Latest / Foul Territory / Examining eliminated teams: What went wrong for the Astros & Red Sox?

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Examining eliminated teams: What went wrong for the Astros & Red Sox? · Foul Territory

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Tim Healy reports for the Boston Globe.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: He's a fantastic follower at Tim B.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Healy.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: And I think he's at the airport as the Red
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Sox are shipping back to Boston for the rest of
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: the offseason or wherever the heck they live. So, Tim,
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: how was everything and how disappointed are the Sox? And
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: I actually want you to start with like the postgame
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: portion first. of what happened there because I felt like
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: that was where all of the emotions really came out.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Like, tell me how you really feel.
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: There was, there was a lot going on.
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: Sonny Gray, not happy about being pulled. Wills Contreras, not
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: happy about a variety of things, including what he seems
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: to perceive as an over-reliance on data by the Red Sox,
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: which is a take that he is probably not alone
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: in having even inside the clubhouse. A lot of weird
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: stuff going on in a very, Short two-game series, pulling
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: their best starting pitchers on the early side, especially Sonny
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: Gray last night.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: So you're right. It was sort of bubbling over last night.
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: And, you know, in those raw first moments of the offseason,
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: everybody's going home. You'll never be with that group again.
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: The Red Sox were reckoning with the possibility that they
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: were just maybe not ever a very good team.
• 1:24
  Speaker 5: What do you mean, though?
• 1:24
  Speaker 6: They changed the manager. They gave him a three-year extension.
• 1:27
  Speaker 6: They signed the GM, Craig Breslow, to a three-year extension.
• 1:30
  Speaker 6: And now the season ends. This wasn't even two competitive games.
• 1:34
  Speaker 6: These games were not close. The score wasn't close. The
• 1:37
  Speaker 6: Yankees were clearly a better team from 1-26. Is that
• 1:41
  Speaker 6: what this really was? Is this just frustration from getting
• 1:43
  Speaker 6: your butts kicked for two games and knowing the season's over?
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: Well, I think it's definitely frustration.
• 1:50
  Speaker 6: In Sonny Gray, I mean, I get.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. That's fair. I'm sorry. No, no, no.
• 2:02
  Speaker 5: That's fine. That was my question.
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: Is this just frustration or has this more been built.
• 2:07
  Speaker 5: Up over time?
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: I think it's been built up over time and then
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: overflows in the moment when you kind of have nothing
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: else to lose once the season is over. Because for
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: three quarters of the season, the Red Sox were mediocre
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: to bad. That bad first half, an amazing, historic, bizarre,
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: wildly entertaining 32-5.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Stretch.
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: And then for really close to the last two months,
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: they were treading water at best. So a lot festered
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: over that time, and it started to bubble over last night.
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: And it'll be curious to hear from Greg Breslow and
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: Sam Kennedy how much they value that input from their
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: veteran players.
• 2:51
  Speaker 5: We're going to hear a lot of things about him
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: tapped and downside and blah, blah, blah from the GM
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: and secure manager speak. But my question to you is, yes,
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: they lost the game. And I hate just reacting to
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: things because they lost. That's the ultimate precursor. Did they
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: make the right decision with Sonny Gray coming out there?
• 3:12
  Speaker 5: The best decision? starting pitcher the third time through. He
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: actually gets better than he was, and he's a Cy
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: Young candidate this year, better than he was the other
• 3:21
  Speaker 5: times through to go to Miller, who was a slider
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: specialist and who Bellinger hits tons of sliders against. Did
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: they make that right decision in the moment? Who cares
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: what else happens? Was that the right decision?
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: Moment. I was surprised Sonny Gray got pulled when he did.
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: After the fact, I was surprised Sonny Gray got pulled
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: when he did because the explanation didn't make a lot
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: of sense to me.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: The Red Sox, their backs were against the wall. They
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: had to win this game.
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: And okay, you're going to be aggressive with the bullpen
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: and you want to use your best relievers as much
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: as you can.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: I get that.
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: Eric Miller had a terrible September. Amazing June, July, August game.
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: came over with the Red Sox, came over to the
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: Red Sox at the deadline. And in September, didn't know
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: where the ball was going. So the fact that they
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: brought him in for the 20th batter of the game,
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: two nights in a row, to me, it just felt
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: scripted from their pregame conversations. And if your season is
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: on the line in that spot, fifth inning already down
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: by one, a couple of runners on base, don't go
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: to Eric Miller, go to Garrett Whitlock. You can get,
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: you know, probably four outs in that spot, keep it
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: a one-run game, and see what the offense can figure out,
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: which turned out to be not much. So pulling Gray
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: didn't make sense to me, and on top of that,
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: going to Eric Miller did not make sense to me.
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: I love that you said scripted because, yes, that's what
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: it looked like, and most likely that's what it was.
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: Partially what probably spurred Wilson Contreras to make his remarks. Now,
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: I like to watch the game and see how things
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: are flowing, and I don't get the real feel.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: I'm on TV.
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: When I watch Wilson Contreras run around the bases and
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: I'm going to other games and I'm watching big home runs,
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: am I totally off on the reaction of the Red
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: Sox dugout during Wilson Contreras' home run? Did it almost
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: seem like they were like, okay, it became a one-run
• 5:26
  Speaker 5: game in Yankee Stadium. I thought they would be jumping
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: up and down. Is there a form of tired of
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: some of the things that Wilson does? permeating into that
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: locker room?
