LOOKING AHEAD
Here's why J.J. Watt's future with the Houston Texans remains uncertain
Nov 5, 2020, 2:17 pm
Watt can't wait on a rebuild. Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images.
Even J.J. Watt can have a bad take from time to time
A few weeks ago, it appeared as if J.J. Watt had played his last game as a member of the Houston Texans. They had just suffered a 35-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers, resulting in the Texans falling to 1-6 on the season. With the trade deadline looming, a disgruntled Watt walked off the field inside NRG Stadium. The consensus around the league believed that the future Hall of Famer would be one of several players rumored to be on the move in a potential fire sale.
However, the Texans stood pat. Not only did Houston not trade their franchise star, but refused to explore the market by defining Watt as one of their four untouchable players.
Watt, arguably the greatest player in franchise history, will finish his ninth season playing on a team that appears to be heading straight towards a rebuild at the conclusion of the year. It's a path the 31-year-old defensive end says he has no interest in being a part of during the twilight of his career.
"I don't think it's any secret that I don't have 10 years left in this league," Watt said during his virtual press conference on Wednesday. "I personally believe that I do have a few more great ones left in me. But, you also can't — I'm not looking to rebuild. I'm looking to go after a championship and that's what I want to do. Whatever is in the best interest of the Houston Texans, that's in the best interest of myself. But, like I said, I'm interested in winning a championship in this league. That's every player's goal."
Watt has stated an infinite amount of times that bringing a Super Bowl title to Houston remains his ultimate goal. Deshaun Watson echoed the same objective nearly 20 minutes later via Zoom, but the Texans are far from title contention.
In a season that began with a four-game losing streak and the jettison of Bill O'Brien, the Texans will watch the 2020 post-season unfold from the comfort of their homes — more likely than not. With little draft capital and money extremely scarce, it is going to be a daunting task for Houston to address their lack of talent ahead of the 2021 season.
In reality, it may take the Texans two years to get back to playoff contention and another before they can reestablish themselves as Super Bowl contenders. That's an additional three more seasons wasted for Watt — who would be 34-years-old and on the brink of retirement.
Although the Texans retained his services past this year's trade deadline, the idea of Watt finishing his career draped in another team's jersey is still a high possibility. He has one year left on his current contract, and it is hard to imagine Watt still playing for the Texans beyond the 2021 season — especially if Houston has not made any improvements to their team.
A pending free-agency and a distressed star could alas be the formula for a significant breakup between Watt and the Texans as early as next spring.
"We've won some division championships and that's great, but that's not the goal. If your goal is not to win the Super Bowl and your goal is not to do everything in your power to make that happen and make your organization in the best possible situation for that, then that's not going to happen. So, that is my goal. That's why I fought back from all these injuries because that's the goal, and that's what I'm still working towards." — Watt.
Coty M. Davis is a reporter for ESPN 97.5 Houston/SportsMap covering the Houston Texans. He is also the co-host of Locked On Texans, a part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Follow Coty on Twitter @CotyDavis_24.
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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.