July 31, 2025 • 31 mins
It's a full Astros Trade Deadline Reaction as the Houston Astros made some big moves including bringing back infielder Carlos Correa to Houston!
Chris Gordy and Ross Villarreal react to all the Astros moves, including adding outfielder Jesús Sánchez as well as utility man Ramón Urías.
The Crawford Boxcast is presented by Karbach Brewing and the Crawford Bock.
Chris Gordy and Ross Villarreal react to all the Astros moves, including adding outfielder Jesús Sánchez as well as utility man Ramón Urías.
The Crawford Boxcast is presented by Karbach Brewing and the Crawford Bock.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Astros fans cheers Lucky, Welcome to the Crawford Box Cast.
You Astros proud lean forward for you by Crawford back
from Carmack Brewy. You're getting da bear.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh my godness, The Crawford Bucks Cast starts now Here
we go, Here's Chris Gordy and Ross Via Real.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It is an all new edition of the Crawford Box Cast,
presented by Carbach Brewing and the Crawford Bach. Chris Gordy
and Ross VI Real with you with an instant post
trade deadline reaction as the Astros make not one, not two,
but three new acquisitions, all position players, all guys who
are expected to help this lineup tremendously. They did not
(00:59):
make a trade for a picture that there have been
many reports that they were working on that didn't get
that one done. But the good news is plenty of
injured pictures on their way back rehabbing and we'll be
back very soon. But the headline of the day Carlos
Korea back with the Houston Astros and Ross.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
I know I talked about it earlier in the week.
You had talked.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
About it on the show with Matt Thomas basically saying
we didn't think this was gonna happen. I mean, this
was being rumored about for a couple of weeks, and
I just kept saying, Man, the money, I don't think that.
You know, it would be very uncharacteristic of Jim Crane
to take on a monster contract like that, and you know,
you look at where they are. I just I didn't
think this was gonna happen. But your reaction to the
(01:43):
Astros reuniting with one Carlos.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Korea, Yeah, it's I'm with you, man, I didn't. I
didn't think it was gonna happen, even when it first
got floated out, and then there were the follow up
reports from guys like Jeff Passing Chandler Rome saying that
the deal is basically.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Dead, not gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I resigned myself to that the deal was basically out
the window, and when you kind of thought about it logistically,
it didn't really make a whole lot of sense. The
Astros wanting to stay under the tax for a second year,
with the fact that he's under contract for three more years.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
After this one.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Then you have the log jam, I suppose in the infield,
when everybody's healthy come next year with Escock Paradis, Where
does he play? Do you shift him somewhere else? Is
either of Jeremy Pane or Carlos Korea gonna play second?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Because I just.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Don't feel like Estock Paradis has got the movement to
play second base in an interior infield position.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And so all these question.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Marks and reasons not to do it, and the reports
all kind of rolled into one to say, this Carlos
Korea deal is not happening. He's not coming back. It's
pure fantasy. And then boom. That's the beauty of the
trade deadline in baseball in general. That's also the bey
of what we've kind of seen from this Astros regime.
(03:04):
I would say at the helm of Jim Crane, you know,
with various general managers at different times, but the swinging
of the fences, the damn deport torpedoes. We don't care
about going into your tax. We want to win championships.
And we've seen it time and time again, and for
whatever reason, like I did a couple of days ago
(03:24):
or even yesterday, I'm doubting that Jim Crane's willing to
do this and that and going to the tax a
second time. And he said, screw all that, We're going
for it. Carlos, Korea is back. The prodigal sun has returned.
The guy who is I mean, as emblematic of this
Astros turnaround as anybody with being that number one, number
(03:45):
one that did the fruit borne from that.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Horrible tanking era.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
That came up and won a World Series here in
twenty seventeen. He's back here. They're going forward again. Didn't
think it would happen. We'll see about the result on
the field, but the Astros and Jim Crane are daring
to be great again and it's exciting.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
It is exciting, and to kind of touch on some
of the specifics surrounding this thing, the Astros, at least
from Chandler Rome's article, the Koreas were waiving his no
trade clause, the Astros will absorb a good bit of
the ninety six million dollar guaranteed to Korea for the
next two seasons, and it sounds like at least what
(04:30):
for the most part, the Astros are gonna the Twins
are gonna pet cover thirty three million of that, so
the Astros will still be on the hook for you know,
sixty million of that sixty million plus of that deal.
The crazier part ross was we heard he was traded
it and I think Chandler and a few other people
put out there he was traded for a prospect, and
(04:51):
we didn't really know, like the it took forever for
the details to come out on who that prospect was,
and my inclination was, oh, I guess it must be
Jacob Melton or something, because they ended up trading for
another outfielder. We'll get to that in a second, but
it comes out that it's a what like a twenty
six year old high aid pitcher, Milicek or whatever his
(05:13):
name is. I'm pull up here in a second, but like
that to me was the most mind boggling. I mean,
this was just a fire sale from the Twins trying
to shed as much salary as possible because with what
they got in return, it makes no sense.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm with you, Like it doesn't
make sense on its face, but when you factor in,
as you mentioned, trying to shed payroll, the Twins giving
up money, and the fact that Carlos Korea could hold
them hostage with his no trade clause to.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Kind of gain some leverage. I mean, that's why there
is the ten to five role.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
That's where there is guys who signed contracts with these
no trade clauses. It gives you a lot of leverage
and it can limit the amount of teams that they're
able to deal with.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
And the clearly the.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Twins desperate to at any cost unload this payroll since
they're trying to sell the team and keep costs down,
and they shed a ton of payroll elsewhere as they
were huge sellers at this deadline.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
So Carls Carrea holding them hostage.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
You add it all up coming back here, you added
with Jim Crane willing to pay the money, It is
kind of difficult to wrap your head around.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
At first, but then that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
And that's all those reasons you mentioned or why I
didn't think it was gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
But when you think about it.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, Carlos Correa could have chosen basically where he wanted
to go. Obviously wanted to come back in Houston, said
he was comfortable being a third basement here in Houston,
and here he is and it didn't really cost you
much of anything.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Crazy crazy, Yeah, here's the name. Hi a left hander
Matt mcculsky, who is twenty six years old. No Astros
fan anywhere could have told you Matt mcculsky's name and
where he was.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
In the system.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
So yeah, it's I mean, this is a straight up
Jim Crane deal. I know a lot of people are
you giving Dana Brown as flowers and he deserves a
lot for all these deals pulling them off, But this
was Jim waking up and saying, that's a guy that
was important to our franchise. You know, he walked and
got a big deal elsewhere, And it is what it is.
We've made that decision as an organization, but I think
(07:11):
somebody kind of broke it down earlier, as this is
basically like the Astros are getting Carlos Krayon like a
three and a half year deal for I forget what
they said, like six seventy million basically, So it's it's
again Ross, It's crazy. It falls in line with those
deals that the Astros do, the four to five year deals.