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: I am not sure.
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: And I'm going to be honest, I did not notice
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: the dugout's reaction in the moment that he homered. But
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Wills Contreras, this year with the Red Sox, was, I'm
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: comfortable saying, his authentic self.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: He's hot. He's cold.
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: You never really know what's going to happen, what he's
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: going to say, if he's going to be happy with something,
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: mad about something. It doesn't always correlate with how he's performing,
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: or how the team's performing. So he's a very interesting
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: guy to cover. He's always keeping it interesting, sometimes in
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: unpredictable ways. And the on-field stuff is grating sometimes.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: He's that classic sort of guy.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: You hate playing against him, but you like having him
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: on your team.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: So at the end of a long year.
• 6:24
  Speaker 7: Are people tired of the crowding the play, topping off
• 6:30
  Speaker 7: about how He's going to keep getting hit by pitches
• 6:34
  Speaker 7: unless somebody does something about it. You know, he probably
• 6:39
  Speaker 7: drew some looks in that clubhouse from, you know, sort
• 6:44
  Speaker 7: of being who he is, speaking his mind more often
• 6:48
  Speaker 7: than not.
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: Tim, someone that knows all about that, I get it,
• 6:53
  Speaker 6: I get it, and But even Eric Kratz thought he
• 6:56
  Speaker 6: went a little bit too far sometimes this year. But
• 6:57
  Speaker 6: he's entertaining, okay? And he was the heartbeat kind of
• 7:01
  Speaker 6: of this team from day one, and they asked him
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: to be a bigger leader, and he was. I got
• 7:05
  Speaker 6: to ask about another guy, though. Garrett Crochet came in,
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: and he just kind of didn't have it, I guess
• 7:10
  Speaker 6: would be the right thing to say. He also didn't
• 7:12
  Speaker 6: pitch forever, right? Didn't go on rehab. Came right into
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: the postseason game. Is it unfair to expect him to
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: come into a game season on the line situation like
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: that and have his A stuff? I know he said
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: I'm different and all that, but Is that unfair to
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: ask of him in that situation to come in and
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: not give up anything?
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: I was surprised that when he did make the roster
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: that he was one of their high leverage guys. And
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: that might have been swayed by the loss of Tyron
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: Guerrero to injury, the loss before that of Justin Slayton
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: to injury. I thought if the Red Sox were going
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: to go all the way, then that would have included
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: Garrett Perchet being on the wild card series roster, getting
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: his feet wet, maybe getting a soft landing spot. If what,
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: if an opportunity presented itself, which is no sure thing,
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: what in one game, and then the division series comes
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: and you can pitch two games, maybe, maybe a little
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: more intense and you can build them along that way.
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: Cause as you said, he didn't get a rehab assignment.
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: He had not pitched in five months, basically a lost
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: season for him. So he, I understand he's the ace
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: and he was amazing last year, the Cy Young run around,
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: all that stuff. But to throw him into the game
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: with the C's on the line, I thought was too
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: big of an ask for a guy who just had
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: not pitched all year.
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: His injury, was it any, did it have anything to
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: do with the finger not being 100% healed and then
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: the wrist or hand then having to take over? Or
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: did he feel like he was 100% passed? his original injury,
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: and then this cropped up completely out of, on its own.
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: You hear Roman Anthony tell it. It sounds like he
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: was never fully healed. He said he had dealt with
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: troubling swings for six weeks. If we count backwards, six
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: weeks goes back to his rehab assignment. So he was
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: able to play during that time. He had some pretty
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: electric stretches, including after returning to the Red Sox. Came
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: back and just could not miss for four or five days.
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: But mixed in throughout late August and throughout September were
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: swings that hurt. And the tendon, or the ligament, rather,
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: apparently never fully healed. And he kept swinging, kept playing
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: almost every day. And, you know, as you guys know,
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: when you play hurt, you're going to mess up other
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: parts of your body. So he had the partially torn
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: ligament in his hand, and now other parts of his
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: hand are strained as well.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: So.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: Roman Anthony is going to need a hard reset on
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: that hand this offseason.
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: Tim, after the game, there's a lot of crazy stories
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: flying around. Sonny Gray, we talked about.
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: What was on his neck? Did anyone ask him after
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: the game?
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: Because this became a story. I don't know if it
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: was just rosin and then he got dirt on there,
• 10:04
  Speaker 6: but it became a thing where every time he'd throw
• 10:06
  Speaker 6: out a ball, he'd go right to his neck. I mean,
• 10:08
  Speaker 6: umpires check these guys. So is this a non-story or
• 10:12
  Speaker 6: is this something that he's done the whole? I don't
• 10:14
  Speaker 6: even know where to go with this.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: It did not come up post-game. So he did not
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: comment on it.
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: And you guys would know better than me if it
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: looked more like rosin or looked more like dirt or whatever.
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: I saw one video floating around social media for whatever
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: that's worth, where it seemed not to be on his
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: neck most of the outing and then appeared late. So
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: it kind of looked like the color of dirt, right?
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: But I suppose that's not too different than the color
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: of rosin or something else so i i guess i
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: would defer to you guys on what you think that was.
