Houston Astros Fan Thread! - Topic

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Jul 14 2016 07:56am

Quote (Madmartigan @ Jul 14 2016 09:12am)

Time to focus on a great second half of the season. It all starts tomorrow night.

The Astros are 5.5 games back of the Rangers for 1st place in the AL West.
2 games out of both the first and second wild-card spots in the AL. It's a dicey position right now.

It's hard to call the Astros "true contenders" when they just split a four-game series with a bad Oakland team.
What should have been an easy four-game sweep against a last place team turned into a really tough series.

I shouldn't let one bad series against the Oakland Athletics get me down but that was tough to watch.
We had to scratch and claw just to pull out those two wins. Oakland nearly swept all four games.

They were playing some good ball prior to that though. Are we buyers? Probably but I doubt Jeff Luhnow will be aggressive. I would like to see Alex Bregman called up for tomorrow night's game at Seattle even though it's not going to happen. Maybe by the end of this month he'll be called up.

I'd love to see the Astros catch the Rangers but 1-9 against them in 10 games so far this year.
We still have 9 games left against the Rangers to turn things around but they own us for some reason.

I think one of those two wild-card spots in the AL is going to be our only chance to make the playoffs again.

It will be interesting to see what trades, if any, the Astros are able to make before the non-waiver trading deadline in a few weeks. The Astros have several appealing prospects they can trade without having to give up their best prospect, Alex Bregman.

I'm hoping they can add another impact starting pitcher or a middle-of-the-lineup power hitter. They have been scouting the likes of Rich Hill (who just owned them recently and is 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA), Sonny Gray and Ryan Braun in recent weeks.

agreed. But how easily can they find a pitcher that has that much impact?

This post was edited by wizkid on Jul 14 2016 07:56am

MADmartigan

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#12

Jul 15 2016 12:12am

Quote (wizkid @ Jul 14 2016 08:56am)

agreed. But how easily can they find a pitcher that has that much impact?

I think the Astros should take a chance and compete a trade with the Oakland Athletics for Sonny Gray.
A lot like Dallas Keuchel, he was a cy young candidate in the AL last year, but is struggling this year.

You can always hope that they turn it around in the second half of this season and many years to come.
But the Astros aren't the only team with their eyes set on Sonny Gray. So it could be interesting.

A.J. Hinch has Fister, McCullers and McHugh lined up to pitch at Seattle this weekend.
He's going to pitch Dallas Keuchel as the #4 starter coming out of the all-star break.
His explanation is that having that extra week's rest will benefit Keuchel for a big second half.

I'm excited about tonight's game at Seattle. 9:10 PM first pitch. I have to stay up past midnight watching it.

MADmartigan

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#13

Jul 15 2016 10:01am

I hope the Astros take care of business at Seattle and the Cubbies can take two out of three from the Rangers. Can you imagine if the Astros could creep to 3.5 games out by the end of the weekend? They were buried and 11.5 games behind the Rangers about a month ago. I still don't think winning the AL West is possible, but if that "games back" starts to look more doable maybe we can look at the division again instead of the wild-card race.

EmericAn

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#14

Jul 15 2016 03:08pm

Signed a 32 year old Cuban player 5years 47.5 mil, what were they thinking

MADmartigan

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#15

Jul 15 2016 03:44pm

Quote (EmericAn @ Jul 15 2016 04:08pm)

Signed a 32 year old Cuban player 5years 47.5 mil, what were they thinking

Hopefully he can have an immediate impact for that type of money.
He just defected from Cuba in February and was deemed a free agent last month.

We need help at third base and Alex Bregman hasn't been called up yet.
Usually teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants overpay for an International player.

Jesse Sanchez ✔ @JesseSanchezMLB
Source: INF Yulieski Gurriel agrees to 5-year, $47.5 million deal with #Astros #Cuba More on http://mlb.com/
3:07 PM - 15 Jul 2016

Ken Rosenthal ✔ @Ken_Rosenthal
Source confirms: Gurriel to #Astros, five years, $47.5M. First reported: @JesseSanchezMLB.
3:26 PM - 15 Jul 2016

John Manuel of Baseball America said Yulieski Gourriel has "classic third base tools with arm strength, body control and plus power."

Yulieski Gourriel is his correct name? Ken Rosenthal and Jesse Sanchez spelled it differently on their tweets.
Unless all of those other sources, like Baseball America, have it wrong. I guess I'll find out once he plays for the Astros.

EDIT: I think Baseball America spelled his name wrong.
The MLB Network says Yulieski Gurriel also.

MLB Network ‏@MLBNetwork 14 minutes ago
Yulieski Gurriel is headed to the @astros! #MLBTonight breaks down the signing and gets you set for Sox-Yanks at 6pE

I'm about to watch MLB Tonight in a few minutes... Also the Cubs beat the Rangers!
The Astros have a chance to move to within 4.5 games back of first place if they can win at Seattle later tonight.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Jul 15 2016 04:02pm

jajaja

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#16

Jul 15 2016 03:47pm

astros also get cespedes next year....that offense

goddammit fuken ryans

MADmartigan

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#17

Jul 15 2016 03:54pm

We'll see what happens.

