Who leads the Astros in IPs? Burrows has a role, to save the bullpen arms ... which notably the other starters not named Hunter Brown struggled to do at the start of the season.
That's fair - yeah, I didn't consider what might happen with the new CBA and how it might change all the player valuations.
I assume Burrows has options? I would like to see him go down when Hunter is ready. The Burrows and Dubon/Allen trades are looking like serious F grades for Dana. I know Dubon was a salary move, but he is outperforming his $5M salary tremendously.
I've blamed Dana Brown for plenty that has gone wrong, but when the owner gives you an edict to hit a certain salary threshold Dubon was the perfectly logical spot to trim. The team already had Paredes looking like a superfluous infielder and wanted to get innings to prospects if possible. Planning for multiple injuries is a roster luxury we can't afford with as many roster shortcomings as we have. The drop from Dubon to Allen/Matthews is not what separates this team from being good. The Burrows trade is looking like a significantly bigger f**k up right now given how bad he's been and that we gave up assets.
Anderson Brito and Jacob Melton are setting the world on fire in TB minors? I will admit that TB wins more trades than they lose, so this might be a long term win for TB.
Recall in this very forum at the beginning of April, when the hottest topic was that the Astros had five starting quality players for four infield positions? Adding in Dubon would make 6 players for four IF positions.
What they do or don't do is inconsequential for our team at this point. Those are prospects we could have used in acquiring somebody that helps the team. It's looking like wasted prospect capital on top of his awful results.
This - and keep in mind that some of these moves were made in desperation..... It isn't likely that Brown goes after Burrows without massive pitching injuries and losses in free agency. I am not saying he should get a pass for everything he does, but the financial circumstances and expectations to compete every year do play a result in the decisions made. My issues with Brown are not centered around his talent evaluation/scouting. Oddly enough, it is more centered around his discounting of younger voices and diverse voices in the organization. Some of these people had very good input.
Nah. Trading Doobie cleared the money used to sign Vazquez, Pearson, Lambert, Wade, and Weiss. Vazquez alone makes that pretty good swap. But even if you think Doobie is going to continue his current production, it's not an F grade. Lambert is on track to post $20M in value by himself. The Burrows trade didn't produce the desired results, and with each pathetic start it gets less likely that it will, but its hard to label a trade an F when one prospect you sent out has a 40% k rate in AAA solidifying that his bat isn't viable while the other is a pitcher in A ball. Brito could very well end up making this trade look really bad, but for now I think the odds of Burrows turning it around are higher than the odds of Brito providing meaningful big league value. Again, even if you disagree with that, it's hard to label it an F given Burrows has at least eaten innings and TB hasn't yet gotten anything real out of the trade.
He basically was a minimum salary veteran signing. The Astros basically had minimum money and assets to fill a handful of pitching spots because of injuries and free agency. Crane will spend money, but over time it has had to be someone HE wants -- Hader, Verlander, Abreu etc.
It would be awesome if Brown would relent to Crane bringing in a POBO to oversee organizational philosophy and media relations. Brown has excelled in scouting for trades and the draft and should continue to have final say there, but he really needs someone to come in an ensure they are at the forefront of industry trends/innovation and someone to work the media. Even if it's not a POBO, a more empowered, innovative Asst GM would probably do the trick. I doubt that happens but it would be a big improvement because Brown is on track to prove himself as limited to being a glorified scout.
Yeah, at that point you're just throwing darts at the wall and hoping they stick. The fact he seemingly landed a few darts with Lambert and the Teng trade is a great success rate all things considered.
I agree with you - I think it is a perfect storm. Brown is old school, he does not push back against Crane like Luhnow and Click did. Brown views his role the way a lot of GM's have historically. I think that a POBO would be able to push Crane better --- because the reality is that even an extra $10,000,000 to spend this off season would have resulted in different (and likely better) results. Brown does not have the administrative ability of some others like Luhnow, Anthopulos, Hazen and others..... someone like that, would be a massive help. These guys typically do not make the actual decisions on players, they appoint the right people to make those decisions.
Yep, tough to imagine Houston's record with somebody like Soroka or Nick Martinez instead of Weiss/Burrows and with a Ryan O'Hearn type being in LF since opening day.
