Ken Rosenthal: How the Hader deal impacts Astros championship window
FUTURE IMPLICATIONS?
29 January
Following the Astros signing Josh Hader to a massive $95 million contract, Ken Rosenthal examines the deals currently on the books for Houston and projects what the roster will look like over the next several years.
Ryan Pressly and Justin Verlander's future with the club will be determined by how they perform this season. Pressly has to make 50 appearances this year for his option to vest in 2025. Verlander has to reach 140 innings this season, or he will be a free agent in 2025.
Rosenthal expects the Astros to extend Jose Altuve, who is set to be a free agent in 2025. However, he's not so sure the Astros will be able to keep Alex Bregman, who is also in the last year of his current deal.
So why did owner Jim Crane step outside his comfort zone and sign Hader to a huge contract that now has the Astros over the tax threshold? Based on his experience, he believes owners sometimes fixate on a certain player and will try to acquire them when an opportunity presents itself.
In this circumstance, he thinks Crane and the Astros view the 2015 Hader trade as a mistake. The deal wasn't very good for the Astros and signing him in free agency could be viewed as correcting a mistake from years ago. He's also heard that the 'Stros tried to trade for Hader last year, but the deal never went through. Houston was reportedly calling about a starter and reliever on the Padres.
The starter they called about is believed to be Blake Snell. At the end of the day, Hader is an Astro, and Houston has arguably the best bullpen in baseball.
What can be questioned, though, is if Crane spent the money in the best way possible. Hector Neris leaving in free agency is one of the reasons Houston had to add to the bullpen. Neris was reportedly looking for a contact in the range of 3-years, $50 million. He settled for a 1-year deal for $9 million with the Cubs. The deal could convert into a 2-year contract ($18 million) if Neris makes 60 appearances this season. If he reaches all his incentives, the deal has a max value of $23.25 million.
Who knows if Crane had preferred to sign Neris with the benefit of hindsight.
Be sure to watch the video above as Ken Rosenthal shares his thoughts on the Astros championship window, the Hader signing, and much more!
NFL analyst lays out 'institutional problem' with Houston Texans offense
Nov 7, 2024, 2:35 pm
It's no secret that the Houston Texans are having some real issues with protection, which is causing CJ Stroud's numbers to dip and the team to lose games.
Stroud has only tossed one touchdown pass over his last three contests, which clearly isn't sustainable if the Texans want to compete with the top teams in the AFC.
After watching the Texans film from last Thursday's game against the Jets, NBC Sports' Chris Simms noticed some issues plaguing the Houston offense.
Simms was quick to point out that he believes Texans OC Bobby Slowik is “not doing enough” to help CJ Stroud. He sees Houston's offense as a very basic version of the Shanahan scheme, which opposing defenses have seemingly figured out when attacking Houston's protections.
He would also like for Stroud to take over the role of calling out the protections, instead of leaving it up to the center. In this case, it's Juice Scruggs making the calls. A second-year player that has less experience in the Texans' offense than Stroud. (Scruggs missed about half of last season due to injury, and spent time at guard).
Simms makes the case that since Stroud is not in charge of protection, he may not know where the pressure is coming from.
ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime recently confirmed that this is not the case. Scruggs does make the calls, but Stroud knows what the protection calls are. He referenced a story from September where guard Shaq Mason discussed this very topic.
Here’s right guard Shaq Mason confirming this from a story back on Sept 11. pic.twitter.com/maBNAAJzMM
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) November 7, 2024
So if Stroud is fully aware of the protection calls on each play, it would suggest that the poor left guard play, and the predictability of the Texans sliding protections when they get certain looks as the main problems Bobby Slowik has to get corrected.
Jarrett Patterson should start at left guard this week after returning from a concussion. That could immediately give the o-line a boost, even if he's just average. If Patterson does play a decent game, and Stroud is still running for his life, Slowik and his scheme will have nowhere to hide.
Be sure to watch the Simms video above as he shows some examples from the Jets game to illustrate his points.
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