I’m just glad all the drunken sailor owners are in the NL, let them spend into oblivion. There can be only one.
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I’m pretty sure that nobody thinks these contracts are worthwhile for the last few years. They’re just taking the guaranteed money they’re willing to pay, and spreading it out for luxury tax purposes.
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When I see the dollars and length of contracts being handed out today, I try to remind myself to enjoy Kyle Tucker while I can. He might be willing to sign here, but there is no way in hell he’s signing an extension and not getting to free agency to see what he can get. He’d be crazy as hell not to see what he can get on the open market and I don’t see Houston handing out a contract like that.
Somehow the Braves have done it across the board.
Well, Houston has done it as well to some extent with Alvarez, Bregman and I think Altuve. Buying out some of their arbitration years with an extension. Offer the extension and the money early enough and the player might bite. Unfortunately, the Astros have probably waited way too late to take that approach with Tucker. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
They tried last year. They were close but no cigar.
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More a criticism of the other owners. But unfortunately this appears to be the new standard, and Crane is going to have some tough choices.
That is not a criticism of anyone other than Crane/Astros “who appear to be losing….”
Do you support the Astros giving 10 or 13 year contracts? Don’t sanity and rational decisions still have some value? If other teams are offering these kinds of deals, should the Astros do that also?
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Is there certainty on Maldonado’s status after next year? If not, could that be part of the difficulty in finding another catcher? Can the Astros reasonably assure Vazquez or any other catcher that they will be the starter in 2024? Has Maldonado said that he’s not coming back in 2024? If he wants to come back then, who is going to tell him no?
If all your friends jump off a bridge…
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I can hear my Mother saying something exactly like that.
It depends on how much he prioritizes maximizing the current window vs. avoiding what is likely to be serious pain down the road. It appears he is choosing the latter, and that is certainly a defensible position. Some teams will get badly burned. The big problem is that this offseason these kind of deals are going from ‘the usual suspects doing dumb things’ to ‘the new normal.’
There are a lot of teams that “copied” the Astros rebuild model.
Most have been woefully disappointed.
The same will be true for these teams giving out these deals.
I’m sure their fans will take it in stride.
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I look at it like this. They lost Cole, then Springer, then Correa without adding any substantial free agents and still went deep in the postseason each ensuing year. They lost Springer, Verlander AND LMJr and still played the last MLB game of the year. They’re the reigning World Champions and the one free agent signing they made fills needs and seems like a bargain in the true insanity of this offseason. Vazquez is the one miss that certainly hurts but is totally understandable considering the structure of the catching situation of the team. I still have faith that they will make the moves they need to make and keep the BFT rolling.
I like their chances.
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Its frequently advantageous to zig when another zags.
Hopefully the Astros are laughing all the way to the World Series frequently the next 15-20 years as these chickens come home to roost
Downside- as a fan don’t get so attached to any one player that you expect to see him more than 6 years.
Thank you Yordan !!!
How on earth can you, or anyone, look at Crane’s ownership of this club and conclude he’s anything other than committed to putting a winning team on the field?
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I didn’t read anything in his post that questioned Crane’s commitment to winning. Where did you get that? It’s just a question about the methods. Or maybe I missed something.
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Look again. I see it.
I read it as saying (1) Crane could always do more to maximize the chances of winning in 2023-24, (2) but at a certain point he’d be stealing from their chances down the road if he did so, and (3) he has prudently chosen not to steal from the future. Which seems correct.
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At the very least, the free agency situation is something to keep an eye on, and it’s not out of the question that paying a huge contract may someday become the cost of doing business as the AL West (or the AL at large) becomes more competitive. While I don’t like the idea of offering huge contracts like we’ve seen this offseason (and, really, the last few years: Harper, Trout, Stanton, etc.), I’d hate to think that is a tool the Astros choose not to keep in their toolbox if/when they really need it.
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