Agreed. I wouldn't mind having Duran at all. But not if the cost is Paredes.

Maybe some questionable combo of Meyers/Sanchez, but Red Sox have a glut in the OF anyways, so we are not really an ideal trade partner otherwise.

I think we need Sanchez, he's a very good RHP lefty bat. He had a bad sample last year. He deserves a chance to perform.

What's your lineup vs a LHP in the postseason?

Farmer1906 said:

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What's your lineup vs a LHP in the postseason?

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First response? Would anybody be dumb enough to throw a lefty against us in a game that mattered?

Serious response…

Pena SS
Paredes DH
Yordan LF
Correa 3B
Altuve 2B
Meyers CF
Walker 1B
Diaz C
Smith RF

Against LHP today:
SS Peña
LF Alvarez
2B Altuve
DH Paredes
3B Correa
1B Walker
C Diaz
CF Meyers
RF Smith

Not much different against RHP right now, which is a problem. Cole and Sanchez can slot in low for Meyers and Smith, but we still have work to do if we want a different result.

Farmer1906 said:

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What's your lineup vs a LHP in the postseason?

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Right now? With the current players?


Pena SS
Altuve 2B
Yordan LF
Paredes DH
Correa 3B
Walker 1B
Diaz C
Cam RF
Meyers CF

Mathguy64 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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What's your lineup vs a LHP in the postseason?

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Right now? With the current players?


Pena SS
Altuve 2B
Yordan LF
Paredes DH
Correa 3B
Walker 1B
Diaz C
Cam RF
Meyers CF

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Haha I meant RHP. Regardless, I don't think we're going to play Yordan is going to be the starting LF for an entire series or multiple series, especially if we play somewhere like Yankee Stadium.

Farmer1906 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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What's your lineup vs a LHP in the postseason?

---

Right now? With the current players?


Pena SS
Altuve 2B
Yordan LF
Paredes DH
Correa 3B
Walker 1B
Diaz C
Cam RF
Meyers CF

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Haha I meant RHP. Regardless, I don't think we're going to play Yordan is going to be the starting LF for an entire series or multiple series, especially if we play somewhere like Yankee Stadium.

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RHP, current players.

Pena SS
Altuve 2B
Yordan DH
Paredes 1B
Correa 3B
Sanchez RF
Diaz C
Cole LF
Jake CF

I'll be honest. If Boston would take my call, I would do the Paredes for Duran deal. I want the extra LH bat and the speed.

Again, if you traded Paredes for Duran, your balance and roster flexibility grows with 3 LH OF available:

LF Duran (L)
SS Peña
DH Alvarez (L)
2B Altuve
3B Correa
1B Walker
CF Cole (L) / Meyers
C Diaz
RF Sanchez (L) / Smith

SpaceCityAg05 said:

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Again, if you traded Paredes for Duran, your balance and roster flexibility grows with 3 LH OF available:

LF Duran (L)
SS Peña
DH Alvarez (L)
2B Altuve
3B Correa
1B Walker
CF Cole (L) / Meyers
C Diaz
RF Sanchez (L) / Smith

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I think some people are severely overrating the importance of a lefty at bat. We can construct 2 or 3 lefties in our lineup at present, which isn't much different than the average MLB lineup.

In that lineup, you are lacking power. Altuve/Correa aren't hitting for power much anymore. Pena has never been hugely powerful. Altuve/Paredes are the only ones that can hit 30 HRs, you can include Walker but he's got terrible K/walk metrics in comparison.

In the post season, you can play both Walker and Paredes in the same lineup while they are at home. Walker is the odd man out on the road in the playoffs.

We're going to need rest days for players. It's OK if Walker/Paredes don't play every game together in the regular season.

SpaceCityAg05 said:

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Again, if you traded Paredes for Duran, your balance and roster flexibility grows with 3 LH OF available:

LF Duran (L)
SS Peña
DH Alvarez (L)
2B Altuve
3B Correa
1B Walker
CF Cole (L) / Meyers
C Diaz
RF Sanchez (L) / Smith

---

If you trade Walker and a young starting pitcher (paying part of Walker's salary) for a LH 2B, you can play Paredes at 1B and platoon Yordan and Jose at LF/DH. Play Sanchez at RF against RHPs and you have 3 LH bats in the lineup.

Walker has plenty of power, no? But this benches him.

This assumes Cole is legit. He's got a tiny sample where he had favorable luck based on expected stats.

The other AL postseason teams all run out 5-6 lefties vs RHP.

Let's set the record right. Duran has about 30 points of Paredes in SLG over the last 3 seasons.

AggiEE said:

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SpaceCityAg05 said:

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Again, if you traded Paredes for Duran, your balance and roster flexibility grows with 3 LH OF available:

LF Duran (L)
SS Peña
DH Alvarez (L)
2B Altuve
3B Correa
1B Walker
CF Cole (L) / Meyers
C Diaz
RF Sanchez (L) / Smith

---

I think some people are severely overrating the importance of a lefty at bat. We can construct 2 or 3 lefties in our lineup at present, which isn't much different than the average MLB lineup.

