W said:

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I guess the Astros don't have enough left in the farm system to trade for Jose Abreu,..but the possible cancellation of the 2020 season makes his contract look more friendly.

he's due $18 MM in 2021 and $20 MM in 2022 and that's it. He would be 34 & 35 years old for those seasons.

possible backup plan if Springer, Brantley, and Yuli all walk. That frees up a lot of payroll

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The White Sox moves this offseason hint to me that they're keeping Abreu

Was listening to the Crawford Talks podcast yesterday, which I did self-loathingly because Mike Meltzer and Jake Kaplan suck... but it is new Astros content in a time when there isn't much new Astros content.

Anyway, they were both on their high horses that the Astros players shouldn't have commented on the Yankee letter before the contents of the letter are revealed. I kinda look at it the reverse way. I think there's an inner circle of baseball that knows what other teams are up to and some "word of mouth" got around about what the letter contained.

Beltran and McCann were literally on the Yankees in 15-16 and know exactly what they were up to. I also look at a guy like JV who is extremely perceptive (he noticed that the ball weighed like fractions of a milligram less). When he's telling the media to wait for the full story to come out before being too judgmental, it's hard not to pay attention.

If that Joe Rivera tweet source is correct, my guess is the letter details some pretty egregious infractions (ie whistling to live hitters from dugout cameras) committed by the Yankees. Perhaps those infractions occurred before Manfred issued his memo telling teams to stop, but it would still 100% serve the notion that the Astros weren't the only one cheating AND didn't even invent the idea of relaying live signs to a hitter from the dugout to begin with.

Deluxe said:

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Was listening to the Crawford Talks podcast yesterday, which I did self-loathingly because Mike Meltzer and Jake Kaplan suck... but it is new Astros content in a time when there isn't much new Astros content.

Anyway, they were both on their high horses that the Astros players shouldn't have commented on the Yankee letter before the contents of the letter are revealed. I kinda look at it the reverse way. I think there's an inner circle of baseball that knows what other teams are up to and some "word of mouth" got around about what the letter contained.

Beltran and McCann were literally on the Yankees in 15-16 and know exactly what they were up to. I also look at a guy like JV who is extremely perceptive (he noticed that the ball weighed like fractions of a milligram less). When he's telling the media to wait for the full story to come out before being too judgmental, it's hard not to pay attention.

If that Joe Rivera tweet source is correct, my guess is the letter details some pretty egregious infractions (ie whistling to live hitters from dugout cameras) committed by the Yankees. Perhaps those infractions occurred before Manfred issued his memo telling teams to stop, but it would still 100% serve the notion that the Astros weren't the only one cheating AND didn't even invent the idea of relaying live signs to a hitter from the dugout to begin with.

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If the letter comes out and it's much ado about nothing then those players do look idiotic. They damn well better hope there's something of substance in there.

What Astro players have commented on the letter?

Ag_07 said:

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What Astro players have commented on the letter?

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Correa had some Yankee trolling posts.

Bergman posted a gif and deleted. McCullers had a gif laughing about it.

Holy ****

I needed a good laugh today!

CFTXAG10 said:

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Crane is one of the owners that has a team capable of winning the championship...and will accept some or more financial risk because of that.

the problem...there aren't enough of those owners. Maybe only 10 to 12. Less than half

astros4545 said:

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Have we given up on Alvarez or Tucker at first base

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hoping they can play the outfield until at least age 30...and then make the move if necessary

Get him to 1st and DH now.

An Astros variation of bang, marry, kill for this slow Wednesday...

James
Valdez
Abreu

You gotta give one big contract extension, monitor one year to year, and cut one. Who gets what?

Deluxe said:

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An Astros variation of bang, marry, kill for this slow Wednesday...

James
Valdez
Abreu

You gotta give one big contract extension, monitor one year to year, and cut one. Who gets what?

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Valdez is gone. That was easy.

Now it gets tough. I want to give Abreu the bigger contract, but its still do damn early in his career to really know ***** I'll saddle my horse to James developing. Abreau gets a year by year look.

What if it was Whitley, James and Abreu? Agree that it's tough cuz they're all in slightly different phases of their careers.

Deluxe said:

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What if it was Whitley, James and Abreu? Agree that it's tough cuz they're all in slightly different phases of their careers.

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Whitley gets the contract then. I still have fair even though he's barely played AAA ball.

James gets cut (this one hurts)

Abreau is still monitored.

Is MLB trying to block the letter reveal too? Last I saw it was Yankee lawyers trying to block but I may have missed something.

Deluxe said:

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Is MLB trying to block the letter reveal too? Last I saw it was Yankee lawyers trying to block but I may have missed something.

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I thought I saw MLB and the Yankees were appealing the decision to unseal the letter.

Edit: I went and looked it up and the reporting is mixed. Some say only Yankees are appealing. The decision to appeal and some say both MLB and Yankees are appealing the decision.

Quote:

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This is believed to be the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides since March

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But are they wearing masks?

Wonder if what Bauer said helped make this happen

WTF

Y'all Make up your damn mind.

Whoever is wrong on this Dbag Evan or Heyman is never to be believed again.

Farmer1906 said:

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Deluxe said:

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What if it was Whitley, James and Abreu? Agree that it's tough cuz they're all in slightly different phases of their careers.

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Whitley gets the contract then. I still have fair even though he's barely played AAA ball.

James gets cut (this one hurts)

Abreau is still monitored.

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Man, that's a tough one.

Abreau had a great 2018 in A ball, a bad 2017 in the rookie leauge, and 2019 wasn't great at AA in Corpus. He's only 22, though, so not sure what judgment you can make at this point. His 8 innings in Houston were stout, though.

Whitley has yet to prove his lofty projections. Does it make sense to buy off recent history?

James, I guess, is the most proven as in terms of what to expect. Do you really want to buy him at the expense of the others?

I'd say hold on all three, no buy and no cut. Is that an option?!