Astros Crawfish Potluck: December 28th, 2019

Christmas week has come and gone and the hot stove actually seems to still be pretty warm. Thankfully the rest of the AL West has been somewhat quiet since the Rendon signing and trade for Kluber, but the White Sox have continued to make splashes in the AL Central. Not only that, but we’ve actually seen several moves every week since the beginning of the offseason. I had almost forgotten how much fun it can be in light of the past few winters.

But that doesn’t always translate to your favorite team. The Astros have made a couple of moves to shore up the catcher position and brought back Joe Smith, but have looked reticent to sign a big contract. Of course that has everything to do with them butting up against the second luxury tax threshold, but it’s still a bit of a bummer. Still, the team has a strong core and you’d rather not see them sacrifice the future just to goose the fan base, especially with how much future potential was traded away to acquire Greinke.

Anyways, enough lamenting. Let’s talk some ‘Stros. As always, feel free to add to this with any topics you feel are appropriate in the comments or links to any relevant news stories. Here are this weekend’s questions:

1. Anyone get a really cool Astros gift this Christmas?
2. Is there a player still on the market you think the Astros should go past the luxury tax threshold for?
3. Should the team focus on rebuilding the farm system after the Greinke trade?