MLB Post/Off-season: Houston, We Have a Problem

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

2 minutes ago, DMC said:

First, Joel Sherman is a ridiculously unreliable source.  I have no idea what they're gonna spend and neither does anyone else that's gonna publish it.  He's pulling that number out of his ass. 

Second, I don't think this necessarily means Didi is gone.  Probably, yeah, but it's still quite possible he takes a short-term pillow deal to stay.  We'll see how the market plays out, but by my estimation there's not many teams looking for a high-priced shortstop that, ya know, can afford it.

Third, yeah, I'm not too optimistic about Cole or Strasburg.  Wheeler, Bumgarner, Odorizzi?  More in play, that's what I was referring to.  Especially if they can save some money by dumping Happ, which is something Cash has done before by adding close-to-MLB (and therefore crowded out by the Rule 5 crunch anyway) prospects as a sweetener.

I can't see Didi coming back at all even at below the qualifying offer when they can just shift Torres to short and slot LeMahieu in at second full time. Wheeler is the most likely if they add a starter at all but I'm not even sure about him to be honest, not when ownership is saying things like "We can win with the starting pitching we have now, we'll have Severino and Montgomery for the entire season, German has proven he can pitch at this level....."

[DMC]

2 minutes ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I can't see Didi coming back at all even at below the qualifying offer when they can just shift Torres to short and slot LeMahieu in at second full time.

Aye, Didi is a luxury in general.  Except a lot of little things - he's actually a left-handed bat, the rotation worked really well, Voit's health isn't for sure, and, most importantly, do you really want to put full-time SS pressure on Torres when he's looked pretty stellar at second?  So..we'll see.  Obviously it depends on how much Hal is willing to spend. 

And on that note, his quote on the starting pitching means absolutely nothing.  That's just pro forma pre-free agency posturing that happens every year.  What would you have him say?  "Yes, we desperately need a starter!  Please will anyone sign with us?!?"

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

2 minutes ago, DMC said:

Aye, Didi is a luxury in general.  Except a lot of little things - he's actually a left-handed bat, the rotation worked really well, Voit's health isn't for sure, and, most importantly, do you really want to put full-time SS pressure on Torres when he's looked pretty stellar at second?  So..we'll see.  Obviously it depends on how much Hal is willing to spend. 

And on that note, his quote on the starting pitching means absolutely nothing.  That's just pro forma pre-free agency posturing that happens every year.  What would you have him say?  "Yes, we desperately need a starter!  Please will anyone sign with us?!?"

With the current regime why wouldn't you? Torres is a shortstop by trade and DJ was a finalist for gold glove at second and Torres is dirt cheap. Why would they spend more money than they think they need to? Is he willing to spend much? And I don't think he is, not when he cites, DJ, Ottavino and Encarnacion, who had 2/3 of his contract paid by someone else as willingness to spend.

I don't see it as posturing, I think him and Cashman believe it and if they don't they're saying it not to avoid appearing desperate but to prepare us for when they don't find a starter priced to fit the budget.

[DMC]

10 minutes ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

With the current regime why wouldn't you? Torres is a shortstop by trade and DJ was a finalist for gold glove at second and Torres is dirt cheap.

Because of the reasons I said.  Retaining Didi maintains depth and flexibility for half of the lineup, which is quite indispensable considering the outfield is pretty up in the air right now after Judge.

12 minutes ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I don't see it as posturing, I think him and Cashman believe it and if they don't they're saying it not to avoid appearing desperate but to prepare us for when they don't find a starter priced to fit the budget.

Well, it may or may not be posturing on Hal's part, no one knows the answer to that outside the Yanks FO.  Point is it's what you say at this point, so it's not an indicator either way.  As for Cashman believing it, um, no.  I'm sure Cashman would love it if George's kids had half of his stubborn resolve to buy a winner.  Can you imagine - just based on the current roster and the free agents available - what the 2020 Yankees would look like if George was calling the shots after near-misses the past three years?  Signing Cole would just be the beginning.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

7 minutes ago, DMC said:

Because of the reasons I said.  Retaining Didi maintains depth and flexibility for half of the lineup, which is quite indispensable considering the outfield is pretty up in the air right now after Judge.

Well, it may or may not be posturing on Hal's part, no one knows the answer to that outside the Yanks FO.  Point is it's what you say at this point, so it's not an indicator either way.  As for Cashman believing it, um, no.  I'm sure Cashman would love it if George's kids had half of his stubborn resolve to buy a winner.  Can you imagine - just based on the current roster and the free agents available - what the 2020 Yankees would look like if George was calling the shots after near-misses the past three years?  Signing Cole would just be the beginning.