• 10:50
  Speaker 6: Well listen to somebody that was in the michael panetta
• 10:52
  Speaker 6: game it wasn't the pintar that michael panetta had on
• 10:55
  Speaker 6: his neck okay so on his hand and then on
• 10:57
  Speaker 6: his neck that that was one of those you're like
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: okay like last time you pitched against this you had
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: it on your hand now you basically have a tattoo
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: on your neck like this a pintar and you keep
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: reaching for it we you know john john farrell you
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: have to go out there so I don't know. That's
• 11:12
  Speaker 6: why I don't know if this is a story or not.
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: And I didn't know if Sonny had addressed it or not,
• 11:16
  Speaker 6: but I think these guys are checked so much. I
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: don't know. I just don't know if you can hide
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: it without hiding it, right?
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: Right, yeah. It's pretty thorough checks by the umps these days.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: And even though it seems perfunctory when they're coming off
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: the field, that smudge of whatever on his neck was
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: pretty obvious. So I suspect if the ump wasn't sweating it,
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: then probably not too big of a deal.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Not that Sonny Gray pitched poorly to begin with. I mean,
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: he hit a perfectly solid game.
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: He had one sweeper on the bottom rail that Luis
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Garcia got, so credit to him. So I'm not sure
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: it moved the needle in the outcome of the game, really.
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, maybe he should have let it build up more,
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: and Chad Tracy should have let him stay out there
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: a little bit longer. This is complete gut reaction. I
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: said I don't like reacting when it's wins and losses.
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: Does it feel like Boston fans are like, maybe we
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: could have held off on the three-year deal for Chad
• 12:11
  Speaker 5: Tracy because most Boston fans don't care about the regular season.
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: They care about what you do in the postseason. And
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: they got really close to saying, okay, we can wait
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: to give you an extension until the postseason. And then
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: they gave it, and it feels like maybe he didn't
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: put his best foot forward as a manager based on
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: the decisions that it looked like were out there.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: It's possible.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: Based on unsolicited feedback from Red Sox fan friends of mine,
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: they did not love some of Chad Tracy's decisions. That said,
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: I don't think it moves the needle on how the
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: Red Sox view Chad Tracy. They had basically decided over
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: the course of the summer that he was going to
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: be the guy and get the full-time managerial job after being.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: The intern for most of the year.
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: And yes, they made that official now two weeks ago.
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: And I suppose in a sense, it's a good thing
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: for the Red Sox that if Tracy was their guy
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: that they did ahead of time, that way they don't
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: need to make that move now, fresh off a pretty
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: bad postseason showing by the group. So for the Red Sox,
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: it doesn't really change anything as far as how they
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: view Chad Tracy.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: And for Chad Tracy, who knows? Maybe it's a learning
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: experience going into next year.
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: Tim, didn't he do, you said it earlier, scripted. Didn't
• 13:40
  Speaker 6: you say that earlier? It was either you or Kraft.
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: Somebody said scripted, right? It was scripted.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: I did say scripted.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Yep.
• 13:45
  Speaker 6: You know what Chad Tracy did?
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: He followed the script he was given.
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: So that's why he got a three-year contract extension. So
• 13:50
  Speaker 6: if the Red Sox fans want to be mad at
• 13:52
  Speaker 6: Chad Tracy, Chad Tracy did, when they meet before the
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: series or before the game with the front office and
• 13:57
  Speaker 6: the analytics people and the pitching coach and this coach
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: and the X and O coach and the third time
• 14:02
  Speaker 6: through order of the coach, they said, hey, At the
• 14:05
  Speaker 6: 20th batter, we're bringing in Eric Miller, no matter what
• 14:08
  Speaker 6: the situation in the game is. And he followed that
• 14:10
  Speaker 6: script perfectly. And I guarantee you that he was told, hey,
• 14:13
  Speaker 6: red for this, green for this. If this is the situation,
• 14:16
  Speaker 6: bring in this guy. We have to see in game two,
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: they're probably like, we got to get crochet into the
• 14:19
  Speaker 6: game at some point. He's on the roster. So they
• 14:21
  Speaker 6: were like, oh, this is the chance. Throw him in here.
• 14:24
  Speaker 6: He's got green or red or whatever color code they use.
• 14:26
  Speaker 6: So people can be mad at Chad Tracy all they want.
• 14:30
  Speaker 6: He did a really good job for him in the
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: regular season. But in the postseason, as you said, he's
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: just following the script.
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's an interesting body of work because you get
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: five months and a couple of days to look at
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: most of that regular season. The first two months of
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: him being in charge, the Red Sox remained bad before
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: they figured it out.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, it.
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: Was striking to me because for Chad Tracy, who seemed–
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: More sad than I've seen other managers at the end
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: of the postseason. It was the first time he was
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: managing games that he really truly had to win. He
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: managed in the minors a bunch of years. The Worcester
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: Red Sox never made the playoffs. And even if they did,
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: it's not the same, you know. The wins and losses
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: don't matter down there. This year comes up managing in
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: the majors for the first time. learning how to manage
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: a bullpen for the first time, days of rest, and
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: how many days in a row and workload and things
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: like that. And then in the postseason, when the lights
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: are brighter than ever and the leverage is higher than ever,
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: this is first time ever remotely managing like that, nevermind
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: living through the shock and disappointment of a season to
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: be lost. So a whirlwind year for Chad Tracy, for sure.
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: And one that I will be curious to hear from
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: him on come spring training or whenever, how he kind
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: of looks back on it with the benefit of hindsight.
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: What's next?
