well:
Seattle > 90 wins
Trout < 100 G
Imai < 3.50 ERA

Farmer1906 said:

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Do we want to take anything from Arlington?

The Texas Rangers are “not ruling anything out” and could still consider selling in a big way, per @Ken_Rosenthal.

They current sit 0.5 games back of Wild Card spot, and 1.5 games back of the Astros for first place in the AL West. pic.twitter.com/qQyO9L5RdS

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 2, 2026

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Even after last night, I'd take Degrom. 101 FB and 93 slider. Stuff is still filthy.

Yeah huge injury risk and owed a lot of money next year but likely wouldn't cost a lot prospect capital either. I like it.

superaggie73 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Do we want to take anything from Arlington?

The Texas Rangers are “not ruling anything out” and could still consider selling in a big way, per @Ken_Rosenthal.

They current sit 0.5 games back of Wild Card spot, and 1.5 games back of the Astros for first place in the AL West. pic.twitter.com/qQyO9L5RdS

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 2, 2026

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Even after last night, I'd take Degrom. 101 FB and 93 slider. Stuff is still filthy.

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He'd be a great 2/3 starter

superaggie73 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Do we want to take anything from Arlington?

The Texas Rangers are “not ruling anything out” and could still consider selling in a big way, per @Ken_Rosenthal.

They current sit 0.5 games back of Wild Card spot, and 1.5 games back of the Astros for first place in the AL West. pic.twitter.com/qQyO9L5RdS

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 2, 2026

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Even after last night, I'd take Degrom. 101 FB and 93 slider. Stuff is still filthy.

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He clearly has a lower back issue going on. He kept grabbing at it after the trainers came out. Plus they aren't going to trade him in division for great if it coming back to bite them

MaxPower said:

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Not sure what you mean by short sighted. They do an excellent job of drafting with limited picks that are always late. Plenty of teams with lots of high picks have mediocre farm systems. Theres skill involved in doing that.

Theres nothing preventing Jim from spending that extra $60M you speak of. Would he lose money? Maybe but that's his choice to make. One could argue we could become a bigger brand and there would be trickle down effect from spending more resulting in making more.

As for a cap specifically, it isn't necessarily good for us. Maybe it brings the Dodgers down but maybe it brings other clubs up, with the net result being its overall harder to win consistently. If there's a cap then teams with great farms will be at an inherent advantage, which puts us clearly behind the 8-ball.

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Let me rephrase that. Not spend 60 mill more, let me give you 60 million more for you to spend.

Javier starts Monday. Gotta win today

EastCoastAgNc said:

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I don't understand why Jim can't see that offense is the biggest weakness on this team. I get he was a pitcher in his previous life, but he needs to wake tf up and let Dana try and improve the offense. They're gonna screw around and end up with nobody. I'd take nobody over Robbie "crap my pants in the playoffs" Ray

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Is it though?

Farmer fact checked the numbers the other day and the offense is still top-10 while the pitching is closer to the middle to bottom half.

As it stands now the pitching is worse than the offense. IMO they both need help but the pitching more so.

The problem on the pitching front is you have so many guys back that you don't know what you are gonna get. Who are you taking off the 25 man? Unless you get a big upgrade I'm not convinced we have many guys I'd want to take off the 25 man that we can demote as several guys would have to clear waivers. Maybe a mystery injury for Imai? De Los Santos?

Is Lambert pitching on short rest today? Seems like an odd thing to do, but maybe Dana and Joe have no other options.

Marvin said:

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Is Lambert pitching on short rest today? Seems like an odd thing to do, but maybe Dana and Joe have no other options.

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4 days rest, so normal. He started Tuesday

it's technically full rest, but they've preferred five days rest for their pitchers when possible.

Might be time to have a difficult conversation with Jose if you can get Arraez and Ray…..

Rays, Rangers, Phillies are among teams on Luis Arraez, who prefers to stay at 2B where he’s thrived this year in SF. Yanks like him but positional fit might be an issue for them.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 2, 2026

Confirmed by @BNightengale that the Twins-Astros traded was nixed last minute. (@MarinoMLB broke the news)

“They were on the verge of a deal with the Minnesota Twins for left-handed hitting outfielder Trevor Larnach in exchange for reliever Bryan Abreu this past week, but it…

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) August 2, 2026

Lines up with what I was told.

Astros back in first and this thread is on overdrive: 56 posts since 6 am on a Sunday.

ruxin98 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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I don't understand why Jim can't see that offense is the biggest weakness on this team. I get he was a pitcher in his previous life, but he needs to wake tf up and let Dana try and improve the offense. They're gonna screw around and end up with nobody. I'd take nobody over Robbie "crap my pants in the playoffs" Ray

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statistically pitching is a far bigger issue (specifically starting pitching) and this bears out when you consider Imai, Areghetti, McCullers, and Burrows have all flamed out. We don't have enough starting pitching.

The outfield specifically sucks, but by most metrics the Astros are above average offensively.

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Poor Altuve is down to 90 OPS+. By comparison Trammell is at 100+, Yainer is at 95+, Cam 82+, and Vazquez 69+. Yordan is doing so much heavy lifting.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2026.shtml

What kind of caught me by surprise was how bad defensively we are in some metrics notwithstanding not committing a lot of errors (top 1/3 in the league in limiting errors).

For the Fielding Bible's defensive runs saved Cam is our best player at No. 58 with 6 DRS.

Altuve is No. 1328 out of 1332 players that have taken the field this season with -11 DRS. Josh Jung and Trea Turner slot in behind him so at least he's in notable company.

https://www.fieldingbible.com/drs-leaderboard/players?

In ART (handling balls hit in the air, range, and throwing) Altuve is 1329 out of 1332 players with a -10.

Baseball reference has him with -.8 dWAR and -17 DRS. The drop in his batting prowess sucks and is glaringly obvious, but imagine if he was one of the bottom handful of guys in the league with the stick. That's kind of what he is on the field right now but it slips by obvious notice.

The Dodgers and their **** for brains fanbase have completely ****ed this sport.

I noticed it yesterday when that ground ball got through to his left that he would have stopped and made the play at first a few years ago.