DAT 6/25: Phillies (Wheeler) @ Astros (Gordon) 7:10 PM

This is the most confused about the Astros I’ve ever been. If you had told us before the season about these lineups, pitching injuries, Yed’s ongoing absence, etc..then I would have assumed we were 5-10 games below .500. I realy don’t understand how we keep winning.

quote:

---

 I would have assumed we were 5-10 games below .500

---

In my mind, they are.

And now, we’re up to a very special long-distance dedication from the heart of Houston, Texas. This one comes from Jeff, who’s sending out a heartfelt wish to Christian’s bat—yes, that mighty piece of lumber that’s been a little quiet lately. Jeff writes:

"Dear Casey,
I’m dedicating this one to Christian’s bat, hoping it finds its groove again and starts launching those baseballs into the stands. Christian’s got the heart, the hustle, and the talent—now we just need that bat to wake up and bring the thunder back to the diamond. I can't be wrong again. Please play something - anything - to spark that swing!"

Well, Jeff, we hear you loud and clear, and we’re rooting for Christian to get that bat sizzling again. So, here’s a song to light up the scoreboard and bring back the magic to an old baseball player’s swing. From Houston to the batter’s box, this is for you, Christian’s bat—let’s get those hits soaring! This is "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart. Here’s to bring the good vibes back to the plate!

Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!

Yes. That’s honestly a terrible deal for Pena. The only silver lining is they are at least discussing it and he is open to signing right now

Can anyone present a case where a player signed with Boras and signed an extension with their present team without entering the market

Altuve has signed two

Boras represents enough big time players where I am sure there are others. I don’t know them off the top of my head aside from Altuve. It is definitely the exception vs something that happens often with him

Again the fact they were deep in discussions at least shows a willingness from both sides even if it is now fundamentally changed. Only silver lining. If I were Pena having the type of year I’m having I’d be tempted to tell them to kick rocks

If it was that close, I imagine Crane and Co. can't be too thrilled with Pena for yanking the rug and going to Boras last minute.

Also this reinforces the idea that the only extensions Crane offers is where he feels like he's getting a steal. The first Altuve extension , Bregman, Yordan. All of these were bargains relative to what they could have gotten on the market. $105 for Pena was likely a value.

If you buy the bat, it could be looking up to Trea Turner's contract AAV ($27.2) as well.

Think JP hits free agency a year older than Turner did, hard to get a good year over year comp because Trea was hurt so often, but through their first ~500 games

Trea accumulated 17.9 WAR
JP accumulated 17.5 WAR

Stathead is down but after the extension talk I immediately jumped to what Trea got and wanted to see what that player comp looked like.

And, I think he can stay at SS longer than Turner can. IIRC there have already been some murmurs about what to do with his glove in the near future.