In that lineup, you are lacking power. Altuve/Correa aren't hitting for power much anymore. Pena has never been hugely powerful. Altuve/Paredes are the only ones that can hit 30 HRs, you can include Walker but he's got terrible K/walk metrics in comparison.

In the post season, you can play both Walker and Paredes in the same lineup while they are at home. Walker is the odd man out on the road in the playoffs.

We're going to need rest days for players. It's OK if Walker/Paredes don't play every game together in the regular season.

---

Why on earth would you want Walker to hit at home and not on the road? He only cleared the mendoza line by a few points at Daikan in 2025.

1. Pena SS
2. Duran LF
3. Correa 3B
4. Alvarez DH
5. Altuve 2B
6. Diaz C
7. Walker 1B
8. Smith RF
9. Meyers CF

That would be my lineup and it's a really good 1-5

If we don't trade anyone, then I would suggest that we do the following in home games:
1B Paredes
LF Alvarez
DH Altuve
2B Allen or reserve IF
Maximize Walker ABs on the road vs. at home.

And on the Duran question, he has as much or more power than Paredes, unless you mean purely the longball. There is a reason he is an annual 3B/2B league leader.

txags92 said:

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AggiEE said:

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SpaceCityAg05 said:

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Again, if you traded Paredes for Duran, your balance and roster flexibility grows with 3 LH OF available:

LF Duran (L)
SS Peña
DH Alvarez (L)
2B Altuve
3B Correa
1B Walker
CF Cole (L) / Meyers
C Diaz
RF Sanchez (L) / Smith

---

I think some people are severely overrating the importance of a lefty at bat. We can construct 2 or 3 lefties in our lineup at present, which isn't much different than the average MLB lineup.

In that lineup, you are lacking power. Altuve/Correa aren't hitting for power much anymore. Pena has never been hugely powerful. Altuve/Paredes are the only ones that can hit 30 HRs, you can include Walker but he's got terrible K/walk metrics in comparison.

In the post season, you can play both Walker and Paredes in the same lineup while they are at home. Walker is the odd man out on the road in the playoffs.

We're going to need rest days for players. It's OK if Walker/Paredes don't play every game together in the regular season.

---

Why on earth would you want Walker to hit at home and not on the road? He only cleared the mendoza line by a few points at Daikan in 2025.

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Because you can play Yordan at LF at home and Paredes is much better than Walker when you're away where Yordan is more likely to DH

Hope Walker figures it out at home. While Daikin is not as well suited as other ballparks, his huge disparity in home/road is likely psychological or a fluke

AggiEE said:

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txags92 said:

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AggiEE said:

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SpaceCityAg05 said:

---

Again, if you traded Paredes for Duran, your balance and roster flexibility grows with 3 LH OF available:

LF Duran (L)
SS Peña
DH Alvarez (L)
2B Altuve
3B Correa
1B Walker
CF Cole (L) / Meyers
C Diaz
RF Sanchez (L) / Smith

---

I think some people are severely overrating the importance of a lefty at bat. We can construct 2 or 3 lefties in our lineup at present, which isn't much different than the average MLB lineup.

In that lineup, you are lacking power. Altuve/Correa aren't hitting for power much anymore. Pena has never been hugely powerful. Altuve/Paredes are the only ones that can hit 30 HRs, you can include Walker but he's got terrible K/walk metrics in comparison.

In the post season, you can play both Walker and Paredes in the same lineup while they are at home. Walker is the odd man out on the road in the playoffs.

We're going to need rest days for players. It's OK if Walker/Paredes don't play every game together in the regular season.

---

Why on earth would you want Walker to hit at home and not on the road? He only cleared the mendoza line by a few points at Daikan in 2025.

---

Because you can play Yordan at LF at home and Paredes is much better than Walker when you're away where Yordan is more likely to DH

Hope Walker figures it out at home. While Daikin is not as well suited as other ballparks, his huge disparity in home/road is likely psychological or a fluke

---

Statistically, Walker was one of our worst hitters in the regular lineup at Daikan and one of our best on the road. Not a fan of going into the season planning to sit somebody who can hit at Daikan in favor of somebody we HOPE can figure out how to hit at Daikan. And planning to sit one of our best road hitters in road games. From an analytics standpoint, that makes zero sense.

txags92 said:

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AggiEE said:

---

txags92 said:

---

AggiEE said:

---

SpaceCityAg05 said:

---

Again, if you traded Paredes for Duran, your balance and roster flexibility grows with 3 LH OF available:

LF Duran (L)
SS Peña
DH Alvarez (L)
2B Altuve
3B Correa
1B Walker
CF Cole (L) / Meyers
C Diaz
RF Sanchez (L) / Smith

---

I think some people are severely overrating the importance of a lefty at bat. We can construct 2 or 3 lefties in our lineup at present, which isn't much different than the average MLB lineup.

In that lineup, you are lacking power. Altuve/Correa aren't hitting for power much anymore. Pena has never been hugely powerful. Altuve/Paredes are the only ones that can hit 30 HRs, you can include Walker but he's got terrible K/walk metrics in comparison.

