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Houston Astros covering the bases: moving on from José Abreu, Justin Verlander back on IL

Theo

The Houston Astros lost 10 games in the American League West on Tuesday for the first time since October 2, 2016. The release of José Abreu was a drastic measure, but it did not solve all of the woes of this underperforming club. efficient. Let’s explore it all in this Astros briefing, where AthleticismHouston’s national reporters and columnists weigh in on the path forward for Houston.

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Power Rankings: Houston Astros are No. 16

In this week power rankings, we identified an unsung hero for each team. (Registration coming into play Tuesday.)

Save: 33-39
Latest power ranking: 12

Unsung Hero: RHP Tayler Scott

Scott’s been everywhere, man, he’s been everywhere. In fact, let’s see if you can fit his travels into the country standard “I’ve Been Everywhere”:

He has been to Johannesburg, Boise, Geneva, Daytona, Buffalo, Knoxville, Myrtle Beach, Biloxi, Scottsdale, Sioux City, Round Rock, Tacoma, Norfolk, Seattle, Baltimore, Hiroshima, El Paso, Allentown, San Diego, Worcester, Oklahoma City. , Las Vegas, Boston, Oakland and Houston. (True story – just check out his baseball reference page.) He’s a killer, and he’s crossed the deserts naked, man.

He now has a sub-2.00 ERA in the bullpen on an Astros team that needs every scoreless inning possible. I hope he can stay in the same place for a while. — To agree Brisbee

Latest successes

ICYMI, our national writers have given their thoughts on what they’re hearing and seeing

MLB Mock Draft 2.0 by Keith Law

The MLB Draft Combine is currently taking place in Arizona. That means there is more information available on what certain teams might be planning and which players they favoralthough a lot still depends on players’ medicals and signing bonus expectations.

28. Houston Astros: Brody Brecht, RHP, Iowa

Brecht is a less polished college pitcher than his peers, with athleticism and arm strength that hints at more upside, very much the kind of player Houston general manager Dana Brown valued in his career of draft.

MLB City Connect: All 29 uniforms ranked, from mediocre to sublime

Space City alternatives haven’t been complimentary Comments.

21. Houston Astros (6:25 p.m.)

Houston enjoys a respected reputation for its space education. “Space City” has a font similar to the NASA logo from the 1970s.

Debuts on the field: April 20, 2022

Kepner (20): Do people from Houston ever say they’re from “Space City”? Wouldn’t this name be better suited to a self-storage facility? I love the letters and numbers that evoke the NASA wordmark. But given the Astros’ history of innovation — like the glorious “Tequila Sunrise” jerseys of the 1970s and ’80s — they should have used something fancier than navy blue on navy blue.

Nesbitt (11): Every element of this City Connect unit is, on its own, quite enjoyable. The yellow to orange gradient is everywhere, from the cap to the socks. The NASA “worm” font is fun. The plain number on the pants is a nice retro touch. But the dark blue background steals all that goodness. If Nike reprints this in white jersey form, it will skyrocket this ranking.

Rosecrans (22): When Ronel Blanco was throwing his hit, I was distracted by the way the paw fell between the letters and seemed to say “SPACIE CITY.” I like the elements of this one, but it’s just too blue. Maybe using an orange hat, or at least an orange crown with a blue beak, would break up all the blue a bit.

Jones (20): The colors are superb. Space city? I could do without it. How about “H-Town” on the front? The “H” on the hat is the best part.

What Jim Bowden hears

Our former Resident General Manager Jim Bowden gave his thoughts business objectives for each competitor and deadline priorities for the 30 teams.

Houston Astros

Position objectives: Starting pitcher, first baseman, reliever

SP: Jesus Luzardo, Garrett Crochet, Luis Severino, Tyler Anderson, Jack Flaherty, Erick Fedde, Trevor Williams (IL)
1B: Pete Alonso, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Paul Goldschmidt
PR: Kyle Finnegan, Michael Kopech, Lucas Erceg, Tanner Scott

The Astros got off to a slow start and dealt with significant injuries to their starting rotation. But somehow, they’re still within reach, just 7 1/2 games out of a wild card spot entering play Wednesday. So expect them to be aggressive at this year’s trade deadline. They are focused on adding a starting pitcher and a middle reliever and will keep their eyes open for an upgrade at first base, if that makes sense.

