The Porkchop Express said:

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Is it just the anger at the lack of Maldonado's hitting that makes people question everything about his value?

I have never understood the raging denial that he might have been worth something significant to the pitching staff.

Using the White Sox current pitching staff as a reason that Maldonado isn't a good catcher is pretty myopic. The White Sox are tanking for draft picks, and have already started Lee more than Maldy. If anything, they signed him in order to trade him to team that needs help with pitching inconsistency come July/August.

Certainly his absence has not turned the Astros from contender to pretender all by itself.

But you guys steadfastly refuse to believe the fact that Pressly, Abreu (the less ****ty one), Brown, France, Verlander, and Valdez all having significantly higher ERAs than last year could possibly have to do with a change with the guy behind the plate?

For a community where so many people thrive on analytics, that seems like a blatant omission based on personal dislike of a former player.

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MaxPower said:

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I know the Nats are a frequent comparison for the Astros. At 19-31, they were 8.5 games out of the wild card. The tombstone Astros were 10.5 games back so actually more impressive. Seems like 10 games back is the farthest you can realistically fall.

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tjack16 said:

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MaxPower said:

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I know the Nats are a frequent comparison for the Astros. At 19-31, they were 8.5 games out of the wild card. The tombstone Astros were 10.5 games back so actually more impressive. Seems like 10 games back is the farthest you can realistically fall.

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That team had two bonafide aces plus Patrick Corbin who had a 3.30 ERA. We don't have one ace right now based on performance. That's the big difference. They had the pitching in place and healthy.

Also Juan Soto and Rendon combined for 70 HR and 240 RBI that season for them.

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