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: What's next for a team like the Red Sox who
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: have been reticent to make that big move, and then
• 16:13
  Speaker 5: they did it with some pitching. They made the big
• 16:16
  Speaker 5: move in trading or getting rid of their manager and coaches.
• 16:19
  Speaker 5: So they're not averse to making big moves, but maybe–
• 16:23
  Speaker 5: They have to go in a direction of different types
• 16:26
  Speaker 5: of big moves because they already have what I think
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: is the core, but maybe not the finishing core.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a good point.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: Craig Breslow has shown himself to be comfortable making big, dramatic,
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: risky moves, trading Devers, firing Korov, trading for Rutschman. That
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: has not held up in free agency. So sort of
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: a week for agency pool this year. We'll see how
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: that sorts out, especially with the lockout looming. But what
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: the Red Sox need is more offense. It was true
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: last year when they lost to the Yankees in the
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: wildcard series. They were at least a hitter short, went
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: into the offseason acknowledging they were at least a hitter short,
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: and then didn't really improve the lineup in any meaningful way.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: So now at the outset of a new offseason, the
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: challenge is the same.
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: Get better at scoring.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, for a good chunk of the season, where
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: were they without Wilson Contreras? As fun as he is
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: to cover, right? I mean, what he did for them
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: in the first half of the season, they even just
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: gave them a float, right? I mean, you need more
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: of that. More of that throughout the season.
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: You need right-handed batters. You need someone with the right-handed power.
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: I mean, Alex Gora said it for years in Boston,
• 17:49
  Speaker 6: and they went out and got Wilson. But you need
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: right-handed power. Sorry, in Fenway Park, you need some dudes
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: that are right-handed that can hit the ball over the fence.
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: That's where you're at. The Yankees have figured it out
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: with how to play at Yankee Stadium. Fenway Park's been
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: there for 125 years. You need dudes that are right-handed
• 18:04
  Speaker 6: that can hit the ball over the fence.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: I feel like we had this exact same conversation last October, November, December.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: It's remarkable.
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: And here they are again. And that's not a shot
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: at us by any means. Really, it's an indictment of
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: the Red Sox. So it's a Tricky offseason for them,
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: made trickier by the timeline and the lockout and all
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: that that one will involve. So Greg Breslow once again
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: has his work cut out for him.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, what the wildcard series last year was
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: in actual October, I think. So maybe we had Tim
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: on on like October 4th or something, and we might
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: have been able to clip the exact same thing and
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: just paste it right in here. But thanks for joining
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: us again so we could do a fresh version.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: We had the same conversation.
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: The Yankees beat the Red Sox in the wildcard and
• 18:53
  Speaker 6: we're having the same conversation with the, basically the, at
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: least the Red Sox made it to the third game
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: last year before they lost. This year they only made
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: it two.
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: True. And this year I'm at the airport. So it
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: feels authentic, you know?
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, it's real.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: He was, he was on the scene reporting. So Tim,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: we'll save travels back, man. Thanks for joining us. Great
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: coverage this year. Always appreciate it. And we'll chat this
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: off season.
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: All right. Yes, sir.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: Thank you guys very much.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Oh, there's a fresh Crush City territory out there.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Chandler Roman Company talking about the 2026 Houston Astros.
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: What a rollercoaster ride.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: What a rollercoaster ride it was.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Well, actually, I want to start here, Chandler, before we
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: get into like what's next and what happened to them.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: We didn't speak to you while this went on. What
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: happened with, you know, a number of players, including Benetsuza,
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: getting pissed off at the fan base? I want to
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: get your take and just. the inside word on how
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: that went down and the ramifications afterward.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: So. we'll start there.
• 19:52
  Speaker 8: First off, is AJ going to be able to be
• 19:54
  Speaker 8: objective through this conversation?
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: No? We're going to mute him.
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: I thought when they said Crush City, I thought they
• 20:00
  Speaker 6: were talking about the White Sox and what they did
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: to the Astros.
• 20:03
  Speaker 8: I only I only looked up at the NBC broadcast
• 20:06
  Speaker 8: once and saw Blummer's home run. I expected to see
• 20:08
  Speaker 8: it like eight different times, but I only I only
• 20:11
  Speaker 8: saw it once on the NBC broadcast. But no, Blummer
• 20:14
  Speaker 8: did a good job to show that. I saw I
• 20:18
  Speaker 8: definitely saw it once because I always look for the
• 20:20
  Speaker 8: frosted tips. I always got to see Blummer's frosted tips
• 20:23
  Speaker 8: when he's hitting that home run. You know, Scott, like.
• 20:27
  Speaker 8: That was kind of the story of this series, mainly
• 20:29
  Speaker 8: because the Astros on the field didn't give you much
• 20:33
  Speaker 8: to write about, didn't give you much to talk about
• 20:36
  Speaker 8: because they just played so poorly for 18 innings and
• 20:40
  Speaker 8: they never led. They did not lead the Chicago White
• 20:43
  Speaker 8: Sox at any point in these 18 innings. They struck
• 20:45
  Speaker 8: out 22 times in two games. They did not get
• 20:49
  Speaker 8: a hit with a runner in scoring position. In either game,
• 20:53
  Speaker 8: both games turned into bullpen games, even though the second
• 20:55
  Speaker 8: game was supposed to be a traditional start by Hunter Brown,
• 20:58
  Speaker 8: who was betrayed by just some awful defense behind him.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: So when you.
