One more thing Hey Now......I revel so much in the team losing that I went to game 5 and I have also flown out to L.A. to go to the game tonight. STICK IT UP YOUR.........
Sure. I specifically want to focus on that first post because it is, by far, the most egregious example of you reveling in Ken Giles' failures. Lets' review it: @sealclubber1016 has posted a grand total of three times in this thread, never once interacting with you. His last post, which was actually a snarky dig at Giles earlier in the postseason, was on Oct. 16. Twelve days later (12!), on the heels of Giles losing game 4, you call @sealclubber1016, and his "lame A$$ excuses" out. Unprovoked. Literally minutes after a Giles failure. Here's what I can't figure out about each of your long, meaningless responses: are you ignoring the many examples I've provided of you reveling in Ken Giles' failings, or do you lack the mental capacity to understand what I mean? Neither is a particularly good look, frankly. But if firing off limp insults makes you feel better, have at it, big guy. Otherwise, explain to me how calling out @sealclubber1016 unprovoked in the immediate aftermath of a Giles failure IS NOT reveling in Giles' failure. Go ahead........ this should be well worth the wait............... My guess is that your response will be something along the lines of: ANGRY WORDS! KEN GILES!
Pretty sure most angst between posters stems from years of disagreements. The D&D forum also breeds contempt
Hey now, moving past this. We're WORLD CHAMPS and at the end of the day that's ALL that matters. Me being frustrated with Giles control problems is what it is, BUT at no point did I revel in his or the teams failures. If you want to think that I did go ahead. We're not WS CHAMPS without Giles contributions this yr. The parade is tomorrow from what I've heard. Getting a lot of people talking **** to me out here in L.A. wearing my Astros cap but I'm a big boy. Flying back to HTown later today and it's going to be one happy trip back.
Giles is jacked up mentally. Smart of Hinch to see that and take him out of action. Giles needs a complete mental teardown/rebuild -- shed that false bravado, admit to himself he's not confident in himself. The Brent Strom needs to help him make the adjustments to get some movement on his flat fastball. Either that or we'll just have to move on from him.
The thing about Giles is that he did improve substantially from 2016 to 2017 (regular season). Therefore, you might think the playoffs were an aberration. I am still not certain how to read the significance of his playoff meltdown. Not saying it isn't significant. Just saying I am not sure in what way. Maybe we never know. But one of a few things will happen whether we do or we dont. 1) Come Spring, we just put Giles in his closer role and see what happens. 2) Come Spring, we move him to a set up role (6-7th inning guy). 3) We trade him in the off-season.
I think this is a distinction possibility. As a still-young pitcher with stuff, he likely has more value to another team than he does the Astros; if they can turn him into an asset, be it a prospect or MLB contributor, I think they'll almost certainly explore it.
I remember Mitch Williams after a World Series meltdown. I remember Brad Lidge after a World Series meltdown. The following years were not good either of them...
I think it's silly to run to two completely unrelated examples that confirm your opinion and hold them up as the standard. Closers blow playoff games all the time; heck, here's a list of closers that blew critical games this past postseason: Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman Kenley Jansen.........
After last years playoffs, there are a few guys, despite the outcome, that didn't perform very well. Not just Giles. And its natural to have doubts about yourself and the perception of others. Privately, these guys were, and still are, receiving support from others. Its a given, at least here. But when the media publicly calls out a player, coach or manager and asks things like: "What do you think of Giles for 2018?", all your ever going to get is a canned answer, even when it may also happen to be the truth. Maybe I am overly cynical, but I expect a canned response 90+% of the time any and every time I hear them speak publicly. So to my point, what does it mean when A.J. Hinch on Ken Giles says: "I expect him to be elite again."? While it very well might be the truth, I also have a hard time imagining him saying anything much different than that though. It just seems that quite often, a coach or player has been elevated via words or new contract and affirmed as a team cornerstone only to have his doom looming right around the corner. While I dont believe one was the cause of the other, it seems clear to me that the whole "He is our guy" media blitz was for show, not substance. Sure, they probably meant it when it was uttered, at least partly. But it also means that "what have you done for me lately" carries a lot more weight than what you said or felt several months ago.
I think the sincerity is rooted in Hinch's opening statement, when he references the small sample size - that is not a canned response; it's a reflection of the organization's mindset. I'm sure the Astros have concerns - but they also, I'm certain, recognize that it is 7.2 innings against two of the best offenses in baseball last year, and that the vast majority of his damage happened in extraordinary circumstances (specifically, they asked him 3 times to get multi-inning saves). Shoot 'em full of truth serum and I guarantee you the answer would be the same. This team does not strike me as one that gives in to knee-jerks.
Agree with this. Any team would have said what Hinch said, so I don't put any stock into his words. Even if they think he's permanently shot, they aren't going to say that if they want to trade him or get any value out of him. But this organization has proven over and over that it doesn't respond to the knee-jerk fickleness of fans. Everyone from Beltran to Gomez to Sipp to Singleton should show people that over the years. If they believe in you, they will give you every chance to prove them right. The fact that they never moved George Springer out of the leadoff spot should show it as well.
Yea, well, the manager still avoided him like the black death in the biggest situations. There is something to be said for that.
Brad Peacock is probably the best example of this... many an expert poster here were questioning him continuing to take up a 40 man roster spot last off-season. They're definitely not going to just jettison a guy with stuff, club controlled years, and youth like Giles.... not without getting a decent enough return.
I continue to be very happy that Luhnow is GM and Hinch is manager instead of the vast majority of the posters on this board.
