The last time that Hunter Brown was tagged on MLBTR's pages was almost one year ago. Brown had just thrown a five-inning relief appearance after Cristian Javier failed to advance past the second inning. Houston had been running a six-man rotation and was potentially considering dropping Brown to the bullpen or to Triple-A, as he'd allowed 26 runs over 23 innings through the end of April.
A lot can change in a year.
Brown struck out seven while allowing just one run in that May 11 relief outing. His return to the rotation six days later didn't go well, as he gave up four runs in five innings against Milwaukee. After that, Brown reeled off eight consecutive quality starts. He allowed more than three runs in just three of his final 22 appearances. He'd made it through six innings in just one of his first eight starts. He failed to complete six innings only three times from the middle of May onwards.
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Astros keep producing talent. Still Think the dynasty level run is over. Highly doubt they will be contenders going forward
Not sure why I’m paying for something that reads like it’s trying to be Fangraphs, which is a free site. This is so player-friendly and it feels like it’s a plant from Brown’s agent to drive up his earning power.
Yes, an article in 2025 to drive up the free agent frenzy in… 2029. Trade Rumors and Brown’s team really playing the long game on this one!
Have you heard of salary arbitration?
There’s a lot of fluff here. It’s a valid point. Congratulate the heck out of anyone who dies or retires and over exaggerate their skill level. I got killed for saying Rick Porcello was the worst CY winner ever or one of the worst lol
The people who comment seem to have created a culture here, where it’s as if the players and their families are sensitive and codependent and read these comments before bed and after breakfast lol
That’s why I didn’t renew. Fangraphs is the way to go
“Congratulate the heck out of anyone who dies or retires and over exaggerate their skill level.”
“The people who comment seem to have created a culture here, where it’s as if the players and their families are sensitive and codependent and read these comments before bed and after breakfast lol ”
Huh…
Well thanks, but I don’t think you’re doing anyone nor the Bostock family any favors putting your name and avatar as Lyman Bostock either.
Lyman the poster is a fool. He just told us.
There are plenty of articles here attacking players and teams where it’s warranted. They’ve been screaming for failing franchises to tear down and rebuild. They say on the podcast when they think something is questionable. But at the same time, I think it’s good when a site doesn’t go the ragebait route just trying to make beef out of every possible topic. They handle things like writers do, which having grace to admit that they’re not in the front office, and they don’t always have the same vision the teams do.
Congratulating on retirement or expressing condolences at death is just basic politeness and really doesn’t affect the baseball content. Also highly doubt an agent would be behind those things.
Also, I went to the front page of FanGraphs just to check if the State of 2025 article advertising a 60/yr subscription is still there, and it is. Still better than gambling sponsorships.
I find the length of some articles a bit long winded and wordy. Some repeat the same stuff a few times with different words but the same meaning. I wonder if they get paid by the word at times. I enjoy most of the articles so really not complaining. Stating what I feel. Some might disagree but that is fine.
“Baseball Player has died, and we here at MLBTR want to be sure you remember that he kinda sucked for most of his career aside from that one year he won MVP. Per estimations, he only earned $30MM of his $100MM lifetime salary.”
Is that the content you want? Then you should start a Sour Grapes Baseball account and write it yourself.
@Brad Johnson
I have been reading this site and commenting since I was doing so on my BlackBerry.
I have been a paid member.
My critique is fair and was not disrespectful.
I miss your articles and breakdowns.
The sour grapes seem to come from anyone who’s disagreed with. Look at some of the feedback I got .. bringing awareness to Lyman’s life and career would upset his family, because I disagree with another “poster”. I’m must be a fool, if you don’t like my opinion. Lol
Here’s what’s fluff in my eyes and this is genuine feedback …
-Closed comments on any issues worth you guys writing about. Fluff
– I don’t care about every 80 year old who dies Fluff
— and yeah some of these articles just seem to state the obvious sometimes Fluff
I love this site and I miss Tim Dierkes Closer News too. I just agreed with my fellow reader, on his critiques.
Brad, you’re a very talented writer — best of luck on your novel(s). Keep us posted on when published
Will do. Some of them will be advertised here (the ones with baseball components). Tim doesn’t know yet 😉
This is a bad look from someone who used to write for this site.
If belittling someone for expecting us to disrespect the dead is a bad look, then I don’t mind looking bad.
Talk about a false equivalence, making “not reporting on every former player who dies” into “disrespecting the dead.” And that is not what other posters or I are saying, clearly. There
You’re looking bad because you are arguing in bad faith rather than accepting constructive criticism from subscribers who feel that player-friendly fluff like this is beneath the site. That’s not why I or others subscribe. Plus. front office execs read MLBTR. Putting laudatory pieces like this in front of them about players who are up for arbitration or extensions is not ethical either.
The complaint was that the reports on dead players overinflated their contributions. I responded to that and only that.
The commenter listed several things they don’t like about the site and you said “start a Sour Grapes Baseball account and write it yourself.’
That’s a bad look for someone who used to write for the site. I suggest you learn how to take constructive criticism.
As someone who has worked for MLBTR on two occasions, I can assure you that’s not how we work. When agents approach, they are gently rebuffed.
@Brad Johnson
I loved the big hype prospects articles! Great content and always a great read! The content here is fantastic, but yours is greatly missed as well.
Glad you liked them. I definitely enjoyed both my stints here. Still feels a little weird not writing baseball. My mind will go there every so often, and I have to shout it down.
(I’m fiction writing now)
Stick to transaction analysis. The attempts at statistical analysis are amateurish. Pretty pithy.
10 cents a day, BIG GUY. Stop whining.
Just an acknowledgement of the obvious. Brown is already
really good, and has the upside to be better. An Astros treasure.
Hope this guy signs long term deal by the all star break and Houston gets a lovely haul for Framber sooner