• 21:03
  Speaker 8: Have all of that, there aren't many storylines on the
• 21:06
  Speaker 8: field to monitor. And it was pretty evident from the
• 21:10
  Speaker 8: beginning of game one that this was not going to
• 21:13
  Speaker 8: be a well-attended series. They announced 34,011 fans for game one.
• 21:20
  Speaker 8: Capacity at Dyken Park is over 40,000. They announced around
• 21:24
  Speaker 8: 36,000 for game two. Again, about 5,000 under capacity. And
• 21:29
  Speaker 8: the fans were mad. They let the Astros hear it.
• 21:33
  Speaker 8: They let their displeasure be known. This is my opinion.
• 21:39
  Speaker 8: This is not, I mean, I can't go survey all
• 21:41
  Speaker 8: 60,000 people that walked through the turnstiles these last two days.
• 21:44
  Speaker 8: But my opinion is that, you know, I don't think
• 21:47
  Speaker 8: they were booing Bennett Souza or Brian King or A.J.
• 21:51
  Speaker 8: Blueball or whomever, insert player name here. I think this
• 21:56
  Speaker 8: was a collection of just pent up frustration from this season,
• 22:00
  Speaker 8: from last season, from the product that's been put on
• 22:03
  Speaker 8: the field juxtaposed with what the standard supposedly is. Fans
• 22:10
  Speaker 8: have been told for years now that the window will
• 22:13
  Speaker 8: never close as long as Jim Crane owns the team
• 22:15
  Speaker 8: and that this is Jim Crane said, no, I expect
• 22:18
  Speaker 8: to be in the playoffs every year. And then you
• 22:21
  Speaker 8: turn around and you look at how poorly this roster
• 22:24
  Speaker 8: is constructed, how misallocated some of the money on this
• 22:28
  Speaker 8: roster is throughout the season. And the product is just not,
• 22:33
  Speaker 8: it's not aesthetically pleasing. Like not only were the Astros
• 22:36
  Speaker 8: 81 and 81, but this was not an entertaining team
• 22:40
  Speaker 8: to watch. They did not play a particularly entertaining, exciting
• 22:43
  Speaker 8: brand of baseball they stole the fewest bases of any
• 22:46
  Speaker 8: team in baseball they led the majors in home runs
• 22:49
  Speaker 8: I get everyone loves a homer everyone loves the long
• 22:51
  Speaker 8: ball but it was very much just very station to
• 22:54
  Speaker 8: station they didn't you know take a ton of extra
• 22:57
  Speaker 8: bases they did they're not very athletic they're not very
• 23:01
  Speaker 8: young this is the fifth oldest core position players in
• 23:04
  Speaker 8: in the sport they don't have a ton of athleticism
• 23:08
  Speaker 8: they're not that dynamic so it was a lot of
• 23:10
  Speaker 8: just sit around and wait and hope that Jordan Alvarez
• 23:14
  Speaker 8: or one of the other guys that has 20 homers
• 23:15
  Speaker 8: in this lineup puts a ball in the seats. And
• 23:18
  Speaker 8: when they couldn't do that, their offense was pretty ineffective. So, yeah,
• 23:22
  Speaker 8: they didn't play well in these two games. And obviously
• 23:24
  Speaker 8: the fans let them hear about it. But I think
• 23:27
  Speaker 8: the booing was a little more in reaction to the
• 23:30
  Speaker 8: totality of what has happened in maybe the last year
• 23:33
  Speaker 8: and a half than what happened on the field for
• 23:36
  Speaker 8: these two games.
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: Who's to blame?
• 23:41
  Speaker 6: Chandler, I mean, obviously, they already got rid of Dana Brown,
• 23:46
  Speaker 6: so obviously they blamed him. Is it Jim Crane for
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: not allowing Dana Brown to sign the people he wanted
• 23:52
  Speaker 6: to sign and make the extension offers and get the
• 23:54
  Speaker 6: pitching he wanted? Is it Joe Espada? I mean, is
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: he going to be back next year? Who's to blame
• 23:58
  Speaker 6: for this? Because I agree with you. The fans weren't
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: booing the players. They were just booing the overall product.
• 24:03
  Speaker 6: And the fish stinks from the head down, right? And
• 24:07
  Speaker 6: that starts with Jim Crane and works its way down,
• 24:09
  Speaker 6: and that's just the way it is when you own
• 24:10
  Speaker 6: a team. but who's, who's mostly to, and we, I
• 24:13
  Speaker 6: feel like, gosh, we had this conversation not long ago,
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: but who's the most to blame for this situation that
• 24:18
  Speaker 6: the Astros are in. And you mentioned it, not a
• 24:20
  Speaker 6: very young roster, not an exciting roster, but they do
• 24:23
  Speaker 6: hit home runs.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 24:25
  Speaker 8: I mean, look, they have the American league MVP on
• 24:27
  Speaker 8: their roster. Like, like when you start there, it's a,
• 24:30
  Speaker 8: it's a pretty good place to be when you have
• 24:31
  Speaker 8: the MVP hitting second for you every night. But, you know,
• 24:34
  Speaker 8: I don't think it's as easy as pointing at one
• 24:37
  Speaker 8: person to blame, you know, Jim Crane allowed Dana Brown
• 24:40
  Speaker 8: the freedom to go out and sign six pitchers or
• 24:43
  Speaker 8: sign or trade for six pitchers onto the Major League
• 24:45
  Speaker 8: roster this past winter, and they combined to have an
• 24:47
  Speaker 8: ERA over six. The highest paid among them, Tetsuya Imai,
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: sat in the bullpen unused for these two wildcard games
• 24:55
  Speaker 8: when they needed length. Peter Lambert came in yesterday on
• 24:59
  Speaker 8: two days rest after pitching on two days rest two
• 25:02
  Speaker 8: days prior because they didn't trust Tetsuya Imai. They were
• 25:05
  Speaker 8: paying almost $ 20 million. look, they were a fundamental mess
• 25:12
  Speaker 8: for parts of this wildcard series. That reflects poorly on
• 25:16
  Speaker 8: the manager.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: It just does.
