Carlos Correa clears the air about Astros' last-ditch effort to re-sign him
ASTROS NEWS
23 March 2022
ASTROS NEWS
ESPN's Marly Rivera caught up with former Astros SS Carlos Correa on Wednesday and asked him about signing with the Twins and what happened with the Astros. Correa told Rivera that he has "nothing but love" for the Astros and their organization. But he also said the Astros never made him an offer post-lockout. Wow. Really, Astros?
Carlos Correa told me he has “nothing but love” for Houston and Astros front office and ownership, but also said the club did not make him any offers after the lockout. pic.twitter.com/HIBFVvBMeE
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) March 23, 2022
Apparently there was no effort made by the Astros to re-sign Correa in recent weeks, in contrast to what was heavily reported. If Correa is telling the truth, and I believe he is, then all the noise about the Astros making Correa another offer were false.
Astros have stepped up efforts to bring back Carlos Correa to the point where owner team owner Jim Crane is involved. Astros are clearly serious but other teams are still involved. @hgomez27 mentioned intensifying talks
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 14, 2022
It certainly sounds like the reports about the Astros sending Correa a revised contract offer were bogus, and possibly coming from Correa's agent, Scott Boras. And this makes so much sense on every level. If Boras was trying to get every penny he could for Correa, using the Astros as leverage is just good business. Unfortunately, Astros fans got their hopes up for nothing.
The Astros ghosted Carlos Correa this week. James Click said he would get back to them and never did and Jim Crane did not respond at all to Scott Boras’ texts.
— John Granato (@johngranato) March 19, 2022
Plus, it makes the tweet from ESPN Houston's John Granato's look even more accurate. The Astros made their final offer before the lockout and that was that. Correa preferred the offer from Minnesota, and he took it. This also explains why Jim Crane might have been a little put off. With all these false reports floating around, Crane had to have thought they were coming from Correa's camp in an effort to get Carlos more money elsewhere.
Baseball is a business. Period.
One of the nuggets that came out of Nick Caserio's press conference this week, was his thoughts on the job Bobby Slowik has done as an offensive coordinator. When asked if the team has considered sharing the offensive play calling, Caseiro responded with an emphatic, “absolutely not.”
Caserio went on to praise the job Slowik has done this year, and to say the team's struggles in the second half this season is due to execution.
This stance is consistent with what we've heard from Texans insiders that believe Slowik will be back next season. As much as many Texans fans believe a change at OC could help CJ Stroud, who's shown regression this year, it doesn't appear Slowik is going anywhere.
To be fair, most teams aren't looking to replace their coordinators when they're leading their division and marching toward the postseason for the second straight year.
Number crunching
When comparing Stroud's stats to last season, there is a clear dropoff in 2024. But a lot of that has to do with the addition of Joe Mixon, especially when it comes to touchdowns.
Mixon is third in the NFL with 11 rushing TDs, while Dameon Pierce and Devin Singletary only combined for 6 over the entire 2023 season. One could argue the passing offense has regressed, but one could also argue the offense overall is more balanced.
Stroud is still Top 5 in passing yards, heading into this week's games. And even if we account for the bye week, Stroud will still be Top 10 after this week's slate of games.
The most concerning number to keep an eye on is sacks. Only one QB has been sacked more than Stroud, who's been sacked 41 times. CJ's protection has gotten better since Juice Scruggs was moved to guard, and Jarrett Patterson was inserted at center.
If Stroud starts getting hit again at a high level, that may be the one factor that could make the front office rethink their plans at coordinator. However, if the Texans do make a change, we expect them to address their o-line coach before any changes at OC.
Be sure to watch the video above for our full breakdown of the Texans offense, the coaching staff, and our thoughts on how the Azeez Al-Shaair suspension will impact the team.