OFF THE TOP OF MY BALD HEAD
Barry Warner: Baseball's back, and a look at the Rockets and NFL
Feb 13, 2018, 6:05 am
Justin Verlander heads the best rotation in baseball. Elsa/Getty Images
Baseball is back
Excited today as Astros pitchers and catchers report. Justin Verlander spent the weekend at Pebble Beach, as the partner of Jim Crane. The righty heads the best rotation in the Majors. This year’s Astro team is the favorite to once again go to the World Series.
What a far cry from the 100-plus loss teams of the past.
Agents like Steve Boras and AJ Hinch’s former college teammate, Brodie Van Wagenen, co-head of powerful agency CAA's baseball group, are outraged at the lack of free agent movement.
The Players Association and MLB negotiated the latest Basic Agreement. Like the NFLPA they were more concerned with the quality of life, like less two-a-days, less training camp in shoulder pads, than present days.
Yu Darvish got $126 million from Cubs in six-year deal. Chump change to previous of season contracts for top pitchers.
Want to look how dumb owners have been in the past? Check out former Yankee star Robinson Cano. Four years into his ten year and $240 million dollar deal he has yet to hit over .300.
All you need to know about the current impasse is Royals Eric Hosmer is looking for an 8 or 9-year deal. And former Astro JD Martinez is acting like he is insulted by not getting five years, $125 million from the Red Sox as a DH.
On what planet, Mars, Venus or Uranus?
Owners and GM’s finally have awakened and come to their senses. It’s not collusion, but rather good business in their industry.
Houston Sports Awards
Props to Patti Smith and the folks at the Houston Sports Authority for their first dinner honoring local stars. The star-studded event had the three-great number 34’s, Nolan Ryan, The Dream and Earl Campbell.
Rockets make shrewd moves
Clint Capella had career high 25 rebounds in the win over Denver. Much of his success during the last two years goes to John Lucas. The former No. 1 pick of the NBA draft is in charge of player development.
Dr. MIT, Rockets GM Daryl Morey, proved why he is among the shrewdest in all of pro sports.
For the first time in 11 years he sits out the trade deadline. Then follows with the signing of vet Joe Johnson, 36, who is averaging 7.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He is a seven-time All-Star and has played 16 seasons in the NBA. The Rockets have been after him for years, but there was never enough cap space for Morey the Magician to make it happen.
He followed that by signing 30-year-old Brandon Wright after a buyout deal by the Grizzlies. The Rockets will be in Minnesota going for their ninth win in a row against Jimmy Butler and the Wolves.
The NBA trading deadline was like a roller coaster. The defacto GM of the Cavs, Le Bron James got several young guys to play with. Isiah Thomas, who never seemed to recover from hip surgery, is now a Laker.
Things got worse for the once proud Knicks, when they lost their star Kristaps Porzingis. The 7-3 star from Latvia has thrived as the team’s main man with the departure of Carmelo Anthony, averaging 22.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and a league-leading 2.4 blocks per game this season.
Some thoughts on the NFL
Which Texans would start for the Eagles?
The only offensive player would be De Andre Hopkins.
On defense, Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus, Bernardrick McKinney and after next year linebacker Zach Cunningham will join that list.
Never met Jermaine Every, who writes an NFL column here. But the top priority in a thin free agent market is the offensive line. Brian Gaine needs to trade up and get an experienced offensive tackle, then fill in the bottom rounds. Andrew Norwell will be too expensive. Do not be shocked if the Texans re-sign Xavier Su-a Filo.
Memo to Fred Faour: do NOT trade JD Clowney. But package Will Fuller in a deal.
Bad move, Josh
Josh McDaniel’s classless pulling out of Colts gig hurt more than just his reputation.
I understand it was a family decision but last-minute decisions from man who has made so many rights calls for the Patriots... does that carry over to making the correct call for other families he had hired? Controversial Colts owner Jim Irsay agreed to pay three assistant coaches the Mc Daniels wanted, but never officially signed contracts.
Classy move.
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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.