They're willing to go high money, but they want they
(07:33):
don't want to go more than those five years, and
so it's so funny. It's like it all comes back
full circle. You get Korea still with hopefully some really
good years still left in him, and you still don't
have to give up that eight to nine ten year deal.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
It's just funny and how it works.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
And you wonder if maybe you know that happens down
the road with a Kyle Tucker or somebody like that's
up back here again, you know, just because they don't
want to give out that big deal. But it is
interesting too. Did confirm I think it was Mark finesand
or one of those guys out there said Korea is
going to play third base.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Cray did talk to Brian McTaggart earlier in the day
and said that he's fine with that. He understands this
point in his career where he is age wise, he's
going to play third base. And the Astros have all
but said, I mean, they have not officially announced it,
but Dana Brown said, you know, it's been bad news
on the escoch Paradus front.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Escoc Paradus is not going.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
To come back this year, so and I know some
national people have said, you know, he's he's out.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
That hamstring injury is too serious. So it kind of
works out poetically.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Jermy Pania is now on a flight here to Boston
to rejoin the team.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
He is going to be.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Activated on a Friday, so for the first time, I
assume they'll they'll plug Karrey in the lineup on Friday,
if not by Saturday. But it will be wild ross
to see the replacement the guy who replaced Carlos Krat
shortstop as the Astros franchise franchise shortstop will be playing
alongside the guy who was his previous predecessor, Carlos Kray
on the infield.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, that's pretty wild stuff in the first place. And yeah,
I'm glad we can talk about the on field stuff
and the fit and we can talk about it the
fit in the future. But yeah, right now he plugs
in as your third baseman. It is interesting and honestly,
you could make the joke. Yeah, Jim Crane not willing
to put those long deals, but they'll pay. He'll pay
the back indo those deals when guys are into decline,
(09:21):
because the honest assessment is that obviously Jose Brady was
a bad deal. Christian Walker right now, Unfortunately, although we've
seen some signs of life from end of the plate
in the last month, hasn't been a good deal for
the Astros and the reality is on the field right now.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Carlskra has been about an average Major leaguer.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I mean, he's got three hundred and sixty four played appearances,
he's only got seven home runs. His ops plus where
league averages one hundred is ninety two. And now you're
thinking he's gonna be pretty good though over at third
base because, as you know, Gordy, one of his great
strengths at shortstop has been that rocket accurate arm, and
of course that's gonna play at third base actually, where
(10:00):
you don't have to be as rangey.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
So I expect him to.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Be a plus defensive player at shortstop. What I'm wondering
is what's what's been going on with him at the plate.
And you know, maybe need we to ask Minnesota Twins people,
but he's kind of yo yoed up and down the
last couple of years in terms of production at the plate.
So hopefully this can kind of galvanize him or be
a shot in the arm or whatever cliche you want
to use, because he's not been good at the plate
(10:24):
this year. That's going to have to improve. We know,
I like I said, I think the defense is going
to be good. Well, you know, the leadership is going
to be good, but I'm gonna want to see some
more from him at the plate. If this deal, if
you're paying him thirty plus million dollars a year, you're
gonna need to see that well.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
And you wonder if maybe being back home, you know,
where he's comfortable. And I say home, and that's the
place where he started his career. His wife is from here.
They already you know, talked about it being back here
near her parents with the kids and all that kind
of stuff. I mean, maybe just familiarity and being back
where you're comfortable. And maybe hosel Tu gets under him
(11:01):
and says, hey, man, let's go. I know you weren't
the greatest in Minnesota, but let's find that Corea that
was crushing here in Houston a couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I mean, that's just the hope is he can give
you some timely hitting. Look, he told mc taggert, we're
still chasing championships. I mean, I'm coming back to Houston.
Our goal is to win a championships, So, you know,
can he be that leader? And I think that's you know,
maybe he's not the guy who's going to hit a
ton of clutch home runs and all that. But I
think anything, you'd at least get that clubhouse leader that
(11:29):
could come in and galvanize the guys, you know, getting
your Fromber's face when he needs it.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
And maybe maybe it's the guy that comes along.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
He gets in the clubhouse, clubhouse speaks Spanish and good
on Alvaz and goes, hey, man, what's up with the hand?
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Goes oh, information, and he goes, get your ass back
out there.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I mean, right, I think that's what this team needs,
is is a Carlos Creator to be that vocal leader,
because he certainly was before he left.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know how much that matters
to the bottom line. Certainly it didn't when they let
Alex Bregman go and and you know, so Carlos karay
in the first place, letting him go.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
But yeah, there is going to be an element of
like game planning and doing all the little.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Things the intangibles with baseball.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And he did get in Frommer's face.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
What was that like twenty twenty playoffs against Oakland or
something like that, and we've seen that type of leadership
from him before. I don't know how much that's going
to matter at the end of the day. But he
has had some bad luck when you look at like
his XBA numbers and expected slug numbers and stuff like that.
So hopefully that can turn around. Maybe he's going to
be more comfortable at dyk In Park, whatever it is,
(12:35):
because as I said, he's just been kind of yogoing.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Up and down at the plate. He's now thirty years old.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
We know, of course about the leg issue that it
prevented him from being signed with what the San Francisco
Giants or whatever it was. We know that he's had
some back issues here and there. Now thirty years old,
gonna be thirty one pretty soon here.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So I'm more than anything, I'm intrigued. I like the move.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I think it's great. Didn't cost you much. It's not
my money, it's Jim Crane's money. To desak Paratus effectively
out for the year. They haven't announced that, but we
all know the writing is on the wall there.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
So it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Man.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I'm gonna be.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Having a ball.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Carlos Karray is back here in Houston wearing an Astro's uniform.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
How's it gonna play out?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
This is why you and I get in this business
gordies for moments like this and kind of wait and
see and be around for these moments to see how
this is all gonna play out with the Astros still
five games ahead in the American League west of the
of the Seattle Mariners, who of course made their own
moves well.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
And the best part of it is too you get
to bring back your Carlos Kray impressions.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
So hopefully so get to hear that on seven nineties.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I had to work on it a little bit. Haven't
done it in a while.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I tweeted this out. It's half joking, but I'm serious.
How many times I'm tweeting from our seven ninety account
during a game and something good happens and I go
to the archive, you know jiffs on Twitter looking for
a good Astros jiff And how many of former Correa
ones have to scroll pass because he's not an Astro anymore.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
I got to use those again. Maybe, Yeah, that's fun Twitter.
They don't update him very often.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
There's still a bunch of George Springer and Josh Reddick
jiffs out there.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
But at least we can update those real quick.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
When I'm rounding you guys ysers, We'll be back home
next week. It'll be a lot of fun with Carlos
Kraa back at the ballpark, and hopefully you guys grab
some ice cold Crawford box from our friends at Carbok Brewing.
Was out at the ballpark a couple of days last week,
had some Crawford Box. I'm telling you, it just goes
better watching the Astros enjoying at Crawford Bock. Maybe not
so much the game I was at Friday night when
(14:35):
the Astros lost whatever, that was like sixteen to three.
That wasn't as fun. But it is a lot more
fun when you're having a Crawford Bock watching your Astros
at home. So grab a Crawford box from our friends
at Carbock Brewing and let's watch Carlscray is an Astro
all right.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Ross the other moves that went.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Down, this one took place to night before the trade deadline,
the Astros acquired infielder Ramon Jorias the Baltimore Orioles in
exchange for minor league right hand or Twine Palmer. Again,
you got to be big up on the Astros farm
system to know Twine Palmer. Palmer did not know we
had a guy named twine, but Urias is thirty one
(15:14):
years old.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Not the best. Like if you're just looking at.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Averages, which you say this all the time, batting average
is not, you know, the measuring stick of modern day baseball.