• 25:17
  Speaker 8: I don't think Joe Espada is near the top of
• 25:19
  Speaker 8: the list of problems here, but let's just call it
• 25:22
  Speaker 8: what it is. When you've got a center fielder sailing
• 25:26
  Speaker 8: the cutoff man and throwing to the wrong base. When
• 25:29
  Speaker 8: you've got a third baseman that crashes on a bunt
• 25:31
  Speaker 8: play and over commits and can't cover third for a
• 25:34
  Speaker 8: stolen base. When you've got You know, when you've got
• 25:37
  Speaker 8: a defensive alignment that just sabotages you from the beginning.
• 25:41
  Speaker 8: And this is kind of what Joe Espada was hamstrung
• 25:44
  Speaker 8: with all year. He went into Wednesday's game wanting to
• 25:47
  Speaker 8: play Nick Allen at second base, Jose Altuve at DH,
• 25:51
  Speaker 8: and Jordan Alvarez in left field. Isak Paredes' knee flared up.
• 25:55
  Speaker 8: He couldn't play defense. So they had to play Nick
• 25:58
  Speaker 8: Allen at third base at a position where he had
• 26:00
  Speaker 8: started four major league games. They had to play Jose Altuve,
• 26:03
  Speaker 8: who metrics say is the worst defensive second baseman in
• 26:07
  Speaker 8: baseball at second base, and they had to play Jordan
• 26:09
  Speaker 8: Alvarez in left field. And what did the first three
• 26:12
  Speaker 8: batted balls on Wednesday do? A fly ball to Alvarez
• 26:16
  Speaker 8: in left field that had a 270 expected batting average,
• 26:19
  Speaker 8: according to StatCast. Alvarez couldn't catch it. I can't tell
• 26:22
  Speaker 8: you if an average left fielder catches it, but Alvarez did.
• 26:26
  Speaker 8: Next batter, Kyle Teal, hits a ground ball up the middle.
• 26:30
  Speaker 8: Should Jose Altuve have gotten an out on the play?
• 26:32
  Speaker 8: Probably not, but he doesn't have great range anymore, and
• 26:35
  Speaker 8: he couldn't keep the ball on the infield. Antonacci scores
• 26:38
  Speaker 8: from second base on that. A second baseman with some
• 26:40
  Speaker 8: range maybe keeps that ball on the infield, and Antonacci
• 26:43
  Speaker 8: doesn't score. And then the third batter hits a ground
• 26:45
  Speaker 8: ball to Nick Allen that he just boots at third base.
• 26:48
  Speaker 8: The first three batted balls in play on Wednesday told
• 26:51
  Speaker 8: the entire story of this Astros season. It was a
• 26:55
  Speaker 8: poorly constructed roster from day one, We talked about it
• 27:00
  Speaker 8: all winter. It's why they were trying to trade Isak
• 27:02
  Speaker 8: Paredes all winter is because they needed to get a
• 27:05
  Speaker 8: competent outfielder in here. They needed to get an adult
• 27:09
  Speaker 8: to go out and play outfield every day, and they
• 27:10
  Speaker 8: just didn't have that. They had the worst OPS in
• 27:12
  Speaker 8: baseball from their outfield. It was the least productive offensive
• 27:15
  Speaker 8: outfield one of in franchise history. They have, quite frankly,
• 27:20
  Speaker 8: three guys on their roster that should probably be full-time DHs.
• 27:24
  Speaker 8: And last time I checked, the rules only allow you
• 27:26
  Speaker 8: to have one DH in the lineup every day. So,
• 27:30
  Speaker 8: there is a lot of blame to go around here.
• 27:32
  Speaker 8: I don't think you can put it on one person.
• 27:34
  Speaker 8: I don't think you can just say if you fire
• 27:37
  Speaker 8: this guy or if you get rid of this player,
• 27:39
  Speaker 8: if you get rid of that guy, it'll.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: All get fixed.
• 27:41
  Speaker 8: They have to change a lot in this organization, and
• 27:44
  Speaker 8: it's already started obviously with Dana Brown being fired, so
• 27:47
  Speaker 8: we'll see where it goes from here, but whoever takes
• 27:49
  Speaker 8: Dana Brown's job, they have a very difficult task ahead
• 27:53
  Speaker 8: of them with this roster, with the money that's guaranteed,
• 27:56
  Speaker 8: and with an owner in Jim crane and a senior
• 27:58
  Speaker 8: advisor and Jeff Bagwell that have their hands in everything.
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: So you always have that micromanaging boss over top of you.
