Colin Wyers of Baseball Prospectus hired by the Houston Astros

[YouthofToday]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/a/22147

A strong organization just got stronger. The Astros GM built the Cardinals farm system. Watch out for the Astros. They are going to be a sustained, permanent force starting as soon as 2015. They can support a payroll that can nearly match the Angels.

[ettin]

We should be worried about the new addition to the AL West. It is not very often a team takes the complete reboot approach and they are doing it the right way and it will produce the right results soon.

[wopphil]

They might have a lot of young talent, but they also keep losing 110 games.  They still have a long way to go, and they won't become a 90-game winner overnight.  I'd like to see them approach .500 before I have any concern whatsoever about their prospects for competing.

[jshep]

Well at least the Angels have shown the ability to take advantage of the Astros being bad for now....

[ettin]

Well at least the Angels have shown the ability to take advantage of the Astros being bad for now....

 

Maybe we'll get lucky and it will be like reverse psychology in the future: The Angels crush the Astros while the Astros crush the Mariners, A's, and Rangers?

[markb]

They might have a lot of young talent, but they also keep losing 110 games.  They still have a long way to go, and they won't become a 90-game winner overnight.  I'd like to see them approach .500 before I have any concern whatsoever about their prospects for competing.

 

This is probably what people said about the Rays in 2006.

[mtangelsfan]

Oh no, something else to worry about!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Duh, duh, duh, duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[sneaky_flute]

This is probably what people said about the Rays in 2006.

The Rays had some decent players in 2006.

 

I don't understand why people think the Astros are going to become a force to be reckoned with in the next 2 years. I'd like to see them become successful, but they have one good player at the major league level right now and that's Jason Castro. They need to replace every single one of their pitchers and most of their prospects are position players, some of whom aren't going to have a big impact on the team. It wouldn't surprise me to see them struggling to reach .500 in 6 or 7 years.

[wopphil]

This is probably what people said about the Rays in 2006.

As bad as the Rays were, they weren't nearly as bad as this current Astros team. Whereas the 2007 Rays went 66-96, the 2013 Astros went 51-111 - a 15 game difference.

Plus, the 2008 Rays were the exception, not the rule. What they did was remarkable, and it is hard for any team to go from losing 90-100 games to winning 90-100 games.

[mp170.6]

They might have a lot of young talent, but they also keep losing 110 games.  They still have a long way to go, and they won't become a 90-game winner overnight.  I'd like to see them approach .500 before I have any concern whatsoever about their prospects for competing.

 

In a few years, I think the AL West is going to look like the AL Central does now...a lot of teams hovering around the .500 level. 

 

Oakland and Texas won 96 and 91 games because they used the Astros as a punching bag.

[YouthofToday]

The Astros also have less than $18 million committed to players in the future. The Angels have more than $500,000,000.

The Astros have a top 3 farm system. The Angels the worst farm system in baseball.

The Astros can also support a payroll more than $150 million with a new TV deal.

The Astros are going to be the Rays with an additional $100 a year to spend.

[OregonLAA]

A hundred bucks isn't that much

[Mark68]

The Rays had some decent players in 2006.

 

I don't understand why people think the Astros are going to become a force to be reckoned with in the next 2 years. I'd like to see them become successful, but they have one good player at the major league level right now and that's Jason Castro. They need to replace every single one of their pitchers and most of their prospects are position players, some of whom aren't going to have a big impact on the team. It wouldn't surprise me to see them struggling to reach .500 in 6 or 7 years.

I'm sure Jarred Cosart and Jose Altuve enjoy being classified as bad players.

[Brent Maguire]

The Astros could very well be a good team in 3-4 years.

 

Castro, Correa, Singleton, Springer, DeShields, Fontana and Santana could form a nice lineup. 

 

Cosart, Appel, McCullers, and Foltynewicz form a nice rotation. Once they start targeting free agents, this could be a good team. 

[sneaky_flute]

I'm sure Jarred Cosart and Jose Altuve enjoy being classified as bad players.

Jarred Cosart sucks and Altuve is replacement level.

Edited November 2, 2013 by sneaky_flute

[Mark68]

Jarred Cosart sucks and Altuve is replacement level.

Oh, I forgot that we must all bow down before the great Ian Kinsler, the best second baseman to have ever played the game.

 

And I guess a guy whose WHIP was a middle-of-the road 1.35 because he's young and a little wild but kept those runners from scoring must obviously suck.

 

You know who also sucked after his first ten MLB starts? Another guy who was also wild early in his career. Through his first 11 games (10 starts) with the Montreal Expos, this guy had an ERA of 4.69 (2 1/2x Cosart's ERA of 1.95) and a WHIP of 1.53 (.18 higher than Cosart's). This guy REALLY sucked after 10 starts. Because 10 starts is enough to tell that a pitcher sucks,

 

That guy who was wild and really sucked through his first ten starts? Randy Johnson.

 

I am not for one second equating Cosart's stuff with Unit's. I was merely pointing out the fallacy of determining that a guy sucks ten starts into his career, with only two of them being bad ones.

 

But I understand. You're a Ranger fan, and you can't STAND the idea that the other team in Texas could be better than yours soon.

 

The Astros will be a very good team, no later than 2016.

[YouthofToday]

The Astros will win more than 81 games in either 2015 or 2016.

[sneaky_flute]

Oh, I forgot that we must all bow down before the great Ian Kinsler, the best second baseman to have ever played the game.

 

And I guess a guy whose WHIP was a middle-of-the road 1.35 because he's young and a little wild but kept those runners from scoring must obviously suck.

 

You know who also sucked after his first ten MLB starts? Another guy who was also wild early in his career. Through his first 11 games (10 starts) with the Montreal Expos, this guy had an ERA of 4.69 (2 1/2x Cosart's ERA of 1.95) and a WHIP of 1.53 (.18 higher than Cosart's). This guy REALLY sucked after 10 starts. Because 10 starts is enough to tell that a pitcher sucks,

 

That guy who was wild and really sucked through his first ten starts? Randy Johnson.

 

I am not for one second equating Cosart's stuff with Unit's. I was merely pointing out the fallacy of determining that a guy sucks ten starts into his career, with only two of them being bad ones.

 

But I understand. You're a Ranger fan, and you can't STAND the idea that the other team in Texas could be better than yours soon.

 

The Astros will be a very good team, no later than 2016.

I JUST SAID I'D LIKE TO SEE THE ASTROS BECOME SUCCESSFUL and I'm being realistic about their major league core as it stands. Costart was mediocre in the minors and probably isn't meant to be a long-term solution. It's also likely some of their positional prospects won't pan out in the majors. The Astros aren't one big bat from competing; they need to replace almost player on their roster and I'd be surprised if they became the Mariners in 5 years.