Maybe it's dumb, but do at least appreciate Varsho running to first on that play. He made it within damn close when half our lineup wouldn't have been halfway to first.

CharleyKerfeld said:

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I love you guys giving Varsho a 1-game window to decide he's not cut out to bat cleanup. Guy played for another team until 7 hours ago.

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I mean he's not an ideal clean up hitter. And he wasn't on his previous team. Ideally he'd be a solid 6 hole hitter with some pop

Mathguy64 said:

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tjack16 said:

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W said:

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Varsho doesn't look like a 4-hole hitter

perhaps stating the obvious

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He's a 6 hitter ideally

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So is most everyone on the team not named Pena or Yordan.

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6 is being generous to a lot of them.

The season pretty much comes down to Paredes or whoever is in the 3 hole. E sock failed miserably tonight. He has to start doing something.

rehire Jeff Lunhow and be done with it

Drew Gilbert and the Giants beat Texas

Wish we didn't bother trading for Varsho.

Javier and Blanco and Wesneski cannot win in a playoff series.

mildly concerning...

0 for 4 tonight

3 for 11 vs. the Rangers
1 for 13 vs. the Angels
2 for 11 vs. the White Sox

this is where batting average is important...and not so much on-base %

Paredes needs more singles

He's become Paredes Popup.

W said:

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mildly concerning...

0 for 4 tonight

3 for 11 vs. the Rangers
1 for 13 vs. the Angels
2 for 11 vs. the White Sox

this is where batting average is important...and not so much on-base %

Paredes needs more singles

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Hits. Any kind of hits.

Apparently Varsho has more of a noodle arm than Jake Meyers

suburban cowboy said:

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rehire Jeff Lunhow and be done with it

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Hypothetical

Your GM's contract ends after this season. Wish him well.

Say you're evaluating your options. Maybe name an interim GM from existing staff.

The CBA expires Dec. 1st and lockout begins.

On Christmas Eve hire Luhnow as special adviser.

AggiEE said:

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Apparently Varsho has more of a noodle arm than Jake Meyers

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Meyers statcast arm value:

2023: 93rd percentile
2024: 97th percentile
2025: 96th percentile

Thats how many runs a player's throwing has saved or cost his team compared with an average player at the same position.

Houston Astros General Manager Jim Crane greets his new acquisition before the game

Daulton Varsho came out for his first game as an Astro and was greeted by Jim Crane. pic.twitter.com/6DWgJSsZl8

— Julia Morales (@JuliaMorales) August 3, 2026

JPN06 said:

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AggiEE said:

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Apparently Varsho has more of a noodle arm than Jake Meyers

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Meyers statcast arm value:

2023: 93rd percentile
2024: 97th percentile
2025: 96th percentile

Thats how many runs a player's throwing has saved or cost his team compared with an average player at the same position.

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Jake Meyers has below-average arm strength despite elite overall center field defense, tracking around the low-80s to mid-86 mph in average throw velocity on Baseball Savant. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Statcast Arm Metrics Breakdown

• Arm Strength (Average): ~80-86 mph average throw speed, placing him below the major league outfield norm.
• Arm Strength (Max): Tops out in the upper-80s to low-90s on his absolute hardest throws.

Daulton Varsho's Statcast arm value ranks in the 28th percentile, while his raw arm strength tracks at a 78.1 mph average, placing him in the 13th percentile on the Baseball Savant Player Page. [1]

Statcast Arm Metrics

• Arm Value Percentile: 28th percentile
• Arm Strength Percentile: 13th percentile (78.1 mph average)

small note...

Logan Webb started for the Giants tonight. He's scheduled to pitch again on Sunday

so the Astros should miss him next week in San Francisco

Varsho had shoulder surgery last year. Before that he had a pretty good arm. Its been weak since.

Jake doesnt have a "noodle arm". He has below average arm strength…and one of the most effective OF arms in baseball.

Thats like complaining that a guy with 40 HR doesn't hit his homers far enough.

Not sure I remember anyone explaining why Luhnow would want to come back in this scenario, or even why Crane would want to rehire him.

We would need completely new ownership.

linkdude said:

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Not sure I remember anyone explaining why Luhnow would want to come back in this scenario, or even why Crane would want to rehire him.

We would need completely new ownership.

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Your terms are acceptable.

Type in "Jake Meyers outfield assist" or "Jake Meyers throws out baserunner" to YouTube and post the results here. I'll wait.

txags92 said:

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linkdude said:

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Not sure I remember anyone explaining why Luhnow would want to come back in this scenario, or even why Crane would want to rehire him.

We would need completely new ownership.

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Your terms are acceptable.

