Farmer1906 said:

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MaxPower said:

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The Red Sox have expressed interest in trading for Isaac Paredes, per @Ken_Rosenthal

Houston is seeking controllable starting pitching in return, with interest in Payton Tolle or Connelly Early. pic.twitter.com/drp5p5XLGO

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) December 9, 2025

I'd love to get Tolle, highly controllable and ace upside.

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Fenway makes a ton of sense for Isaac.

But the only way it makes sense for Houston is if, 1. We have to believe he's ready to be a top-half-of-the-rotation arm in 2026 2. We're confident we can land another big offensive piece (Lowe, Donovan, Tucker, Belli, etc)

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MaxPower said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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MaxPower said:

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The Red Sox have expressed interest in trading for Isaac Paredes, per @Ken_Rosenthal

Houston is seeking controllable starting pitching in return, with interest in Payton Tolle or Connelly Early. pic.twitter.com/drp5p5XLGO

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) December 9, 2025

I'd love to get Tolle, highly controllable and ace upside.

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Fenway makes a ton of sense for Isaac.

But the only way it makes sense for Houston is if, 1. We have to believe he's ready to be a top-half-of-the-rotation arm in 2026 2. We're confident we can land another big offensive piece (Lowe, Donovan, Tucker, Belli, etc)

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I think we need pitching more than hitting and right now we have a logjam in the infield that needs to be solved. Yes we would all prefer to trade Walker for Skubal but we have to be realistic with our options. Payroll is another issue so getting a mid rotation guy with ace upside on a minimum salary vs paying Isaac $9-10M will make a difference.

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Mets offer on Edwin Diaz was three years, $66 million (room for more) with some modest deferrals, as @Joelsherman1 first reported. https://t.co/9DHDhMUD0U

— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) December 9, 2025

MaxPower said:

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That's where we probably just differ fundamentally. I'm more interested in some long term thinking so continuing to dump prospects to plug holes for a year or two doesn't interest me. I certainly get the rationale, I'm just not a fan of it.

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Mathguy64 said:

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We are at the same place as every other normal franchise that got to the pinnacle and stayed.

At some point the system of high end contracts past the FA window catches up with everyone. Most teams can't keep their own FA core together much past 7-8 years. It's just too expensive.

The only teams that can are teams like LAD who just bought their way through that ceiling. LAD, NYY, NYM, now I think TOR are going to try it. They all just said "we don't care about the implications to the CBT"

We are CBT limited. As much as Crane says to spend, really and truly the team is limited by the caps in the CBT, both tax caps and draft penalties.

If you are willing to let those go, you can keep your team together.

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The three clubs will remain affiliates of the Astros and continue to be guided by their existing local leadership, including GM Tyler Stamm in Sugar Land, GM Brady Ballard in Corpus Christi and GM Michelle Skinner in Fayetteville. https://t.co/ZTDRJ8FI1S

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 9, 2025

Farmer1906 said:

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I think yall are selling Crane short here. He has shown he's willing to go into the tax at the deadline when the right deal or player comes along. He's willing to extend current players and go sign free agents. The only knock on Crane is that he's unwilling to do the long-term deal so we're excluded from the mega stars. We are also excluded from the mega boat anchors (the Rendons, Pujols, Boegarts, Manny, etc type deals)

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wangus12 said:

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CFTXAG10 said:

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The three clubs will remain affiliates of the Astros and continue to be guided by their existing local leadership, including GM Tyler Stamm in Sugar Land, GM Brady Ballard in Corpus Christi and GM Michelle Skinner in Fayetteville. https://t.co/ZTDRJ8FI1S

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 9, 2025

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I hate this with a passion

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The Los Angeles Angels are acquiring infielder Vaughn Grissom in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, sources tell ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 9, 2025

Quote:

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This just means that they're gonna nickel and dime the hell out of those teams, which will lead to less favorable conditions for the players and their development.

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txags92 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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We are at the same place as every other normal franchise that got to the pinnacle and stayed.

At some point the system of high end contracts past the FA window catches up with everyone. Most teams can't keep their own FA core together much past 7-8 years. It's just too expensive.

The only teams that can are teams like LAD who just bought their way through that ceiling. LAD, NYY, NYM, now I think TOR are going to try it. They all just said "we don't care about the implications to the CBT"

We are CBT limited. As much as Crane says to spend, really and truly the team is limited by the caps in the CBT, both tax caps and draft penalties.

If you are willing to let those go, you can keep your team together.

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We didn't get to the WS multiple times and build a nearly decade long dynasty with big spending and trying to outbid the LAD for FAs. We got there by stockpiling draft picks and prospects and doing so took some hard trades (emotionally) and some terrible baseball teams on the field. Trying to revive that with big spending on FAs now is not the answer.

On the other hand, I think Crane is going to keep buying boxes of bandaids as long as the stands stay full and the team is at least marginally competitive. When folks stop buying tickets and the team lingers in the middle of the pack for a season or two, I think Crane will finally come to his senses and put us back on the full rebuild path.

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jkag89 said:

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Stumbled across this video about the 1980 NLCS. I was devastated by both Games 4 & 5.

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Context: both Dana Brown and Joe Espada are in the final years of their contract. Phillies manager Rob Thomson received an extension today, which prompted Brown to be asked whether those discussions are happening with Joe Espada. https://t.co/D8XwMUGNbZ

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) December 9, 2025

Astros GM Dana Brown: "I feel like we're making some progress and that's a good thing. When you get in the neighborhood of feeling like you can get a deal done, that's awesome."

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) December 9, 2025