The very obvious lesson from the Click era was that Crane will definitely fire a GM who isn’t aggressive enough in getting high-profile pieces for the major league squad. And there’s no evidence he fires someone for trading away prospects. Dana Brown appears to have learned that lesson.
Also funny that Dana Brown’s two big deadline moves were both “getting the band back together.”
Why do you fucking care???
Also, one of the reasons Dana Brown was hired was his ability to identify and draft impact players. A number of key contributors in Atlanta right now have his fingerprints all over them.
He will find guys to replace Gilbert and Clifford from the class just drafted and the 2024 and 2025 drafrs. I have little doubt of that.
Coincidentally, I just saw a chart on exactly this topic floating around earlier this week. Can’t seem to find it at the moment but the Astros are near the top in terms of both talent acquired and talent given up (i.e., they’re near the best at drafting and have also given up more talent than just about any other team, I think about over the last decade). That’s more or less what you’d expect. Prospects aren’t valuable because they boost your farm rankings, they’re valuable when they produce wins in the major leagues (either after promotion or after trading for good major leaguers). I’m not trying to sound like a prospect hoarder here. There’s just a reasonable price to pay in any swap, and I am pretty stunned at how much the Astros paid in this one. Depending on how much the Mets are paying down (I assume a lot, given the prospects going back), that sting may be mitigated, since Crane will no doubt use that cap space to add more wins to the roster.
As many have correctly pointed out, outfield is the one area of real depth in the organization, so it makes sense to trade from that pool. And of course it’s great to have JV back. I hope he pitches like it’s 2022 and the Astros pull off a repeat with JV carrying them on his shoulders.
As to fans questioning team decisions, I have no problem with that (I say as I question a team decision). Hell, general managers question team decisions. Luhnow had to be forced into both the Verlander and Greinke trades. I’d bet there were folks with similar positions in the front office on this one too. And maybe those naysayers, and this naysayer, will be proven wrong. I hope so! But my opinion before the trade would’ve been that I wouldn’t be comfortable giving up Gilbert and Clifford because of the value I think they’d add to the roster in the future, and that remains my opinion.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he traded for Tony Kemp by the end of the day.
It is amazing how “insightful” this obvious comment is to most. Meditating briefly on that would reduce internet stupidity by at least 50%.
Here is why I fucking care, while I certainly expect and hope the Mets offset some of that contract, not doing so could impact our ability to extend Tucker.
But I’m not unhappy with this deal. Glad it went down. I’m not one of the naysayers of which you speak.
Nightengale says about 50 million being paid by the Mets.
I normally give Nightengale a bunch of shit but he has been all over this trade.
Tucker isn’t a free agent until JV’s contract ends, after 2025. Re-acquiring Verlander will have exactly zero impact on the ability to pay Tucker.
If they are giving us $50M then this is a hell of a deal by Crane and Brown.
Point taken. While I used Tucker because he’s the first name that came to my head, it could be any player. How much money JV takes up could impact what Crane is willing to do elsewhere, was my point. So that’s why I “fucking care.”
Glad the Mets are giving us the $50M.
I only care about the money involved insofar as it affects the Astros ability to acquire or retain talent in the future.
Which players are you worried about losing because they won’t have the money to pay them?
That leaves him just a little more expensive then when here last I assume. Not too shabby financially.
I’m not worried.
I’m fucking giddy. Let’s go win the fucking World Series
What in the world? There’s like $58M owed on the balance of the guaranteed contract. Does that mean the Astros get JV for one and a third seasons for $8M and a couple of (good) prospects? If so, Brown+Crane deserve the MVP this season.
Annoying question, I know, but is there an accounting gimmick here too? Does the portion the Mets are sending reduce the Astros’ salary tax liability?
I think so, and that’s hugely important, but I don’t know how it breaks down over his contract years once the option is factored in.