Every-Thing Sports
Jermaine Every: A few things on my brain this week
Mar 20, 2018, 7:11 am
Jose Altuve will be around for a long time. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
This was one of those weeks in which my ADD wouldn’t allow me to write about one thing. It’s also a week in which the diarrhea of words coming from my keyboard had to be kept at a respectable number because I don’t want to overdo it or bore you guys either. With that said, read on…
This Astros regime gets it
Gone are the days of Drayton McLane and Ed Wade putting Band Aids on gushing gashes. We are now living in the Jim Crane/Jeff Luhnow era. There’s already a title in hand, and they’re built to win over the next two to four years and maybe more. Jose Altuve’s contract extension is further evidence that the Astros’ new regime truly gets it. He’s proof that hard work pays off. Doesn’t hurt that he’s extremely humble and seems embarrassed about the attention he gets. Keeping the greatest Astro ever around for the foreseeable future shows commitment to keeping this team competitive. Remaining competitive is a tricky deal. It can often backfire with disastrous results. With that said, they also know they can’t keep everyone. Dallas Keuchel is more than likely in his last season as an Astro, but they’ve acquired Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and have some nice pitching prospects to fill the void. George Springer wasn’t happy about his arbitration case was going to go, or when he was brought up to the main roster. He and the team settled on a two year deal worth $24 million dollars to avoid arbitration, so I imagine he’ll be testing the free agent waters as soon as he’s eligible. They’ve also brought guys up when they’re ready (not past their prime), and have traded prospects for proven MLB talent. If those aren’t signs they “get it,” I don’t know what else to tell you to convince you.
Who’s house?!?
The University of Houston Cougars men’s basketball team came within a couple made free throws and a Christian Laettner-type 3-pointer from making it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. My heart goes out to Devin Davis. Many will point to his missed free throws that could have iced the game as the reason why they lost, but there were several other reasons why they didn’t win (like the inconsistent at best refs). They’re going to lose their best player in senior guard Rob Gray, but Coach Kelvin Sampson has two of the ESPN Top 100 recruits coming in next season, as well as a couple JUCO transfers. After notching the school’s first NCAA Tournament victory in over 30 years, I can see the Coogs making it back next season. I really hope this propels them back to prominence. Houston is a fertile recruiting ground for basketball. Here’s to the Coach Sampson bringing that program back to the national spotlight.
David beat Goliath
The 1980 U.S. Men’s Hockey team beating the Russians, University of Houston stopping U.C.L.A.’s streak, Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson…now we can add 16 seed University of Maryland-Baltimore County mollywhopping 1 seed University of Virginia in the men’s NCA basketball tournament to the list of improbable upsets. No. 16 seeds were 0-135 before Friday’s stunning upset. Not only did they pull off the impossible, they did it in grand fashion. The final score of 74-54 showed how the Retrievers were able to beat the Cavaliers’ pressure defense, cause turnovers themselves, and score at will. The beatdown was so convincing, they spent the last three to four minutes celebrating while the game was still going on. They lost in the next round to Kansas State 50-43 in a game theycamethisclose to winning. A play here, a play there, and we’d be talking about a 16 seed in the Sweet 16! Let that sink in for a minute! I don’t want to become a prisoner of the moment, so I’ll leave you with this thought: Wait a couple years and look back on this game. If it still holds itself in that high a regard, which I believe it will, then we have the greatest upset in the history of sports.
There’s so much more I could go on and on about, but I’m told I only have so much bandwith here. However, fear not! I’m always available on Twitter, and recently partnered with Craig Koshkin on The Sideline podcast as well (episode 39 was our maiden voyage). So if you have any questions, comments, concerns or criticisms, get at me. I’d love to hear from everyone. Even the haters because I love y'all too.
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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.