But hitting two forty eight this year, twelve doubles, eight homers,
thirty four ribies in seventy seven games. Played a lot
at third base, primarily this year, making sixty six starts.
Has appeared in games at first base, second base, and
third base. So he was an American League Gold Glove
(15:39):
winner at third base in twenty twenty two. So this
guy's gonna bring some plus defense. And this is I mean,
it's it's almost scary ross Like Dubond was kind of
your ultimate utility man, and now you get a second
utility man.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Man.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
It gives god, it gives you a lot more options
than having to start up Cooper Hummel or a Zach Short.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, this really was and we'll go through the next
deal as well. This is really a great job by
Dana Brown shoring it up, not paying a whole lot,
getting guys who are at least I don't want to
say warm bodies better than warm bodies who are above
replacement level where you don't have to kind of trot
out those guys that you were talking about who aren't
going to be long for the roster, and we knew that.
Then you also can hopefully get Jeremy Pania back, when
(16:21):
you're gonna get Jeremy Paania back very very soon, and
then jord On Alvarez hopefully comes back, and you add
in these guys and what Urius is supposed to do
as far as a I mean, you look at their
offensive numbers are actually Dubon is better, but for a
major league track record, Ureus is better than Mauricio Dubon,
but still, as you said, the versatility. Adding it a
(16:44):
guy who is an actual, credentialed Major leaguer who has
won a Gold Glove.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I'm excited about this move. It's not like, you know, it's.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
An earth shattering or anything like that, but as far
as a depth piece, definitely the type of move that.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Dana Brown needed to make. It didn't cost you much.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Yeah, it didn't cost much.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Like we said, you end up giving away Twine Palmer,
so you get you get Gurias and correct me if
I'm wrong. He's still got another year of control, right,
So it's not. This isn't just a rental. This is
the guy who will be here for a little bit.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yes, I think it is. I guess I can go.
I should know this. I believe he's under control for
this year and next.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah, at least at least that So that's.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Free age of twenty twenty seven, so that means he's
under control for this year end next.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
There you go. Love it. And so that's a nice piece.
So when they made that.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Trade Ross, initially, I'm going, well, all right, that's your
third basement and he can kind of platoon there and
maybe him and du Bond and whoever. Well, then you
make the move for Korea, and they all but say
Korea is going to be your third basement. So now
you kind of wonder, all right, where's he gonna go.
I think it's just gonna provide a lot more depth. Yeah,
and that brings us to the third trade that they
(17:56):
make and acquiring Jesus Sanchez the right field from the
Miami Marlins, a guy who's played six years in the league,
all with the Marlins. Again, same thing of a career,
two forty three average guy, but has a little bit
of pop, you know. Five straight seasons of double digit
home runs. So he's got that, you know, career slugging
(18:17):
four to twenty six career OPI has seven thirty six.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Now I think it's gonna blow you away.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
But it is the left handed bat that Dana Brown
had been seeking. And again, it doesn't break the bank.
You end up giving in exchange Ryan Gusto, who was
a piece of this rotation that you really liked.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
They were very high on, uh, and then they.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Give away minor leaguer Chase Jaworski and minor league outfielder
as esmil Valencia. But obviously Gusto is the big piece here,
and again another piece in Jesu Sanchez. This isn't just
a rental. This is a guy that's got another year
of arbitration. So, you know, Dana kind of we talked
with him on the Zoom call earlier. He said that
(18:56):
he thinks he's gonna play a lot of left field
and brought up Cam Smith's name, basically saying cam Smith
is going to stay in right field. He is a
right fielder, but you know, they may slide Sanchez over
to right for you know, to give him a break
at times. And then he did mention Altuve playing a
lot more back at second base, because if this guy's
if Sancho is coming in and playing a lot of left,
(19:18):
then Altove can't play left anymore. So the pieces all
kind of fall into one another, ross kind of going
around the diamond. It's you know, janar Diez slash Victor
Cart behind home plate. It's you know, Christian Walker at first,
Altuve at second, Paying at short, and Korea at third.
You just kind of hope that, you know, maybe that
(19:38):
that defensive Krea slash Ureus at third can make up
from some of the lacking defense that Altuve has at
times at second. But this kind of helps solidify this
roster in adding Hazu Sanchez to the outfield.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Yeah, great, great to see this the lefty bat. As
you mentioned the depth piece the outfield. I mean you
just as you mentioned, like you.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Get Urius, you get Korea, and I think Urius was
kind of.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
An insurance policy, like make sure you make this move
in case you couldn't get Korea and whatever eyes needed
to be dotted and T's cross as well for that.
And then you get the Sanchez and then if you
look at his he's gonna be a platoon bat against lefties.
You brought up his overall numbers, which you're okay against
Against lefties, he got a seven ninety seven to ninety
one career ops. So that's pretty good. So I mean, sorry, sorry,
(20:26):
I'm sorry. As a lefty against righty's, I should say so. Yeah,
against righty's, which they're gonna face the majority of the time,
he's got a seven ninety one ops.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
That's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
That's somebody who can spick, you know, stick a six
seventh eighth in the lineup or whatever, and and feel
pretty good about it. Sixty of his sixty nine career
home runs coming against righty's as opposed against lefties. So
you got a good platoon outfield bat, and you got
Carlos Korea, as you mentioned, bringing the leadership. Hopefully his
bat can wake up and get close to where it
was last year and then eureus as well.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I'm feeling pretty.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Good, man.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
We also never know how guys respawn right. I mean,
you know, you end up on a really good team.
Sometimes that wakes guys up and they start playing above
their head. I will say, looking at some of the
numbers from Urias and Sanchez, seems like they both were
playing some of their better baseball as of late. At
least I think both guys hit home runs and one
of their last games they played in their respective spots,
(21:20):
So you like that coming over. So yeah, it's again,
these aren't like home run you know, headline moves in
adding Guias and Sanchez, but quality depth. And that's the
other thing ross too, is how many times late in
a game you have to pinch hit and you bring
the guy off the bench.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
And this has.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Happened a lot the last two years for the Astros.
They're bringing up young guys that have, like you know,
less than fifty at bats. They're being asked to, hey,
we need you to come through in a big spot.
And I've always said, where's the veteran, Where's the guy that's,
you know, got a thousand of bats under his belt
that can go out there and at least give you
a pinch hit. Well, now you have that in Eureas
and Sanchez. If those guys aren't start in a game,
(22:01):
them combined with dubond or quality bat off the bench
as opposed to a I don't know, you know, like
I said, a Jacob Melton who's just getting his feet
wet or some of these other guys have not played
a ton of major league games.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
It just makes more sense.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
To bring a quality bench bat, you know, who's seen
a lot of big league pitching as opposed to a
guy who's very inexperienced.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I think that's a really good point. It's just more
tools in the toolbox for Joe A.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Spotta, who I feel like these two years as an
Astro's manager, he's been fantastic as picking pinch hitters and
putting guys, whether it be Kartini or even the straight
like Cooper Humble or whoever. Like, it feels like they
do have numbers on this. I don't have them in
front of me, but it's like Astros the last couple
of years. Man, the like pinch hit ops has to
(22:47):
be very good. And I like that point from you
that this is more flexibility.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
To work with for Joe Spotta in those situations.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Yeah, Buddy texts me earlier and go and goes. So
what does this mean? Does this mean more Cooper Humble
at bats? Does this mean no more Zach Short at bats?
