He has to hate somebody. His persona requires it. He actually is a very nice guy and is highly intelligent, but he occasionally plays the part of a front-running asshole on the GZ
World class hindsight and frontrunning is what that is.
Jim, you can call me a front runner to your hearts content. But you were crucifying me in the off-season for saying Bagwell would be a terrible GM so it’s hardly hindsight.
1 Like
I thought you were quoting something on Twitter. So sorry to offend your tender sensibilities, but those words are frontrunning bs.
Show me where you criticized the Montero and Abreu signings at the time they were signed.
I don’t think anybody criticized the actual signings. I can only speak for myself, but I was happy to have Montero back and happy to bring Abreu in. But I did at the time and feel more confident now, that both were significant overpays. Nobody else was going to give Montero 11.5M and nobody else was giving Abreu the number of years the Astros did.
I know you hate talking about how much money this or that player signed for and the owner can spend his money how sees fit. But this stuff does matter, how much you pay someone informs what you expect from them, and it affects how they are used.
I am well aware that Abreu has been a monster over the last decade, so when the team signed him I thought Hey, this is great, he’ll be a huge bat in the middle of the order. Then I started reading things from the advanced metrics crowd who talked about unmistakable signs of very concerning declines and I thought, Hmm, I guess we’ll have to see how this goes.
If a bunch of nerds on the internet can figure this out, then I am quite certain that a bunch of nerds in what has been one of the three or four best organizations in baseball over this same past decade and whose job it is to know every last detail about every single player in the professional baseball universe were well aware of these concerning metrics, too. So it annoys me that a lunkhead like Bagwell, the greatest Astro ever, in my view, but a lunkhead, has enough juice with Crane to end around the front office, particularly since a huge part of the organization’s success has been the enthusiastic embrace of these sorts of advanced metrics that Bagwell openly downplays.
So, that’s about it, really. Montero’s got a great arm, he’ll get things sorted out soon enough I expect. He’s overpaid, but he’s not the only one on the team who is. Abreu, we’ll just have to hope he regains some form. It was annoying to me to learn that he’s not listening to Cintron with respect to his swing, but we’ll just have to see what happens because Abreu’s obviously going to be in the lineup every day.
2 Likes
I’m not so sure Montero was an overpayment at the time given the outstanding year he had last year. I would be willing to bet there were plenty of other teams with an offer close to what Houston paid him.
I am staying out of this. I am in trouble enough. 20-20 hindsight is always perfect.
I was happy the Astros signed Montero and Abreu last offseason. The former has a special arm and was key part of the '22 bullpen. Like Chuck, I think he’ll sort out himself out.
I thought Abreu would bring even more depth to the lineup while also being a fantastic addition to the clubhouse. His former teammates speak so highly of him, and that comradery/chemistry has been an often overlooked part of the Astros’ recent run of success (imo). There’s still a hell of a lot of baseball to be played this season, though. Hopefully, he turns things around toute suite.
1 Like
Here is what Bagwell said. Infer what you will.
“This game is played by humans, man. It’s not played by computers. The game has advanced so much,” Bagwell said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about driving runs in, scoring runs, getting 27 outs before the other team. That never changes. Trying to get a mix of both of those is what I’m trying to get some of up there because that’s what [owner Jim Crane] wants.”
ETA: ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on how Crane feels about the team’s data-heavy approach once Click was shown the door:
“Crane, sources said, felt coming into the 2022 season that the team needed more “baseball men” involved in operations decisions and invited Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Reggie Jackson into the team’s weekly senior baseball-operations meetings.”
At the time of the signings, I was thrilled with both Montero and Abreu.
Montero has elite arm talent and had just completed a great season. Based on other top RP signings he was not an overpay. I did not expect the team to spend that much more on the bullpen but was excited that they did.
There were red flags with Abreu’s reduction in HR, but he made enough contact, hit doubles, and drove in runs so I thought it was a good choice considering the lack of internal and external options.
I still think both will end up ok but not all stars and not as consistent as anyone would like.
Also the team was done bringing in players and was significantly below the CBT so I had no concerns or negative feelings about the deals.
Ditto, without much care one way or the other for the dollars. Plenty of season left for them to put things together. Hope they do. If they don’t, well, I guess I’ll have been wrong.
2 Likes
I’m not worried about Montero, his three consecutive lousy outings notwithstanding. His stuff is still good, he’s just putting it in stupid places. He’ll figure it out.
Abreu is much more concerning. Six weeks in, and he’s still way behind everything. Combined with his last couple of months last year, there’s a lot to be worried about.
The other problem we’re going to be up against is a possible innings limit for Brown. It’s not like they’re going to let him pitch 200 innings this year. If he’s going to be effective in the postseason, he’s probably going to have to have a lightened workload in the second half. Maybe McCullers is the answer there, maybe not.
Yes, this is very concerning.
When he was the #5, it wasn’t a big deal. If he’s your #3, it is.
1 Like