WHY THE DELAY?
Here's one puzzling, no-brainer move the Houston Astros continue to drag out
Dec 22, 2022, 2:12 pm
Will they be back? Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.
Apology from Houston Astros broadcaster highlights glaring problem with "standards"
With Dusty Baker back chewing toothpicks into splinters, Michael Brantley recalled to active duty, a new .300-hitting first baseman, Jeff Bagwell whispering into Jim Crane’s ear, no shift gobbling up Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez base hits, and Yuli Gurriel staring at the phone waiting for a call, it looks like the Astros good-time machine is ready to roll intact for 2023.
Except for one important piece of the Astros brand.
The Astros TV broadcast team of Todd Kalas, Geoff Blum and Julia Morales is unsigned for next year. And spring training is only seven weeks away. Already? Time flies when you’re celebrating another World Series.
Kalas, Blum and Morales may not drive in runs or throw quality starts, but they are super critical to the overall Astros product. They are like comfort food, put on the Astros game, and you’re good until goodnight. The Astros are on TV more than 160 times – plus practically guaranteed playoffs – between spring and autumn. When there’s nothing on TV … wait, the Astros are on. We’re good. What number channel is AT&T Sports Southwest again?
What is taking the Astros this long to announce that Kalas, Blum and Morales will be back for another season? Just git’er done.
You know the expression, you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone? Well, we do know what we got when Kalas, Blum and Morales aren’t in the Astros TV booth.
We got Apple TV, ESPN and TBS, and it ain’t good. It was excruciating last season watching Apple TV turn an Astros game into open mic night at Giggles Comedy Club. ESPN and TBS are OK, but they don’t “get” the Astros like our regular crew. Kalas, Blum and Morales are just the right blend of attentive play-by-play, clever analysis and personality insight.
Kalas joined the Astros in 2017 after stints with Mets, Reds, Phillies and Tampa Bay. During the offseason, he works football, basketball and baseball games in Louisiana, and University of South Florida hoops. His dad was legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas.
Blum went straight into the Astros booth after hanging up his cleats – 15 years in the bigs with the Expos, Astros (twice), Rays, Padres, White Sox and Diamondbacks. He has a World Series ring from the 2005 White Sox, when he (gasp) homered against the Astros. He and his wife have four daughters, three of them triplets.
Morales is the dean of the broadcast team, having joined the Astros in 2013. Her father Victor Morales once ran for the U.S. Senate from Texas. She is married to former MLB player Matt Clark and she has her own line of baseball fashion called baseball y’all.
It’s important that we get our TV broadcasters under contract and settled in. Baseball on TV is big business. Each team is guaranteed $60 million per year from the national networks, with another $40 million (on average) coming from local outlets. Houston is a big time market, No. 8 on Nielsen’s national map. There are more than 2.5 million TV homes in the Houston area. Don’t make us fret over our announcers.
Borrowing from that sports media expert Buzz Lightyear, it’s time to get Kalas, Blum and Morales signed ... to 2023 and beyond.
The Houston Texans addressed their most glaring needs by selecting offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery and a pair of Iowa State receivers in the NFL draft.
“The idea was to try to add good players, good people that are young, tough, hungry, that want to win, that put the team first,” general manager Nick Caserio said. “These picks exemplify that.”
The Texans got players that could help them quickly despite not picking in the first round for a second straight season. They didn’t have a first-round pick last year because of trades, including the one to move up and get defensive end Will Anderson with the third overall pick in the 2023 draft.
This season they shipped the 25th overall pick to the Giants on Thursday in exchange for several picks.
Their first selection in this draft was receiver Jayden Higgins, who was taken with the second pick of the second round. They added Ersery later in the second round with the 48th overall selection and picked up Higgins’ teammate Jaylin Noel in the third round.
Ersery could be Houston’s left tackle of the future after the offseason trade of five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Ersery started 38 games at left tackle over three seasons at Minnesota where he was a third-team All-American last season.
He comes to Houston to help shore up a line that allowed C.J. Stroud to be sacked 52 times last season, which was the second most in the NFL.
The Texans added veteran tackle Cam Robinson this offseason and Ersery will compete with him to protect Stroud’s blind side as the Texans attempt to reach the playoffs for a third straight season under coach DeMeco Ryans.
The 6-foot-6, 331-pound Ersery, who was the Big Ten’s Offensive Lineman of the Year last season, can’t wait to play with Stroud.
“C.J. Stroud is a baller,” Ersery said. “I’m so honored to be a guy to help out and come in and help protect him. I’m just super stoked and I know I’m going to a great organization.”
Cyclones teammates
Higgins and Noel join the Texans to add more depth at receiver to complement star Nico Collins with Tank Dell recovering from a serious knee injury and Stefon Diggs gone to the Patriots.
Higgins, who has been compared to Collins, had 87 receptions for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the Cyclones and Noel added 80 catches for 1,194 yards and eight scores.
After Higgins was drafted, Noel never imagined he’d be heading to Houston, too. He shared on social media a fortune he received from a Chinese restaurant that read: “Look forward to an unplanned reunion with an out-of-touch friend.”
Noel later shared his feelings about joining Higgins on the roster.
“I was surprised,” Noel said. “But they’ve seen that 1-2 punch all year. They’re going to be very happy with those selections for sure.”
Caserio said a talk with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell on Friday helped him make his final decisions on the receivers.
“He was effusive in his… belief and praise of both Higgins and Noel,” Caserio said.
The Texans now have three receivers from Iowa State on their roster after drafting Xavier Hutchinson in the sixth round in 2023.
Overcoming obstacles
Ersery and his four siblings were raised by a single mother and experienced homelessness when he was a child despite her working multiple jobs. He is thrilled to have put those struggles behind him as he embarks on his next chapter.
“I’ve got that hardworking mentality from her,” he said. “So, growing up times were tough but now I’ve got my foot in the door and I look forward to trying to change some things around.”
Caserio loves guys with work ethic like Ersery’s and said that’s one reason why they believe he’ll fit in with the Texans.
“If you come in and put your head down and work and just get better, take advantage of your opportunities, you’re going to have a shot to have success and do a lot of good things for the organization,” he said.
What’s in a name?
Along with Noel, the Texans added another Jaylin in this draft with they picked USC cornerback Jaylin Smith in the third round.
“We got Jaylins, and we got all these guys around. It’s going to be hard to keep them straight,” Caserio joked on Friday after they picked Smith.
Then on Saturday, the Texans added another player with the same name, albeit with a different spelling, when they took Penn State safety Jaylen Reed in the sixth round.
That gives them four players with the same name and three different spellings as the three rookies join starting safety Jalen Pitre on the team.
Doubling up
Along with drafting two players from Iowa State, the Texans also added a pair of players from Southern California when they picked running back Woody Marks in the fourth round after drafting Smith in the third.
Marks ran for a career-high 1,133 yards with nine touchdowns for the Trojans last season after transferring from Mississippi State.
Be sure to watch the video below as NFL.com Draft Analyst Lance Zierlein shares his thoughts on all the Texans' picks!