You don’t feed your dog rabid animals?
This is great news. It still sucks to lose George, but keeping Brantley in the fold makes things more palatable.
I think the lack of lipservice to attempting to re-sign Springer is probably the pandemic combined with the fact that they are likely walking on eggshells around the fact that they have one of the most popular players ever, but who doesn’t fit the club’s philosophy (in terms of pricetag, age, and position). We’ve not really had any inkling of the club being interested in investing all that much in outfielders outside of maybe the willingness to part with prospects in the Carlos Gomez trade?
Fans have plenty of outlets to turn to for insider info - beat reporters, other journalists with connections, rumor mill sites like MLBTR - without expecting the org to serve it up themselves. I doubt the club could release anything that would sate the fans that wouldn’t jeopardize future negotiations with other players, and if all fans are looking for is “We tried to re-sign George, he went elsewhere, we wish him well”, then yeah, what’s the point?
How dare you!
1 Like
So the signings of Reddick and Brantley (the first time) didn’t count?
There’s leaks and then there’s press releases. Often leaks are to a singular favored outlet.
Of course they never “leak” info directly to fans. That’s not their business.
So the Brantley numbers leave us what, $14-15M to spend without going over? Wish list is still a center fielder, bullpen, back end starter and backup catcher??? What are the priorities given the limited amount to spend???
Brantley, definitely I wouldn’t say so. We’ve signed him to a pair of two year deals, if he hadn’t (or doesn’t) worked out, they could have moved on to someone else relatively soon.
Reddick, maybe I can see your point, did we originally sign him to a full four year contract? or have we extended him at some point? Still, I think in Reddick you see the reason the Astros might be unwilling to sign George for what he surely was going to command. Reddick was a year younger than George is now when we initially signed him. Would you like to be looking at significant money tied up in Reddick for 2 more years?
4 years/$52mm
Damn, heart attack. I thought for a minute this was today.
4 Likes
What do we think they’re thinking re: left field? Alvarez and Brantley sharing it?
It seems like the most optimistic plan for LF/DH right now would be to do what they did in 2019 (mostly Brantley in LF, mostly Alvarez at DH)
1 Like
I have to think the Astros only use Alvarez in the field in interleague games starting midway through the season. He had knee problems playing limited games in the outfield in 2019, and missed all of 2020 with the same issues. They need his bat in the lineup more than they need him playing left field.
Provided the Astros sign or trade for a centerfielder to replace Springer, I suspect one of Straw, Diaz or Toro would get the nod in the lineup if Uncle Mike needs a day off.
1 Like
Give Jake a call?
2 Likes
Good grief. I didn’t think what I said was particularly controversial, much less sufficiently provocative for an argument.
But to your point, asking why public statements haven’t been as forthcoming this year as in the past has nothing to do with inside information. By definition, public statements aren’t inside information. The question is about the dearth of the kind of information the team previously made public. Publicity is a way teams encourage support so that fans buy tickets. There’s been very little of that this offseason.
3 Likes
Me too. Whew!
I’m all for that. He can at least provide elite defense in centerfield.
2 Likes