INDIVIDUAL AWARDS ARE GREAT BUT THE MAIN GOAL SHOULD ALWAYS BE A WORLD SERIES TITLE

Astros: Keep your eyes on the prize

Astros win the World Series.
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The Astros are one of the best teams in baseball and have one of the most explosive and complete rosters in the game. With a team that is loaded with that much talent comes a great deal of hype, media exposure and consideration for postseason awards. Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are the top two candidates for the American League Cy Young Award, Alex Bregman is currently ranked in the top three for A.L. MVP and Yordan Alvarez is taking baseball by storm as the emerging favorite for Rookie of the Year. All you have to do is log on to your favorite social media account when any one of those guys has an outstanding performance to read the compliments, praise, and proclamations of the award already being won by their favorite Astro of the hour. Those Tweets and messages are usually followed up with stats and historical references to back up their predictions and some even go as far as to slam the other candidates being mentioned in conversations surrounding the major awards for the American League. As good as these guys are playing and as proud as you feel to hear your hometown heroes names being bantered about in regard to individual success, it's important for the team and the fans to keep it all in perspective and remember the most important award is the World Series trophy and banner at the end of the season.

Rockets James HardenPhoto by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Houston is a city that seems overly focused on seeing their favorite hometown hero in any one of the three major sports in the city, get the recognition, credit and major awards they feel the players so richly deserves. James Harden is in the NBA MVP discussion seemingly every year and when he doesn't win it, there is a backlash, disappointment, and disgust across "Red Nation." The Rockets organization has a major marketing campaign and the media blitz that is focused on lobbying for the Beard to get the hardware annually and GM Daryl Morey is like a paid political advisor the way he campaigns for his guy and bashes the other guys in the running. That's not a good look and can backfire when you eventually trade for one of the guys you have downplayed in the past. (Westbrook) The critics and media that follow the team on a consistent basis have wondered out loud about the over the top passion in regard to Harden and the MVP and if it means more and gets more attention than the team's attempts to win another title? Even the players get caught up in the hype and are asked about it far more frequently than they would like, as the preference for them is always centered on winning the next game on the schedule and doing whatever it takes to achieve the ultimate in team success. The Texans aren't as bad when it comes to JJ Watt, but the fans have had a similar passion when he has been in the running for Defensive Player of the Year and NFL MVP. The Astros have seemingly stayed out of the campaigning for their players up for postseason awards and have let the cards fall where they may in terms of the media and the voting process. Jose Altuve still took home the top individual award for a position player two years ago, but they also won their first championship as a team and organization that same season. The point being, it's more than OK to push for your favorite Houston player to get individual accolades and awards, just don't let that passion supersede your desire to see your favorite team win the ultimate prize at the end of the playoffs.

The latest example of "award-mania" is centered around Yordan Alvarez and his meteoric rise heard and seen around MLB ever since he was called up by the Astros some 50 games ago. The combination of huge power surges, long, majestic home runs and a keen eye at the plate that has his average hovering around .350 has all of H-town buzzing. Astros fans all over the country are singing his praises and writing their local beat writer to demand that "Air Yordan" get consideration for Rookie of the Year as they compare his success to the greats of the game like Ted Williams and Albert Pujols. The numbers speak for themselves as he has been a huge shot in the arm to the Houston offense while proving he belongs in the big leagues, playing on a daily basis. The fans jumped on the bandwagon almost immediately after following his rising stock as he dominated pitchers throughout his every stop in the minor leagues. I love the passion and the support everyone is giving the big DH as he has become another in a long line of Astros players that the fans love and the organization and all of MLB appreciates. Just a word of caution not to lose your collective mind if he doesn't get the trophy at the end of the season and gets passed over for another player that has been in the show for the entire year. As great as it would be to see the kid take home the top award given to a first-year player, it's ten times more important to see how valuable he has become to his team and the effect he has had on Houston's success and their chances of winning their 2nd title in the last 3 years. Alvarez has given the Astros a huge boost in the middle of their batting order and his success allowed GM Jeff Luhnow the flexibility to pool all of his resources towards acquiring a front line starting pitcher like Zack Grienke and a few other arms to bolster the pitching staff. Yordan's emergence allowed Luhnow and his staff to stockpile all their resources and prospects and use them on arms instead of trying to spread them out to give the club a chance to swing a deal for an extra bat as well as a big-time arm or two. So keep cheering for your favorite players to take home every trophy and every postseason award, just don't let it consume you to the point that you lose sight of what should still be and always be the number one priority, which is another World Series title.

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Dana Brown has a tough task at hand. Composite Getty Image.

If the Astros were going to win one series and lose the other on their six-game road trip out of the All-Star break, they got it right in taking two out of three games at Seattle then losing two out of three to lousy Oakland. Had they inverted those results, the Astros would not be alone atop the American League West starting this weekend’s series against the Dodgers at Minute Maid Park.

By the schedule the Astros’ sledding now gets tougher. The Dodgers are rolling toward their 11th National League West crown in 12 years, despite their pitching staff having been battered by injuries every bit as much as the Astros’. The Astros will face three rookie starters this weekend. National League Rookie of the Year candidate (non-Paul Skenes division) Gavin Stone goes Friday. Saturday it’s Justin Wrobleski making his fourth big league start, Sunday River Ryan makes his second. 325 million dollar addition Yoshinobu Yamamoto last pitched June 15. Tony Gonsolin is out for the year without throwing a pitch. Clayton Kershaw’s first pitch Thursday marks the first of his season. Tyler Glasnow’s Wednesday return from the Injured List means the Astros won’t face him this weekend.

