I don’t fault her for the original story in 2019, but the tone of the recent story made it seem like she took Click’s and Dusty’s non-extension (at the time) personally.
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Oh fuck that. She reported it and the Astros called her a liar, when everything she said was true.
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It was absolutely a hitjob on Crane
I didn’t say she was wrong for reporting the Brandon Taubman/Alyson Footer incident after the 2019 ALCS. However, it’s now three years later, and she won’t move on.
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So we’ve got competing narratives—Crane Is A Pain or Click Is A Prick.
The former is presumably being driven by Click and his loyalists. Which is the narrative the media has glommed on to. Not too surprising that given some of the shit stuck to Crane’s shoe since even before he owned the Astros.
The latter comes from an anonymous poster on a message board (completely reliable eh?) who in part seems to be channeling the complaints of a disgruntled fired ex-employee. Since Click didn’t engage in a massive bloodletting in the FO when he took over it’s not hard to narrow down who the ex-employee might be.
Anyway I have moved on to the pass the popcorn phase of these whole contretemps and will enjoy reading how this soap opera plays out.
I make no claim to validity of the info I got.
I simply thought it was relevant and interesting.
Here in Idaho, I am the furthest thing from any kind of knowledgeable source.
( and I know you were not saying I was or claimed to be. I just want to be sure to put that out there)
You made that clear the first time.
More context I read ( same guy) about the Meyers comment.
Apparently Crane wanted Click to sign Marte as a FA to bolster offense because Correa was not returning and they did not expect Pena to be much of a contributer with the bat in year one.
Click said Meyers would produce as much as Marte - cheaper.
Thats when Crane asked.
Wonder if Crane’s insistence on improving at CF means he’ll try hard to sign Nimmo. He’s got a QO attached (unlike Marte) and the Astros have typically avoided those guys, but a guy can hope…
I love Nimmo. I really do. From an offensive standpoint I think he fits in with the team like a glove from on base percentage to low strike outs to how he works pitchers. The one concern however is his center field defense. Not all of the metrics like him. Averageish at best. He’s probably better in left field but that isn’t an option for him with Houston. And with money it is going to take to sign him, I don’t think your replacing him late on games to improve your defense.
But I’d do back flips if we sign him.
Yeah, I was trying to look at trade candidates and tried to limit the search to players that were considered to have plus defense in CF. The only one I came up with was Buxton. Would the Astros take a chance on a guy that has struggled to stay on the field to this point in his career? On top of that he’s signed through the 2028 season at essentially $15M/year (with up to $11M/year in additional performance bonuses). $15M/year doesn’t sound that bad until you see he’s only averaged 64 games played per season over the past three seasons. I’m guessing management would say no to acquiring him but was the only real solution I could find. I know Walt did bring up some defensive CFrs that might be available in ARZ though.
Yeah, the center field talent is lacking overall league wide. While what I think doesn’t mean squat, I think we need to address 2 of the 3 offensive holes we have. Those holes being center field, first base and DH. We don’t need to stand pat. The Mariners and Rangers are going to spend, not to mention the Yankees and Blue Jays. We need to improve as well. The issue as I see it though, at least where free agents are concerned, is that the bats available to upgrade center and first probably compromise the defense to an extent. Nimmo, Josh Bell and/or Jose Abreu are not going to play defense like McCormick/Meyers or Yuli.
But if you left center field alone with McCormick and Meyers you could sign Bell and Abreu. They could split time at first and DH. I like the flexibility of Bell being able to switch hit.
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I hate to say it, but I just don’t see how Buxton can stay on the field. Every year it’s something, snd often it’s the same thing. His style is balls-to-the-wall, and that winds up costing him on dives, walls, etc. He’d be great while he’s healthy, but the other half of the season is going go require a good insurance policy. And he’s likely to be out at the end of the year when you want him most.
I don’t know how it’ll pan out but I agree run production from 1B, CF, DH is big concern for next season.
Based almost entirely on sentiment (and a little on past performance and results) my preference is to sit tight. Bring back Brantley, Diaz and Gurriel. Let McCormick and Meyers battle it out for centerfield and give Leon a look in the spring. Rely on Hensley in case Brantley or Gurriel flame out.
OR
All of the above except let Brantley go and sign Bell to DH and spell Gurriel.
I would like to see Verlander back but if he goes elsewhere I won’t be suicidal. Even without him, the Astros still have the best pitching in baseball bar none.
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I’m of the opinion that they should bring back Brantley and JV.
Then either sign Abreu or Bell for 1B/DH or trade for a young guy like Walker or Hoskins.
Sign a veteran bench catcher to compete with Korey Lee. Loser is at AAA for insurance.
Yordan/ Brantley share DH/ LF vs RHP
Yordan DH /Chas LF vs LHP
Meyers and Leon compete for CF w/ Chas as back up plan if neither play well enough to keep the job.
Hensley replaces A Diaz
Dubon is 26th man and super utility.
What did you do with Maldonado?
I don’t want to sign Diaz. Too expensive given the fact that he’s unreliable from a health standpoint. Dubon can play the infield positions and while the sample size is small, Hensley can play all 4 infield spots. We have cheaper options than Diaz. I’m good with bringing back Brantley but he’s got to be willing to take a pay cut and pretty much agree to be a full time DH save for giving Yordan occasional rest in left. If I bring back uncle Mike, I have to address first and center.
I’m good with Lee being the backup to Maldonado. If we decide later that it won’t work, there will be backup catchers available via trade if necessary.
An argument over Marte and Meyers circa the 2021-22 offseason is a weird bizarro world owner/GM argument. The only way you pick Marte is if you’re ok with lighting some money on fire. I mean, he’s clearly the more proven high-floor player, but I don’t think paying him what the Mets did is really all that great in return for the production over and above Meyers’ projection. You could spend that money on a better return elsewhere, IMO. But then again it seems that Click was mostly ending up kinda just holding the extra budget in reserve pretty much, from Crane’s point of view.
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Maldy, Altuve, Bregman, Pena, and Tucker were not mentioned because they are cemented into their spots.
I filled out the 13 position players with:
Abreu, Bell, Walker, Hoskins, or a similar 1B.
Lee or veteran b/u C
Yordan
Brantley
Chas
Meyers or Leon
Hensley
Dubon.