00:00I don't think B. Scott is saying he would trade Jordan, but you're not opposed to it,
00:06and you think we're in a place where it's crazy season, and it's crazy enough to have that conversation.
00:13Yeah, it's sad enough that that's something that they need to start talking about.
00:17Or, let me put it better, because this is another part of the conversation.
00:21Do we trust the people that are in charge of making those decisions or actually executing those trades?
00:26This would ultimately be a Jim Crane decision, right?
00:29So, I think we're singularly talking about Jim Crane here.
00:33I want to be clear about that.
00:34And I think that's something that Jim Crane himself needs to at least be thinking about,
00:39even if it's something that I don't want to see happen.
00:42I said this earlier.
00:43I'd rather just watch Jordan hit.
00:45I'd rather just watch Hunter Brown pitch, even if they're not going to be good,
00:48even if the team is not going to be good.
00:50But Jim Crane is like his job, and I'm sure he's motivated to not be what they are right now,
00:57which is not good enough.
00:58Listen, I'll be honest.
00:59I could hear, and I know Tyler does not want to hear this.
01:03I could hear and understand, all right, guys, like B. Scott was saying in the last segment,
01:09man, how good are we going to be?
01:12Was that our ceiling?
01:14Going to the first round of the playoffs, not getting a bye, having the three-game wildcard series
01:21and losing to the Tigers in the fashion that we did?
01:24Are we really that much better?
01:25Are we really in a space where we can see ourselves as the Blue Jays were last year in the
01:31World Series
01:31or the Yankees or Rays or whoever right now?
01:34And if not, then let's just start this thing over and let's reel it in and try to go after
01:40young talent
01:41and bring in the next wave, the next Altuves, the next Alex Bregmans, the next George Springers,
01:49the next guys that they did when they were young.
01:54And those, the next, the next group, the next Hunter Browns or whatever.
01:59But I do think that they have, they have enough good players.
02:06Again, I said, I think this year is a wrap, but moving forward, I think they have enough good young
02:13players.
02:13Now this is a big if, if they're healthy.
02:15And that feels like even with this new training staff, you have to look at that differently than you do
02:20other teams.
02:21But if they stay healthy, I think Hunter Brown is shown as a young player entering his prime
02:27as one of the best pitchers in the sport.
02:31Obviously, I don't have to tell you everything about Jordan Alvarez.
02:34If you missed the first segment, Tyler broke it all down about his greatness.
02:39He is quite simply the best hitter in baseball right now.
02:44I think Jeremy Pena, who was a top-10 MVP finisher last year, a young player at shortstop premium position,
02:53is a player above average.
02:56I think Isak Paredes at third base and all-star last year is a player above average.
03:01I think we see young players that look like they have potential to step up in a secondary role,
03:09like a Cam Smith, like a Spencer Arrighetti, the way he is pitching thus far.
03:14Some young guys, we'll see the rest of the way.
03:17Does Bryce Matthews do anything to change your thought process?
03:20Is the Yiner-Diaz thing just really dead?
03:23Maybe.
03:24I just know a year and a half ago he was a Silver Slugger Award finalist
03:28as a top-three hitter in baseball as a catcher.
03:31You have some pieces in which, to me, if you put that and then add to it,
03:39add some real pitching, add maybe another position player that can help this team,
03:46and by the way, not have Dana Brown and his staff be the ones in charge of adding these players
03:52and making this decision instead of spending $18 million on E-Mind.
03:56Maybe that goes somewhere else instead of some of the stuff.
03:58To me, I think they have enough good enough pieces here than you add through trade and free agency
04:06that they can be a team that can be competitive, especially competitive in their division,
04:11and I just don't think the American League has teams running away.
04:15If they decided to say, we're not trading Yordan and all those other pieces
04:19because we do feel like we have a core that we can add to to become competitive again,
04:26that is the route to me why I wouldn't trade Yordan.
04:29It's not just Yordan by himself.
04:31They've got other pieces that they can compete with,
04:34especially when you look at the dynamic around the American League.
04:37There's not the Dodgers, Padres, Braves.
04:42There's not all of the entire National League Central.
04:46There's not all of those teams just working around in the American League, even in the future.
04:51So to me, I don't think they are down enough with the players they have, if healthy,
04:58to just go ahead and punt and just tear this thing all the way down
05:03and start over and whatnot, be competitive for another three or four years, potentially.
05:07I hear you on the pieces, and I heard you lay it out.
05:12I'm just not moved.
05:14I am not moved by that roster that you just put together.
