ewen21

By what standard was Darvish really good? The guy implodes at the drop of a hat, his ERA was 3.98 in the NL, he led the league in HRs allowed, he loses the strike zone and is to me a headcase. I did not want him when everyone was talking about him and I certainly can't take any talk about coming here now. He is not the kind of guy I want on the mound in the postseason at Yankee Stadium. They'd need to put him in a straightjacket. A resounding NO on Darvish

OK, I really don't care to even figure out the what THEY will do part. It actually is a fools errand to do that because when people do that it gets misconstrued as a personal opinion. What I think they might do (or will do) has nothing to do with what my desire is and should not enter into the conversation unless one makes it clear saying first....."this is what I think they will do" As far as what I would do, I would be open to trading Buxton, Rosario or Kepler. They can bring us a lot and quite frankly can replace outfielder. I would look to get Syndergaard or someone on that level using one of those players and a couple of prospects if need be. Of course, I would want a prospect or two from the Mets. I think Cole is a pipe dream and I believe he is at his high water mark. Bumgarner can kick rocks. I don't like him and I think of him as Roy Oswalt 2.0. He would be a mistake, in my opinion. Syndergaard can be one as well, but we have leverage with him. I don't like Darvish at all. I think he is weak and for all his talent and flash he would be a horrible guy to go after unless Chicago wants to eat half of that contract (at least). I would resign Jake, but not Gibson. Gibson has health issues and I think he is spent here in Minnesota. Been there, done that with him. Enough already. Have a nice life. I would resign Pineda because I think he might want to come back if we give him another two year deal with an option for a third. He is actually a talented arm and if he can get together with Sano and commit to some offseason conditioning/diet regimen we could have something. Syndergaard Berrios Odorizzi Pineda and I would make a play for Hyun-Jin Ryu. We wouldn't be breaking the bank here and we can have this staff for a couple of years. I would go looking for another big bat or maybe a solid catcher. Love Garver, but he was exposed big time in the postseason and he could very well be a one hit wonder. Give me Grandal

Where is there a sure bet? If he doesn't work out then we let him walk when he gets to free agency. The main concern would be what we might give up, but then again we do have tradable pieces. Signing Cole sounds great but it's going to take 6 or 7 years and it's no sure bet he can even walk onto a major league mound in five years. Nothing is a sure bet

I would say this idea is a place where we should start. I think that would give us two years under team control with him and I think it's worth taking a chance on. It would be nice to get Cole, but it's just not likely. We can pull the trigger on a trade and get a guy younger than Cole in Syndergaard with still perhaps his best years ahead of him.

This isn't a good look people. Who are we to spout off about their post season FAILURES unless we are willing to make a thread in the same vain about ours. Honestly. If we can't even go there and make that thread while this one running, what are we doing?

A couple of years ago there was a lot of vociferious talk about giving a blank check to Yu Darvish. The Astros got Verlander in a trade and the Tigers are paying 8 million dollars of his yearly salary next year. They got Grienke in a trade as well. Same with Gerrit Cole. This is something that WE have to do better. We have players we can use to trade for decent young pitching and we ought to explore all avenues. We aren't going to get there signing the two most expensive/"best" pitchers out there in this year's market. The problem with this organization is they fall in love with their prospects and believe they are better than they really are. Case in point: Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. For the longest time we acted as though these two were untouchable. Literally NO ONE should be considered untouchable at this point. The Astros, the Rays, Milwaukee have all had the sack to trade prospects in the past. For whatever reason there is this silly notion that we "don't wanna mortgage the future" Make a damn trade or two and don't be afraid to trade Royce Lewis or whomever to get strong starting pitching. Until we can nut up and do that then we probably aren't getting over the hump

That is always the popular take when we go into a series and then it's nothing but snake eyes. There needs to come a point where this franchise admits that is essential to get over this inferiority complex we have against them. Obviously we don't lose as much as we have against them because they are THAT MUCH better. So NO. It is not a crapshoot when we play them.

One thing about the Yankees is they call this season a failure. Even with all the injuries and getting to the ALCS this season is a failure.

To be fair, Rocco really threw him to the lions. I actually felt bad for the kid, but THERE was where he needed to make his bones and he failed both times. I think he is much improved and will be useful going forward. In the long run we as fans need to decide whether or not the postseason actually matters.

I don't have a ton of confidence in Berrios. We will see if he takes the next step or gets figured out and doesn't adjust. It's all up in the air as far as I'm concerned

Wow. I am speechless. Only goes to show two people can be watching the same thing day in and day out and come to completely different conclusions.

I agree with that, but throwing tons of money at free agent starting pitching isn't the answer

Yes and my point is when demand is high for top tier players we can't compete. Nelson Cruz is 40 and we got him on a 1 year deal. That's nice, but it's not the same as trying to land top tier pitching. There isn't a demand for Cruz as there is for Cole.

