I like Valaika, he’s a great filler during the lean years of this rebuild. As long as he’s not blocking anyone else, I’m fine with him being a regular this year. Rio is what he is at this point so as long as Pat is hot and Rio isn’t, you may be right
Sure. But if you think a player will be a part of your next competitive team (any part, not just a star) why not do that while you are still in full tank mode? Not saying I agree with it, but it is crystal clear that we aren’t in ‘win-now’ mode so that’s what it is. I can respect sticking with a timeline that I you laid out. Like it or not it’s clear there is a plan and a timeline in place.
But for the record I hate service time manipulation and hope the issue is fixed in the new cba.
Can not speak to the truth or falsehood of those specifics, but look at their historically bad W/L records for the tank years. I think you have to at least somewhat concertedly be that bad. And I do know they played service time games with Springer at least to try to synch up his controllable years with their perceived window. So it would not surprise me if there were other such similar instances of players being blocked or held back in favor of firmly below replacement level players.
I don’t think management cares at all who cares right now.
Trust it or not, this is part of the process, which, cheating aside, has proven quite successful in Houston.
Cool! I used to play baseball against his son in little league and then also in HS. Son was a good player, I think he went on to play college ball somewhere.
Totally agree, I had the same thought when I saw him get hit last weekend. The sound it made was painful to hear.
A shame because he has such great energy out there. Get well soon A Hayes!