One thing I think is extremely likely is that Jose Altuve will not play for a team other than the Astros. I just can’t see it. And seeing as how he is playing at a superstar level, I suspect he will be an asset for Houston for another 3-4 years at least.
I'd say the Astros started that way. The Astros won a World Series and went trade wild for a couple of years. Still, they had accumulated so much talent across so many years that it is going to take a while for the Astros to not be playoff contenders even with nothing apparently significant in the upper levels in the farm currently. AL looks to have a lot of parity and with extra wild card spots, 0.500 teams are going to be playoff contenders until around the trade deadline if not later most years in near future.
2 more years at least… then we shall see. Crane hasn’t really been in a position to try and salvage or retool. Attendance and the division quality will play a role in those decisions as well. I just can’t foresee the long run without retaining at least 1-2 of these guys.
You guys are acting crazy. Every single year we get a new guy that extends the window. Diaz looks like he might be the most valuable guy on the team next year. There is absolutely zero chance of a tear down. Crane hasn’t made a bad long term contract decision yet but still has a payroll that proves he isn’t cheap. If Dusty wasn’t an idiot we might be talking about how Chas is one of the best bargain superstars in MLB. And I’m with Snake…I bet Altuve will be the first contract that is probably bad but every Astro fan wants.
I’m talking about going into 2026 if they decide not to retain all of Altuve, Bregman, Framber, Tucker. I agree they will probably retain Altuve for mutual reasons. But sentimentality doesnt replenish all facets of the team.
≻ Houston Astros Cy Young winner Justin Verlander on their team being on the brink of reaching the postseason for the seventh consecutive year: “It’s not easy. It’s a testament to the depth of the organization. They did a really good job of getting young talent to fill roles, even more importantly than that, the culture they established in the locker room.’’ ≻ The Houston Astros twice put in waiver claims on reliever Matt Moore, and twice have come up empty. Cleveland grabbed Moore when the Angels placed him on waivers, and then the Marlins swooped in last week to grab Moore.
How is a backup catcher the most valuable piece moving forward?!?! Hank Conger didn't do too much neither did JR Towles beyond one game. I am kidding of course.
Well Dusty did say it was like a funeral in dugout before Dubon hit that walk-off in that game we barely won vs the Orioles. Pretty telling.
I vividly remember making a big deal out of that last loss vs Blue Jays. It was a 2-3 loss where Julks DH'd over Diaz and Pena hit lead-off in front of Altuve and got 0 hits. At the time I said this would comeback to bite us since it decided the season tie-break but their were a couple of posters who jumped all over me for making a big deal out of a June regular season game and not too worry. Something along the lines "stop your b****ing, Blue-Jays won't be near us by the end of the season". If I cared enough, I would go back and search for it.
One of the ongoing themes and problems with this season has been Dusty's lack of urgency. He simply does not think about individual games. He thinks big picture when the game in front of him could eliminate the team. I bet that he has Maldy catching today because Verlander is on the mound, despite Chirinos catching JV in 2019 and Castro catching him last year. He still thinks that Maldy catching is better than Diaz and is best for the team, eventhough they must win TODAY. The game has passed him by. Hoping for a 3-2 win and handcuffing your offense to make the SP happy (especially when Diaz is also better defensively) is 1980 thinking. But Dusty is so stubborn. Starting Diaz today will be admitting he has been wrong all season so he can't do it. Unless he wants to come back next year and thinks it's the only way to save his job.
There are a lot of receipts out there like that. Several games are going to come back and bite us. Like never PH for Maldy in the 7th or 8th inning games.
We don’t wallow much at all in negativity and talk instead about what we need to do to bring it home and make the playoffs. Plus a bit about baseballs unwritten rules of teams that are out of it playing hard down the stretch and what that means for the final week of the year. Spotify: https://spotify.link/MROnkDwSnDb Apple: Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8...s-podcast?ref=dm_sh_DmPUyZTMFMFbWzRX0up8EICfC
I think a bigger problem is that he's simply awful at evaluating which players give the team the best chance to win a given game.
