Brown out

[Doyce7 (Doyce Kirkland)]

This is all 100% true but I might even take it a step further(farther? I never know which to use). There is a good chance that the league(at least the teams that matter), have gone past them and step one for the new regime will be to catch up, before they can blaze a new trail

[DVauthrin (David Vauthrin)]

What has hurt the Astros more anything the last few seasons is having essentially a lot of dead money on an expensive roster, especially starting pitching wise. Pair that with a weak farm system, and it’s been hard to plug holes with viable major league talent.

Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers Jr (until this year’s trade deadline) were being paid $37M to not be key pieces in the Astros’ rotation. If Brown had an extra $37M to spend, he could’ve addressed the outfield and signed a reliable number two or three starter in free agency to pair with Hunter Brown. McCullers is gone and Javier’s deal expires after next season, so there is a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

[Doyce7 (Doyce Kirkland)]

Also not having a 1st or 2nd round pick in 2020 and 2021. A hit on any of those 4 would mean an extra cheap big leaguer filling out the roster, or a trade trip that could have been used the last few years

Edit: not to mention the lost bonus pool money that would have allowed them to take a risk on some higher upside guys in later rounds that had higher bonus demands

[das (david shive)]

@moriarty

That doesn’t mean a rebuild can’t work, but it’s going to be a lot harder than it was the first time around. They can’t run the Luhnow playbook again. They’ll have to write a new one.

This is why you hire a smart guy like Lunhow, not a smart person to do what Lunhow did again. Hiring a “baseball guy” is a backwards-looking move. Hire the smartest person you can and give them time and space to be creative.

[Ty_in_Tampa (Michael Tyson)]

@moriarty

the commissioner’s office is going to blunt it

They haven’t seemed to blunt the “spend all you want” edge.

[Doyce7 (Doyce Kirkland)]

They are trying, but the players have to agree to it

[MusicMan (Michael Shopoff)]

@Doyce7

They are trying, but the players have to agree to it

The owners want to be saved from themselves.

[austro (Mark)]

@MusicMan

The owners want to be saved from themselves.

27 or 28 of them do.

[AstrosFanInColorado]

@Doyce7

further(farther? I never know which to use).

I believe ‘firther’ is the correct choicage.

[moriarty]

The way I learned it was “farther” is for literal distance and “further” is for just about anything else.

[Knoxbanedoodle (Devin Walsh)]

@moriarty

The way I learned it was “farther” is for literal distance and “further” is for just about anything else.

A useful heuristic, depending on a lot, is to remember that Ken Kesey’s magic bus was dubbed Further. Hence, further is for metaphorical usages.