The second half of the season is a good time for the Astros to make a strong push in the AL West.

MADmartigan

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#18

Jul 15 2016 04:51pm

The MLB Network was speculating that Cuban star Yulieski Gurriel may see 60 or 80 at-bats in the minor leagues before the Astros call him up to play third base in early-to-mid August. Because of his nicely paid contract it's obvious they will play him soon. You don't sign a 32-year-old International player for five years, for that type of good money, if you don't expect him to have an immediate impact.

Also this may hinder Alex Bregman's call up to the big leagues one has to assume?
Unless the Astros are planning to make a major trade in the next two weeks.
Because they already have a bit of a logjam in the infield. You can't play everybody.

Inb4 the Astros acquire Ryan Braun from the Brewers with Alex Bregman being the main prospect in that trade.

Hopefully that doesn't happen because Bregman is a young stud with exceptional potential, but that would be a pretty ballsy move to say the least. Ryan Braun has the power to veto a trade to Houston because he only has six teams listed on his partial no-trade clause.

However, Braun can give the green light to any trade not on his list of teams. It would be his choice.
I don't want to see Ryan Braun "Cole Hamels us". It kind of sucks when a player doesn't want to play for you.

I think the Astros trading for a starting pitcher is more likely to happen instead of a power bat.
Sonny Gray and Rich Hill from the Athletics. One of those guys could be had via trade.

We could use another lefty reliever as well. Tony Sipp hasn't been good this season (5.32 ERA).
The Astros have options. I hope they pursue the right ones before the non-waiver trading deadline.

EmericAn

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#19

Jul 15 2016 05:17pm

Quote (Madmartigan @ Jul 15 2016 04:44pm)

Hopefully he can have an immediate impact for that type of money.
He just defected from Cuba in February and was deemed a free agent last month.

We need help at third base and Alex Bregman hasn't been called up yet.
Usually teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers and Giants overpay for an International player.

Jesse Sanchez ✔ @JesseSanchezMLB
Source: INF Yulieski Gurriel agrees to 5-year, $47.5 million deal with #Astros #Cuba More on http://mlb.com/
3:07 PM - 15 Jul 2016

Ken Rosenthal ✔ @Ken_Rosenthal
Source confirms: Gurriel to #Astros, five years, $47.5M. First reported: @JesseSanchezMLB.
3:26 PM - 15 Jul 2016

John Manuel of Baseball America said Yulieski Gourriel has "classic third base tools with arm strength, body control and plus power."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q7HsQ8FQ8I

Yulieski Gourriel is his correct name? Ken Rosenthal and Jesse Sanchez spelled it differently on their tweets.
Unless all of those other sources, like Baseball America, have it wrong. I guess I'll find out once he plays for the Astros.

EDIT: I think Baseball America spelled his name wrong.
The MLB Network says Yulieski Gurriel also.

MLB Network ‏@MLBNetwork 14 minutes ago
Yulieski Gurriel is headed to the @astros! #MLBTonight breaks down the signing and gets you set for Sox-Yanks at 6pE

http://i68.tinypic.com/e6vkmc.jpg

I'm about to watch MLB Tonight in a few minutes... Also the Cubs beat the Rangers!
The Astros have a chance to move to within 4.5 games back of first place if they can win at Seattle later tonight.

Hes 32 from the Cuban league.. What are you expecting him to do? Hes already at retirement age

MADmartigan

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#20

Jul 15 2016 05:24pm

Quote (EmericAn @ Jul 15 2016 06:17pm)

Hes 32 from the Cuban league.. What are you expecting him to do? Hes already at retirement age

If he can hit Major League pitching successfully, 32 is not the end of the world for an American League team, as he could always DH if it came down to that toward the end of his five-year contract. We've all seen aging sluggers play into their late 30s as a DH.

His defense looks to be decent at third base. I'm not sure how much of an upgrade he would be over Luis Valbuena right now. Valbuena has been playing some good ball recently and upped his batting average to .269 which for him is a nice surprise - he was hitting under .230 earlier this year and he hit .224 all of last year - but Valbuena has always played solid defense at third base with good home run power.

If the Astros do call up Yulieski Gurriel to play third base I'd imagine Valbuena will play some first base.
Evan Gattis is DH'ing for the Astros tonight. He's the primary DH when he's not catching games.
The Astros have been platooning Marwin Gonzalez and A.J. Reed at first base. Marwin is at first tonight.

It just seems to me the Astros are looking for a more consistent upgrade at both third base and first base.
Until they find it, it doesn't hurt to keep trying to find something better. They have plenty of money to spend.

Obviously hindsight is 20-20, but if the Astros could re-do the 2013 MLB Draft all over again.
They would have been wise to select superstar third baseman Kris Bryant #1 overall instead of Mark Appel.
And then we would be talking about the Houston Astros with the youngest and most talented infield in the history of the game.

This post was edited by Madmartigan on Jul 15 2016 05:32pm

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