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while i concede that crane is a bit of a moron and that he probably is a little too involved in team operations, i would still much prefer he stuck around than roll the dice with an unknown. for all his faults, he has proven that he genuinely wants to win and will prioritize winning in ways that many- most even- owners would not. spending into the penalty apron, paying extra salary for deadline trades, understanding that even with the insanity that it's been losing the talent over the years to free agency, that certain players like altuve can't ever be one of those guys that leaves. and while it sucks to lose to talented players like that, it's important to recognize that the astros have consistently been a top spending team every year, so it's not as if losing kyle tucker and framber is anywhere near the same situation as the reds not paying their free agents. the fact is for all his faults, crane has proven he's an owner that will not stand in the way of a teams ability to win a title. i think some people would be surprised at how many owners can't even make that claim. do i like that he lets jeff bagwell have any authority whatsoever or even that he listens to his advice? definitely no. do i like that he nixed that abreu trade? i dont like that he meddled but at least he looks to have meddled in the right direction. granted, he did hire dana brown which is a huge check in the "cons" column but by all accounts he should be gone soon.

i still remember all too well what it was like having drayton own the team. i'm not so eager to roll the dice and take the chance of an owner like that coming on board or worse. keep in mind baseball is generally thought of as much easier to become an owner than the nfl or the nba. there are some truly awful owners in baseball. crane isn't perfect but given the choice between him and the unknown, i'm sticking with crane. besides, if dana brown could be halfway competent or if anyone had confidence that the players couldn't manage themselves at least as successfully as joe espada has managed, we probably aren't even discussing this. his next gm hire is going to be crucial to get right, so i hope someone has plans to kidnap bagwell when the time comes to keep him far away from that decision

CharleyKerfeld said:

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Type in "Jake Meyers outfield assist" or "Jake Meyers throws out baserunner" to YouTube and post the results here. I'll wait.

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You know, went to YouTube to try and prove you wrong and nope. Nothing.

Paredes needs to step up.

1-12 in the last 3 games, 4-29 in last 8 games and he's left a village on the bases. If he doesn't step up, Yordan will just get walked every at bat

One positive, as I think Javier is figuring it out. His last three outings have been really good. I know last night he gave up the runs a little early and our offense couldn't score… But he did give us a quality start which we haven't had in quite a while outside of Hunter and Lambert

CharleyKerfeld said:

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Type in "Jake Meyers outfield assist" or "Jake Meyers throws out baserunner" to YouTube and post the results here. I'll wait.

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Much like his speed not translating to stealing bases on the basepaths, his arm strength/speed doesn't translate into outfield assists or holding runners from advancing. He has great tools but he doesn't do anything useful with them other than occasionally chasing down a fly ball he has no business being able to get to…but somehow he does. Just wish we could get the version hitting close to .300 back. That version made it alot easier to live with the lack of throwing prowess.

CharleyKerfeld said:

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Type in "Jake Meyers outfield assist" or "Jake Meyers throws out baserunner" to YouTube and post the results here. I'll wait.

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The Jake Meyers career Astros highlights are probably all from 2021 as a rookie. We were all so excited for him back then

I'll type up some thoughts later today on what I'm hearing about what happened (and didn't happen) at the deadline. Busy day.

Granato just said Dana Brown did the Abreu Larnach deal without talking to Crane. When Crane heard it, he said you're not trading Abreu. Brown is a lame duck.

It sure seems like we will never get back to the promise land while crane is owner. He won't let the gm be the gm. No gm worth their weight will come to Houston. And crane has proven he is a below average gm. Or he needs to get back to what started to dynasty but that ship sure seems like it has sailed

tjack16 said:

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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Type in "Jake Meyers outfield assist" or "Jake Meyers throws out baserunner" to YouTube and post the results here. I'll wait.

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The Jake Meyers career Astros highlights are probably all from 2021 as a rookie. We were all so excited for him back then

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You know I was on that bandwagon, Preppy!

Ags #1 said:

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It sure seems like we will never get back to the promise land while crane is owner. He won't let the gm be the gm. No gm worth their weight will come to Houston. And crane has proven he is a below average gm. Or he needs to get back to what started to dynasty but that ship sure seems like it has sailed

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If you want to be a GM you can't be picky like that.

Sure Crane should probably back off some but Houston is a good baseball job.

Yeah but word is out the gm is clearly not the gm, it's just a figure head. How about this, if you are a good gm or want to make a career of it how is Houston a job for you to accomplish that? I don't think it Is with the way things work today

Exactly. We can get someone and plenty of guys will want it. Will it be some hot up and comer that's highly coveted? No they will wait for a better situation. We will have to take second or third tier guys. Either guys who are washed and will do anything to get back in the game or guys who are unqualified.

So a guy (Arrighetti) that we reportedly weren't willing to part with last year to obtain Cease or (I think) Donovan, we gave up for a rental that has the OPS of Altuve and Cam? Make it make sense.

Wabs said:

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So a guy (Arrighetti) that we reportedly weren't willing to part with last year to obtain Cease or (I think) Donovan, we gave up for a rental that has the OPS of Altuve and Cam? Make it make sense.

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I don't recall the particulars of what it would have taken to get Cease or Donovan, but when Arrighetti's name was floated as trade bait to me last week the clarification was that they are concerned with his long term health. That along with him being who he is at this point, sometimes a solid 3/4 rotation piece and sometimes a Space Cowboy in navy/orange clothing.