Voit is expendable now, Usrshela is staying at third and look for Andujar to be converted to first base, there had been talk of that in the past. The outfield is going to be a shit show for the foreseeable future even with Judge.  I think he wants to build a roster that can win the World Series without spending gobs of money. He's never built a World Series team without spending crazy amounts. I can imagine it but I won't, because that is not what the reality is. These Steinbrenners aren't like the Boss so speculating would just disappoint me.

[DMC]

3 hours ago, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

I think he wants to build a roster that can win the World Series without spending gobs of money. He's never built a World Series team without spending crazy amounts. I can imagine it but I won't, because that is not what the reality is. These Steinbrenners aren't like the Boss so speculating would just disappoint me.

I don't think Cashman gives two shits how much money they spend to win.  Hell, they could retain everyone and sign Cole and still have a payroll lower than the Sawks' when they won last year. 

Oh, also, don't count on Andujar to be a main cog in their plans.  I suspect he'll start the season at Scranton to rebuild his trade value.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

10 minutes ago, DMC said:

I don't think Cashman gives two shits how much money they spend to win.  Hell, they could retain everyone and sign Cole and still have a payroll lower than the Sawks' when they won last year. 

Oh, also, don't count on Andujar to be a main cog in their plans.  I suspect he'll start the season at Scranton to rebuild his trade value.

They absolutely could do that but Hal has an aversion to spending money. What did they spend in the offseason last year? Maybe 40m?

Sending him to Scranton is possible too.

[DMC]

Funny thing is, even with all the bitching from fans (myself very much included), they spent their money pretty damn wisely last year -- other than signing Happ for 17 a year.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

40 minutes ago, DMC said:

Funny thing is, even with all the bitching from fans (myself very much included), they spent their money pretty damn wisely last year -- other than signing Happ for 17 a year.

The team absolutely did, I was pissed when they signed DJ, I got over that pdq thought once it became apparent how good he was. Yeah, the Happ money was a complete waste.

[Myshkin]

Mike Fiers, who pitched for the Astros in ‘17, has claimed that the Astros were stealing signs via use of a camera in centerfield during the ‘17 (championship) season. Notably the Astros (perhaps having learned their lesson from the last time they were accused of something) have not denied the allegations, but have instead stated that they are working with the MLB to investigate the matter. You know, as if the Astros front office wouldn’t have been aware of a sophisticated sign stealing operation their club was running. 

[DMC]

Somewhat surprised Verlander won the Cy Young over Cole.  If I was Cole I'd be pretty pissed.  Their numbers are close enough it's whatever, but this was Cole's year.

[Jaxom 1974]

1 hour ago, DMC said:

Somewhat surprised Verlander won the Cy Young over Cole.  If I was Cole I'd be pretty pissed.  Their numbers are close enough it's whatever, but this was Cole's year.

Actually I expected a shared one...just because...

But yeah, hard to think Cole wasn't robber.  Is he known to be a jag to the press or something?

[Myshkin]

32 minutes ago, Triskele said:

I am still a little unclear to what extent this sort of thing is something everyone's doing and Houston is just getting some sunlight or is this something that Houston has pioneered.

If it's the latter does this not have epic scandal potential and couldn't it somewhat call into question how tough this Houston roster really is?  Knowing what pitch is coming is not a small advantage in baseball.  It's practically everything.  

Considering how often they’ve been caught at it now, and how persistent the rumors have been about their sign stealing and other cheaterly activity, I’m gonna guess that at the least the Astros are the worst offenders. But regardless of how widespread this type of cheating may or may not be, the MLB needs to drop the hammer on the Astros right now. I really don’t want to see these apologist narratives of “everyone’s doing it” and “it’s not that big a deal” gain traction, because it is a big fucking deal, and if it is indeed a widespread problem that’s only because the MLB has so far failed to punish offenders in any meaningful way. When these fuckers start losing draft picks they might start thinking twice about cheating.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

Between the situation with the journalists and the assistant GM and this things aren't looking good in Houston. I agree Myshkin, in addition to losing draft picks they need to lose international bonus pool money. AJ Hinch looks like a big, fat asshole, of course they practiced their whistling in spring training. And this kind of reflects poorly on Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran, who frankly should have kept his mouth shut about this.

[Myshkin]

Belli and Trout win the MVPs. Glad to see the Astros get denied the awards sweep.

[Myshkin]

Changed the thread title to better reflect the current state of affairs. I know it’s a bit trite, but it fits too well not to use.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

A bit?

[Myshkin]

25 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

A bit?

Okay, a lot. I am a bit (a lot) ashamed of it. If anyone has a suggestion for a better thread title that adequately encapsulates the current situation, I’m all ears.

[DireWolfSpirit]

eta: Nvm see my comment was already posted.

[Myshkin]

Apparently early on in the 2019 season MLB monitors at Minute Made Park were explicitly told by the league to listen for banging sounds coming from the Astro dugout. So yeah, it seems like the league has known about this shit  for a while, but wanted to keep it all quiet.