Beat my little league team to get the region portion. Right before Williamsport.
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With Blanco I hope we get similar….if he was younger you would automatically think he built on his impressive year….
I admit I was completely wrong on him….i thought it was a mirage and was waiting for the bubble to burst.
If he is able to cut down his walks a bit and throw another 30 innings he could be a Cy Young candidate….i do think he is real but can he take the next step? Honestly not sure, but it’s hard to not root for a guy that was working at a car wash in the Dominican in the off seasons to provide for his family.
I’m very high on Arrighetti….i think he was finally starting to put it together the second half last year.
The kid has filthy stuff and misses bats.
I think he proves to himself that he belonged and is only going to get better. He has a bulldog mindset when he’s out there just like Hunter.
I think the two of them are going to be a dominant 1-2 starters after Framber leaves…
When you judge pitchers, especially young ones, you really have to look at their splits….a couple of bad starts does not define a pitcher.
Anyone that checks his splits will see at times he was scary good….he just has to start stacking good starts together.
Arrighetti had some awesome games last season against really good teams as well. Some of them on the road. That gem he threw in Philly comes to mind.
Would be really nice to see Brown, Arrighetti and Blanco have excellent seasons. All three have filthy stuff.
What in the wide wide world of sports? Has there really been no conversations with Bregman about revisiting a deal?
I actually hope this is the case and that the Astros are proceeding as if Bregman won’t be here. It just doesn’t feel like that, given the slow pace of addressing the OF.
Dana Brown said the team is having internal conversations about Bregman being available, but he hasn't reached out to Boras. Boras texted Brown today and Brown says he owes him a call.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) January 28, 2025
Well, it sounds like the Altuve to LF thing is real.
I still think it’s a bad idea, but if we’re being honest about the situation, he hasn’t been that great at 2B for a few years. I don’t see him being any better in LF, but at least you could upgrade the defense at 2B.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said he expects Altuve to take reps practicing as a left fielder next month during the team’s Spring Training in West Palm Beach, Florida. Altuve has never logged a game in the outfield across his 14 MLB seasons, and he’s logged just two starts at shortstop, his only non-second-base position to date.
“Jose will get some reps at second and also in left [so] we can see what that looks like,” Brown said on a Zoom call with Houston media. “I just think that we’re trying to create some versatility in the lineup & that would give us some freedom and flexibility to potentially make another move.”
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Silliness. Altuve is gonna regret offering to go to left.
I have said that you should never invest massive money on a pitcher with a large, mangled windup. They will always implode because the mechanics are inconsistent. And they always end up over-throwing to fix themselves. I had a feeling the Montero deal would haunt us the day it happened.
Losing Javier is what really hurt our staff.
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Gang,
Didn’t Biggio move from catcher to infield to outfield?
Didn’t fellow HOFer and 3000 hit guy Robin Yount move from infield to outfield?
Come on folks.
Stop acting as though this is anything unusual, let alone a crisis.
Biggio was a catcher.
Yount a shortstop.
Both had good arms (in Biggio’s case at that juncture above avg).
Could Altuve play left?
Sure.
Would he be any good?
Teams are going to be running on him a lot (2nd to 3rd and from 3rd to home on fly balls).
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If you watched a lot of the Astros games last year you could tell Altuve lost a step and wasn’t the infielder he has been historically. The question isn’t if he can play left it is who is the better 2B Altuve or Paredes.
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If he can’t play left, you can’t put him there just because someone else is better than him at second.
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If Garcia gets back fairly soon and Javier mid year we could trade some SP for an OF.
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Yes, he is still athletic enough to play LF in Houston but not on the road most places.
And even at home he will get run on every tag from third and every base hit with a man on second will be an automatic run.
Looking like it may not matter anyway.
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I’m not calling it a crisis. I’m laughing that Dana is in this predicament. He’s had multiple chances to bring over OFers. Instead he has two that shouldn’t be starting anywhere and he’s about to put an undersized and aging 2bman in left field. There’s a reason you have to cite examples from two generations.
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Can you imagine how bad a McCormick, Meyers, and Altuve OF would be? It’s laughable. Our pitchers would be asking for trades to get out.
Trying to rationalize it by saying other old guys have moved to the OF is just ignorant. 
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So it’s ok to get personal again on here??
Or at least insinuate that someone is " Ignorant" just bc a fellow Coog fan may have different opinion 
than your own.
New Management says NO!!
Just " Nonsense" imo.
Yeah, let’s not go there guys.
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Good day Sir!
Edit: go check on Astros Salary Cap situation if you could.
I’ll just wait for Chandler Rome to send it down from Mt. Media on fire-inscribed stone tablets, and we can party like rock stars then.
Zack Dezenzo….was checking out what he did this winter in Puerto Rico….he hit over .360 which was 2nd for the league.
But what impressed me is he had 9 walks/ 9 K’s.
He is also more athletic than most realize( he was a D-1 SS, you can’t do that unless you are a good athlete)
This kid is poised for a breakout season if he can get consistent AB’s.
If Espada uses him properly he could actually be a strong candidate for ROY.
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We really need a guy like him to step up and man one of those outfield spots, regardless of whatever foolishness is going on with Altuve. A dude who has played SS can definitely transition to OF with enough reps and desire.
I suspect they’ll really try to push Melton into the lineup because he’s a lefty, and I could see a nice platoon with those guys working.
Should be an interesting spring with those guys, Leon and Whitcomb hopefully getting a good look out there.
Like you, I think it’s more a question of talent management than talent - we have some dudes who should be really good with the right developmental approach.
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