EVERY-THING SPORTS
How Texans' latest roster moves could come with a silver lining
Oct 20, 2021, 3:09 pm
Nick Caserio has no problem moving on from players like Whitney Mercilus. Composite image by Jack Brame.
Texans General Manager Nick Caserio
You ever have a scent of something new and fresh that may seem weird to others? I've heard people say they like the smell of freshly cut grass, gasoline, burnt wood, sawdust, and even the heat from computers & their monitors. Weird? Maybe. Depends on who you ask. Everyone has their preferences. One thing we can all agree on is whenever there is a stench of something putrid enough to cause instant nausea upon the mere thought of that scent, much less actually smelling it, you'd do almost anything to get rid of it.
For a couple of years, that putrid stench off Kirby was Bill O'Brien and his lasting effect on the Texans organization. He came, he saw, he ruined everything in his path. O'Brien left behind such a strong odor, it's going to take a monumental effort to clean it up. Fortunately, it appears as if the Texans have hired the right man for the job in general manager Nick Caserio.
Caserio has no issue with cutting his loses
Caserio has presided over things on the football side since his hire. While he hasn't made anything stink as bad as the DeAndre Hopkins trade, Laremy Tunsil trade, or any of the ridiculous contracts O'Brien handed out, Caserio has had his fair share of screw-ups. For example, he went into the draft with eight picks, but only drafted five players due to trading up. He also gave Whitney Mercilus a restructured deal, only to cut him several months later in the middle of the season. He may have wet the bed a few times, but he hasn't been afraid to clean himself up and start over.
I like the fact that he's found ways to clean up his mistakes. He sent Benardrick McKinney to the Dolphins for Shaq Lawson. When Lawson wanted out, he shipped him off to the Jets for a late round draft pick. I don't like the fact that he's losing on some of these deals, but I admire the fact that he's able to clean them up without much damage done. I mean, it's not like he gave a backup quarterback $37 million guaranteed, then traded him and a second round draft pick to get rid of him. Caserio has proven that he's not afraid of getting out of a bad situation if it doesn't benefit the team in the long or short term.
He has a way of playing chess and checkers at the same time. Drafting Davis Mills and Nico Collins: chess moves. Bringing in free agents like Mark Ingram and Christian Kirksey: checkers moves. One set of moves speaks to the future of the franchise by drafting two low risk/high reward rookies. The other speaks to developing a new culture immediately by bringing in two solid vets on each side of the ball that can help younger guys. While some may agree or disagree with what's being done, the thing I like the most is Caserio's ability to make moves he feels are necessary, despite what others may think.
If he can manage to turn the team's biggest asset into some formidable pieces/assets to aid in the rebuilding of this team, all his transgressions will be forgiven. All he has to do is turn a $3 billion dollar pile of dung into a winning organization. Nothing too complicated, right? He signed a six-year deal and is only one year into it. Let's see what Big Nicky can do over the next few years before we anoint him as the savior of this franchise. So far, he's done an admirable job, but I'm looking for more and better. In my book, he's on the clock.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
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.