CLOCK IS TICKING
Forget what you’ve heard: Astros are on the clock to make a shrewd move
Sep 21, 2021, 1:47 pm
Pay the man his money. Composite image by Jack Brame.
Both sides have stated their positions clearly – no contract negotiations until after the baseball season. What sounded fair and reasonable back in spring is pretty one-sided now. Carlos Correa's bargaining position with the Astros is the sound of an old-fashioned slot machine hitting a jackpot.
The Astros shoulda, woulda, coulda given Correa what he was asking for last spring. Now the Astros will pay dearly for playing tough business guy.
Here's what should be done, even though it's unconventional and makes too much sense. Correa, his high-power William Morris show biz agent, Astros owner Jim Crane and general manager James Click need to be locked in a dingy Telephone Road motel room with no windows, the sheets haven't been changed since two guests ago, no room service, phones checked at the front desk and nobody leaves until Correa and the Astros have a new 10-year deal.
I don't care how much it costs. It's not my money. But it is my team.
If it takes till tomorrow, well, happy 27th birthday Carlos Correa – Baby, You're a Rich Man (great song by the Beatles).
Otherwise … there's just too much otherwise. The Astros are headed to the playoffs and they'll be playing on prime time TV (well, prime time in Australia maybe). If Correa is a dangling free agent available for the Yankees and other big-budget teams to pluck, you can imagine what the TV announcers will be saying …
"Houston, your star quarterback is demanding a trade, you just lost your star basketball player, now you're risking your beloved, homegrown superstar shortstop in free agency … what's wrong with you, Houston?"
Correa has hand. Correa doesn't need the Astros. There will be more than a couple teams pulling out their pens to sign him to a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The Astros do need Correa, though. There's only one of him.
Correa is a shrewd businessman. He saved his best season for his contract year. You know the numbers: .285 with 24 homers. Just as important, and you didn't see this coming, he leads the Astros in games played. The knock on Correa was that he wasn't durable. He is now.
Correa is playing like a monster. It must be frightening for pitchers when Correa wags his bat ready to drive in a key run – he's good in the clutch. In the field, it's wondrous to watch him cock his arm before uncorking a 95-mph rocket to first.
Correa is the gem of this year's free agent collection, a better bet than Trevor Story or Corey Seager or Javier Baez. Somebody's got to play short for the Astros next season. Why not get the best one, and right now only the Astros can negotiate with him? If Correa gets to free agency, the Astros could be behind the 8 ball if another team, maybe the Yankees, says, "Whatever another team offers you, we'll top it by $20 million."
If the Astros make the World Series, the announcers could say, "Remember 2017 when the Astros won the World Series and Carlos Correa proposed to his girlfriend on the field? Well now they're having a baby and that child will grow up in Houston because Correa has a new long-term deal to stay with the Astros for 10 more years. What a fairy tale story!"
Or they could say, "In 2017 the Astros became world champs and Correa popped the question to his girlfriend. Now his bags are packed for another team."
Correa is the vocal team leader, the loudmouth in the dugout, the cocky shortstop who doesn't take crap from the other team. He's menacing at the plate, sensational in the field, a good teammate in the clubhouse and a role model in the community. The current Astros roster has a good three or four more seasons of competing for World Series titles. Correa may be the most important piece for that future. The Astros can't let him slip away over money.
Correa wants to stay in Houston. Don't worry about his "my last year with the Astros" comments. That's just posturing. Astros fans want him to stay in Houston. Agents and general managers know to the penny what offers will be out there for Correa after the season.
After the season may be too late for the Astros.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.