I love it. I know we can't commit to everyone, but extending guys that won us a world series is something I'm very happy to see.
Outside Altuve, Astros haven't added much risk with the extensions past 2 years.. Bregman only added two years. Verlander two years. Pressly two years.
Whoa, whoa man...way whoa. He's got a long way to go to even be in the same convo with Trout. Arenado/Chipper/Rolen/Bryant, hell yes. Pujols much more likely than Trout. Pujols put up a 81+ WAR from '01-10, 8 in a row over 7.5 (Bregman, great as he was, was 6.9 last year). STL definitely let him go at the right time.
Key word is “may”. I’m just saying we might want to see Bregman as that generational piece you were referencing.
We have differing thoughts on what a "generational" talent is. No worries. Bregman, like Altuve, needs to be an Astro for life. If they are interested (and only an idiot wouldn't be), I'm really excited about JV teaching some of the high-level youngsters. Not so much how he pitches, but how he prepares for games. How he does the video/scouting work. How he gets ready for his starts. Clemens did the same when he was here.
I would not rule out either with this front office..Crane’s shown he will spend. I think Springer given his age when he reaches free agency after Reddick, Gurriel, Brantley, etc’s contracts expire makes it very logical to retain him if he’s still performing at the same level. Cole is probably gone, the timing is wrong and he’s probably going to get a contract around the 182 million the Astros forked out in extensions this week. But still with Strom as pitching coach, JV as a mentor, smart catchers behind the plate, etc I have no doubt among the group of prospects..Whitley, James, Bukauskas, Valdez, Guduan, C Perez, Armenteros, C. Martin, etc Astros can fill out a rotation and pen with formidable starters. Future is very bright.
I would be surprised if Houston has room for another $20M+/yr contract. But it sure does seem like Luhnow is doing an amazing job of staggering his roster. In a perfect world, a ~50 fWAR contender made up of entirely homegrown talent would lose an average of 4 players and 8 WAR each year. Check out Houston’s current projection for who they will lose each year for the next 6 years: 2019: 7 players, ~11 WAR (Cole, McHugh, Miley, Chirinos, Harris, Rondon, Smith) 2020: 6 players, ~11 WAR (Springer, Brantley, Peacock, Gurriel, Reddick, Marisnick) 2021: 4 players, ~11 WAR (Correa, Verlander, McCullers, Devenski) 2022: 4 players, ~6 WAR (Osuna, Pressly, Stassi, Diaz) 2023: 2 players, ~3 WAR (White, Kemp) 2024: 2 players, ~8 WAR (Altuve, Bregman) With the amount of high ceiling pitching depth they’ve got in the upper minors, the 11 WAR they’ll need to replace next season is not nearly as big a concern as it was before they extended Verlander. Tucker and Alvarez should go a long way toward replacing the 11 WAR reaching free agency in 2020. There is enough time between now and 2022-2024 to draft and develop talent to replace all those guys; not to mention they should have some payroll flexibility in those years. The only year I see as an issue is 2021 where there doesn’t currently project to be ready equal replacements for Verlander and Correa, and there may not be the money to replace them in free agency. But overall Luhnow and Crane are doing a masterful job of smoothing out the curve.
Watch Crane extend beautiful clean Cole a day before the season begins just to show everyone and the doubters how he rolls.. 108 million and 10 cents for 4 years should do it.
I don't see anymore than 5+ year contracts for the majority of MLB unless your team needs a star player. The only player I would have done was Trout, so LA did the right thing but they need to also get other players around him.