And I said, well, I mean they may still play,
but it's not going to be you know, very much.
The Askers did make a move. They sent Shay Whitcomb
back down to Triple A. But you know, Dana Brown
broke the news said, hey, Jeremy Pany is going to
get on a plane. He's coming back to rejoin us
(23:17):
in Boston.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
And you know.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Spencer Arraghetti making a start in sugar Land. I'm lost
in a days what Thursday night if all goes well there,
the thought is he's going to rejoin the team and
could be starting next week in Dykin Park, rejoining the
big league club. And behind him you've got Christian Javier,
Luis Garcia, JP Frantz, all those guys are continuing their
rehabs and so you know, look, they tried to get
(23:42):
Dylan Ceese. Their name was thrown around on Sandy Alcantara
for the Marlins as well, and the Dylan Sea Steele
came down to the wire. I mean, this thing was
it looked like it was going to happen. All these
other teams were starting to sign other guys. In fact,
the Padres even went out and traded for what was it,
to Cortes, and all the dominoes were falling, and it
(24:04):
felt like the Astros were going to get it done.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
They didn't get it done.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
But ross we find out from Bob Nightingale what the
Padres were asking. They were asking for, according to Nightingale,
starter Spencer Arraghatty and three prospects in return for a
Dylan Ceiese who was a rental. He was going to
be a free agent at the end of this year.
So to me, I think all Astros fans collectively said
(24:27):
not only no, but hell no. And we appreciate Dana
Brown and not pulling the trigger on that one.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, pretty crazy. When I saw that report, I was like, really,
I guess one of the comments was like, you missed
one percent of the shots you don't take, So that's
pretty funny.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
But yeah, there's there's no way.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
And I just wonder kind of where that report came from,
because then I think even anybody reading that from anywhere
around baseball knows that that's that's a deal that has
no chance of being accepted by the especially on the
Astros side.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Of course, Yeah, no doubt so again, and you know,
their names were coming up in a lot of different
pieces and it was just good to see, right, I mean,
all the talk from a couple of weeks ago, that
maybe the Astros aren't going to be very active at
the trade deadline because of all they've lost and maybe
not having a ton of pieces.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
Don't ever be duped. I mean, it's just because.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
You don't have a lot of top prospects doesn't mean
you can't get in on it. I mean, let's be honest.
So what was the guy's name again, Malusky or whatever.
You know, there are guys in the system that can
get deals done. So you know, we do big farewell
to Ryan Gusto. Did like him, you know, actually interviewed
him a couple weeks ago on our pregame show and
had his best start of the season his last time out.
(25:39):
But you know, look again, the reinforcements are coming, and
who knows what you're going to have in Javier or
GP France or Luis Garcia when they do get back.
But at least you have options now, right, I mean,
And then on top of it, Brandon Walter is probably
going to be back in three weeks, like Dana Brown said,
and then who.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Knows on Lance mccollors.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
At least now you have a little flexibility, rouss that
you're not leaning on just five guys. You have some
options where Okay, if one guy's not ready or another
guy's not great, you can fall back on one or
two other guys.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And that was if we kind of thought talked about
that as possibly being an approach if you weren't able
to land a starting pitcher that you got to say.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Well, you gotta hope and wish that a couple of.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
These guys are going to be solid and you're not
gonna get any setbacks. But that's you know, even if
you trade for somebody, well, if you trade for Dylan Season,
all of a sudden he gets elbow inflammation, there's there's
no guarantees anywhere, especially with the nature of pitching injuries
and the way that they have been So I'm certainly okay,
it's not ideal, but we heard what the Padres were
(26:44):
asking for for Dylan Ce. So planning on a couple
of these guys and going with the best one two
punch in baseball, I will I will still say from
er Valdez and an Hunter Brown, whatever order you want
to put him in.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
If you're in like a Detroit series, they are pretty
left handed, So if you might want to go with
Farmer in Game one and a potential series there. But
we'll come to these bridges when we cross them. But
one two punch whenever or do you want to put them,
that's the best in baseball. A couple of guys behind
them who are pretty good and can be good, and
the bullpen.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
The way that it is, and then these hitters.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
I'm feeling pretty good about the Astros' chances to win
an American League.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Pennan I am too.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
And look, we could be here all night breaking down
the pieces of what the other teams did. We should
just mention, at least in the division, that the Rangers
not being sellers going out and getting Merrill Kelly and
saying we're going for this thing. The Orioles going out
and adding the big bats that they did. You know,
obviously they want to be still super aggressive. So everybody added,
(27:45):
I mean, the Yankees added. It's like all the teams
that are fighting for those ale playoff spots all added
and got tougher. So look, the Astros can't just rest
on their laurels. They got to go out there and
battle and fight still. But the good news is they
still have that lead in the division, and they got
better today. The twenty twenty five Astros got better today
and so hopefully this takes them over the top. Any
(28:09):
closing thoughts post trade deadline here, Ross, I'm actually here
up in Boston and we'll get to see Carlos great
in person, as I'm sure he'll meet with the media
and they'll talk a little bit more about the reunion here.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
No, I think just overall beautiful job.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Kudos to Dana Brown for what he was able to
do and getting these deals done. Of course, kudos to
Jim Crane for giving the green light to going into
the tax threshold again with the Carlos Korea deal. And
I just both those guys and making these deals. And really,
as we talked about not giving much of anything, the
(28:46):
team is more deep, the team is better.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You're hoping to bank.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
On a couple of these pitchers and Jordan Alvarez, and
we know Pinion is going to be back in the
line up very very soon tomorrow as well. I'm feeling
good man, and it starts at champion ship. Success starts
at the top, and the Astro's got a couple of
good guys at the top.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yeah, I'm frankly shocked that they are We're coming into
today and the Astros still have Bryce Matthews and Jacob Melton,
two of their top prospects in the system. Still, it
felt like to get a trade deal done that they
were gonna have to give up at least one of
those guys, and they end up not having to, and
so that's tremendous. Even your top pitching prospects and Miguel
you Loa and aj Bluebaugh. I mean, you know, a
(29:27):
lot of these guys in the system, the catcher, Walter Gannick,
I mean, all these different guys are still in the system.
And that's even with three big additions. So you feel
good about that, and let's go see what the Astros
can do. I saw a great jiff earlier of SpongeBob
and what's the squid word guy looking through the vent
and it said, you know, Alex Bregman at Fenway looking
(29:49):
across the way at Carlos Krayed, I was l TVA
team and back up together. I think it was pretty funny.
And we'll see what the Astros can do. Because the
Red Sox have been playing much better baseball as of late,
and this is still an important series for American League
standings and all that kind of stuff. And you would
like to see the Astros go take two out of
three up in Boston.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yep, just go out there whin some ball games, fight
off the Mariners because they made some really good moves.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
I think it's going to be a tough American League
West race.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
But thankfully the Astros have the five game cushion right
now and hopefully that'll be enough to see what it
maybe does get.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Close down the stretch that that that will see them through.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
All right, that's going to do it for this edition
of the Crawford Box Cast. Remember to head over to
Krabrock Brewing check out all the great things they've got
going on there. Just got my Hill Country T shirt
in for making a donation to that great cause. Car
Bock always evolved and great causes and things out in
the community, great concerts, all kinds of stuff always going
on there at Carbock Brewings. And of course when you
(30:48):
watch the Astros, make sure you're grabbing an ice cool
Crawford bochus. You watch Carlos Korea and the twenty twenty
five Astros go for another postseason.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
But for Ross VIIEL, I'm Chris Gordy.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
This has been an all new edition of the Crawford
Box Cast, presented by the Crawford Bach
Astros fans cheers Lucky, Welcome to the Crawford Box Cast.