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: That's going to be, but I mean, to Jim grains defense,
• 28:11
  Speaker 5: they finished one game better than the Miami Marlins. I
• 28:15
  Speaker 5: get it. It's a different league. It's a different, the
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: Marlins finished 80 and 82. So there's definitely flaws. Is
• 28:21
  Speaker 5: this team with the contracts they have with the, inability
• 28:26
  Speaker 5: for GMs to maybe make the moves. Is this team
• 28:28
  Speaker 5: able to get more athletic in the sense of like
• 28:32
  Speaker 5: being able to make those moves under the restrictions? Because
• 28:36
  Speaker 5: Jim Crane spends money and he wants to win, but
• 28:39
  Speaker 5: that athleticism has to come more than just a trade
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: from a trade from the Blue Jays for Dalton Varshow,
• 28:47
  Speaker 5: more than Nick Allen as your super utility guy that
• 28:50
  Speaker 5: can pushed into a role that he never played in
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: game elimination game of a season.
• 28:57
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, they can, Kratzy, but it's going to
• 29:00
  Speaker 8: take some really difficult decision making. And look, it's not
• 29:02
  Speaker 8: as if this team is wholly unathletic. Their two most
• 29:05
  Speaker 8: athletic players are Jeremy Pena, who hits lead off in
• 29:09
  Speaker 8: front of Jordan Alvarez. So when he gets on base
• 29:12
  Speaker 8: for most of the season, it was hard for him
• 29:14
  Speaker 8: to show his athleticism because if you try to steal
• 29:16
  Speaker 8: second base with Jordan Alvarez up, You're risking, A, being
• 29:20
  Speaker 8: thrown out and removing a runner on base for the
• 29:23
  Speaker 8: AL MVP, or you're risking vacating first base and just
• 29:26
  Speaker 8: inviting the team, the opposing team, to walk Alvarez. So
• 29:31
  Speaker 8: he was neutralized there. Cam Smith is their most athletic player, period, probably.
• 29:36
  Speaker 8: He's got the most upside. He is the archetype of
• 29:38
  Speaker 8: what they need more of. They need more of Cam Smith.
• 29:41
  Speaker 8: They need more guys like that that just are young.
• 29:45
  Speaker 8: When you watch them run the bases, it's a fun experience.
• 29:49
  Speaker 8: They need more Cam Smiths. I know there's not many
• 29:51
  Speaker 8: Cam Smiths laying out there, but Cam Smith is the
• 29:55
  Speaker 8: most athletic guy on this roster. He ended this season
• 29:59
  Speaker 8: with a 279 on base percentage. He didn't get on
• 30:02
  Speaker 8: base enough to showcase that athleticism. So how do they
• 30:04
  Speaker 8: get more athletic? Well, I think it starts with Cam
• 30:06
  Speaker 8: Smith needs to take another leap. They need to see
• 30:09
  Speaker 8: market improvement from Cam Smith from year two to year three.
• 30:13
  Speaker 8: And then I think you have to look at how
• 30:15
  Speaker 8: they got Cam Smith here. They traded a year of
• 30:18
  Speaker 8: Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs for Hayden Wisniewski, Isak Paredes,
• 30:22
  Speaker 8: and Cam Smith. That trade has aged very well for
• 30:25
  Speaker 8: Dana Brown, even though he's not here anymore. I think
• 30:28
  Speaker 8: you could see a couple more trades that kind of
• 30:31
  Speaker 8: mirror this this offseason, and Jeremy Pena is atop that list.
• 30:34
  Speaker 8: He is in the exact same situation that Kyle Tucker
• 30:38
  Speaker 8: was in two years ago. He is heading into his
• 30:41
  Speaker 8: final winter before free agency. The Astros have tried to
• 30:44
  Speaker 8: extend him and failed. Pena has since hired Scott Boris,
• 30:48
  Speaker 8: who I think we all know Scott prefers his clients
• 30:51
  Speaker 8: to test free agency. That's not saying they can't get
• 30:54
  Speaker 8: an extension done. Jose Altuve is a Boris client and
• 30:57
  Speaker 8: has done two extensions in Houston. Lance McCullers is a
• 30:59
  Speaker 8: Boris client, did an extension in Houston. So it's not impossible,
• 31:03
  Speaker 8: but if they can't get something done, then yeah, Jeremy
• 31:06
  Speaker 8: Pena becomes an ideal trade ship. And they're not trading
• 31:09
  Speaker 8: him for prospects because I don't think this is a
• 31:12
  Speaker 8: situation where Jim Crane will ever okay a full rebuild.
• 31:16
  Speaker 8: They would try to make a similar trade to what
• 31:18
  Speaker 8: they got for Tucker. major league ready talent that can
• 31:22
  Speaker 8: help fill some holes on this team. You know, an outfielder,
• 31:26
  Speaker 8: a young athletic, you know, corner outfielder, this team is
• 31:29
  Speaker 8: going to need relief help. This team may need another
• 31:31
  Speaker 8: starting pitcher like that. It's a, it's a win now trade.
