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Happy Holidays: Holiday Wishlist For An Astros Fan
Holiday Wishlist For an Astros Fan
Happy Holidays from all of us at Climbing Tal's Hill! In the spirit of the holiday season, we've compiled a wishlist of things all Astros fans would love to see. Let us know what we missed in the comments!
5) Sig Mejdal as GM
The Houston Astros are currently operating without a general manager. Since James Click was let go, Jim Crane, Jeff Bagwell, Bill Firkus and others have made the baseball operations decisions. The GM comittee has thus far landed Jose Abreu and re-signed Michael Brantley and Rafael Montero.
That said, they'll need to fill the void at some point. Who better than one of their own? The Astros had been expected to interview Mejdal, current assistant GM for the Baltimore Orioles. Mejdal previously worked for the Astros as one of Jeff Luhnow's lieutenants, before following Mike Elias to Baltimore, where the former Astros front office mates have built one of the best future cores in the game.
The Astros would do well to bring in one of their own that understands the way they function and the ruthless efficiency that has brought them six straight trips to the ALCS, four pennants and two rings. Mejdal is that man. He's responsible for one of the greatest draft classes in MLB history dating back to his time in St. Louis in 2009. He was here for the Astros first ring. And he's helped build a future monster in Baltimore.
If the Astros are looking for a surefire candidate to extend their run, Mejdal is the man for the job.
4) Tequila Sunrise Throwbacks
The greatest uniform in the history of baseball. The Astros have worn various throwbacks over the last couple of seasons, and their recent Space City Nike City Connect jersey touched on the history of these unfiforms.
Why not go beyond just drawing inspiration and wear the actual jerseys themselves? The tequila sunrise jerseys are iconic and would have fans lining up in the team store like they do after a World Series victory. Who wouldn't want to put a Jose Altuve or Alex Bregman throwback next to their Nolan Ryan or J.R. Richard in their closet?
At some point this season, Houston should bust these back out. They wore them back in 2014 against Seattle, but that was for a road game. They should rectify this wrong and wear them in front of their home crowd this year.
3) A fully healthy season from Yordan Alvarez
Lost in the hoopla of Aaron Judge's 62 home run season is what Yordan Alvarez did at the plate in 2022. A quick gander at his Baseball Savant page will ensure nothing is lost. A very, very real case can be made Yordan is the best hitter in the game.
He may not hit for the raw home runs of Judge, but he's definitely the most complete hitter. With the ban on the shift, the numbers he may throw up next season likely won't even be quantifiable. He may very well break baseball.
He played 135 games last year, but battled injury through many of those, and still managed to hit over .300 with an OPS over 1.000. If he can stay healthy and not have his routine base hits taken away by the shift, we may very well see a season in which Yordan hits .315 with 45 home runs and an OPS of 1.100+. We should all be asking for that.
2) Another bullpen arm
The Astros won the World Series last year on the back of a dominant bullpen. They bring it back in its entirety. With the amount of flamethrowers in today's game, and the strain on an arm over 162 games, a team cant never have too many arms.
Houston would do well to add one more. Yes, they'll be getting Blake Taylor back from injury, but if they can add a dominant lefty, they should capitalize on the chance to do so.
We broke down some candidates for the role yesterday. Andrew Chafin and Lucas Luetge especially could make this bullpen even more untouchable. If the Astros can land another wipeout reliever, this offseason is a total win.
1) A utility player
From successful ones like Marwin Gonzalez and Aledmys Diaz, to failed experiments like Niko Goodrum and Mauricio Dubon, the utility player has been a staple of the Astros for the last decade.
Houston needs to add another for next year. David Hensley can wear many hats, but with the potential for injury in the outfield, he may play many of his innings in left. The Astros could do well to add another utility player as they simply cannot afford to give away any more at-bats to Dubon.
Maybe Yuli Gurriel returns in a utility role. Could Jurickson Profar be the answer? Is there even a trade to be swung?
The Astros have made a living off of defensive versatility. They deploy good defenders across all nine spots, many of whom are capable of playing multiple positions. If Houston can find an above average utility player for next season, their lineup goes from great to world-class.