I think Peter Lambert is 2 more good appearances away from making the roster; he has looked really really good. I think he might make the roster over Blubaugh or Arrighetti who both have minor league options. I agree with you that Teng has looked good and is firmly in the mix. I still expect a trade to shake things up on the position player side, and I think Taylor Trammell will make the roster and I think Brice Matthews has a good chance. I expect Hader, Pena, Pearson, and De Los Santos to open the season on the IL. My latest guess for opening day: 2B Altuve 3B Paredes DH Alvarez SS Correa LF TBD 1B Walker C Diaz CF Meyers RF Smith Bench: Matthews, Allen, Vasquez, Trammell SP: Brown, Imai, Burrows, Javier, McCullers RP: Abreu, King, Okert, Sousa, Lambert, Munoz, Weiss, Blubaugh (Blubaugh will be the 6th SP on certain days) 60 day IL: Wesneski, Blanco, Walter 10 day IL: Hader, De Los Santos, Pena, Pearson Optioned: Arrighetti, Gordon, Alexander, Teng, Ullola, Murray, Whitcomb, Dezenzo, Cole, Loperfido DFA: Salazar
Because Trammell has been around 6 years and never got the job done, it's pretty easy to not realize he doesn't even have 500 career at bats It's rare for someone to be around this long and then finally put it together, but it does happen, and if Trammell is that guy it sure would be a huge boost to the 26 Stros
Free agency timeline for expected Astros 2026 roster: 2026: Imai*, Abreu, Okert, McCullers, Vasquez 2027: Pena*, Paredes*, Meyers, Javier 2028: Brown*, Alvarez*, Diaz, Hader 2029: Altuve, Arrighetti, Sousa, Allen 2030: Smith, Burrows, King 2031: Cole, Loperfido 2032: Correa * denotes QO candidate Astros have double digit war leaving in both 2027 and 2028 along with Altuve and Correa aging. They should be good this season and next, but if their farm doesn’t suddenly produce a couple of stars, the run is over.
You and I disagree here. I'm not saying he WILL be a star, but I think he's as safe a bet to get 10 WAR in his 6yr window of control as any prospect currently in the organization.
Dusty's teams haven't flopped in the playoffs any more than anyone else except made someone like Joe Torre. Most teams lose in the playoffs - even the best ones. Dusty with the Astros made 4 straight ALCS Game 7's in his 4 years, 2 WSs, and won 1. That's about as good a track record as any team in recent history besides the Dodgers. As far as bullpens go, this might be worth a read if you actually care. Dusty has turned his bullpens into the top bullpen in the league everywhere he's been - often with mediocre players. And they regress once he leaves - note that in 2024 after Dusty left, it was the bullpen that ended the Astros' run, despite having everyone back plus Josh Hader. As is his entire history, Dusty's strength is intuitively knowing how and when to use players to get the most of them. Everyone just credits someone else in the organization for it because front offices and fans tend not to like him. His Astros tenure was like every other - the team gets notably worse the minute he leaves (normally they get notably better when he arrives but the Astros were already elite - they did, however, perform their best in the playoffs under Dusty). https://deadspin.com/unsung-genius-dissecting-dusty-bakers-bullpen-brillian-1849768573/
MLB managers are managers for a reason, especially ones who will end up in the HOF. I am pretty neutral about him overall. The bullpens during his years were great, even 2020 when he had a bunch of nobody's like Andre Scrubb and Blake Taylor. He did have a reputation as a SP killer early in his career, but considering the last 2 seasons, he was solid in Houston. I absolutely believe his refusal to play Chas and Yainer as much as their production warranted seriously hindered another WS though.
I wouldn't rule out Diaz being dealt - he was almost dealt last season to the Rays and his name was discussed early this off season as well. It all comes down to what they can get for him in trade compared to their internal valuation of him.
I think ultimately its a disagreement about how production works. You contend since they were producing, playing more would have resulted in better outcomes. I'm contending, based on Dusty's history of extracting maximum value from his players, they were as productive as they were because of how he used them. Obviously without seeing what would have happened otherwise, all we know is they did win a WS in 2022 (the Vasquez/Mancini vs Maldy/Gurriel debate) and didn't win a WS in 2023 (Maldy/Yanier and Chas/whomever). So we can never really know which is right. But I think the fact that Chas and Yanier, both of whom should have been on the upswing of their careers, have only faded supports the idea that they were as good as they were in part because of how they were managed. Whether more playing time would have yielded even more success, I have no idea.
Dusty sabotaged the Astros 2023 postseason. You can dress it up however you want. He did not put his best team on the field. We lost. Of course we have no idea what happens if he plays Diaz and Chas, but that point holds zero relevance. We should know, because he should’ve played them. Dusty almost cost us even getting into the postseason by doing this and watching the Astros flounder down the stretch. He continued the madness in the postseason and we lost.
Valid point. Obviously we will never know. I feel confident Giving Chas a handful of Corey Julks' 60 starts in LF would have benefited the team. Maybe Chas' production Dips, but I can't see it changing that drastically because of an extra few games. Julks had a 79 OPS+ so it would almost certainly be some improvement. But the Astros finished 9 games behind TB for the #2 seed so I don't think it made THAT much difference.
One point of clarification, 4 ALCS, but only 2 went 7 games (losses in '20 (Rays) and '23 (FML)). Carry on
Whoops! I should have said made it to "at least" 4 ALCS game 7's (as in, that was the worst the Astros ever did in those 4 years).
Fanatics has a few Authentic Majestic Bregman jerseys on clearance right now. I just grabbed a 44 Large for $50
