TEXANS "CULTURE" TAKES ANOTHER HIT
Texans' Brandin Cooks has been traded so many times, and maybe we're starting to understand why
Nov 3, 2022, 2:10 pm
Extending Brandin Cooks clearly looks like a huge mistake. Composite image by Brandon Strange.
Making sense of the extreme Vegas projections for Houston Texans
According to multiple reports, Texans WR Brandin Cooks will not be playing Thursday night against the undefeated Eagles because of, get this, "personal reasons."
Texans’ WR Brandin Cooks will not play tonight vs. the Eagles, per ESPN’s @WerderEdESPN. Cooks has missed practice for what the team has described as personal reasons. He had hoped to be traded to a playoff contender.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 3, 2022
Yeah, you read that correctly. Cooks is upset he didn't get traded and went on social media this week to express his frustration over his situation.
Don’t take a man’s kindness for granted. Covered for the lies for too long those days are done. Crossed the line with playing with my career 🏹
— Brandin Cooks (@brandincooks) November 1, 2022
The guy that was brought in as a great culture fit, is seemingly refusing to play in the Texans' only prime time game of the season because the team couldn't trade him and his massive contract before the deadline. And to go a step further, the Texans' only other legit WR, Nico Collins, is out with an injury. Yeah, great culture guy. The Texans had to get rid of DeAndre Hopkins who was rumored not to be a culture fit and bring in this dude? Plus, all this comes after Cooks defended Jack Easterby in his media session shortly after Easerby was fired. It's pretty easy to read between the lines here.
For years many have wondered, why has Brandin Cooks been traded so many times? I think we're getting our answer. The Saints traded him, so did the Patriots, the Rams too, and he's not even thirty years old. And I firmly believe the Texans would have traded him if it wasn't for his massive salary and cap hit.
It will be interesting to see if the Texans go after his money if he continues to refuse to play. One thing is for sure, GM Nick Caserio's decision to not trade him at the deadline last year, and give him an untradeable contract extension in the offseason looks like a huge mistake. Cooks knew he was signing up for a rebuilding team when he took the money this offseason. Deal with it! Now, things could change in the coming weeks and maybe the Texans get Cooks back in the fold, but it looks bad right now.
Here's to Nick Caserio not handing out any more contracts that make trades nearly impossible once the player decides he doesn't want to be in Houston anymore. Because, unfortunately, players want out of Houston way too often to not expect it to happen again.
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I left for vacation on April 14. Came back home on April 24. Eleven days in England and Germany.
Astros first baseman Jose Abreu went 0 for my vacation.
The last time Abreu reached base via a real-life hit was April 13 when he got two hits (fully half of his season total) and his batting average soared to a robust .122.
Since then, while I was dining on shepherd’s pie and schnitzel, Abreu has gone hitless in 21 at bats and his batting average has plunged to a squinty .065.
There’s an expression in baseball when a player is having a horrible, dreadful season: “He ain’t hitting his weight.”
Abreu ain’t hitting his uniform number. If you’re keeping score at home, Abreu weighs 250 pounds and wears number 79.
Abreu is chasing history. The record for suckiest single-season batting average for a player with enough plate appearances (502) to qualify for the batting title is held by former Orioles slugger Chris Davis.
In 2018, Davis batted .168. Despite being in the middle of a wildly overpaid 7-year, $161 million contract, the Orioles essentially fired Davis and his career was over in 2020.
Abreu is in the middle year of a guaranteed 3-year, $58.5 million, money down the toilet contract. Will he be an Astro next year when owner Jim Crane chokes on signing yet another $19.5 million paycheck for Abreu? Unlikely.
Other modern era batters have turned in disastrous single-season averages. Dan Uggla batted an unattractive .179 for the Braves in 2013. Rob Deer was a deer in the headlights swatting .179 for the Tigers in 1991.
Abreu is turning futility into an art form. If he continues his .065 pace he will obliterate every record for crummiest season in baseball history.
He has appeared in 19 games and has 4 hits in 62 at bats, with no home runs and one measly RBI. He had his latest oh-fer Tuesday night against the Cubs.
Fans are clamoring for Astros manager Joe Espada to open his eyes, stop looking at the back of Abreu’s baseball and bench the flailing, failing first baseman.
I say the opposite. In fact move him back to fifth in the batting order. If Abreu stays focused on doing what he does best this season - striking out with runners in scoring position - fans can witness the worst batting stats anybody’s ever had.
Oh, by the way, Abreu is a horrible fielding first baseman. We don’t know if he’s a good base runner. He’d have to get on base for us to tell.
Abreu is on pace to get 502 plate appearances. So this counts.
There actually is a player who’s having worse time at the plate than Abreu., though.
Abreu’s meager stats look positively Ruthian compared to what former Astro catcher Martin Maldonado is putting up for the White Sox. Maldy has 2 hits in 42 at bats for a subterranean .048 batting average with no homers and no RBI in 15 games. Maldonado won’t get to 502 plate appearances, however.
Who will end 2024 with a lower batting average: Abreu or Maldonado? This epic battle could go down to the final game of the season.