Seems like it'd be pretty straightforward to swap him with Weiss next turn. Weiss could even be optioned now to bring in a fresh arm if needed in case they don't want to play down a pen arm. None of this matters though since the Astros season is almost certainly over. The real question here is if Teng can have longer term value as a SP (he entered this season with just .08 years of service time, so they have him for 5 more seasons).
Who are the best three starters at AAA right now? Bring them all up and have a rotation of Arrighetti, Burrows, and those 3. Whoever can throw strikes stays. Whoever walks the bases loaded or walks in runs gets sent back down. If they get lit up, it's no different than the alternatives so no harm done.
It's not that complicated given that he was a starter last year, if that's really what they want to do. That said, you're just taking away the one reliable guy out of your bullpen, so you'll just lose more games late instead of early.
Brown is stuck in a situation where there are no real clear path to success this season. He is bringing up and shuffling outfields and pitchers without a lot of success. Arrighetti has so far had some success --- but he is without his top two starters for 4-6 weeks. He is without his closer for basically half the season. Maybe if he can have Arrighetti keep this up, and then Burrows turns the corners... and Imai comes back and that is enough of a rotation to compete if Seattle doesn't get hot. Even then - he has holes in the pen, he lacks some talent there.... and now, when someone has success there, they are options for the rotation, only hurting the pen more. The season is too early for trades, and how does Brown sell Crane on ADDING a starter at this point? On the other side - it is becoming very clearly to everyone that Yainer Diaz is not going to work and isn't the answer. The pitchers don't want to work with him, he doesn't have any baseball IQ as a hitter.
He's been coming in in the 6th and 7th innings. So neither early or late. I'd like to see him given more responsibility one way or another, whether it's starting or closing. He's been better than almost everyone else on the staff.
I think the situation is: it's time to re-visit Dana Brown's introductory press conference and listen to exactly what he had to say then, what he's done between then and now, and how he's addressing today & tomorrow (...next week / next month / etc.)
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/padres-sign-lucas-giolito.html Hard for me to believe Gioloto’s medicals aren’t messy if all he’s getting is $3M. But if he’s healthy it was stupid for Houston not to beat that.
He's been coming in the 6th/7th but for a team that doesn't have 4 relievers to close a game out and starters that routinely go 2-5 innings. So if it's not him filling up those 2 innings, some other scrub is going to end up doing it (and likely poorly, based on what we've seen thus far). That said, if you get more total innings out of him and maintain decent quality, it's a net plus.
I think the goal should be to tread water until the pitchers get healthy. The offense has been so good and the pitching has been so bad.
Teng had a 6.37 era as a starter last year in 7 Starts. I’d leave him in the bullpen and move Blubaugh or someone from AAA to the starting 5
Winning record at home. Tied with Blue Jays and Mariners in wins. Won our last road trip. Yordan still scorching. Cautiously optimistic.
If they start playing .500% for a few weeks, then I think there can be some hope. I just personally don't see it happening. Requires so many pieces to get healthy and play well.
I agree with you --- you actually have something working well, why disturb it. Let him pitch out of the pen, maybe move him up in the pen pecking order-- but leave him in the pen.
There is no choice but to plow forward and hope for the best thru mid July. One way or the other their needs will be very different than they look right now because of all of the injuries taking people out and unestablished players getting playing time. I consider it extremely likely they will be in position to sell at the deadline. What that means for the GM, the Manager, and all the individual players is anybody’s guess. Maybe Lambert is Collin McHugh or Charlie Morton. Maybe Matthews is Byron Buxton. Maybe the rest of the AL West lays down for 6 weeks. Maybe maybe maybe. For me as a realistic fan, I am mainly rooting for things that serve both potential outcomes. That means hoping that Cam Smith, Brice Matthews, Joey Loperfido, Mike Burrows, AJ Blubaugh and Spencer Arrighetti perform well and that their potential core pieces come back healthy (Brown, Pena). It is kind of crazy how awful things seem even though Houston is just 3-4-1 in series this season.
Yep. While I think Stone is making progress towards strengthening the Rockets, I can't think of many successes for Brown (Tucker for Cam/Paredes looks great). I don't hold too much against the team for declining on him, but Click and Brown have not made noticeable progress in the farm, even given their understanding of the limitations on them. Not sure how much of that is on the missing picks, Click, and Brown.