You Astros proud lean forward for you by Crawford back
from Carmack Brewy. You're getting da bear.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh my godness, The Crawford Bucks Cast starts now Here
we go, Here's Chris Gordy and Ross Via Real.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It is an all new edition of the Crawford Box Cast,
presented by Carbach Brewing and the Crawford Bach. Chris Gordy
and Ross VI Real with you with an instant post
trade deadline reaction as the Astros make not one, not two,
but three new acquisitions, all position players, all guys who
are expected to help this lineup tremendously. They did not
(00:59):
make a trade for a picture that there have been
many reports that they were working on that didn't get
that one done. But the good news is plenty of
injured pictures on their way back rehabbing and we'll be
back very soon. But the headline of the day Carlos
Korea back with the Houston Astros and Ross.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
I know I talked about it earlier in the week.
You had talked.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
About it on the show with Matt Thomas basically saying
we didn't think this was gonna happen. I mean, this
was being rumored about for a couple of weeks, and
I just kept saying, Man, the money, I don't think that.
You know, it would be very uncharacteristic of Jim Crane
to take on a monster contract like that, and you know,
you look at where they are. I just I didn't
think this was gonna happen. But your reaction to the
(01:43):
Astros reuniting with one Carlos.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Korea, Yeah, it's I'm with you, man, I didn't. I
didn't think it was gonna happen, even when it first
got floated out, and then there were the follow up
reports from guys like Jeff Passing Chandler Rome saying that
the deal is basically.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Dead, not gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I resigned myself to that the deal was basically out
the window, and when you kind of thought about it logistically,
it didn't really make a whole lot of sense. The
Astros wanting to stay under the tax for a second year,
with the fact that he's under contract for three more years.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
After this one.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Then you have the log jam, I suppose in the infield,
when everybody's healthy come next year with Escock Paradis, Where
does he play? Do you shift him somewhere else? Is
either of Jeremy Pane or Carlos Korea gonna play second?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Because I just.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Don't feel like Estock Paradis has got the movement to
play second base in an interior infield position.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
And so all these question.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Marks and reasons not to do it, and the reports
all kind of rolled into one to say, this Carlos
Korea deal is not happening. He's not coming back. It's
pure fantasy. And then boom. That's the beauty of the
trade deadline in baseball in general. That's also the bey
of what we've kind of seen from this Astros regime.
(03:04):
I would say at the helm of Jim Crane, you know,
with various general managers at different times, but the swinging
of the fences, the damn deport torpedoes. We don't care
about going into your tax. We want to win championships.
And we've seen it time and time again, and for
whatever reason, like I did a couple of days ago
(03:24):
or even yesterday, I'm doubting that Jim Crane's willing to
do this and that and going to the tax a
second time. And he said, screw all that, We're going
for it. Carlos, Korea is back. The prodigal sun has returned.
The guy who is I mean, as emblematic of this
Astros turnaround as anybody with being that number one, number
(03:45):
one that did the fruit borne from that.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Horrible tanking era.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
That came up and won a World Series here in
twenty seventeen. He's back here. They're going forward again. Didn't
think it would happen. We'll see about the result on
the field, but the Astros and Jim Crane are daring
to be great again and it's exciting.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
It is exciting, and to kind of touch on some
of the specifics surrounding this thing, the Astros, at least
from Chandler Rome's article, the Koreas were waiving his no
trade clause, the Astros will absorb a good bit of
the ninety six million dollar guaranteed to Korea for the
next two seasons, and it sounds like at least what
(04:30):
for the most part, the Astros are gonna the Twins
are gonna pet cover thirty three million of that, so
the Astros will still be on the hook for you know,
sixty million of that sixty million plus of that deal.
The crazier part ross was we heard he was traded
it and I think Chandler and a few other people
put out there he was traded for a prospect, and
(04:51):
we didn't really know, like the it took forever for
the details to come out on who that prospect was,
and my inclination was, oh, I guess it must be
Jacob Melton or something, because they ended up trading for
another outfielder. We'll get to that in a second, but
it comes out that it's a what like a twenty
six year old high aid pitcher, Milicek or whatever his
(05:13):
name is. I'm pull up here in a second, but like
that to me was the most mind boggling. I mean,
this was just a fire sale from the Twins trying
to shed as much salary as possible because with what
they got in return, it makes no sense.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm with you, Like it doesn't
make sense on its face, but when you factor in,
as you mentioned, trying to shed payroll, the Twins giving
up money, and the fact that Carlos Korea could hold
them hostage with his no trade clause to.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Kind of gain some leverage. I mean, that's why there
is the ten to five role.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
That's where there is guys who signed contracts with these
no trade clauses. It gives you a lot of leverage
and it can limit the amount of teams that they're
able to deal with.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
And the clearly the.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Twins desperate to at any cost unload this payroll since
they're trying to sell the team and keep costs down,
and they shed a ton of payroll elsewhere as they
were huge sellers at this deadline.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
So Carls Carrea holding them hostage.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
You add it all up coming back here, you added
with Jim Crane willing to pay the money, It is
kind of difficult to wrap your head around.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
At first, but then that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
And that's all those reasons you mentioned or why I
didn't think it was gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
But when you think about it.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, Carlos Correa could have chosen basically where he wanted
to go. Obviously wanted to come back in Houston, said
he was comfortable being a third basement here in Houston,
and here he is and it didn't really cost you
much of anything.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Crazy crazy, Yeah, here's the name. Hi a left hander
Matt mcculsky, who is twenty six years old. No Astros
fan anywhere could have told you Matt mcculsky's name and
where he was.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
In the system.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
So yeah, it's I mean, this is a straight up
Jim Crane deal. I know a lot of people are
you giving Dana Brown as flowers and he deserves a
lot for all these deals pulling them off, But this
was Jim waking up and saying, that's a guy that
was important to our franchise. You know, he walked and
got a big deal elsewhere, And it is what it is.
We've made that decision as an organization, but I think
(07:11):
somebody kind of broke it down earlier, as this is
basically like the Astros are getting Carlos Krayon like a
three and a half year deal for I forget what
they said, like six seventy million basically, So it's it's
again Ross, It's crazy. It falls in line with those
deals that the Astros do, the four to five year deals.