Viral moment of the week

It’s hard to overstate how unusual this is for Jose Altuve, one of the Astros’ smoothest and most cerebral players. Altuve struck out on a called third strike an inning earlier — and manager Joe Espada was subsequently ejected defending him — but that outburst seemed like a spillover from a season that continued to go wrong.

baseball beat

Our beatwriter Chandler Rome has selected what you need to know

Justin Verlander is on the injured list with “neck discomfort,” news that impacts not only the Astros this season but also the New York Mets next season.

Finally, the Astros released declining first baseman José Abreu, who accumulated a negative 1.6 bWAR over the life of a three-year, $58.5 million contract he signed last winter.

Dana Brown, who didn’t sign Abreu but was forced to answer for the failure, said there were “no teaching moments” to take away from the worst contract in franchise history.

Removing Abreu didn’t solve all of the Astros’ problems, but allowed them to build a more flexible roster.

Did you catch this?

With owner Jim Crane “currently not in Houston” Dana Brown took the stage Friday to answer questions about the failure of a contract negotiated by Crane and his senior adviser Jeff Bagwell. Other teams have pursued Jose Abreu, but the Astros’ decision to give him three years will be in question for the foreseeable future.

The second-year GM didn’t create this mess, but he was ultimately able to put an end to it. Abreu made 697 plate appearances during his 19 months as an Astro. According to FanGraphs, he has accumulated minus-2.0 wins above replacement. No player with at least 600 plate appearances since the start of last season had a lower rating.

Brown spent 17 minutes distancing himself from the disastrous deal and describing a dire situation for everyone to see. The decision to release Abreu on Friday seemed a foregone conclusion, even though it seemed like an eternity before it happened.

It’s wrong to place all the blame for Houston’s horrible season on Abreu, but the club finished 16-28 with him on the active roster. Playing him limited roster flexibility and dragged down an already-heavy roster. Espada’s inability to avoid it late in a 4-3 June 10 loss to the San Francisco Giants was a glaring inflection point. Houston lost the series to San Francisco, falling eight games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

“We finally had a schedule; we just didn’t know when it was. A big part of it is that when you set a schedule, you’re saying, “We want to see better players at bat, and those better players should come in during this period.” “We got to the timeline and we were like, ‘Look, Bats aren’t any better,'” Brown said. “Right now, we felt like we really needed to turn things around.”


José Abreu’s time with the Astros is over. (Jérôme Miron / USA Today)

Crane and Bagwell had at least some influence on Abreu’s continued presence on Houston’s roster. Perhaps Crane wanted to get the most out of a disastrous investment. Bagwell has worked extensively with Abreu, including working alongside him at the team’s spring training facility last month during a demotion to which Abreu agreed.

Espada started Abreu in 12 of 16 games following his return. He struck out 10 times, totaled seven hits in 42 at-bats and hampered Espada’s ability to maneuver late in games.

“I don’t think there’s a teaching moment here. Ultimately you were looking at José Abreu – he was signed before I got here; he had really good numbers,” Brown said. “There were a lot of teams looking for the first goal. Many of these deals work. Houston did some good things before I got here.

Brown loves his job. Publicly throwing your boss under the bus is one way to end it, so expecting him to say anything else is insane. Six consecutive American League Championship appearances, four American League pennants and two World Series titles are enough of a “good thing.”

To improve the quest for more, Brown and his baseball operations department must analyze whether Abreu’s miserable tenure is abnormal — an aging player who has declined faster than anyone could have anticipated — or a symptom of a problem. broader within the decision-making hierarchy.

Field notes

And now, a quick word from the comments section.

Many have spent much of this week discussing the decline of José Abreu, but it’s important to remember how good he was. Abreu received MVP votes in seven of his nine seasons in Chicago, including winning the award during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He won Rookie of the Year in 2014 and, even after his disastrous Astros tenure, has a career OPS of .833. If this is the end, Abreu has had an admirable career and stood out as a great teammate.

(Top photo by Justin Verlander: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

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