Behind Enemy Lines
My First experience as a road fan at Seattle's Safeco Field
Aug 31, 2018, 1:38 pm
Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the Safeco Field and the beautiful city of Seattle. As my luck would have it, our beloved Houston Astros were playing a crucial series against their AL West Rivals, the Seattle Mariners that week. When I planned my trip in May, I did not expect the AL West to be as tight of a division as it has been. This made my trip to Safeco that much more interesting.
Game One: Aug. 20, 2018, Mariners win 7-4
“You guys are wearing the wrong jerseys.”
Mariner fans were very welcoming to us as we took our seats in center field for the first of the three game series against the Astros. The open stadium of Safeco Field allowed for ash to fall from the sky; it’s been a brutal summer for the West Coast and their battles with forrest fires.
A 3-3 game in the sixth, I decided it was time to explore the food our AL West rivals had to offer. Ultimately, I settled on a hot dog that was bathed in grilled onions, sauerkraut and banana peppers. Robinson Cano would crush golden boy Collin McHugh in the eighth with a three run homer to center field to give the Mariners the lead. Almost instantly, fans turned to us with the biggest smirks on their faces, they were going to get the last laugh that night.
“Oh, better luck tomorrow, Astro Fan,” yelled a group of fans as my directionally inept self tried to make my way out of the stadium.
“I’ll wipe my tears with my World Series ring,” I yelled back as I walked through the same block for the third time.
Game Two: Aug. 21, 2018, Astros win 3-2
The second game was a big day for me. For those familiar with my twitter group, #FearTheCock Fan Club, it was an exciting day to see Bradley Peacock start his first game of the season. Yes, I was livid when Hinch pulled Peacock, but it allowed us an introduction to Framber Valdez. As the Astros had to get creative with their pitching staff, I got more creative with my food options. Choosing between the dumplings and the lobster sandwich was like trying to choose between my love for Brad Peacock and my dying allegiance to Alex Bregman. I chose the sandwich. Whether the sandwich is Peacock or Bregman is for you to figure out. Spending $18.50 on a sandwich was suboptimal, much like the Astros’ franchise record six double plays on the day, but it was delicious, and the Astros tasted revenge as well when they beat the Mariners 3-2. Interestingly enough, Mariners fans were pretty quiet after the game.
Game Three: Aug. 22, 2018, Astros win 10-7
It was finally time for the rubber match, the ever so critical third game of the series. Day games typically mean nice weather. That was especially the case at Safeco Field. By the fourth inning, I do not know what was more annoying to the home fans, the Astros bats or me yelling “send the runner!” to Garry Pettis every time someone got a base hit (Shout out to my boy Johnny G). They were up 9-2 at the end of the fifth and the extra money I spent on lower level infield seats suddenly felt worth it. The sports Gods are never late to punish, though, as the Mariners made the game interesting, scoring five in the sixth. Suddenly, the obnoxious road fan was quiet. That was until Tyler “El Osito Blanco” White decided to take Adam Warren yard to cushion the lead to three runs and helped introduce one of my favorite celebrations of the season. Where were you the day the Astros introduced the group stare? Me? I was in the stands of Safeco Field witnessing history.
“Are you guys even real Astros fans?”
“ Yes,” I replied bluntly ending the conversation. A lion never loses sleep over the opinions of sheep.
All things considered, Safeco Field was an awesome ballpark to visit. This was my first experience being a road fan, and rooting for the defending champions definitely gave me this extra sense of confidence. There was not a thing a Mariners fan could say that a reminder of who won the World Series could not fix. The atmosphere, the activities, and the food inside the stadium definitely did the city of Seattle justice.
All that being said, let us compare this ballpark to the mighty Minute Maid Park.
Safeco has a metered bullpen where fans can track their pitch speeds. Minute Maid Park has a display of artifacts from the 2017 World Series Champions in the Union Station Lobby. Safeco Field has a throne fans can take pictures with every time Felix Hernandez pitches. Minute Maid Park has a mural commemorating their World Series Championship. Safeco has a diverse taste of food representative of the Pacific Northwest. Minute Maid Park has BBQ, a cornerstone of the city of Houston (the city of the defending World Series Champions).
Looks like it is Minute Maid Park in a landslide.