They're willing to go high money, but they want they
(07:33):
don't want to go more than those five years, and
so it's so funny. It's like it all comes back
full circle. You get Korea still with hopefully some really
good years still left in him, and you still don't
have to give up that eight to nine ten year deal.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
It's just funny and how it works.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
And you wonder if maybe you know that happens down
the road with a Kyle Tucker or somebody like that's
up back here again, you know, just because they don't
want to give out that big deal. But it is
interesting too. Did confirm I think it was Mark finesand
or one of those guys out there said Korea is
going to play third base.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Cray did talk to Brian McTaggart earlier in the day
and said that he's fine with that. He understands this
point in his career where he is age wise, he's
going to play third base. And the Astros have all
but said, I mean, they have not officially announced it,
but Dana Brown said, you know, it's been bad news
on the escoch Paradus front.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Escoc Paradus is not going.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
To come back this year, so and I know some
national people have said, you know, he's he's out.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
That hamstring injury is too serious. So it kind of
works out poetically.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Jermy Pania is now on a flight here to Boston
to rejoin the team.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
He is going to be.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Activated on a Friday, so for the first time, I
assume they'll they'll plug Karrey in the lineup on Friday,
if not by Saturday. But it will be wild ross
to see the replacement the guy who replaced Carlos Krat
shortstop as the Astros franchise franchise shortstop will be playing
alongside the guy who was his previous predecessor, Carlos Kray
on the infield.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, that's pretty wild stuff in the first place. And yeah,
I'm glad we can talk about the on field stuff
and the fit and we can talk about it the
fit in the future. But yeah, right now he plugs
in as your third baseman. It is interesting and honestly,
you could make the joke. Yeah, Jim Crane not willing
to put those long deals, but they'll pay. He'll pay
the back indo those deals when guys are into decline,
(09:21):
because the honest assessment is that obviously Jose Brady was
a bad deal. Christian Walker right now, Unfortunately, although we've
seen some signs of life from end of the plate
in the last month, hasn't been a good deal for
the Astros and the reality is on the field right now.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Carlskra has been about an average Major leaguer.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I mean, he's got three hundred and sixty four played appearances,
he's only got seven home runs. His ops plus where
league averages one hundred is ninety two. And now you're
thinking he's gonna be pretty good though over at third
base because, as you know, Gordy, one of his great
strengths at shortstop has been that rocket accurate arm, and
of course that's gonna play at third base actually, where
(10:00):
you don't have to be as rangey.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
So I expect him to.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Be a plus defensive player at shortstop. What I'm wondering
is what's what's been going on with him at the plate.
And you know, maybe need we to ask Minnesota Twins people,
but he's kind of yo yoed up and down the
last couple of years in terms of production at the plate.
So hopefully this can kind of galvanize him or be
a shot in the arm or whatever cliche you want
to use, because he's not been good at the plate
(10:24):
this year. That's going to have to improve. We know,
I like I said, I think the defense is going
to be good. Well, you know, the leadership is going
to be good, but I'm gonna want to see some
more from him at the plate. If this deal, if
you're paying him thirty plus million dollars a year, you're
gonna need to see that well.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
And you wonder if maybe being back home, you know,
where he's comfortable. And I say home, and that's the
place where he started his career. His wife is from here.
They already you know, talked about it being back here
near her parents with the kids and all that kind
of stuff. I mean, maybe just familiarity and being back
where you're comfortable. And maybe hosel Tu gets under him
(11:01):
and says, hey, man, let's go. I know you weren't
the greatest in Minnesota, but let's find that Corea that
was crushing here in Houston a couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I mean, that's just the hope is he can give
you some timely hitting. Look, he told mc taggert, we're
still chasing championships. I mean, I'm coming back to Houston.
Our goal is to win a championships, So, you know,
can he be that leader? And I think that's you know,
maybe he's not the guy who's going to hit a
ton of clutch home runs and all that. But I
think anything, you'd at least get that clubhouse leader that
(11:29):
could come in and galvanize the guys, you know, getting
your Fromber's face when he needs it.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
And maybe maybe it's the guy that comes along.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
He gets in the clubhouse, clubhouse speaks Spanish and good
on Alvaz and goes, hey, man, what's up with the hand?
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Goes oh, information, and he goes, get your ass back
out there.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
I mean, right, I think that's what this team needs,
is is a Carlos Creator to be that vocal leader,
because he certainly was before he left.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know how much that matters
to the bottom line. Certainly it didn't when they let
Alex Bregman go and and you know, so Carlos karay
in the first place, letting him go.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
But yeah, there is going to be an element of
like game planning and doing all the little.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Things the intangibles with baseball.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
And he did get in Frommer's face.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
What was that like twenty twenty playoffs against Oakland or
something like that, and we've seen that type of leadership
from him before. I don't know how much that's going
to matter at the end of the day. But he
has had some bad luck when you look at like
his XBA numbers and expected slug numbers and stuff like that.
So hopefully that can turn around. Maybe he's going to
be more comfortable at dyk In Park, whatever it is,
(12:35):
because as I said, he's just been kind of yogoing.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Up and down at the plate. He's now thirty years old.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
We know, of course about the leg issue that it
prevented him from being signed with what the San Francisco
Giants or whatever it was. We know that he's had
some back issues here and there. Now thirty years old,
gonna be thirty one pretty soon here.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So I'm more than anything, I'm intrigued. I like the move.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I think it's great. Didn't cost you much. It's not
my money, it's Jim Crane's money. To desak Paratus effectively
out for the year. They haven't announced that, but we
all know the writing is on the wall there.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
So it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Man.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I'm gonna be.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Having a ball.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Carlos Karray is back here in Houston wearing an Astro's uniform.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
How's it gonna play out?
Speaker 2 (13:14):
This is why you and I get in this business
gordies for moments like this and kind of wait and
see and be around for these moments to see how
this is all gonna play out with the Astros still
five games ahead in the American League west of the
of the Seattle Mariners, who of course made their own
moves well.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
And the best part of it is too you get
to bring back your Carlos Kray impressions.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
So hopefully so get to hear that on seven nineties.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I had to work on it a little bit. Haven't
done it in a while.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I tweeted this out. It's half joking, but I'm serious.
How many times I'm tweeting from our seven ninety account
during a game and something good happens and I go
to the archive, you know jiffs on Twitter looking for
a good Astros jiff And how many of former Correa
ones have to scroll pass because he's not an Astro anymore.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
I got to use those again. Maybe, Yeah, that's fun Twitter.
They don't update him very often.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
There's still a bunch of George Springer and Josh Reddick
jiffs out there.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
But at least we can update those real quick.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
When I'm rounding you guys ysers, We'll be back home
next week. It'll be a lot of fun with Carlos
Kraa back at the ballpark, and hopefully you guys grab
some ice cold Crawford box from our friends at Carbok Brewing.
Was out at the ballpark a couple of days last week,
had some Crawford Box. I'm telling you, it just goes
better watching the Astros enjoying at Crawford Bock. Maybe not
so much the game I was at Friday night when
(14:35):
the Astros lost whatever, that was like sixteen to three.
That wasn't as fun. But it is a lot more
fun when you're having a Crawford Bock watching your Astros
at home. So grab a Crawford box from our friends
at Carbock Brewing and let's watch Carlscray is an Astro
all right.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
Ross the other moves that went.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Down, this one took place to night before the trade deadline,
the Astros acquired infielder Ramon Jorias the Baltimore Orioles in
exchange for minor league right hand or Twine Palmer. Again,
you got to be big up on the Astros farm
system to know Twine Palmer. Palmer did not know we
had a guy named twine, but Urias is thirty one
(15:14):
years old.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Not the best. Like if you're just looking at.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Averages, which you say this all the time, batting average
is not, you know, the measuring stick of modern day baseball.
But hitting two forty eight this year, twelve doubles, eight homers,
thirty four ribies in seventy seven games. Played a lot
at third base, primarily this year, making sixty six starts.
