If so, Astros should shop Paredes for some prospects or SP next season. What do y’all think?
A few days ago I mentioned I think Paredes or Walker gets traded….Paredes is the bigger value back so likely him.
Doubt Paredes moves to 2b because Altuve is gonna have to move back.( and Matthews can’t stay down forever)
Paredes can play 1b….but you have same problem.
I’d rather get less “value” back and keep the dude that battles every day, assuming Paredes isn’t a negative at 1B. The Astros need Paredes more than they need Walker, and that would be easier on the payroll anyway.
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So nice to have a left handed reliever for games like this
It’s great to be able to hand it over to a rock like McCullers.
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Time to release McCullers
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I listen to the radio, but it did not even sound remotely competitive for Lance, announcers seemed really disappointed
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This loss was on the offense it should have never came down to McCullers being on the mound.
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But it did, and he gets paid to do a job that he failed to do. He can’t control the Astros offense, but he’s supposed to control the other team’s.
He gets no pass for not competing.
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I have to disagree: McCullers was competing. It’s just that he is washed up and is no longer a capable major league pitcher. The Astros need to swallow the rest of his expensive contract and get rid of him.
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I didn’t mean he wasn’t trying. But if his stuff isn’t good enough to compete, then he’s not competing. It’s not personal - he just isn’t a MLB pitcher and can’t do the job.
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They did the same with Abreu. “Damn, we’re paying him so much money…we can’t let someone make that much money and not play!”
Disaster.
Palillo called it a “child-like perspective on personnel.”
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Baseball, at least at the professional level, has decidedly taken a stat-driven, Bill James approach to analyzing a player’s performance. We’ve gone way past batting average, earned run average, winning percentage, on base percentage, and slugging average to all pondering all sorts of semi-arcane statistics that measure various aspects of a player’s ability to effectively play professional baseball. Yet, FunkMasterMilluns is right, the only stat that the Astros seem to care about is how much money they are paying obviously over-the-hill players like Abreu and McCullers, when the true cost of their continued place on the team is measured in games lost.
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Yes and look where it has gotten the game? It has destroyed it by replacing what we can all see with the opinions of stats nerds. Anyone who works in the tech, finance or consulting field will tell you that the typical backhanded responses of “the data says otherwise” and/or “it would be difficult to explain”, knows what I mean. These dudes (and it’s almost always men) are annoying as hell and make you want to punch them in the face.
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I’ve used that line, so I guess that makes me punchable.
‘Destroyed’ is a strong term. I’d say there are some old fundamentals lost in baseball like manufacturing runs and pitching for contact, but the game has evolved along with the physical abilities of the individual player.
Spray charts and the ground players can cover have removed any possibility of seeing a .400 hitter ever again much less a .350 hitter. In addition, batters are seeing more pitchers in a game.
I agree that data and this mindset of buying runs has led to a less diverse type of game, but the intensity during high leverage situations (playoffs) has made the game more exciting.
Since the inception of Moneyball/Bill James, It’s a bit of a wash in my opinion.
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Regardless if McC is done as a major league pitcher, the Astros had three innings with a runner on second base and didn’t score a run.
The outcome of the game shouldn’t have come down to McC taking the mound. This team has picked a bad time of the season for bats to go cold.
It’s interesting that the team has struggled O since Paredes got hurt, in which the Astros have compiled a 21-24 record.
There is no need to release McC now because he has one more year on his contract. Give him an off season to correct his mechanics/velo and if he sucks in spring training, or the first few weeks of next season, then release him.
Who knows, maybe he will be able to regain some of his former nastiness and be serviceable for 2025/2026. If not, the team is no worse off by giving him a little more time.
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The problem with the Astros is that they continue to stifle young talent for the “we own him through next year so let’s run him out a few more times.”
I wouldn’t mind Lance getting a full off-season to re-work if they promised not to use him again this season.
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They should promise the fans not to use him again except in McCormick situations. 
He just has to get some velo back on that FB or he’s done, and he’s not going to find it during the stretch run this season.
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Blame it on the offense all you want….the teams were tied….did anyone here actually not think LMJ was gonna do exactly what he did?
Common….he does not belong on the roster….
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