Aside: Astros’ fan favorite Joe Kelly is back in the Dodgers’ bullpen. He was activated from the IL out of the break, so the opportunity to welcome him back to Minute Maid Park looms!

After the Dodgers, the Pirates hit town with Skenes slated to pitch Monday opposite Jake Bloss. Gulp. Hey, in one game, you never know. Skenes has been the most electric rookie pitcher since Dwight Gooden with the Mets in 1984.

Sleepless in Seattle

The Mariners’ unraveling has reached historic proportions. It’s not easy losing six straight matchups with the lowly Angels but the Mariners were down to the challenge and pulled it off. The M’s have stumble-bummed their way to a 9-20 record over their last 29 games. That’s actually a better winning percentage than the Astros’ had after staggering from the starting gate to a 7-19 mark. Like the Astros did, the Mariners can right their ship, though if they don’t add quality offense before Tuesday’s trade deadline it seems unlikely. Seattle has scored more than two runs in one of its last eight games, the only win among those eight when the Mariners got to Ronel Blanco and Seth Martinez Sunday to avoid an Astros’ sweep. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers whipping up on the laughingstock Chicago White Sox this week has their World Series title defense very much alive and a threat to overtake both the Astros and Mariners.

The trade deadline is this Tuesday

Tick-tock toward Tuesday’s 5PM Central Time trade deadline. General Manager Dana Brown is on the clock. Let’s start with starting pitchers. Tarik Skubal! Garrett Crochet! Jack Flaherty! Any would be a fabulous addition. If Brown acquires one, he will have done phenomenal work cajoling the trade partner into thinking the Astros’ offer the best. Frankly it seems impossible. The Orioles are in the starting pitcher market. Their farm system runs laps around what the Astros have. Numerous other teams on the hunt for pitching have higher rated minor league talent. The Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys are having a fabulous season, but until the Astros Thursday moved up soon to be 24-year-old Jacob Melton (who was batting just .248 with a .307 on-base percentage at Double-A Corpus Christi) there was not one non-pitcher of any consequence younger than 25 on the roster. Pedro Leon, Shay Whitcomb, Will Wagner, and include Joey Loperfido: it would be shocking if any of them can be the best player in an offer good enough to land one of the potential big trade fish. All four of them wouldn’t be enough to land a Skubal or Crochet.

On the hitter side, if the Blue Jays shop Vlad Jr. and/or the Rays take offers for Paredes, of course Brown better try. Either would be a sharp upgrade over Jon Singleton, and Guerrero can’t become a free agent until after next season, with Paredes under team control through 2027. Reality check time. Seattle’s offense is in dire straits. The Mariners have four prospects rated higher than any Astros’ prospect. If the Mariners didn’t make a winning offer over what the Astros proposed, Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto would look like a timid clown.

That said, there will be several second and third tier starters and relievers moved who would boost the Astros. If Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss are both still in the Astros’ starting rotation after the deadline, Dana Brown will have failed. That said, the Astros could well stand pat and win the Mild, Mild West. They could also finish third.

Go for the gold!

With the Olympics underway, a medal podium-style ranking of the Astros’ greatest trade deadline acquisitions:

No medal but cannot be omitted: Randy Johnson. It was a brief fling with “The Big Unit” in 1998 but it was spectacular. It elevated Houston as a baseball city. In 11 regular season starts Johnson went 10-1 with a 1.28 earned run average. He threw shutouts in his first four Astrodome starts. He spiked attendance like no other player in franchise history. Even though the San Diego Padres beat Johnson twice (Johnson pitched fine, the Astros scored two runs total in the two games) and bounced the Astros in a National League Division Series, and prospects Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen included in the deal both went on to have excellent careers, it was a trade that in hindsight you make 100 times out of 100.

Bronze: Jeff Bagwell. Reliever Larry Andersen was outstanding in helping the Boston Red Sox win the AL East in 1990, but the BoSox got swept in the ALCS and Andersen left as a free agent. Bagwell has the greatest offensive resume in Astros’ history (I know, I know, postseason aside) and is quite arguably one of the 10 greatest first basemen of all-time.

Silver: Yordan Alvarez. He has longevity to prove but to this point in his career, while not the all-around player Bagwell was, Yordan is clearly the more destructive force in the batter’s box. Throw in his three monstrously significant home runs in the 2022 Astros’ title run, and his awesome 2023 postseason, and what could still lie ahead for him and the Gold could be his if we revisit this topic 10 years from now. Imagine the Dodgers if they hadn’t gifted Yordan to the Astros for Josh Fields.

Gold: Justin Verlander. Astros’ World Series championships pre-JV, zero. With him, two. Even though his World Series resume is terrible. The finishing piece to the Astros’ initial championship winner in 2017 with a 1.06 ERA in five starts ahead of winning the 2017 ALCS MVP, a second crown in 2022, two Cy Young Awards and a Cy runner-up. Interesting decision to make for the cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. Much more body of work with the Tigers but the championships and legend cemented with the Astros.

*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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