This is the issue and it has been one for years. We have desperately been looking for starting pitching for years because we can't seem to raise it ourselves. At the same time high payroll teams are looking for starting pitching all the time because they can do it no matter how stocked some of them might be. The free agents want to go to winning teams and those teams have bidding wars and then we are left in the dust unless we throw stupid money around. A lot of people were really into throwing money at Yu Darvish and I think a lot of that was with "making a splash" and "getting a name guy". I think it is kind of a similar thing with Bumgarner. Sorry, no thank you. I get trying to acquire Wheeler, but if anyone thinks we have a shot at Cole it would need to be a deal that is literally more than any other team would offer. Had we nutted up and played a much better series in NY or even won we would be a more attractive destination to free agents. If a player has a choice they likely aren't interested in playing for a team that has no intention of doing anything beyond getting to the playoffs. It is a real mess right now and this season that just ended for us needed to be a year where things were a bit different. After winning 101 games we can't even be competitive in the playoffs. Players know this about this organization and they aren't wasting time trying to "find the positives" It is very hard to sell this team to free agents if we are going to be permanent postseason losers who insist that they are successful in spite not winning a damn post season game in 16 tries. We end up with guys like Lance Lynn, etc....for a reason. I don't think many fans are willing to accept this harsh reality. Losing in the playoffs the way we did hurt our chances in this year's free agent market to get top flight guys. Winning some postseason games would have helped

Getting swept as we did in the playoffs again doesn't make us any more attractive to top end starting pitchers entering the market. We will likely need to outbid the entire market whereas teams like Houston or NY (for example) won't need to try as hard. This is why I am not a big believer in signing pitchers for stupid money. I'd much rather swing a trade and watch a young guy grow with us rather than sign a guy for a term that is too long

And there's the rub. He is 29 and missed THREE SEASONS in a row. He had two decent years in a row, but he is in no way "an ace" That said, he did have 23 games where he pitched six innings or more so the guy fits my profile for the kind of pitcher I want "isn't near the pitcher Berrios is" is a little much. Berrios is probably better, but it's closer than what you are saying

Agree. What are we talking about here? This team was not ready for the fight. It was a team effort all the way around. To focus on a pitching move here and a play that maybe could have been made totally avoids the harsh reality that this team was not mentally equipped to battle. I fully expected the Yankees to hit, but I also expected us to hit a little. We did not. At all. There is your reason why we lost three in a row. Heck, in the last game we had a big chance early with the bases loaded and nobody out and we couldn't push a run across the plate. How come this is talked about and we are splitting hairs with this stuff about Miggy's lack of athleticism?

Are we really suggesting that we would have won if not for Rocco's moves? I would say if we are playing the blame game we need to really branch out here. I cannot believe Rocco's moves are still something people want to moan about. We were not good enough. Period. Can we just cop to that and move forward? I could line up five of the most active complainers about these moves and plug them in for Rocco and it wouldn't have made a blessed difference. This team lost once the Yankees took the lead in game one. This team did not deal with adversity. At all. If Rocco deserves criticism it should be more about the culture that seems to dictate whatever happened in the playoff was OK. We already had a great year. This is a common theme with this team. Last time we were in a series and got swept Michael Cuddyer proclaimed it a "successful season" Ummmm. Sorry, not quite. Not when you never had a chance and this team never had a chance.

I will

No, not really. We were celebrating this offense all season and the best we could do was 7 runs in three games. We didn't face Gibson, Koufax and Marichal. Yankee pitching ranked 14th in ERA, actually below us. Food for thought

I give up. Nowhere I have I stated I would prefer an angry outburst. I just don't need to hear him say he isn't frustrated at all. I guess you did not read anything I wrote and that is OK, but you are sorely mistaken if you think people who don't appreciate the comment would rather him get angry. It is actually a common and somewhat ridiculous assumption that gets made. Not sure how or why that is.

You were doing well until this. Why are you drawing a parallel to the first game of the ALCS? 1. It is game 1 of he series 2. Houston has won in the very recent past 3. They beat the Yankees 4. We have lost 13 post season games in a row to the Yankees. 5. We were swept three times in a row by them 6. Who cares what they would say on AstrosDaily if it existed? 7. Get the picture? Sorry. I just don't like the comment after being swept out in the first round. Did he not have hopes of accomplishing more? What is wrong with a little frustration? Cop to it, acknowledge, hitch up your blue jeans and soldier on. Just feels like he is lying and I don't the freakin point in it. That is all,.

You're concept of the word is very different from mine. Frustration can be a daily thing for days at a time. If I reacted the way your depictions of it I wouldn't have lasted 23 years in the NY state public school system. You've turned it around to make frustration seem irrational or something that puts you on the brink of a tantrum. I know lots of people in education and law enforcement who deal with frustration at work all the time and they handle it. I don't believe Rocco is being truthful. I have to think in his heart of hearts he felt some frustration bowing out in the first round. THen again, maybe he didn't feel a single stitch of frustration before, during and after that debacle. If this is the case I see I don't understand it. Had we taken them to five games and showed up that would be a different story. Getting swept that way? Hey man. I guess some people are content no matter what, but it is more likely they tell people they are and really aren't. I have been a Rocco supporter and this is disappointing. He can have an even keel and a steady demeanor and still experience frustration on the job. That is entirely normal, in my opinion.

That is a pretty brittle spirit if you ask me. As a teacher I face a variety of frustrations daily. None of it is enough to make think of quitting or giving up. Frustration is part of life and those who insist they aren't frustrated about certain outcomes might not be as emotionally invested as others who do feel it and have the focus and determination to power though it an succeed. You have an odd view on frustration, in my opinion. Those accompanying pictures represent frustration to you? Frustration = irrational behavior and being overcome with emotion? Not in my world. I cannot afford to be that way as educator. I do need to be introspective and judge my performance honestly because a lot of people are watching me and judging my performance. Not sure why there is an apparent phobia with frustration. Some of my best work was achieved at times where I felt stress and was frustrated with the way things were going. People have to deal with adversity in order to succeed. To deny it exists and look only at the positives accomplishes nothing and for that reason I am disappointed in Rocco.

Yeah this thing about "more fire" is totally missing the point. He could have been level-headed and honest without blowing a gasket or directly ripping particular players. if he's is actually satisfied with the performance in those three games then I'm pretty disappointed in him. So much emphasis is put on good vibes and feeling good about the players that it ceases to sound genuine after a while. If it is genuine then to me it's flat out strange