If Burrows, Imai, and McCullers all pan out, the playoff pitching staff would be the bomb: SP: Brown, Burrows, Imai, McCullers RP: Hader (closer), Abreu (8th), Javier (7/8), King (7/8), Blubaugh (7/8), Okert (7th), Teng (bulk), Weiss (bulk), Arrighetti (bulk)
I promise you, if we are leading the division at trade deadline and there is an ace available that can help us, Crane will pull the trigger, LT be damned. He doesn't mind spending short term money on pitching to make a splash.
I’m hoping the pitching is on point and it works out such that Houston can add a star bat. Steven Kwan, Byron Buxton, Wilyer Abreu, Christian Yelich, and Yandy Diaz would be my list of guys I would hope to be available.
Scratch Yelich. I like him in the box. His need to DH w/ some LF sprinkled in would be an issue but maybe able to be overcome in the short term. His contract is simply not workable.
My guess is that if the Astros are great, it will be because lineup is mostly healthy, and three of the starting pitchers are awesome. I'd expect other areas to have more needs than a starting pitcher. That said, I expect oyu are right that Crane will push hard for an ace even if the need is elsewhere. Starting pitching is always needed. Just might be a situation that there is more need elsewhere.
I want to buy/sell of we are doing well at the deadline. Everything running on all cylinders and Matthews being a dude and everyone healthy? What will you give me for Pena? It better be a shitload but I’m open to it. And then go trade s guy in the minors for an OF bat and a relief pitcher if needed. Something like that. Jake would also be on my- maybe gonna sell him list of someone turns CF into a black hole or injury and if it looks like Loperfido and Matthews would be a good platoon situation, either way Matthew’s also being able to play 2B when you want Altuve to dh or rest. I’d do that in a scenario where we don’t look like one of the top 5 teams in MLB but we looked likely to make the playoffs even without Pena.
2019 is a great example for our expectations. They had 2 aces, a #4 having a very good year but out of his league as a #3, then a very good swing man filling the #4 role. Their established #3 lost his spot but became a valuable leverage reliever. Then they had 5 young unproven/semi-proven guys they tried as starters who weren't ready for prime time. So Crane got a 3rd Ace.
Yeah, I was begging Espada to pull him before the Wilyer at bat. He had started giving up hard contact in the 7th.
If this team is in contention they can't trade a 5+ WAR player - period. There is no realistic scenario where the W S. odds improve in any deal that could happen. Is Altuve a good leadoff hitter in October after a 162 game season? How fresh is Correa if he needs to play SS everyday? I think you MUST trade Pena in the offseason, but only at the deadline if things go south quick and the post season is out of reach.
I think for the post season, having a second bona fide ace has more of a guaranteed impact. At least I think Crane thinks that way. We’ve gotten several rental bats over the years and very few had much of an impact. If Detroit is out of the picture and Skubal becomes available, I bet money we will go after him at the deadline.
I would not have had a problem either way. It was a gamble but Lance getting out of his own mess instead of getting pulled was good for his confidence and mindset moving forward.
Oh I’m not trying to make our 2026 World Series chances greater. I’m trying to not Kill our playoff chances and add 3 really good prospects for the future. That would be my price.
I get it. I'm just saying anything that reduces 2026 chances has 0% chance of happening. Winning is very important to Crane Brown and Espada are lame ducks No ALCS past 2 years FOR THIS FANBASE?
I'm pretty sure Crane will push for starting pitching regardless of how the rest of the team looks if they are playing well. I'd say odds are that the Astros will need a Beltran over a Greinke. I would not consider Skubal a Greinke. I don't think the Astros would be abe to get Skubal over other teams.
Agreed. I don’t often expect my preferences to Line up with the Astros. I’m looking at it with a fan for life perspective and realize that moving Pena probably has a less than 1% odds of moving our World Series chances (especially if you fortify other areas of the team) if we have 5 healthy infielders at the time and 3 really good prospects make our chances of making the playoffs in 28-34 way higher probably. You have to make the playoffs and then win a bunch of coinflips to win a ring. I know that would be hugely unpopular.
My concern was less about his effectiveness into the 7th inning, but more having a guy that hasn't had a healthy season since 2021 throw 96 pitches in the first start of the season.
Bu But how much less would you get trading him in the offseason? There has to be a benefit that outweighs the loss of him August-September and postseason.
"You have to make the playoffs" is a very important phrase. Wins are most important for championship equity when a team is close to the make-or-break playoff line. Winning more has more championship equity, but 105 vs 106 wins doesn't have as much of a difference as an 88 win team at home and an 89 win team in the playoffs. Assuming the prospect value is roughly that of Pena's in terms of wins except spread out over many years, I think this year will be close to make/don't make line such that even with "5 healthy IFs", these wins will be worth more than wins in years that are unlikely to be as close to the make/don't make line. If the Astros are going to win 100 games or miss the playoffs, this changes things.