• 31:36
  Speaker 8: It's it's you trade a guy, you trade a guy
• 31:38
  Speaker 8: that has value for more value from another team. You find,
• 31:41
  Speaker 8: you find a partner in a team that's also trying
• 31:43
  Speaker 8: to content. So you could see that. I think Yiner
• 31:46
  Speaker 8: Diaz is trade value is, is pretty high as well. He's,
• 31:50
  Speaker 8: Not the best defender back there, but he had a
• 31:52
  Speaker 8: great second half of the year offensively. You can see
• 31:55
  Speaker 8: how other teams would be very interested in Yiner Diaz,
• 31:58
  Speaker 8: and the Astros have Jason Schiavone, their minor league player
• 32:01
  Speaker 8: of the year, who had a breakout year in the
• 32:02
  Speaker 8: minor leagues. He's a catcher, and there's people in the
• 32:05
  Speaker 8: organization that believe he will be impacting this team by
• 32:09
  Speaker 8: maybe May of next season, if we're playing baseball in
• 32:12
  Speaker 8: May next season. So does that make Yiner Diaz a
• 32:16
  Speaker 8: trade ship as well? I think it does. So I
• 32:18
  Speaker 8: think it's going to take the new GM coming in
• 32:20
  Speaker 8: here and making some creative deals because, like you said,
• 32:24
  Speaker 8: Jim Crane spends money. The thought that he does not
• 32:26
  Speaker 8: spend money is not true. Now, how he spends his
• 32:29
  Speaker 8: money can be a little bad for them, but he's
• 32:34
  Speaker 8: willing to spend money, but he's not going to go
• 32:36
  Speaker 8: out and sign a free agent to a $ 100 million deal.
• 32:38
  Speaker 8: He has never given a $ 100 million free agent deal
• 32:41
  Speaker 8: in his ownership tenure. They prefer the shorter deals with
• 32:44
  Speaker 8: big money AAVs. I think their more prudent course of
• 32:48
  Speaker 8: action is to make trades, is to trade from some
• 32:52
  Speaker 8: of their value, trade and see, make a win-for-win trade
• 32:56
  Speaker 8: and see if that can help this team out.
• 32:58
  Speaker 6: Chandler, real quick. Carlos Correa was in the dugout cheering
• 33:01
  Speaker 6: his tail off for his team. Jim Crane made that trade. Basically,
• 33:05
  Speaker 6: he wanted him back. Did that hamstring them? Because you
• 33:08
  Speaker 6: keep talking about the roster. That's a lot of money
• 33:10
  Speaker 6: for a guy that hasn't played and has been injured
• 33:12
  Speaker 6: for the whole year.
• 33:15
  Speaker 8: Well, it hamstrung them because they kept Isak Paredes and
• 33:18
  Speaker 8: Christian Walker on the roster. Again, it was okay because
• 33:23
  Speaker 8: Carlos Correa injured his ankle, unfortunately.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: It was out for the season.
• 33:26
  Speaker 8: But when that's your plan, when your plan is, let's
• 33:30
  Speaker 8: hope one of our core players has a horrible injury
• 33:34
  Speaker 8: and he's out for the year and it'll make this work,
• 33:36
  Speaker 8: that's not a plan. That's not a true plan. That's
• 33:39
  Speaker 8: how dysfunctional places operate. So it hamstrung them in the
• 33:42
  Speaker 8: sense of like, They had too many infielders for four spots,
• 33:47
  Speaker 8: and having Correa on the roster, it was an awkward fit.
• 33:51
  Speaker 8: But because he got hurt, it never manifested itself this year.
• 33:54
  Speaker 8: So I'm sure fans will look back and say, oh, well,
• 33:56
  Speaker 8: of course they shouldn't have traded Isak Paredes because it worked.
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: Out the way it did.
• 34:01
  Speaker 8: But if Carlos Correa stays healthy this year, you were
• 34:05
  Speaker 8: looking at one of two options. You were looking at
• 34:07
  Speaker 8: having nowhere to play for Isak Paredes, who had almost
• 34:10
  Speaker 8: a four and a half win season and was your
• 34:12
  Speaker 8: second most valuable position player, or you were looking at
• 34:16
  Speaker 8: an aspect where you play Paredes at first base and
• 34:20
  Speaker 8: Christian Walker sits and you're paying Christian Walker $ 20 million
• 34:24
  Speaker 8: to be a part-time player. It's not a good use
• 34:27
  Speaker 8: of resource allocation in any way. So yes, the Correa
• 34:30
  Speaker 8: trade hamstrung them, but it only hamstrung them because they
• 34:33
  Speaker 8: didn't react after the trade. Like, They made that trade
• 34:36
  Speaker 8: to try to get the 2025 Astros into the playoffs.
• 34:39
  Speaker 8: Paredes had hurt his hamstring. They needed a third baseman.
• 34:42
  Speaker 8: It was a short-term fix, but they always knew the
• 34:46
  Speaker 8: reckoning was going to come last winter, and they just.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: Never addressed it.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: They got a lot of addressing to do. It's an
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: off-season of addressing. That's the theme for the Houston Astros.
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: Until the sport shuts down for a little bit, we'll
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: get Chandler back on. To talk about that while we
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: have time before the sport does shut down. But Chandler,
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: for now, rest up, man. Good coverage this year. It
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: was certainly interesting, even if it was not the most
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: successful season. You've covered more successful seasons for Houston.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: But props to you, man.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: Always really enjoy the coverage on, you know, both within
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: the athletic and Crush City territories of vibes.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: So appreciate you, man. All right.
• 35:21
  Speaker 5: Thanks, guys.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Thank you. That's Chandler Rowe. And that's the show. Crush
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: City territory. Fresh episode out right now.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, this is one of those where if you're
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: an Astros fan or you really don't like the Astros,
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: you probably.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: Will enjoy this episode.
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: It will make you a little bit happy if you
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: don't like the Astros.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: Here and all the problems. Be right back.