Has appeared in games at first base, second base, and
third base. So he was an American League Gold Glove
(15:39):
winner at third base in twenty twenty two. So this
guy's gonna bring some plus defense. And this is I mean,
it's it's almost scary ross Like Dubond was kind of
your ultimate utility man, and now you get a second
utility man.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Man.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
It gives god, it gives you a lot more options
than having to start up Cooper Hummel or a Zach Short.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, this really was and we'll go through the next
deal as well. This is really a great job by
Dana Brown shoring it up, not paying a whole lot,
getting guys who are at least I don't want to
say warm bodies better than warm bodies who are above
replacement level where you don't have to kind of trot
out those guys that you were talking about who aren't
going to be long for the roster, and we knew that.
Then you also can hopefully get Jeremy Pania back, when
(16:21):
you're gonna get Jeremy Paania back very very soon, and
then jord On Alvarez hopefully comes back, and you add
in these guys and what Urius is supposed to do
as far as a I mean, you look at their
offensive numbers are actually Dubon is better, but for a
major league track record, Ureus is better than Mauricio Dubon,
but still, as you said, the versatility. Adding it a
(16:44):
guy who is an actual, credentialed Major leaguer who has
won a Gold Glove.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I'm excited about this move. It's not like, you know, it's.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
An earth shattering or anything like that, but as far
as a depth piece, definitely the type of move that.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Dana Brown needed to make. It didn't cost you much.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
Yeah, it didn't cost much.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
Like we said, you end up giving away Twine Palmer,
so you get you get Gurias and correct me if
I'm wrong. He's still got another year of control, right,
So it's not. This isn't just a rental. This is
the guy who will be here for a little bit.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yes, I think it is. I guess I can go.
I should know this. I believe he's under control for
this year and next.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah, at least at least that So that's.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Free age of twenty twenty seven, so that means he's
under control for this year end next.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
There you go. Love it. And so that's a nice piece.
So when they made that.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
Trade Ross, initially, I'm going, well, all right, that's your
third basement and he can kind of platoon there and
maybe him and du Bond and whoever. Well, then you
make the move for Korea, and they all but say
Korea is going to be your third basement. So now
you kind of wonder, all right, where's he gonna go.
I think it's just gonna provide a lot more depth. Yeah,
and that brings us to the third trade that they
(17:56):
make and acquiring Jesus Sanchez the right field from the
Miami Marlins, a guy who's played six years in the league,
all with the Marlins. Again, same thing of a career,
two forty three average guy, but has a little bit
of pop, you know. Five straight seasons of double digit
home runs. So he's got that, you know, career slugging
(18:17):
four to twenty six career OPI has seven thirty six.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Now I think it's gonna blow you away.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
But it is the left handed bat that Dana Brown
had been seeking. And again, it doesn't break the bank.
You end up giving in exchange Ryan Gusto, who was
a piece of this rotation that you really liked.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
They were very high on, uh, and then they.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Give away minor leaguer Chase Jaworski and minor league outfielder
as esmil Valencia. But obviously Gusto is the big piece here,
and again another piece in Jesu Sanchez. This isn't just
a rental. This is a guy that's got another year
of arbitration. So, you know, Dana kind of we talked
with him on the Zoom call earlier. He said that
(18:56):
he thinks he's gonna play a lot of left field
and brought up Cam Smith's name, basically saying cam Smith
is going to stay in right field. He is a
right fielder, but you know, they may slide Sanchez over
to right for you know, to give him a break
at times. And then he did mention Altuve playing a
lot more back at second base, because if this guy's
if Sancho is coming in and playing a lot of left,
(19:18):
then Altove can't play left anymore. So the pieces all
kind of fall into one another, ross kind of going
around the diamond. It's you know, janar Diez slash Victor
Cart behind home plate. It's you know, Christian Walker at first,
Altuve at second, Paying at short, and Korea at third.
You just kind of hope that, you know, maybe that
(19:38):
that defensive Krea slash Ureus at third can make up
from some of the lacking defense that Altuve has at
times at second. But this kind of helps solidify this
roster in adding Hazu Sanchez to the outfield.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Yeah, great, great to see this the lefty bat. As
you mentioned the depth piece the outfield. I mean you
just as you mentioned, like you.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Get Urius, you get Korea, and I think Urius was
kind of.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
An insurance policy, like make sure you make this move
in case you couldn't get Korea and whatever eyes needed
to be dotted and T's cross as well for that.
And then you get the Sanchez and then if you
look at his he's gonna be a platoon bat against lefties.
You brought up his overall numbers, which you're okay against
Against lefties, he got a seven ninety seven to ninety
one career ops. So that's pretty good. So I mean, sorry, sorry,
(20:26):
I'm sorry. As a lefty against righty's, I should say so. Yeah,
against righty's, which they're gonna face the majority of the time,
he's got a seven ninety one ops.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
That's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
That's somebody who can spick, you know, stick a six
seventh eighth in the lineup or whatever, and and feel
pretty good about it. Sixty of his sixty nine career
home runs coming against righty's as opposed against lefties. So
you got a good platoon outfield bat, and you got
Carlos Korea, as you mentioned, bringing the leadership. Hopefully his
bat can wake up and get close to where it
was last year and then eureus as well.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I'm feeling pretty.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Good, man.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
We also never know how guys respawn right. I mean,
you know, you end up on a really good team.
Sometimes that wakes guys up and they start playing above
their head. I will say, looking at some of the
numbers from Urias and Sanchez, seems like they both were
playing some of their better baseball as of late. At
least I think both guys hit home runs and one
of their last games they played in their respective spots,
(21:20):
So you like that coming over. So yeah, it's again,
these aren't like home run you know, headline moves in
adding Guias and Sanchez, but quality depth. And that's the
other thing ross too, is how many times late in
a game you have to pinch hit and you bring
the guy off the bench.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
And this has.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Happened a lot the last two years for the Astros.
They're bringing up young guys that have, like you know,
less than fifty at bats. They're being asked to, hey,
we need you to come through in a big spot.
And I've always said, where's the veteran, Where's the guy that's,
you know, got a thousand of bats under his belt
that can go out there and at least give you
a pinch hit. Well, now you have that in Eureas
and Sanchez. If those guys aren't start in a game,
(22:01):
them combined with dubond or quality bat off the bench
as opposed to a I don't know, you know, like
I said, a Jacob Melton who's just getting his feet
wet or some of these other guys have not played
a ton of major league games.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
It just makes more sense.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
To bring a quality bench bat, you know, who's seen
a lot of big league pitching as opposed to a
guy who's very inexperienced.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I think that's a really good point. It's just more
tools in the toolbox for Joe A.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Spotta, who I feel like these two years as an
Astro's manager, he's been fantastic as picking pinch hitters and
putting guys, whether it be Kartini or even the straight
like Cooper Humble or whoever. Like, it feels like they
do have numbers on this. I don't have them in
front of me, but it's like Astros the last couple
of years. Man, the like pinch hit ops has to
(22:47):
be very good. And I like that point from you
that this is more flexibility.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
To work with for Joe Spotta in those situations.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Yeah, Buddy texts me earlier and go and goes. So
what does this mean? Does this mean more Cooper Humble
at bats? Does this mean no more Zach Short at bats?
And I said, well, I mean they may still play,
but it's not going to be you know, very much.