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The woeful state of the Astros' farm system has made it very expensive to continue maintaining a good team, prohibitively so (in part self-imposed) from having a great team. Even if they re-sign Alex Bregman, trading Framber Valdez and/or Kyle Tucker for prospects could snap the Astros' run of eight straight postseason appearances. But if they KNOW that no way do they intend to offer Framber five years 130 million dollars, Tucker 7/225 or whatever their free agent markets might be after next season, keeping them for 2025 but getting nothing but 2026 compensatory draft picks for them could do multi-year damage to the franchise.
Preliminary Kyle Tucker trade talks between the Astros and Cubs involve both Seiya Suzuki and Isaac Paredes, sources tell @Ken_Rosenthal and me - https://t.co/kIRATDQpEn
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) December 11, 2024
The time is here for the Astros to be aggressively shopping both. It doesn't make trading them obligatory, but even though many purported top prospects amount to little or nothing (look up what the Astros traded to Detroit for Justin Verlander, to Pittsburgh for Gerrit Cole, to Arizona for Zack Greinke) if strong packages are offered the Astros need to act if unwilling (reasonably or not) to pay Valdez/Tucker.
Last offseason the Milwaukee Brewers traded pitching ace Corbin Burnes one season ahead of his free agency and then again won the National League Central, the San Diego Padres dealt Juan Soto and wound up much improved and a playoff team after missing the 2023 postseason. But nailing the trades is critical. The Brewers got their everyday rookie third baseman Joey Ortiz and two other prospects. The Padres got quality starter Michael King, catcher Kyle Hagashioka, and three prospects.
Back to Bregman
Meanwhile, decision time approaches for Alex Bregman. He, via agent Scott Boras, wants 200-plus million dollars. Don't we all. If he can land that from somebody, congratulations. The Astros' six-year 156 million dollar contract offer is more than fair. That's 26 million dollars per season and would take Bregman within a few months of his 37th birthday. If rounding up to 160 mil gets it done, ok I guess. Going to 200 would be silly.
While Bregman hasn't been a superstar (or even an All-Star) since 2019, he's still a very good player. That includes his 2024 season which showed decline offensively. Not falling off a cliff decline other than his walk rate plunging about 45 percent, but decline. If Bregman remains the exact player he was this season, six-156 is pricey but not crazy in the current marketplace. But how likely is Bregman to not drop off further in his mid-30s? As noted before, the storyline is bogus that Bregman has been a postseason monster. Over seven League Championship Series and four World Series Bregman has a .196 batting average.
The Astros already should be sweating some over Jose Altuve having shown marked decline this season, before his five year 125 million dollar extension covering 2025-2029 even starts. Altuve was still very good offensively though well down from 2022 and 2023 (defensively his data are now awful), but as he approaches turning 35 years old in May some concern is warranted when locked into paying a guy until he's nearly 39 1/2.
Jim Crane is right in noting that long contracts paying guys huge money in their later years generally go poorly for the clubs.
Bang for your buck
Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez is heading into the second year of a five-year, $124 million extension. That's 24.8 million dollars per season. Jose Ramirez is a clearly better player than Alex Bregman. Ramirez has been the better player for five consecutive seasons, and only in 2023 was it even close. It should be noted that Ramirez signed his extension in April of 2022. He is about a year and a half older than Bregman so the Guardians are paying their superstar through his age 36 season.
Bregman benefits from playing his home games at soon-to be named Daikin Park. Bregman hit 26 home runs this year. Using ball-tracking data, if he had played all his games in Houston, Bregman would have hit 31 homers. Had all his swings been taken at Yankee Stadium, the "Breggy Bomb" count would have been 25. In Cleveland, just 18. Ramirez hit 41 dingers. If all his games were home games 40 would have cleared the fences, if all had been at Minute Maid Park 47 would have been gone.
Matt Chapman recently signed a six-year 151 million dollar deal to stay with the San Francisco Giants. That's 25.166 million per season. Chapman was clearly a better player than Bregman this year. But it's the only season of Chapman's career that is the case. Chapman is 11 months older than Bregman, so his lush deal with the Giants carries through his age 37 season.
The Giants having overpaid Chapman doesn't obligate the Astros to do the same with Bregman. So, if you're the Astros do you accept overpaying Bregman? They would almost certainly be worse without him in 2025, but what about beyond? Again, having not one elite prospect in their minor league system boxes them in. Still, until/unless the Seattle Mariners upgrade their offense, the Astros cling to American League West favorites status. On the other hand, WITH Bregman, Tucker, and Valdez the Astros are no postseason lock.
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