05:18I've watched everybody that you just mentioned,
05:22and they're all respectable players in their own right,
05:25but I've watched all of them play baseball.
05:28I've watched them mostly play baseball together.
05:30Of course, Yordan was hurt for the bulk of last year.
05:32I understand that.
05:33But that, to me, what you just laid out is not good enough.
05:39It's not enough, and I think we've got to start being real about that.
05:44Is it enough to do the thing that you're talking about?
05:48Sure.
05:49Because you're weighing it against an American League that is ultimately inferior,
05:54and you're saying, hey, you can be the best.
05:56You can be the tallest short person.
05:58You can be the best of a mid-American league, which is possible.
06:04Like, they could get better along the margins, or they could have better injury luck,
06:08and things could work in their favor to where they're competitive,
06:12more competitive than they are now in the American League.
06:15But you mentioned the Dodgers.
06:17You mentioned teams that are like teams that are obviously a cut above.
06:22That's what you're ultimately trying to be.
06:25And are you that, I think, is the question?
06:27And how are you going to become – first of all, do you want to be that?
06:30Because I think the Astros have got to ask themselves that question as well as they –
06:33No, that's the fair part to you, Brandon, and Tyler.
06:37That's the fair part of if they want to operate like a mid- to small-market team,
06:44which their payroll doesn't say that, but their actions at times say that.
06:49If they want to operate like that, then the adding of the pieces I'm out on,
06:56then they're not going to add proper pieces.
06:59They're not going to give themselves a chance.
07:01And then this question about who's in charge and who's making the decisions.
07:05Okay, but that's got to be the part.
07:06But that's also a real problem now, though, because, look,
07:11it's either the people that are in charge now, which we don't think –
07:14like we don't think Dana Brown and Joe Spott are going to be around much longer.
07:18No.
07:18Jim Crane, the last time he was left to his own devices –
07:21He went with Jeff Bagwell.
07:23He went with Jeff Bagwell and signed Jose Abreu, and then he hired Dana Brown,
07:28the guy that they're probably not going to keep.
07:31So, like, there's also that part of, okay, look,
07:35Jim Crane is the best owner in Houston sports ever, all right?
07:38But, like, it's now been a while.
07:41Like, we haven't just been introduced to this era of Astros baseball now.
07:45Quietly, this has been building over the last three seasons.
07:48And then you look at the next three seasons, right?
07:51This overlap of the remainder of Jordan's contract and the arbitration eligibility
07:57of your other stars and Hunter Brown and Jeremy Pena.
08:01You've got those guys for another couple of years or so,
08:04just like you got Jordan Alvarez for another couple of years or so.
08:08How much do you have, right?
08:10Like, your best young players are guys that are on the team, right?
08:14Like, what can you get for Cam Smith or Bryce Matthews?
08:19Yeah, I mean, you're going to get them all.
08:21But that's what I'm saying.
08:22It's like the only guys that you would trade are guys that you want to be on the team.
08:26But then you got that question of, is the team good enough?
08:29That's the problem.
08:30Yep.
08:31I'll just say this, Brandon and Tyler.
08:34I can't roll with trading Jordan.
08:39I got to at least let that decision be to whoever.
08:44If I'm Jim Crane, I got to at least let that decision be at least helped made
08:48by the person I bring in to run my team.
08:51Like, I got to at least, like, don't do what you did before.
08:55Just start making major decisions with Jeff Bagwell or Craig Biggio this time
09:03before you bring on a guy.
09:05Because the Jordan trade thing is, obviously, it doesn't.
09:08To me, if you're trading Jordan, that means everybody.
09:10Can I be clear about something, though?
09:11Just as an Astros fan, I would rather be bad with Jordan Alvarez, right?
09:16Like, we're talking about wasting Jordan Alvarez years.
09:19I would rather do that.
09:20Like, I would rather waste his time here in Houston than not have him.
09:25Yeah, than watch him set records with some other squad.
09:28Me, too.
09:28I'd rather do that.
09:29Hunter Brown as well.
09:30I'd rather just waste their time.
09:32Well, no, I mean.
09:33Just selfishly as a fan.
09:35You would rather see the Astros be competitive again as fast as possible.
09:40If I was in charge of doing so, that's why I'm saying, like,
09:42if I'm speaking for Jim Crane, these are things that I would consider.
09:45Since I'm just a dude that watches the Astros.
09:48But also as a fan, I can't guarantee it.
09:50I can't strategize it.
09:51I have no control, right?
09:52And I have no idea who to go get.
09:54Like, I'm not a scout.
09:55So, like, to entertain me, let me just watch Jordan hit bombs.
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