The Askers did make a move. They sent Shay Whitcomb
back down to Triple A. But you know, Dana Brown
broke the news said, hey, Jeremy Pany is going to
get on a plane. He's coming back to rejoin us
(23:17):
in Boston.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
And you know.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Spencer Arraghetti making a start in sugar Land. I'm lost
in a days what Thursday night if all goes well there,
the thought is he's going to rejoin the team and
could be starting next week in Dykin Park, rejoining the
big league club. And behind him you've got Christian Javier,
Luis Garcia, JP Frantz, all those guys are continuing their
rehabs and so you know, look, they tried to get
(23:42):
Dylan Ceese. Their name was thrown around on Sandy Alcantara
for the Marlins as well, and the Dylan Sea Steele
came down to the wire. I mean, this thing was
it looked like it was going to happen. All these
other teams were starting to sign other guys. In fact,
the Padres even went out and traded for what was it,
to Cortes, and all the dominoes were falling, and it
(24:04):
felt like the Astros were going to get it done.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
They didn't get it done.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
But ross we find out from Bob Nightingale what the
Padres were asking. They were asking for, according to Nightingale,
starter Spencer Arraghatty and three prospects in return for a
Dylan Ceiese who was a rental. He was going to
be a free agent at the end of this year.
So to me, I think all Astros fans collectively said
(24:27):
not only no, but hell no. And we appreciate Dana
Brown and not pulling the trigger on that one.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, pretty crazy. When I saw that report, I was like, really,
I guess one of the comments was like, you missed
one percent of the shots you don't take, So that's
pretty funny.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
But yeah, there's there's no way.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
And I just wonder kind of where that report came from,
because then I think even anybody reading that from anywhere
around baseball knows that that's that's a deal that has
no chance of being accepted by the especially on the
Astros side.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Of course, Yeah, no doubt so again, and you know,
their names were coming up in a lot of different
pieces and it was just good to see, right, I mean,
all the talk from a couple of weeks ago, that
maybe the Astros aren't going to be very active at
the trade deadline because of all they've lost and maybe
not having a ton of pieces.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
Don't ever be duped. I mean, it's just because.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
You don't have a lot of top prospects doesn't mean
you can't get in on it. I mean, let's be honest.
So what was the guy's name again, Malusky or whatever.
You know, there are guys in the system that can
get deals done. So you know, we do big farewell
to Ryan Gusto. Did like him, you know, actually interviewed
him a couple weeks ago on our pregame show and
had his best start of the season his last time out.
(25:39):
But you know, look again, the reinforcements are coming, and
who knows what you're going to have in Javier or
GP France or Luis Garcia when they do get back.
But at least you have options now, right, I mean,
And then on top of it, Brandon Walter is probably
going to be back in three weeks, like Dana Brown said,
and then who.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Knows on Lance mccollors.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
At least now you have a little flexibility, rouss that
you're not leaning on just five guys. You have some
options where Okay, if one guy's not ready or another
guy's not great, you can fall back on one or
two other guys.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And that was if we kind of thought talked about
that as possibly being an approach if you weren't able
to land a starting pitcher that you got to say.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Well, you gotta hope and wish that a couple of.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
These guys are going to be solid and you're not
gonna get any setbacks. But that's you know, even if
you trade for somebody, well, if you trade for Dylan Season,
all of a sudden he gets elbow inflammation, there's there's
no guarantees anywhere, especially with the nature of pitching injuries
and the way that they have been So I'm certainly okay,
it's not ideal, but we heard what the Padres were
(26:44):
asking for for Dylan Ce. So planning on a couple
of these guys and going with the best one two
punch in baseball, I will I will still say from
er Valdez and an Hunter Brown, whatever order you want
to put him in.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
If you're in like a Detroit series, they are pretty
left handed, So if you might want to go with
Farmer in Game one and a potential series there. But
we'll come to these bridges when we cross them. But
one two punch whenever or do you want to put them,
that's the best in baseball. A couple of guys behind
them who are pretty good and can be good, and
the bullpen.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
The way that it is, and then these hitters.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
I'm feeling pretty good about the Astros' chances to win
an American League.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Pennan I am too.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
And look, we could be here all night breaking down
the pieces of what the other teams did. We should
just mention, at least in the division, that the Rangers
not being sellers going out and getting Merrill Kelly and
saying we're going for this thing. The Orioles going out
and adding the big bats that they did. You know,
obviously they want to be still super aggressive. So everybody added,
(27:45):
I mean, the Yankees added. It's like all the teams
that are fighting for those ale playoff spots all added
and got tougher. So look, the Astros can't just rest
on their laurels. They got to go out there and
battle and fight still. But the good news is they
still have that lead in the division, and they got
better today. The twenty twenty five Astros got better today
and so hopefully this takes them over the top. Any
(28:09):
closing thoughts post trade deadline here, Ross, I'm actually here
up in Boston and we'll get to see Carlos great
in person, as I'm sure he'll meet with the media
and they'll talk a little bit more about the reunion here.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
No, I think just overall beautiful job.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Kudos to Dana Brown for what he was able to
do and getting these deals done. Of course, kudos to
Jim Crane for giving the green light to going into
the tax threshold again with the Carlos Korea deal. And
I just both those guys and making these deals. And really,
as we talked about not giving much of anything, the
(28:46):
team is more deep, the team is better.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
You're hoping to bank.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
On a couple of these pitchers and Jordan Alvarez, and
we know Pinion is going to be back in the
line up very very soon tomorrow as well. I'm feeling
good man, and it starts at champion ship. Success starts
at the top, and the Astro's got a couple of
good guys at the top.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yeah, I'm frankly shocked that they are We're coming into
today and the Astros still have Bryce Matthews and Jacob Melton,
two of their top prospects in the system. Still, it
felt like to get a trade deal done that they
were gonna have to give up at least one of
those guys, and they end up not having to, and
so that's tremendous. Even your top pitching prospects and Miguel
you Loa and aj Bluebaugh. I mean, you know, a
(29:27):
lot of these guys in the system, the catcher, Walter Gannick,
I mean, all these different guys are still in the system.
And that's even with three big additions. So you feel
good about that, and let's go see what the Astros
can do. I saw a great jiff earlier of SpongeBob
and what's the squid word guy looking through the vent
and it said, you know, Alex Bregman at Fenway looking
(29:49):
across the way at Carlos Krayed, I was l TVA
team and back up together. I think it was pretty funny.
And we'll see what the Astros can do. Because the
Red Sox have been playing much better baseball as of late,
and this is still an important series for American League
standings and all that kind of stuff. And you would
like to see the Astros go take two out of
three up in Boston.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yep, just go out there whin some ball games, fight
off the Mariners because they made some really good moves.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
I think it's going to be a tough American League
West race.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
But thankfully the Astros have the five game cushion right
now and hopefully that'll be enough to see what it
maybe does get.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Close down the stretch that that that will see them through.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
All right, that's going to do it for this edition
of the Crawford Box Cast. Remember to head over to
Krabrock Brewing check out all the great things they've got
going on there. Just got my Hill Country T shirt
in for making a donation to that great cause. Car
Bock always evolved and great causes and things out in
the community, great concerts, all kinds of stuff always going
on there at Carbock Brewings. And of course when you
(30:48):
watch the Astros, make sure you're grabbing an ice cool
Crawford bochus. You watch Carlos Korea and the twenty twenty
five Astros go for another postseason.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
But for Ross VIIEL, I'm Chris Gordy.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
This has been an all new edition of the Crawford
Box Cast, presented by the Crawford Bach
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