CLOCK IS TICKING

Forget what you’ve heard: Astros are on the clock to make a shrewd move

Astros Carlos Correa
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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The Rockets are in it to win it this year. Composite Getty Image.

While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.

The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.

Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.

As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.

The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.

VanVleet signs extension

Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

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