In the post season, you can play both Walker and Paredes in the same lineup while they are at home. Walker is the odd man out on the road in the playoffs.

We're going to need rest days for players. It's OK if Walker/Paredes don't play every game together in the regular season.

---

Why on earth would you want Walker to hit at home and not on the road? He only cleared the mendoza line by a few points at Daikan in 2025.

---

Because you can play Yordan at LF at home and Paredes is much better than Walker when you're away where Yordan is more likely to DH

Hope Walker figures it out at home. While Daikin is not as well suited as other ballparks, his huge disparity in home/road is likely psychological or a fluke

---

Statistically, Walker was one of our worst hitters in the regular lineup at Daikan and one of our best on the road. Not a fan of going into the season planning to sit somebody who can hit at Daikan in favor of somebody we HOPE can figure out how to hit at Daikan. And planning to sit one of our best road hitters in road games. From an analytics standpoint, that makes zero sense.

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I never said we'd be sitting Paredes at home. He will get regular playing time at home because Yordan is in LF


Walker will also get playing time on the road when we rest Correa, Yordan, Pena, etc.

I think there's a lot more flexibility to get everyone a good balance of regular playing time and rest

How much longer do you truly hold on to Lance Mccullers because he's getting very annoying. He's just too fragile and we are overpaying for him.

This is definitely the biggest season in Lance's career. If he gets injured or pitches terribly, I don't know what that means for his future in baseball. But if he plays pretty well and stays healthy it could mean a decent short-term contract going in the next year from somebody else

tjack16 said:

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This is definitely the biggest season in Lance's career. If he gets injured or pitches terribly, I don't know what that means for his future in baseball. But if he plays pretty well and stays healthy it could mean a decent short-term contract going in the next year from somebody else

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I think he knows that no matter what he's done after this year, at least in Houstoin.

tjack16 said:

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This is definitely the biggest season in Lance's career. If he gets injured or pitches terribly, I don't know what that means for his future in baseball. But if he plays pretty well and stays healthy it could mean a decent short-term contract going in the next year from somebody else

---

You want to pay him MORE money?

He's made $85 million in the last 5 years to make a few HEB commercials. They should have pushed hard to prove he couldn't pitch a few years ago and got out of that contract. It's easy to like him and hate on guys like Abreu and Walker, but LMJ is by far the worst contract in Astros history, and rivals Kelvin Cato's as the worst in Houston sports history.

CharleyKerfeld said:

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tjack16 said:

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This is definitely the biggest season in Lance's career. If he gets injured or pitches terribly, I don't know what that means for his future in baseball. But if he plays pretty well and stays healthy it could mean a decent short-term contract going in the next year from somebody else

---

You want to pay him MORE money?

He's made $85 million in the last 5 years to make a few HEB commercials. They should have pushed hard to prove he couldn't pitch a few years ago and got out of that contract. It's easy to like him and hate on guys like Abreu and Walker, but LMJ is by far the worst contract in Astros history, and rivals Kelvin Cato's as the worst in Houston sports history.

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Can't get out of a contract that easily

I am pulling for Lance, I hope he has a healthy'ish season and pitches well, I am not getting my hopes up.

Prosperdick said:

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tjack16 said:

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This is definitely the biggest season in Lance's career. If he gets injured or pitches terribly, I don't know what that means for his future in baseball. But if he plays pretty well and stays healthy it could mean a decent short-term contract going in the next year from somebody else

---

If anyone deserves a "home-town" discount it would be us if Lance does finally figure it out and pitch well. He wants be buried in the H, right?

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"1 dollar bob....deferred"

CharleyKerfeld said:

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tjack16 said:

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This is definitely the biggest season in Lance's career. If he gets injured or pitches terribly, I don't know what that means for his future in baseball. But if he plays pretty well and stays healthy it could mean a decent short-term contract going in the next year from somebody else

---

You want to pay him MORE money?

He's made $85 million in the last 5 years to make a few HEB commercials. They should have pushed hard to prove he couldn't pitch a few years ago and got out of that contract. It's easy to like him and hate on guys like Abreu and Walker, but LMJ is by far the worst contract in Astros history, and rivals Kelvin Cato's as the worst in Houston sports history.

---

I did say from somebody else

Nightengale: Yankees offered Cody Bellinger a 5-year, $155-160M deal without deferrals.

Bellinger is seeking a 7-year deal.

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) January 12, 2026

AggiEE said:

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RowdyAg15 said:

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How much longer do you truly hold on to Lance Mccullers because he's getting very annoying. He's just too fragile and we are overpaying for him.

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He only has 1 year left.

If he does fine during ST, keep him.

If he bombs during ST, I think you gotta part ways to clear room

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He's sunk cost at this point. Might as well use him for the "don't waste more pitching in this blowout" games instead of Hernandez, Santos, etc. Whoever takes his place will just add more payroll, even if minimal.

What are we expecting from Cam Smith this year?

15-20 HRS
.270 at the plate
OPS .800?