EVERY-THING SPORTS
Astros action plan: 5 strategic moves for sustained excellence
Jan 31, 2024, 3:00 pm
EVERY-THING SPORTS
With the signing of Josh Hader, the Astros have strengthened their bullpen. The bullpen was seen as a weakness. If you could get the starter out after five, maybe six innings and be within striking distance, you could beat the Astros. The starters were all injured or at least missed some time last season. If they were healthy, they had control issues. Now, the starters are almost all healthy (get well soon LMJ, Luis Garcia) and the bullpen has gone from weakness to maybe the best group on the team.
So…now what? What's the next move to help this team keep its championship window open? I addressed some of this last week before the Hader signing. Looking back on that, let's look forward and create a course of action for the Astros to remain in title contention for years to come:
Re-sign Jose Altuve: This is the first order of business. He's going to be 34 on May 6 and in the last year of his extension. Has his play dropped off some? Yes, but his level of play was so high, the drop-off in production is still respectable. He's the guy you think of when you think of Houston Astros baseball. You can Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio me all you want. Neither of them managed to bring a ring to this city. Bagwell won an MVP, but that's about it. Altuve is the heart and soul of this team and should retire here as long as he's somewhat productive, which he's remained.
Re-sign Kyle Tucker: While Yordan Alvarez may be the best hitter on this team now, Tucker may be the best overall player. He's got all five tools and hits lefty. Tucker will turn 28 in July and has one more year of arbitration left after this year. Then he'll hit free agency if he's not re-signed. A 29-year-old lefty with all five tools in the open market? Yeah, that deal will START somewhere in the $25-30 million per year range! GM Dana Brown is known for re-signing young talent to extensions. If he gets this one done, he'll help nail down his legacy in Houston, barely two years into the gig.
Give Cody Bellinger a Brinks truck: “Jermaine, you do realize you want them to re-sign Tucker, though?” RIGHT?!? Thank you, Captain Obvious! This team needs another bat in the outfield, like we all need to bathe and put on deodorant before we leave the house. Unfortunately like some of you, this team also tends to ignore the obvious. Having two good outfielders who can hit and are on the right side of 30 on long term deals sets you up for future success. So what if they're waiting on prospects to get to the show. How does that help the 2024 version of this team win? Do you wait until 2025? 2026? By then, most of your older core will be too old and not as good or productive. Added bonus of this move- if Tucker doesn't re-sign, you have his replacement in-house.
Alex Bregman can stay…for the right price: I love Bregman. From his brash attitude, to his style of play, even his media interactions. He's the consummate teammate. The guy learned to speak Spanish to better communicate with them, for God's sake. However, his production has had a noticeable drop. If he wants to return, he has to do so knowing he's not going to get paid what he thinks he may deserve. Let him hit the open market and find his value. If it matches the budget, fine. If not, we wish you the best in your future endeavors. He's a part of this team's lore forever, but business decisions need to be made. (This was hard for me to type!)
Make Yordan a 1st baseman: Yordan will be here for the foreseeable future. He's one of the most lovable guys on the team, and happens to be the best hitter. While I may on the wrong side of 40, so are Yordan's knees. In order to preserve him, and his knees, he needs to play 1st base. Jose Abreu and his inflated contract can have several seats. Jim Crane will have to eat this one and literally pay for not having a real GM at the time of that signing. Yordan can DH when he's playing the outfield, but if they make some of those moves listed above, he won't have to.
PROSPECTS!!!!
This team has numerous interesting prospects in the pipeline. Jacob Melton (OF) is one of them. Spencer Arrighetti (RHP) is another. Hunter Brown is already up on the big league team and made waves last season. I want to see more of these guys getting a shot while they're still young. See what they can/can't do at the big league level early on. If nothing else, it tells us what they need to work on before being called up. Or, it could help you move on from a vet. Either way, I'm digging the infusion of youth and look forward to more.
Looking for an inspiring underdog or a glass slipper lying around in San Antonio? This year's version of the Final Four is not for you.
Fittingly for an NCAA Tournament in which big schools from big conferences took record numbers of spots in the first week, then hogged them all for the Sweet 16, the last week will bring a collection of all four teams seeded No. 1 to the sport's biggest stage to play for the title.
When Florida meets Auburn in an all-Southeastern Conference clash and Duke faces Houston in a meeting between the Atlantic Coast and Big 12 conferences, it will mark only the second time since seeding began in 1979 that all four No. 1s have made it to the final weekend.
The last time it happened, in 2008, one of the teams was Memphis, which hailed from Conference USA.
This time around, there are no mid-majors or small majors. Only the best teams from the best conferences — except the Big Ten, which will hasn't had a team win it all since 2000 — who also have the nation's best players.
Here's a look at the best player on each team (for Auburn, Duke and Florida, they are AP All-Americans ), along with another who might make an impact in San Antonio once the games start Saturday.
Broome hit his elbow hard in the second half of the Tigers' 70-64 win over Michigan State. He left the court, but then came back, saying team doctors told him there was nothing wrong. He averages 18 points and nearly 11 rebounds and had 20-10 games in both wins this week. Clearly, his health will be a storyline.
If NBA scouts only look at backup guard Pettiford's tournament, where he has averaged 17.2 points and sparked Auburn on a huge run in the Sweet 16 win against Michigan, they'd pick him in the first round. If they look at his overall body of work, they might say he still needs work. Either way, he could be a difference-maker over two games.
There are times — see the 30-point, seven-rebound, six-assist skills clinic against BYU — when Flagg just looks like he's toying with everyone. There are other times — see Saturday's win over Alabama — when he looks human. Which is more than enough, considering all the talent surrounding him.
Maluach is 7-foot-2 and has a standing reach of 9-8. If any opponent overplays him, they can expect a lob for an alley-oop dunk. He shot 12 for 15 over Sweet 16 weekend, and pretty much all the shots were from 4 feet or closer.
Clayton made the tying and go-ahead 3s in Florida's ferocious comeback against Texas Tech. He finished with 30 points and his coach, Todd Golden, said, “There’s not another player in America you would rather have right now than Walter Clayton with the ball in his hands in a big-time moment.”
During one two-game stretch in February, Richard had two points in one contest and 21 the next. During another, he scored zero, then 30. Fill in the blanks here, but he could be a big factor for the Gators either way.
Fittingly for the team with the nation's best defense, a player who only averages 5.5 points could be the most valuable for the Cougars. Tugler is on everyone's all-defense list, and for Houston to have any chance at stopping Flagg, it'll have to figure out ways to use Tugler to do it.
Cryer is Houston's leading scorer at 15.2 points a game. If the Cougars end up as national champs, it will have to be because he played the two best games of his life.