Image via Stephen Uzick
I'm not here with another hot take on what should or shouldn't be done regarding the Astros and the sign stealing hoopla. What I do have here is a short and sweet message for Astros fans.
Stop trying to justify it, stop trying to push back against the Twitterverse and media coming after the team and Houston. It is time to give in the dark side (something I wrote about previously, before the sign stealing saga). Let's face it, we are the bad guys but the villains always have more fun, right? Nothing will infuriate the rest of baseball more than for Astro fan to lean into this role, and that sounds pretty entertaining to me. So free yourself of the hand-wringing of wondering if the "apology" was enough, stop crying about the national media, and don't worry if being a fan of the franchise makes you a bad person. Relish the hatred, let it make you stronger and join me under the new Astros flag this season.
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Right-hander Luis Garcia and the Houston Astros avoided arbitration when they agreed to a one-year contract for $1,875,000, matching the salary he earned last year when he didn't pitch in the major leagues as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.
The 28-year-old Garcia had surgery on May 19, 2023, and made a pair of minor league appearances last year, on June 28 and July 4, but was slow to bounce back.
Garcia is 28-19 with a 3.61 ERA in 63 starts and six relief appearances from 2020-23. He pitched for Venezuela in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Seven Astros remained set to exchange proposed arbitration salaries with the team Thursday: right-hander Bryan Abreu, left-hander Framber Valdez, shortstop Jeremy Peña, third baseman Isaac Paredes and outfielders Mauricio Dubón, Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers.