Tons of Astros, Texans Making Savvy Moves

Welcome aboard, Welcome to another Space City Saturday on Sports Talk seven ninety Dad Matthews Live and local h Town breakdown of the world that matters to you, the Houston sports world, all these great Houston fans here. We love y'all. So finish up on that to do list, flute up the cooler, because you can't drink in talk sports all day if you don't start. Now bear me the eight. This is Space City Saturday. It's insane. Here's

seven nineties Dad Matthews. Remember I've given the rules before about day drinking. You know, it's one of those where you won't get the looks from the judge, the old woman. Well it's before noon, how could you be doing that? And I've said that. A couple of places that are fine are the airport. If you're at the airport and somebody does that, hey dude, I'm nervous about flying. What's your problem? Or even on a football tailgate day, and that's where you can be able to get those things

going. But Saint Patrick's Day weekend, and I call this Saturday of Saint Patrick's Day weekend adult Saint Patrick's because it's funny. I was talking about this with Ross yesterday. Ross Hiller real, of course, is who I'm talking about, and he was saying about Monday, because Matt is going to be out. I believe they are leaving to go to a DC for the second part of their games against the Washington Wizards, them being the Rockets, of course, and he was saying, you know, oh, Monday, you

know it might be a little sluggish. I said, well, dude, do your Saint Patrick's day partying on Saturday. That's the plan right there, and tomorrow we're green. I'll do all those different types of things, but the day drinking is going to cease at a certain point and I'll start to get ready for the week because we're adults here after all right. I mean, that's really what it finally boils down to. And that's kind of what I related to Ross is, Ross, we can't be showing up Monday hungover,

man, Like we're past that age. It's one of those you know, hey man, you know everything, all right, Yeah, I'm a little hungover man. That's messy. That's come on, man, like you or where's your life? You're kind of spiraling out of control. That's that's not the way to live. So anyway, I feel like today is a day that if you're out there and you're of the adult variety, well then put it on. But if you are not, and you feel like you can still hang with the young kids, well then sure go tomorrow. Go

go crazy tomorrow. I know. I think our friends over at the Buzz are doing stuff all weekend out in Edo. I know that Teresa rock Face, Teresa Clanton, she's gonna be out at what was it Little woodros in Edo tomorrow. So's a lot of good stuff happening all weekend here. So again, not to be lost in all of this, Happy Saint Patrick's Day weekend. All right, hour one of the show today. Here by the

way, Dan Matthews here with you on a full Space City Saturday. It's been a while, Adam Snyder since we've been able to say that, So got Adam Snyder behind the glass helping me along this morning. But we will do the full two hours of the show and then coming up in about five hours, Rockets launch Pad can be coming your way right here. So that's the other thing as well, a little bit of Rockets basketball coming up today.

Normally Saturday evenings is when they come your way, but no four o'clock tip for that one over at Toyota Center, so you can have Matt Thomas and the crew bringing that along for you, so you have that to look forward to this afternoon. And also too on the iHeartRadio family of stations four fifty Astros and Mets Spring Training Action, where can you find that? News Radio seven forty KTRH is where you can find that one. And then the

Kugs going for the Big twelve title this evening. You can find it over on Talk nine to fifty. That is KPRC nine fifty, so AM nine to fifty is where you can find that one. And also to on the Rockets Call today, it's going to be empty and WEX coming your way, so you have that to look forward to. But here an hour one of Space City Saturday gonna be all Astros conversations, So if you want to weigh in, you can. It's someone three two, one, two, five,

seven ninety. I know most of us yesterday, I mean the day got started with Chandler Rome's report that the Astros still in the free agent market for a starting pitcher. Then we get the news about Jose Archidi, and then last night we get the report that the Astros were in pursuit of Blake Snow, Well, where does that stand right now? I think it pretty much stands a status quo of what we learned last night. But we will

see exactly where things are as we move along in the show today. Of course, gonna be scouring the interwebs to see if there's anything that is broken on that front, but we will keep you up to date here on your home of the Astro Sports Talk seven ninety so you got that to look forward to. So again here on this episode of Space City Saturday, we are

on Blake snow Watch, so we will keep a watch. Jose Rakety leaving his start yesterday, Chandler Rome reporting that the Astros should know more about him today, so we'll see exactly what is the latest with Jose Rakety. I mean again, you know I've talked about this before, I mean with Justin Verlander when he first had the shoulder issue and we were a little bit worried about him. Then we started to wonder, all right, is this gonna

be a long term thing? Because we've seen shoulder issues that have crept up and have been persistent with certain astros before. Didn't mcculors have a shoulder issue. But you know, of course, I mean we remember Michael Brantley having the most famous of all astro shoulder issues that you know, it's one of those things that when you hear about it at first, and of course you know, Jake Myers had had one too that lingered for about a couple of

years. But for pictures normally, I'm not as concerned about shoulder issues. And for Verlander, the good news with him has been he's been throwing through a bullpen and yesterday, you know, was asked about the fact that, you know, maybe that live hitters could be on the horizon for him, and he said, yeah, that's definitely on the table. So we'll see how that all progresses. But we'll see if indeed he is throwing two live

hitters next week. But erkaty, that's what I'm getting to is the elbow, And as soon as I hear sonis in the elbow, I'm like, uh oh. I mean, you know, ask a Yankees fan this week how they feel about elbows. Because Garrett Colean it's going to keep him out for at least two months. And that's the other part of it as well, that for the Yankee fans out there listening, you're thinking about Garrett Cole, and you're thinking about, you know, is he going to pitch some

time this season? I mean, think about it. If he's shut down for about two months, then he's got to come back and he's got to ramp back up. All right, fine, you know that's long toss, that's flat ground, that's all of those different types of things. Then he's got the rehab assignments. So at this point, that's April, that's May, June, July, maybe after the All Star break. Is when you're talking about Garrett Cole. If everything lines up and goes perfectly right for him,

I think, is what you're talking about with Garrett Cole. So with Rakidi, I mean, it's definitely not ideal, especially too, when you factor in what he means to this rotation and what he means in, you know, just overall to this team in terms of being able to give you a lot of innings, and being able to give you useful innings, and being able to throw strikes, all of those different types of things. That's what hurts about that middle relief questions. All of those things, they persist

and we will get into all of them as well. But let's head on out to the phone line. Someone three two one two five seven ninety. Always know I can count on this guy, Martin and Angleton wants to weigh in here on Space City Saturday. Martin, what's going on, buddy? Hey Dan? How are you doing, sir? I just have one question about Blake Blake Sanell? How many years is he looking at? Are we looking at with his contract? I'll saw online it's in the range of thirty

million per year? But how many years are we looking at with Blake Sanel? Do you know? I have not seen any in terms of reports of what they're looking for, what the Astros are offering. But if I had the guess, I mean, I would think that the you know, maybe a little bit of the hang up right now is that he's looking for a multi year commitment and the Astros might be offering him, I don't know, a year plus a club option or maybe even a player option or something like

that, and that's probably the hang up at this point. But if I had the guess, I mean, for the numbers that you were just throwing out right there, of about thirty plus, I would have to believe the Astros would want it on the short term variety, or maybe even he goes kind of the Carlos carea route of basically, you're on a one year contract for three years, where every single year it comes to an option of do you opt in or do you opt out and try to get a longer term

deal somewhere else. So in terms of just the overall terms, I have not seen any of those disclosed just yet. How much How old is Blake I didn't even check this morning how old he is. Do you know how old Blake is? Blake Snell is thirty one, So thirty one. Yeah, So I mean that's probably why you wouldn't want to go long on a deal. But yeah, I mean, you know, I think that that's probably what's holding a little bit of this up right now. He did make

sixteen million last year, by the way, Martin appreciate the call. Buddy got a run. Did make sixteen million last season. But you know, I mean again, it just also to you factor in what the Astros have been in terms of an organization, and they are, for the most part an organization that when you have guys that are around the age that Blake Snell is, well, you're not going to go super long here, because if they do, I feel like that sets a dangerous precedent for negotiations they have

coming up. Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Robert Valdez, those type of guys that you also have as well, that if you, you know, bend the knee here and give a serious amount of money and years to Blake Snell, then all of a sudden, the same guy who represents him is the same guy who represents another one of those huge names that I just mentioned. Alex Bregman is going to come back and say, oh, you know you did it from my other guy, why don't you do for this guy

too as well? And I think that's a little bit of the song and dance that's being sung and dance to right now with the Astros and Scott Boris. But again, you know, I think that the other part of it as well is that if Chandler Rome is reporting that this is at least being discussed at the moment, then I'm going to take it as biblical word. Because Chandler does a fantastic job covering the team. I don't just say that

because he's on with us on the A team every single week. But you know, if he is putting it out there, he's putting his name on it, then I think you could pretty much take it as yes, the Astros are serious about trying to do this, so we will see how it all shakes out. Again, if you want to join Martin and the crew joining us here on the show, you can at someone three two on two five seven ninety. You know, by the way, I thought about this on my way in, and you know one thing that I will never do

to you the listeners out there is what do you think? Radio? That is never going to happen. I'm going to throw out my thoughts. I'm going to be having a conversation with myself, maybe with a guest or somebody like that, who knows, But I'm never going to do the what do you think? Radio? So I just want you to know that the door is always open to you if you want to join in. It's not just me. You're welcome to join in and talk to me talking to myself in

all of you. Absolutely at seOne three two on two five seven ninety. But I Am never going to just do the oh hey, do you think the astro should sign Blake snow someone three two one two five seven ninety. That is awful radio. That is horse bleep radio. You don't want any part of that radio. And some of you might say, oh no, I like that radio. You don't like that radio, okay, And if you don't, then it's time for people like me to tell you you shouldn't

like that radio. So we're not gonna do that here ever, ever, ever. So I just want to let you know that the door is always open. Now here's the caveat to it as well. Is I'm talking Astros right now, right And you call up Adam Snyder and you say, oh, I want to talk Texans. Well, guess what, Adam Snyder, We're not talking Texans right now. We're not talking rockets, we're not doing any of those things. So if stuff like that happens, be prepared to

hold or just call back later. We'll get into those conversations. But anyway, we'll continue the Astros conversation because there is a ton to get to. Jake Myers continues to become Rake Myers and down in spring training, so we'll talk about him from or getting the nod for opening day. Yep, that's on the table. Next hour, we'll get into a little bit more of the other topics of conversation sports wise, I mean Texans, Oh, you

know it, We're gonna get into some Texans. We will do that next hour as well as the Coug's going for their first Big Twelve title in basketball. We will talk to them and maybe sprinkling just a little bit of Rockets there, just a little bit, because well, you know, as we get to this point in the season, yes, they are technically in the play in round conversation, but for the most part, I mean, I think we can agree that it would pretty much be pipe dream at this point

for the Rockets to reach that point. So we'll see if indeed they are able to do that, but again we will talk all of it. Koog's in Iowa State coming up a little later this afternoon over on KPRC nine point fifty. That's where you can catch Jeremy Brandam and the crew calling that one. But we'll continue the Astros conversation next because coming up next, if the Astros do you land Blake Snell, you can think guys like Renelle Blanco for

making that happen. What's the connection you'll find out next right here, Horse Talk seven ninety. We now return to Space City Saturday. Sports Talk seven ninety Space City Saturday. Dan Matthews here with you on this Saint Patrick's Day weekend Saturday. So you know you're driving around, You're driving around. You know, a little one in the back seat. I gotta go to the bathroom, daddy, not now, damn it. There you go, a little Tommy boy for you. Don't say I never did anything for you.

And you don't want the new guy in the corner pucinis guts out, you know, you don't want at the end all because you want to save a little bit of money on your break pads. I mean to me, that's get out. So there you go. That's where we'll ended right there. But anyway, I know that the errands are being run right now. Maybe it's an oil change, maybe it's a car wash, maybe it is you know, whatever the hell is being done, especially too, you know with

the weather out there. You know, as I was talking some golf with Doug Pike there the do busters, maybe a little bit of a tough task this morning, trying to get the early morning golf round in. But maybe that was the case as you wanted to try to get it in. But

we'll see how the weekend all breaks down. All right, So I said that Renel Blanco will be a huge person to think if indeed the Astros do land Blake Snow Because I'm driving around last night listening to Robert Ford and the Astros radio crew as they were doing the game between the Tros and Phillies. I mean, at least hitting wise, good stuff last night, and I talked about this last week. Look, don't do pros and cons with spring

training baseball. I saw somebody do that last week on social media, and I seriously wanted to jump through my computer screen and grab the person and yell in their face stop doing that, because it's ridiculous. It's preseason football, preseason basketball, all of those things on steroids. Do not try to break

down and analyze a single spring training game. That's ridiculous. Baseball about the long game, right, we know about this, and we'll talk about this a little bit later on in the show, But don't ever analyze a single spring training game. It's ridiculous. It's dumb. Because it's also too every single day guys are going out there with the really you know, strong purpose of you know, I want to be able to work on keeping my back leg, you know, in terms of a swing, or I want to

work on my timing. I want to work on tracking the baseball. All of those different types of things hitting wise, those are things you're trying to do pitching. I mean, that's where I saw it. I saw this person say the pros and cons for a for what was it Christian Hobbier's outing. Guess what the pros are? And the only thing that matters did he throw strikes? I don't care about anything else. I don't care how hard you got hits. I don't care about two home runs giving up. I

don't care about anything else. Did he throw strikes? That's all I care about. That's the number one thing. That's the only thing that I care about. That's it. So anyway, I say all that to say of what Robert Ford said last night, and he was talking about if the Astros did indeed land Blake snow Well, we know that the Astros I believe,

lost their second and fourth draft pick for signing Josh Hater. Okay, fine, if I'm not mistaken, and again you can get at me at Dan Matthews Hou on Twitter at Dan Matthews Hou if I am mistaken about this, but I believe Robert Ford said that the Astros would possibly lose their third and

sixth highest picks if indeed they did sign Blake Snell. And I know that some of you out there might be seeing, well, wait a minute, Dan, we can't just be given away draft picks, right, I mean, we lost a couple of them in twenty twenty because of the sign skeealing, and I believe twenty one as well, they lost draft pick or draft picks for that year. But now we get to the point where it's you

know, now you're gonna be losing more this year. And I'm reminded of something that Dana Brown said about a month ago when we met with them before they headed down to Florida for spring training. It was when the Astros did their whole Hey taste our food, this is what we're gonna have at Minute Made Park this season. Hey, we're gonna let you know that we're relentless

for twenty twenty four. So you got that going. And Dana Brown asked about the draft, you need talked about look in every draft, if you can find a couple of major leaguers in that draft. Then you've done your job. And I think that Dana Brown looks at it and says, even though that the draft is a little bit more paired down it that he used to because it's no longer fifty rounds, they finally said, yeah, that's adding too many guys into the minor league system. We don't need that many.

Let's go however many rounds it is now, what is it twenty five or something like that. You get my point, it's not as long. So anyway, I think Dana Brown looks at it and says, okay, let's just say conservatively, we have a draft pick in every single round, right, so that would be twenty five new players. But if you take away at least for right now, where you'll have twenty three, or if you signed Blake Snell and they add two more, you'll have twenty one players.

I think Dana Brown looks at it and says, this is why I'm here. This is why you brought me here. You brought me here to be able to run that part of the team. You brought me here to be able to find those guys and to be able to develop those guys. But more importantly, where does Renel Blanco and guys like him fit into this? I said Christian Hobvier. Christian Hobvier, He's another example from Ervaldez,

He's another example. Remember, these are guys from the international market that the Astro has been lauded for for signing later on in their careers and signing them for cheaper and now they've become very meaningful contributing players on a championship roster.

And Renel Blanco is the newest guy who last night another impressive outing, and I think he's pretty much giving himself at least a real tough conversation for Dana Brown and Joe Spotted to have as we break in about a week, which, by the way, next week that is the end of spring training.

Then we come back it's the Astros against the Space Cowboys. And then in earnest March twenty eighth, right here on your home of the Astro Sports Talk seven to ninety, this season gets going from ber Valdez against Nestra Cortez. We already know the opening day, the lineup, the way it's going to be in terms of the rotation, how it's going to go. So we've got that. But the way that those guys fit in on this is I think the astros feel like we have success doing that, We have success signing,

developing and bringing these guys along from the international market. That the draft at a certain point, Yeah, it's important, we need it, don't We don't just completely discard it. We're not going less sneed of the la rams here and having shirts on that say f them picks. But I think the astros absolutely subscribe to something else that somebody said, my good buddy Casey Stern of MLB Network Radio, where he's got a shirt out there that says

parades over prospects. And that's the way that Jim Crane, that's the way this organization looks at it right now is they say, we're not necessarily in

the prospect business. It's nice to be in that business. It's fun, it's great, but soon enough you've got to be able to turn the corner where it's the Major League roster is the one that means the most at the moment, because the Astros are very much square in a window where they can continue to go for more Commissioner's trophies to be put inside the trophy case over there at minute made Park and adding a guy like Blake Snell can absolutely do

that. And it's kind of the Damn the Torpedoes approach here at that point, because it's saying, yes, the draft is important, but at the same time, it's not the utmost importance for us. The utmost importance for us is getting back to the Alcs and getting back to the World Series. Who can help us do that? Oh God, that's one to say. Young a couple of times named Blake Snell. He can do that. And if you lose draft picks, so be it. I am absolutely on board

with making this move. I've come around on it. At first, before Jose Orchidi got hurt, before Justin Verlander was going to be on the eve with even with Verlander going on the IL to start the season, I was still kind of like, I don't know, I think you feel pretty good about what you have for the first couple of months, And again a little bit later on the show, I'll get in about kind of the roadmap for the season, like kind of how to view things, because the early months

of the season, find your footing. Just find your footing. If you're around five hundred, then that's fine. And you know the rule is as well. Baseball fans know this that you don't start standings watching until after Memorial Day. And then after Memorial Day you can start doing that a little bit,

but even then you're not going to be the same team. You want your team playing your best baseball in August, September, October, and even in the November, because if you're playing well in November, what does that mean? Oh, that means that nice gold trophy with the Pennance on it,

it's hoisted up by your team. Again, you get Kevin Burkhart and the crew up there, you get Jim Crane talking to the crowd, you get all those different types of things, and we get another parade in downtown Houston, which if that happens again, if anybody from the Astros is listening, can we get on the from Er Valdez float this year. I'd love to be able to Stone Cold Steve Austin some beers with the guys you know,

and be able to say, hey, this is awesome. You guys really know how to have fun on this float, man, Let's have some fun. So that's where we're at, and that's a good place to be. If you're an Astros fan, because it could be where we've been in the past where it's hey, those guys are coming, but they're coming later. We don't want that life anymore, right, And that's something that other

cities are living right now. That's something that other organizations are living. And I think that it's also too as well that we reach a certain point where you know exactly what you need in order to be able to try to reach that point, and adding a guy like Blake Snell absolutely gives you that opportunities. So as of right now where things stand, sounds like conversations are still being had between Snell and all so too the Astros and where things are going

from that point. So we will keep you up to date on that. Again, we will be with you here until noon, so if anything breaks between now and then, we'll have that for you here on Sports Talk seven ninety. But again too, if you want to listen to Astros Baseball today over on news Radio seven forty k t RH, because we're gonna have afternoon Rockets for you here on your home of the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety.

Stand the man Northfleet. He's gonna be in this chair coming up at three o'clock for Rockets launch Pad. Than it is sports mpt and Adam Jay Wexler coming your way on here, as they will have the Rockets in the Cavaliers coming your way here on your Home of the Rockets Sports Talk seven ninety. So we've got all of that coming up a little bit later on. But as I said, Astros all this hour, So any of your Astros comments, questions, anything you have, you can weigh in at someone three

two two five seven Ounty. Like I said, that door is always open. You want to step in, You want to knock on the door really quick? Hey, Skip, you want to see me? Yeah, come on in, sit down, let's talk a little bit. But we will continue that along because coming up next, if the Astros take a step forward this year with the Bats, well the season could be even better than we imagined. And one guy I feel like, unlocks that door and opens it

up even further for all of us. We'll talk about that as we continue along here on Space City Saturday. I'm Dan Matthews here on your Home of the Astros and the Rockets Sports Talk seven ninety as the Astros again spring training action coming your way a little bit later on Today over on news Radio seven

forty kt RH is where you can catch the Stros. But as the Strows continue to move along and get ready for the twenty twenty four season, a guide that had a lot of people kind of scratching their heads a little bit in terms of where he could fit into the overall makeup of this team in twenty twenty four is Jake Myers. And a lot of people when Dana Brown all throughout the offseason had said that the Astros would be employing him as their everyday center fielder, a lot of people said, come on, man,

really, like, that's who we're gonna go with every single day. Chazz Chaz, Chaz Chaz. That's who needs to be the center fielder and then plug somebody out there in left field. But the Astros like the makeup of going with Chazz and left, Jake Myers in center and Kyle Tucker over in right. And the big key with Myers has been how does he handle the

bat well. That's been something that at times has been a little bit of a struggle for him, although the power last year was one that had a huge uptick for him ten homers, thirty three RBI for him, batted too twenty seven last year, which she likes see a little bit more of the ops. Yeah, I'd like to see that up a little bit more, as we else six seventy eight. But this spring, hearing about a confident Jake Myers, hearing about Jake Myers two, who's able to hit the power

ball as well. The last two out of the last three games that he's played in home runs, one against the Mets there in Port Saint Lucie and then against the Nationals the following night hitting a towering shot over at Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches, So you had that. But overall this spring, it has been a very good spring. Three forty eight one to two ops out of Jake Myers. Those are definitely things you like to see. And for Jacob Berkshire Myers, it has been a little bit of a battle of

consistency with him. I mean, a guy that at times has looked overmatched at the plate. And then there's also times like that series against the Yankees last year where you're like who is this guy? Like where has this guy been? Can you show up like a lot more often? Because if you do, then that's really good. We love to see that, and he has been kind of just across the board as a major league hitter. But this season for Myers, I feel like, if nothing else, if he

is able to give you something in the middle there where. I was talking with somebody last night. I said, if Myers is a two thirty two to forty hitter, that's a win. That is a guy that hopefully the power numbers continue to creep along with him and he is able to run into one every so often. But he's at the bottom of your lineup, and you already have with the subtraction of Martine Maldonado, now you have a longer lineup than you had the Astros last year and for many years we're batting with

eight. Let's call it what it is. And if you got a little bit of contributions out of Maldonado with the bat, that was an absolute bonus. And now with him gone and you've got Janer Diaz who also has had a pretty good spring. But for a guy like Myers to be able to have the spring that he's having right now, and you hope that he is kind of going through these at bats and saying, huh, okay, this piece of wood I can swing it. I can be able to put some

barrels on the baseball. I can make some things happen. What he gives you defensively, what he gives you from a speed perspective, that's a bonus as well. But he is somebody that holds an absolute key to this lineup this year because if he is able to be let's just say capable with the bat in twenty twenty four, then that's an even deeper lineup than you had.

Remember last year in the Alcs against the Rangers, you saw your lineup against their lineup where they had Loyote Tavers at the bottom of the order, who is probably going to be a leadoff hitter at some time during his career. But that was the difference that you had seven eight to nine in your order was nothing compared to what they had. And in four of those seven

games, that was the difference in the series. They were able to lengthen the lineup, they were able to make things happen at that point, and it was something that you know, really turned out to be the difference maker in that series. So a guy like Myers, he holds the key if he is able to be like I said, capable with the bat, cut down the strikeouts just a little bit, but be able to put more balls

in play. Then it flips it over to the top of the order, al Tuve Jordan Alvarez, which, by the way, too ord On the foot was not the issue last night. If you missed Joe Aspota after the game, if you don't follow Brian McTaggart or Chandler Rome on Twitter, it was an allergic reaction. They said. His left eye started to swell a little bit. They weren't sure if maybe he ate something or you know, who knows, maybe got stung by a bee. I don't know what happened,

but that's what happened with jord On. I guess he got back to the dugout and they're like, oh man, what's up with you. All right, let's let's pull you out of this game. We don't need much more out of you for the rest of this one. I mean, that's pretty much again kind of go back to what I was talking about, was spring training baseball a little bit earlier. Stuff like that. The Astros see things like that, they're like, there's no need to push it. Why

are we pushing it in the middle of March. We need you. In the middle of May, that's where we need you. We need you in June and July, all of those different types of scenarios for this team, that's when we need you on the field. So that's what you saw last night. But for again, a guy like Jake Myers, I'm just looking for capability this Season's that's all I'm looking for out of him. And I think that that's probably the conversation that is being had with him by Joe Espada,

with Dana Brown, even with guys in his own clubhouse. I'm just saying, hey, man, just put it together. Every single day. There's gonna be oh for Forest, that's gonna happen. There's gonna be three, four or five game stretches where you're at the plate and you're just like, man, like, what's going on? Like that's just I just can't

find it right now. That's a major league season. That's what happens, and slumps happen, and also too good streaks happen as well, you know where you can really start to run into them and really start to feel good with the swing and going from the But for him, again, if he is able to be kind of in that two thirty. If he creeps into

two fifty, that's even more of a win this season for him. And again, I think that the key for him is just putting together good at bats, because that's who I had seen at times last season coming back, and the shoulder had still been a little bit of an issue for him. Remember too, heard it against the White Sox, and pretty much ever since that White Sox playoff series, you hadn't necessarily seen a consistent Jake Myers on the field. But as me and Ross phil Real caught up with him a

few weeks ago, shoulder feels good. He feels good also too. The confidence is there. I mean, we were hearing about it when we were there in West Palm Beach for spring training. That's, you know, the

swings feeling good. He likes his approaches at the plate, all of those different things as he was facing live pitching there on the backfields, and he's carried it over on to the spring training fields and that's been something that if he is able to be at least a capable bat there at the bottom of the order, that lengthens the order even more because the astros as it goes right now we know the top of the order, right. We know al Tuve, we know Jordan Alvarez, we know Alex Bragman, we know janer

Diez. To a certain point, He's gonna be an everyday guy this year, So maybe we get to see a little bit more production out of him this season. That would be a huge plus. Although I've talked about it before with catchers, don't think that the production is going to stay there all the way through. If you're an everyday catcher, the fatigue and the squatting and all of those things is going to eventually catch up with you and that part of your game starts to struggle a little bit. So it's gonna be

interesting to see how he holds up this season. Where does Victor Caratini fit into the mold in terms of giving him days off? Maybe he DHS, maybe he plays first base. All of those different things fit in, And Joe Spot has talked about it numerous times of using rest days and using the DH as a pseudo rest day this year, and then another that fits into this category as well as Jeremy Pinya. Does the power return this season? So far this spring, we've not seen a ton of power out of Pania.

But then again, you know you're playing every other day, maybe getting a little bit of action on the backfields in minor league games. I mean, I know that that's something they've talked about, as well as getting him as many at bats as possible with this new batting stance and being able to try to see him try to come along and get that part of his game back. But overall, I mean, you're thinking about this batting order one through nine, of having the outfield the way that I broke it down.

The infield, we know how it is, we know how the battery is going to be. With the starting rotation at least currently constructed, and also too with THEANR. Diaz and Victor Karattini behind the plate, this is going

to be an Astros order that is deeper than it was last season. And that's a good thing, especially too, when you factor in the way that this pitching rotation is going to look, and also to how the bullpen is going to look, especially the back and the middle of the bullpen order right now, middle relief, that is something that's kind of a work in progress building. I mean, you know, we'll get to that maybe a little bit later on in the show, but that is part of this team that

they're still trying to work through. And I told you too that that was the way that spring training was going to go. That is the way that spring training is is those parts of a roster are always up for grabs because

you're looking for guys that can get out. You're looking for guys that if you're in a game and your starter only goes what three and a third, three and two thirds something like that, and you have to go to a long relief man to try to eat up some innings and maybe you work your way back into the game and you can get some of your high leverage guys at the end of a bray, You, Presley and Josh Hater that that is a winning formula for you to be able to try to win as many

games as possible and the Astros trying to get back into the postseason again and again, it's it's a long road to be able to get to that point, but it also too is one that takes a lot of patience, but also too has you dealing with the highs and lows of a major league season. And that's the way that this is going to go. Because that is where we are going to go next. Because Steady is the race. It

is a baseball season, so don't try to hurry it up. We will talk about that and much more as we continue here on Space City Saturday. I'm Dan Matthews here with you until noon on your home of the Astros and the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety. Welcome back to Space City Saturday one. Sports Talk seven ninety continuing with Chad Kroger and the boys. They rocked Rodeo Houston the other nights. That's Reliant Stadium in ourg Stadium. I still

call it Reliant. It's kind of like Twitter X. You know people, oh, you know on X. I'm like, well, what is that? Huh? What are you? What are you talking about? But no, it's just the old school in me. I guess I don't know. But any way, the Rodeo wrapping up, I believe tonight is it Eric Church and then tomorrow night I think is the close to the Houston Livestock Show in Rodeo. So if you have a chance to get out there this year, hopefully enjoyed it. If you didn't, well you know, you're kind

of like me bummer. I mean mine, you know, first year back of the rodeo, and it was funny. I was talking with the fiance the other night and she was like, we'll have years to be able to go to the rodeo. You know. She's always kind of the more rational one, you know, whereas me I didn't have a chance to go this year. Well, you know, so be it all right. If you want to wait in, you can at someone three two one two five seven ninety. That's how you can get in on the conversation someone three two and

two five seven ninety. Like I said, a lot of you probably driving around getting the things done today before settling in for the conference tournaments again. The Koogs and Iowa State Cyclones coming your way for the Big twelve title, which, by the way, I saw this on social media not too long ago, that the Kog's have a chance to make some history today that no team has ever joined a major conference and won both the regular season and conference

tournament title in their first season. So coug's having a chance to make some history today. So hopefully Kelvin Sampson and the crew can get that done again. You can listen to that game over on KPRC nine point fifty four forty five is when that coverage gets going. Five o'clock tip from there in Kansas City as the Houston Cougars try to finish things off and go into the NCAA

Tournament on a high note. I mean it's also too you factor. In the first season of Kelvin Sampson and the crew, they've dealt with injuries, Terrence Arsenal going down, Tugler going down as well, and a little bit of a scary moment last night with Juan Roberts, but looked like he was able to come back in and finish off the game. As the Coug's able to take down Tech last night in a huge win. So they try to

beat Iowa State for the second time this year. And by the way, too you know good on the coves of all three teams they lost to this year in conference play, well, they got revenged the second time around. First time it was Iowa State, last week it was Kansas and then earlier this week in the Big Twelve Tournament they were able to take down at TCUs. So good on at Kelvin Sampson and the crew. Hopefully they can go into the field of sixty eight on a high note, So we will be

keeping an eye on them this afternoon. But I talked about it before with the Astros season and just a baseball season in general, and I get it. It's one of those things you want to win every single game, but if you're a really good team out there, well you're probably gonna lose at least sixty five seventy times in a season. And I know that for some it's one of those that on the surface, you look at it and you

say, man, that's a lot. Well, one hundred and sixty two games is a lot of games, and the Astros slated right now, I think to finish around that ninety two to ninety three win area this season. So if that happens, then yeah, you're going to have a high sixty lost total and that's a really good season. But it's also to the way

that you look at a season. So on the surface, when you hear say, for example, justin Verland are going to start the season on the injured list, you're saying, ah, man, I mean I wanted to see him on opening day. Sure, we all want to see him on opening Day. But the Astros have known, at least during this recent stretch

of success that they've had. That this season is broken down into particular areas in the month of April, which this year is going to start in late and in late March, so you start in late March, and I really think that once you get through the month of April, if you're looking at it and you're around five hundred, that's a good thing. You're good, You're you're all fine, You're you're starting to find yourself as a team, starting to find your footing in the you get into May, you want to

start to kind of ramp things up a little bit. And in June and July that's when you really want to showcase yourself as yep, we are the standard in the division. That's how things go. And then you want to be playing your best baseball in August, September and then into October and November. Now as the season goes along. But that's how you look at a season, is you kind of look at it as this is a long race. I mean, say, the Astros at the end of April are four

games back of the Seattle Mariners. I'm just throwing it out there. It's not the end of the world. It's not even remotely close to being anything other than, hey, they're playing good baseball right now, and we're playing decent baseball. We're not playing our best baseball yet that's fine. That's the

way that a season goes. And you know, we saw it last year, even later on in the year, where the Astros had to make that strong finish to be able to try to close this thing out and try to get into the postseason one way or another, which we knew going into that final Sunday of the regular season they were going to be a playoff team. We just didn't know are they going to be at home? Are they gonna have to go on the road as a wildcard team and try to work their

way in. And then we saw that Sunday the Astros finish off their win in Arizona and we have to wait and see what happens up in Seattle. And the Mariners, who were out of it, we thought, well, if they're out of it, maybe they're gonna kind of lay down a little bit, or they're not gonna go full bore today in this one. And

that wasn't the case. They ended up taking it to the Rangers, and the Rangers had to go on the road as the wildcard team, and the Astros got to come home and face the Twins, taking care of the Twins in four games, and then we got that ALCS. But again, you know, it's one of those things that the losing streaks are gonna happen. The Astros will go a week or two this season where they don't win a

ton of games, and I understand how frustrating it is. I understand how you know, it's like, man, come on, you know the order is going to go through their lolls as well. We've seen it in the past. But as we've also seen with this Astros roster over the years, and the way they are with the bats is that if they're down, they don't stay down for long and then they finally do breakthrough and you're like, Okay, that's the team. I know, those are the guys. That's

the way that this team is supposed to look going into the postseason. But I mean again, I think if nothing else, it has shown you that steady is the race that is run by a good pace, and the Astros have set a good pace for years. Some years they've gotten to the month of October where it wasn't necessarily a you know, real suspenseful run to get to that point, and you know they've been able to find their way into October and be able to kind of recalibrate and go from there. The DS

has not been an issue for them. And then they get to the CS. In many years they win and move on to the next round, or they've run into a team like the Rangers or the Red Sox in twenty eighteen, or the Tampa Bay Rays. I mean, it's happened, and it's unfortunate. I mean, because now we know what the expectation is. The expectation is to not only reach the World Series, it's to win the World

Series. I mean, you heard when me and Ross were in West Palm Beach for Astro spring training catching up with Kyle Tucker, and Tucker said it clear as day. He said, We're not here just to win a bunch of baseball games and then say all right, that's enough, you know, we move on. No, we're here to win a World Series. That's the way this season is. And how do you win a World Series?

Well, you just get through the season as healthy as you possibly can and at a good pace as best you can and be able to get to that

point, and last year it was a little bit different from them. But it's also too Baseball is the ultimate sport that can't be put into a fish bowl because let's look at it from the football perspective, like, yes, you lose a game in football, especially in college, well, that can be somewhat fatal to your season in terms of national title aspirations, right, but teams have lost games numerous times and they've been able to make it to

the college football playoff and go from there. In the NFL, I mean I would say that probably it's a little bit closer to baseball because you are going to lose. You're not going to be the seventy two Dolphins and make your way through an entire season because notice I just said one, So you're going to lose games and you want to be able to try to find your way into January and February and be able to give yourself the best opportunity you can to be able to win the Lombardi Trophy. I mean, we saw

you look at the Chiefs last year. I mean you saw the way that they look during the regular season and thought to yourself, hmm, they don't look the way that they have in the past, but then once they got

to the playoffs, they said, this is our time of year. That's why the comparisons are made between them and the Astros, because the Astros have been that team numerous times during this run of success where you know, twenty twenty under five hundred making into the playoffs as a wild card team, face the A's Mike Fires on the other side, he's making fun of George Springer, he's doing all those different types of things. Well, enjoy it,

Mike Fires, because guess what you lose in that one. The Astros move on. Your season is done and you get to continue to be the rat that you are. And the Astros have done it the other way as well, where they've been able to have a huge run throughout the regular season and the last week of the season doesn't necessarily matter because the division is locked up and they're able to move on. And that's the way that those years have

gone. So I say all of that just to say that every single season looks different, and every single season is different, and all that matters is how well are you playing at the end of the season. And that's the way the Astros are trying to at least right now before we even get going in this twenty twenty four season with Verlander going on the il of trying to say, hey, the early part of the season, we're just trying to make sure that this team is in the best position it can be later on

in the season. So reason there's no reason to rush him right now. There's no need to try to push him along and get that timeline started for him to be back on the field. That I think, if nothing else, the Astros will take this thing as steadily as possible with him. Maybe next week he'll face live hitters. If that happens, then you're probably looking at about a month, So I would say conservatively middle of April is when

you can look for Verlander to be on the field. But at the same time, though, too as well, as I said last week, here's how that conversation is going to go. Hey, you pitched in Sugarland last night? How'd it go? I probably need another one? All right? Gets you another one? So in the next five days he'll get him another one. Hey, how do you feel I could probably use one more? All right, fine, take you one more and then we'll see you when

you're ready. To go. That's how that conversation is going to go. So that's how a baseball season goes. I mean, there are going to be losses. There are going to be times where I'm speaking into this microphone where maybe they've lost three or four in a row and you're a little bit frustrated with how that part of the season is going. But then there's also the other part. This hour was all Astros. Next hour, well, we're gonna get into a little bit more like how about the Texans in the

moves that they've made because a particular plan is being put in place. What exactly it is is anyone's guess. We'll talk about the work that Nick Caserio and the crew are doing over there on Kirby as we continue this edition of

Space City Saturday into the second hour. Here in the final hour here on the show, I'm Dan Matthews here on your Home of the Astros in the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety Space City Saturday, Dan Matthews here with you until noon on your Home of the Astros in the Rockets, Sports Talk seven

ninety. But of course here in town, even though we don't have them here on Sports Talk seven ninety the Texans in conversation as it was kind of a little bit of a roller coaster of emotions this week, was it not? As the Texans go through the first full week of free agency in the NFL started early on in the week of legal tampering, and of course you know the reports that are out there where players could agree but they couldn't sign

until Wednesday. Then we finally get to Wednesday and we start seeing the graphics come out and the signings announced in the Texans really busy in that first week. And I get it too. It was one of those things that the very first day me and Ross were on with you on that Monday, which I believe it is going to be me and Ross again on Monday as sports MT starting to make his way to d C with the Rockets, so we'll be coming your way again and maybe at that point we'll be talking about a

Blake Snell's signing. That would be nice. Who knows, maybe Nick Cassario and the crew over there on Kirby going to be continuing to work because there's at least you know, I wouldn't say there are full fledged rumors, but there is at least belief that the Texans are still wheeling and dealing over there, But I mean the moves that made. Of course, the largest move made the pair of moves, and we had a chance to hear from both

Daniel Hunter and also from Joe Mixon earlier this week. Hunter signed with the Texans two years, forty nine million out of him forty eight million guaranteed for that deal, and then Joe Mixon traded for and then signed to a long term extension three years out of him twenty seven million for him over the next

three years. But the trade where the Texans sent a seventh round pick back to the Bengals, then getting a seventh round pick backed from the forty nine ers to send them Malik Collins, which I think we believed was going to set up for them to get Eric Armstead. Well, of course, Armstead signing on with the Jacksonville Jaguars, so we'll see how things shake out with

the Texans trying to build out this roster. But then the one that came down yesterday was an interesting one from Nick Cassario where the Texans trade out of the first round and send their twenty third pick overall to the Minnesota Vikings in return for pick forty two in the second round and also to pick one point eighty eight, which is in the sixth round. So that is where the

draft, you know, build up for the Texans starts right now. And I know that people on the surface look at it and say, well, wait a minute, first round picks, you know, I mean, can we really be doing that? I mean, we're still trying to build out this roster, right. You got to remember, too, where Nick Cassario

comes from. When the Patriots were really moving along and winning world titles, Bill Belichick and the crew up there in New England, we're notorious for trading out of the first round because their thought on it was we don't have to pay them as much. You're also, depending on where you're drafting the second round, getting a guy that has probably a first round grade, and you feel like you're getting a caliber player that could have been taken on Night one

for lesser value. You don't have to pay them as much, so cap wise it helps you even more. And again you have to remember too, what Nick Casseio had said at the Combine a few weeks ago, where he had talked about building up a roster, where he said that you don't just build up for one season. You're thinking a year ahead, you're thinking two

years ahead. You're trying to be as flexible as possible. Where the Texans, I think right now, are looking at building out this roster and saying we're not going to be in the business of building this thing with a credit card. I mean we all have credit cards, right, we know how it goes. Ah, put it on my card, I'll pay it off later. That's how a lot of NFL teams build themselves up. I mean,

we've seen it for years with Mickey Loomis and the Saints. They've lived that life for the longest time where it doesn't seem like it's an NFL off season without the Saints being in salary cap hill where they've got to try to restructure. They've got to cut guys loose, they've got to make trades, they've got to do all of these different types of things in order to try to get under that number. Well, the Texans are nowhere near that.

But I think if nothing else, Nick Cassario is trying to set the precedent for how this thing is going to go. Where he's telling the front office, the rest of the front office over there and the fan base. We're not going to haphazard is the wrong word, but we're not going to be We're not going to be reckless with the way that we spend in the way that we build this team. Just because there's a great player out there that would command a huge amount of money and just because we've got a huge amount

of money does not necessarily mean we're going to go there. He showed us that earlier this week with the reports about Saquon Barkley. Texans were in on Saquon Barkley. They didn't want to go above a certain number because I think that Nick Cassario kind of like what we talked about earlier with the Astros in terms of building up a roster. He's trying to say we're not going to be reckless here. I mean, some people asking again the Astros example,

why hasn't Blake Snell signed yet. Well, it's called negotiation, it's called conversations. It's called trying to get to that point that you're able to give them what they want. You're able to get but you want because it's at least in that case a situation where you're going to have further negotiations with the

guy that represents him. And I think that probably too, with the small amount of people that you deal with in the NFL, it's Nick Casario not wanting to signal to NFL agents out there that hey, we're completely open for business and you ask for what you want, we give you what you want. He's trying to say, no, we're going to build this thing up the right way. We're going to build it up where we are responsible with our spending, but also too we're able to still have an eye towards drafting

and development and being able to build with our own guys from there. I'm fully on board with it, and with this move being made yesterday of the Texans moving out the first round, I agree with what my good buddy Jim Nagy of the Senior Bowl said about the Texans, where he had said that if nothing else, this looks like that they looked at their draft board and looked at who they could possibly get at twenty three and said, who's to

say we can't get that play in the second round. Who's to say we can't get a player of similar value in the second round and be able to put ourselves in position where we're not paying them a huge amount of money. Where his suite read like this, let's look at this from the Texans angle. Guessing there, they assessed this year's board and concluded they could get the same or very close to a level player at number forty two as they could

at twenty three. If that's the case, they just added another twenty twenty five second round pick at a very small cost. Screw trade value charts. I like it, and I agree. I think that if nothing else, it is a situation where they are saying, we are going to continue to build this thing responsibly and not just spend the money because we have it and it's there, and what else are we going to do with it. We've got to spend it. This is a non This is not a nonprofit organization.

This is an organization that is trying to again not only win this coming season, but being able to try to win incoming years as well. I

mean, we've seen the Texans run into a situation. I believe it was the twenty twelve season where they had to be able to make some tough decisions in terms of not being able to offer Mario Williams what he wanted and he was able to go the Buffalo Bills and be able to get what he wanted at that point, because they found themselves in a really tough salary cap situation. I think Nick Sarrio is trying to avoid that as best he can,

because again, you're building this thing up with future years. These next couple of years is a little bit of free reign for the Texans at this point, because when we get to the twenty twenty sixth season and we get into that training camp, that's when you're during the offseason going to be hearing about

CJ. Stroud's representation and the Texans getting into contract extension talks and trying to give him that contract extension before even having to get into fifth year option conversations and all those differ diferent types of things that that will be able to be on the books. And once that is on the books, that's a huge part of your salary cap structure at that point. And then you have to

be even better in the draft. And I think that that's part of these trades that are being made is with a view of getting to that point where soon enough they have to be able to build up as much value as they can get in those drafts and be able to get as many good contributing players out of those drafts, because we've seen teams have to do that in the past as well. I mean, look for example, at the Kansas City Chiefs, they have been a team that ever since they gave Patrick Mahomes his

money. They had to say goodbye to Tyreek Hill. They had to also to make some tough decisions in terms of what they're doing with the rest of their roster defensive players. We've seen other players move on, Chris Jones sticking around, although some people wondered they're gonna have the money to be able to keep him there? Are they gonna be able to make it work capwise to be able to keep him there. Well, obviously they were, because they

just did. And I think think that, you know, it's one of those things that the salary cap, pied piper, it comes for everybody in the NFL. But I think that again, getting back to it, Nick Cassario is trying to say to everyone, look, we're gonna build this thing up in terms of spending responsibly, finding the best value we can get, and also too finding the guys that fit well in our organization. Daneil Hunter fits that profile. Joe Mixon, same deal. We were worried about it.

Once Devin Singletary moved on to the New York Giants, we were like, all right, who's our running back. The following day they answered that question pretty quickly as he's al Shaire, another guy that yes, it hurt to see Blake, you know, to you know, to see you know, Blake Cashman move on, and also Jonathan Garnard move on. But the Texans made concurrent moves pretty quickly to be able to offset those losses. And al Shaire is a guy that has a ton of experience with the with Demiko

ryans out in San Francisco, same deal with Denico Autry. I mean, you saw Jeffery Simmons say on Twitter, we did not just lose this guy the Houston Texans, right, And I think with Daniel Hunter, the interesting thing is, you know, you hear the saying deadlines make deals, and in the case with the Texans, it was pretty quickly after the report came out, Hey, the Indianapolis Colts are trying to get Danil Hunter. That the Texans said, oh, we know why they're trying to get him.

We need to avoid them trying to get him for that specific reason. And that is something that we'll get into next. Because the Texans are making their moves, but others are making their moves with the Texans in mind, what exactly that means? Well, continue the Texans conversation also too. At the bottom of this hour, let you hear from James Palmer the NFL Network. We had a chance to catch up with him over on the A team earlier this week, just yesterday, right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety.

What the national media thinks of the moves that Nick Cassario and the crew over off Kirby are making it to this point. We'll do all that as we continue along here on Space Saturday. I'm Dan Matthews here on your home of the Astros and the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety. This is Space City Saturday on Sports Talk seven ninety. Dan Matthews here with you until noon.

As again, we'll have Rockets basketball coming up a little bit later on Matt Thomas Adam Wexler from there at Toyota Center as the Rockets try to continue this winning streak. Things have been going good for the Space City Hardwood crew as they continue to try to find their way towards being able to get into the

NBA Playing Round. I mean, you know, it's a lot of things with the Rockets right now that you look at and say, you know, Alprin Shingoon down for a significant amount of time, what's his return going to look like? Cam Whitmore as well as the Rockets just find themselves a handful of games the Golden State Warriors with a chance to try to get into that tenth and final spot in the NBA playing Round. So we'll have that come

in your way again at three o'clock. Rockets launch Bads, Stan Northfleet gonna be getting you ready for the game. As then we'll have three point thirty the pregame show to lead you into Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers right here on your home of the Rockets Sports Talks seven nineties. So mid afternoon NBA basketball, you got that going on again too. A little bit of housekeeping here before

we continue the Texans conversation. If you want to weigh in, you can at someone three two, one, two five, seven ninety four forty five over on KPRC nine to fifty. That is going to be the Koogs going for the Big twelve Conference tournament title in Kansas City against the Iowa State Cyclones.

So you have that over there on nine to fifty. And if you're looking for Astros Baseball, as the whole hour one of the show today we talked all Astros getting you ready for the season as we are now about a week and a half away, as we are two weeks from last Thursday away from the season getting going March twenty eighth, right here on your home of the Astro Sports Talk seven ninety. But strosen Metz spring training action coming your

way for fifty over on news Radio seven forty KTRH. That is where you can find that. But I mentioned this a little bit in the last segment of the Texans deciding to move and sign Daniel Hunter, and where a huge emphasis for that Liede was the fact that it looked like the team that was neck and neck with you last year for a chance to be able to try to get into the NFL playoffs in the Indianapolis Colts, where the Colts looked

at it and said, how do we beat the Texans? We affect the quarterback, right, So how do we affect the quarterback by adding guys like danil Hunter to our roster, and I think that once Nick Cassario and crew over on Kirby saw that that was the case, they said, we can't let that happen because we know exactly why they're trying to make that move. They're explicitly trying to make that move with the motivation of being able to beat us. How do they do that, Well, they get to C.

J. Stroud, That's how they do that. How do we avoid that happening? Oh, we had that guy on our side, and we have that guy getting after Anthony Richardson, Trevor Lawrence and Will Levis and being able to control winning the AFC South And that was a huge reason for them to make that move. But it's also too looking at other moves being made by teams in the AFC South. Is with the moves that Texans have made this

week. And we'll hear from James Palmer here in about ten minutes as it is being looked at by the Texans of they feel like that the window has opened for them to try to be able to make a run at winning a Lombardi Trophy, something they have not done. They haven't even had a chance

to get into the AFC title at this point, and with CJ. Stroud, you feel like those days it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when the Texans get to that point, because you feel like with him that they are very much on that track to be able to do that. But it's also as well a chance for us to look back at the way the Texans were, because remember in two thousand and nine they had a chance to make the playoffs, they just missed out. Twenty ten was just

an awful season. You have Connor Barwin go down, you have to Meeko Ryans go down with injury, and the defense just was awful all the way through six and ten season. Frank Bush and that part of the defensive staff you're out. Wade Phillips and Reggie Herring and Vance Joseph and a lot of different coaches. You are in and Gary Kubiak saying to Wade Phillips, hey, you handle that side, I'll handle the offensive side, and let's make

some things happen. And that's when the Texans finally again. Wade's dad had the line, we're gonna kick the sum bitch in and we're going to make it into the AFC Title game the following year. Well, that was the Texans same we're gonna kick that sob in and we're gonna make the playoffs the following year because we're gonna finally have a defense, and wow, did they

have a defense that season. But a huge emphasis for that as well was even before the neck issues, it was we've got to build this thing up because there's a team up in Indianapolis with a guy named Peyton Manning that we have not been able to beat and they have been running the AFC South. So how do we do that. We have a stifling defense, we have a defense that can get after quarterbacks, and we have a way to be able to beat those teams that we can kind of offset what he's able to

do with what we are able to do. And that's what the Texans are facing right now with what the Colts are trying to do, what the Jags are trying to do. I mean the Jags going to get Eric Armstead. That's part of it as well, where they had Trevon Walker as their top pick a few years ago with the explicit opportunity to be able to get after opposing quarterbacks, and he's been able to have a good NFL career to this

point. But I think that most people look at him being the top pick overall and saying, man, we need to see a little bit more out of him. And I think they feel like adding Eric Armstead is gonna be able to free him up a little bit more and he can be more of a defensive presence, especially in the past rush game, and that's what they're trying to do. Tennessee Titans. Really look at it right now. This is a three team race. The Titans. Yeah, that's nice that they

get Calvin Ridley, that's nice that they get Tony Pollard. But at the same time too as well new head coach there, they're kind of in the same situation that the Texans were in this time last year, and I don't think that they feel anywhere as good as the Texans felt like potentially they could be down the road with CJ. Stroud, because let's be honest here,

they were even they were even pleasantly surprised with how last season went. I think a lot of us, as we're talking coming off of this last season, say if my prediction had come true where I had said coming into last season, it's a seven to ten football Seaton. That's a seven and ten football team, and if they're able to finish that way, you at least can say, Okay, we see that potential success is on the horizon, but we're not there yet. They flip that number and they made the playoffs

and they won a playoff game. So now all of a sudden, the timeline has sped up even a little bit more and the Texans find themselves in position to be able to have higher aspirations in a shorter amount of time. And a team that's trying to keep them from reaching those aspirations are the Indianapolis Colts, and they're saying, look, we're gonna get Anthony Richardson back this

year. Hopefully we can keep him healthy. We feel like if we can do that with the rest of the roster we've got, if we were able to add a guy like to Neil Hunter, then we feel like, yes, absolutely, we've caught up with you and we can beat you this coming season, and we are the ones moving on as champions of the AFC South, not you down in Houston. And that was a savvy move made by

the Texans. Is it was set up by the not being you know, reckless with they're spending in terms of trying to build up to the point of, you know, adding say a Saquon Barkley or even a Christian Wilkins. If they added one or both of those guys, then Daniel Hunter is probably an Indianapolis cult right now. But the fact that they said we don't want to go above a certain number with those guys set themselves up for an opportunity to upgrade at that spot. Because, yes, it hurts to lose Jonathan

Grenard. That's not a player that you want to see walk out the building. But you had a guy that is a little bit older, yes, but as a guy that is still showing you that he can get to the quarterback at a high level in Danel Hunter, and you feel even better about the way that your past rush is going to look this coming season. And that's something too that we heard from Demiko Ryans at the end of last season.

You could see it clear as day on the field, the look on Demiko Ryan's face in the second half of that game against the Baltimore Ravens, and you're saying to yourself, we're not there yet. That was the look he had. He's probably even internally saying to himself, we are not on this team's level, not right now. We can get there, but we're not there yet. And that following Monday, when you met with the media, he said exactly that thing. We've got to build up up front.

We've got to be more stout upfront. We've got to add guys that can be able to affect the quarterback, but also too, we can control the line of scrimmage in the run game and be able to win games that way, because if you are able to control the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively, it frees up everyone else. Your secondary Oh we've got secondary issues, Well, you don't have them as much if you're getting to the quarterback right

because you're not putting them on an island as much. You're not having them in those one on one battles, because more often than not, if it's a one on one battle between a receiver in a defensive back, the receiver is gonna win that one. They know where the ball is going, they know where exactly it's going to be placed and how to make said play on

the ball than the player who is reacting to it. So in that case, right there, Texan's making this move being able to offset Indianapolis tried to do Again, these are going to be off seasons that the Texans will be facing from here on out. As long as CJ. Stroud is playing at the level that he played this last season is you're going to see Indianapolis making moves of how do we try to offset his production when we play against them.

You're going to see the Jaguars trying to do that. Eventually, you'll see the Titans try to get to that point if indeed they have the right head coach now and they are on the right track that they want to be in order to try to get back into the AFC South picture. But when you get a guy like CJ. Stroud, yeah, absolutely, you have a target on you and you have others who want to try to come after you. And that's the next step for the Texans is being able to keep

their dominance of the AFC South because one season does not do that. You have to be able to do that over multiple years. The Astros have done that now in the American League. They're the class of the American League. They finally got past the point of, hey, we just want to make the playoffs. We want to win the AL West, and we want to be able to be the team to beat in the Now they have higher aspirations where the team to beat in the American League. That's eventually where the Texans

want to get. They want to be the team to beat in the AFC. And now how do you get to that point. You got to get past the team that just won the AFC and won the whole thing in the Kansas City Chiefs. They've still got Patrick Mahomes there. You got to be able to beat that team Baltimore, you got to be able to beat that team in Buffalo. And you've got other teams who are trying to join you in that quest and trying to get to that point. And that is the

following step that the Texans have to make. But with the moves that have been made to this point, that is Nick Cassario again living up to what he said at the combine about building this thing up for years, not just this coming year. And that's where the Texans find themselves at this moment. All right, Coming up next, as I said last segment, we will hear coming up from James Palmer of the NFL Network he was on a yesterday

with the A Team. A lot of good stuff said by him about the way that the crew out there in La at the NFL Network are looking at the moves made by the Houston Texans so far to this point in the offseason. We'll hear that conversation as we continue along here on your home of the Astros and the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety. Busy day of programming here not only on Sports Talk seven ninety, but also to on our iHeartRadio family

of stations here in Houston. You got the Coog's and Iowa State Cyclones going for the Big twelve men's basketball title. A little bit later on over on KPRC nine fifty four to forty five for that one, and also to astros Ian Metz Spring Training Action on News Radio seven forty k TRH four fifty for that one. But as promised, right now, let's go back in time to yesterday when the NFL networks James Palmer, a guy we know here very well in Houston from his time for the old CSN Houston. He is now

with the NFL Network and he joined the A team. As we had that conversation yesterday, our favorite from the NFL Network. Don't tell the other people I said that, James Palmer. But great having you with us, always producing great content here with us, awesome stuff on the NFL Report, and I know even there there's been a lot of talk about the Houston Texans.

So we will start there as we welcome you in here, as we roll through our Friday James in your best guests, with all the people you're in contact with, even just inside your own newsroom, etc. What's the general thought about what the Texans have done from Monday till today. It's really strong, Adam, I'll put it out there. I do think everybody is kind

of on the same page in what Nick Sara was doing. And I think you could say that they were aggressive and you haven't seen them be aggressive before, but I wouldn't even really use that word, Like, I think they were still measured in a sense, and I think the way they did these contracts was extremely smart. Like I mean, look at most of these deals.

They're two year deals, and so they're going to be up before you have to start paying some of these really talented draft picks that you've had the last couple of years, so your money lines up pretty well, and I think everybody was curious what they were going to do considering this. We could say it like I don't know if I'm overstepping, but like this Super Bowl contender window has opened, like after just one season with CJ. Shroud and

Demiko Ryan. So what are you going to do with the money that you have in place in a rookie quarterback contract? And what are you going to go out and do? And I think it was really really smart to build through the defensive side of the ball. And I mean everybody in Houston knows this, right, Dimiko's going to build through the defensive line. He values it, you know, higher than maybe any other position group out there in

terms of what you need to be successful. And there's a chance, and I've said this on NFL Network, like there's a legitimate chance that Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson Junior could be the best ed rushing duo in football. Yeah. I mean that's what has all of us, including the two guys talking

to you on the phone right now, the most excited. But having said all that, and I agree with a lot of what you said, there aren't a couple of head scratching moves, namely the one that they made today, which is also bizarre because I feel like them and the Vikings just keep flip flopping assets and players either directly or indirectly. But yeah, you have

to go back and forth, it really does. But today's move, and then also the Malik Collins deal, which seemingly looked like it at first it was rumored to be for Armstead, and then Armstead ends up going into the division to the Jags. I think those are the two transactions, or I guess, in the case of Armstead not coming here, non transactions that we're kind of scratching our heads about and wondering what's the next domino or what's the

thinking here? For sure, I think the Armstead one and the Malik one that that makes sense because there is if you talk to anybody around the league, and that's literally what we do these last several days, has just sit on the phone, is there's there's a deficiency of good defensive tackles available, and there's needy teams for interior rushers and interior players. And that was one of the kind of head scratchers with Houston, I would say, is going

Okay, They've filled a lot of other spots. They got deeper at linebacker. You know, you get Autrey's like a rotational guy, like he doesn't have to play a ton of snaps at his age. I think that's a good deal as well. And like I like most of the moves, and you go, well, what about this position group, I would advise to go And I don't know why they made this trade today. I haven't dug on it and go to Philadelphia and think about Howie Roseman and how he operates

three hundred and sixty five days out of the year. So I wouldn't panic if you look at what Philly in the last two years has added, even in the months leading into the season, Like two years ago they added CJ. Garden Johnson, who ironically is back, but like two weeks before the year started, and I think he tied for the league leading interceptions that year and missed like a boat at the time. So my point was that is right, Like we're a handful of days into free agency, there's still a

lot of ways you can fill your roster. In a lot of time for you to fill your roster. I don't know all if it has to happen right, you know, out of the jump and with the trade, what I see is a team that's very aggressive to go after a quarterback and other team that's obviously more content and cool with Hey, more picks over the next couple of years, we've drafted, Well, let's try to keep doing that

and keep acquiring more assets during this time. Is kind of appears to be thinking of the Texans with you here with us today, James one of the players they acquired that we almost have talked none about. We need to today. Five short years ago, this player was wrecking shop for Ryan Days Buckeyes, became the third overall pick, and now is set to play for his

third team in what will be his fifth season. Why is there hope from this team that Jeff Okuda will be a starting, a plus caliber starting corner. Now it's his buckete thrive in Houston. No, just listen. He he has talent. I think that's that's that's evident. I would say, if you want to be optimistic and do you take a one year, six million dollar flyer on a guy who was a former third overall pick, like yeah, I would say that's not a terrible terrible move. I would look

at what's happened in the Denver. I'm in Denver. What happened in Houston in one year? Like, I think you've got to rely on your coaching staff sometimes to go, let's see what we can do. I mean,

like what was turned around with this defense specifically against the run. Now this has nothing to do with the secondary, but my point is this, like if Amika Ryans and his group can come in and they were giving up one hundred and seventy point two yards a game the year before on the ground and they ended up giving ninety with it ninety six point six, sixth best in the NFL the next year, Like, yes, some players changed, but yeah, coaching is really valuable as well. And if you think you can

coach a guy up to play above you know what you've seen. I mean, it's not a terrible deal on a one year deal for six million dollars for a corner that definitely has talent, and it's not like you're like pressing need for him to go out and really really thrive, because he did have flashes in Atlanta last year. So you talked about building the defensive side of the football, and I countered with head scratching questions or moves that are head

scratches. I guess your thoughts on Sexan's you know, acquiring Joe Mixon but then extending him the way they did. Yeah, I was a little curious about the trade because the running back market for the first time was actually a market which just hasn't existed for a couple of years. And obviously these guys didn't really get paid paid, even Saekwon didn't get paid paid. But the

market is better than it's been. There's there's no guys coming out in the draft, like you had to land somebody, and like there's a stat from Joe that stands out to me that's like wow. I mean since twenty eighteen, there's only three players in the NFL that have had five seasons with twelve hundred scrim in Yarder Moore. It's him, Alvin Kamara, and Tyreek Hill. And that's it. Like, if you feel like you can use him in a variety of ways and you think still there's something else from your other

back that kind of lost his job. But if you're still has something, I think you do kind of make a play there. But because you're not getting any young talent out of the draft into your backfield, that's a stretch. I was curious about extending because, like he has been around, and we know about tread on the tires with running backs, but he's been pretty tang durable and he's been pretty consistent from what I said so and what the stats say, and I've covered Cincinnati a good amount. I mean, he

does a lot of different things for them within their offense. I think there's ways to use him, and you got to have a plan for somebody like this, and you got to have a help You gotta have help for him as well that he's not carrying the football honestly too much, and I think

they do have that a little bit. One thing we haven't seen enough of for a normal offseason, and I'm curious if you think we will is the well, we have to start moving some players for cap reasons or we're just gonna have to let him go. And maybe it began yesterday with the Keenan Allen trade from the Chargers to the Bears. Are there any other veteran, established, expensive players that you can see being moved to new teams because of

those reasons? I mean, everybody had to be under right the other day, So like that's where you know, some of the movement ends up happening. There's still some teams deciding on some guys, but I think the bulk of WEXI, the bulk of major moves in that sense, are probably behind us. In a sense, I thought the Keenan Allen won to me just personally knowing the Chargers, knowing what Keenan is, knowing what he's done for the organization, who Harball comes in there, it just goes, oh,

take it easy, bro. I was like, Wow, that was that was a head scratch. But obviously finances play a part in it. I don't know if there's too many more of those on the horizon, just because now we're into the league year and everybody had to be under and so there might be one or two more where you get kind of a little bit surprised,

But those decisions, most of them were already made. The reason the Chargers took a little while is because they're trying to manipulate like four different players that were like thirty million plus cap hits and trying to figure out how to manipulate all of them. Got two of them back, and you know, and so I think that's why there's just took a little bit. I don't

see a whole lot more of those happening. Well, real quickly, is there a second AFC team that you think did themselves well this free agent period? Obviously ranking behind Houston, Baltimore had some people go out the door, but I think Derek Henry along with Lamar Jackson, like, this game's about scoring points obviously, and I don't know what defense is going to feel comfortable

inside the ten with both of those guys in the backfield. And I mentioned them lose guys, aren't they like the one team you look at and like anybody gets hurt, somebody goes down O line secondary and then you're just like, oh, they just plugged so and so in and they're still really good, Like that's their organization. So I think adding Derrick Henry puts them a little bit closer into that group. And I think Houston's in that group as

well. That's everybody's hunting down Kansas City. Something from the NFL report with you and Steve that our listeners need to tune in for. If you like Max Crosby or you hate Max Crosby, he was unbelievable. I don't know how you could aid him he's like one of the most likeful guys in the league. But his interview with us yesterday, it was like twenty minutes. And if you want to just know about the type of guy he is or leader he is, there's a story he tells and watching the Last Dance Less,

it's just like out of this world. Like he was watching it in a hotel in a hotel room after a surgery after his second season and literally watched it with his wife and change his entire life, like from that minute on, and it hasn't adjusted from what he eats to what you know, people to work on his body, everything has changed after watching Jordan. And that's why he has a massive, unbelievably accurate tattoo of Michael Jordan on his

torso, which is a bit awkward, but it's there accurate. His tattoos are. His tattoos are like incredible. I mean, I don't know if it's like I feel very uncomfortable right now being on the radio talking about another man's tattoos, but like his artwork is like some of the best around. I'm told I'm not one to you know, I'm not tattoo officionado, but it's incredible if you look at it, I mean it's nuts. So his his stories and his leadership, the stuff he talks about in that interview is

just it's next level. He's phenomenal. Well, keep in mind everybody who watched Thursday Night Football this year when the Raiders were I think it was the game where they told Brandon Staley he need not continue working. Uh, he was their shirtless during his postgame interview, So everybody is aware of what you're talking about. It's a canvas. Yeah, there's a lot going on there. I think he gets under actually during a out of the artwork because it's

like so detailed. I think you just put under that's the extreme As someone who does have ink. I've never done that. So are we don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure it's accurate. Are we to assume that James Palmer has no ink? Zero? Man? Wow? Ditto two purebreads. I know I can't change my mind too much. I'd just probably go like, oh I should have done blank. Well it got done. A little bit of advice. It is permanent. Oh dang, yeah,

good call. It's not going off all right, James. Hey, we appreciate the time good stuff as always, and I'm sure we'll be catching up again sooner rather than later, big time man. All right, guys, All right, James Palmer. And you know, I kind of fit into that same category as well. I mean, I've had ideas of possibly having the needle hit the skin, but you know, it's also then kind of the same thing where I'm like, a, right, you know, do

I necessarily want that look at a certain point? You know, It's just it's probably one of those if you're not one hundred percent all in the look. I'm not against them. I think they look great in certain cases.

I just think it's also too one of those things that here, I'll just be honest, I've seen them like on like older people as they get older, they're faded all of those different things, and I'm just like, I don't know if I want that look when I get older, So that's kind of what keeps me from it. So again, hey, look you got them. Hopefully you love them, and hopefully you love showing them off for the rest of us to see. So good on you if you fit into

that category. All right, Coming out next we'll close out this edition of Space City a Saturday, but something that James said there I think absolutely applies to the Texans, especially with news that hit today. We'll talk about that and much more as we continue to roll along and close out this edition of Space City Saturday. Dan Matthews here with you on your home of the Astros in the Rockets, Sports Talk seven ninety. It's Space City Saturday on Sports

Talk seven nighty. Ian Matthews here with you for another few minutes as we close out this edition of a Space City Saturday. And I've mentioned you know you have h taken on Iowa State today for the Big twelve title. How am I just now seeing as a huge fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger and his work? How am I just now seeing him as the commencement speaker? I guess one year at University of Houston and he started doing the Who's House? Adam? I believe my computer is up. Let's let's see if it because I

was able to add this in, I guess we'll see. Yeah, well we'll see if this works. All right, Let's let's see if we're able to play Arnold shouting out to the fans whose house? I guess not, Adam, it's in KB and me if you want to fire it up, but no, you know, I was able to see that. I think Mark Berman actually shared that. So yeah, firing up the crowd was Arnold one year there at TDECU Stadium and absolutely able to nail it. We got

it. Who's house? Who's house there? You go? Arnold knows, so the terminator himself, and he was also throwing up the Cougar Paul as well. So that just goes to show you that the love of University of Houston, well it goes even to the ones who are trying to keep us from being swallowed up whole by the robots and everybody else out there. So Arnold just trying to save us and rooting on the coops. So love to see that, all right. So I talked about some news that broke earlier

today. So if you follow Aaron Wilson Sports Talk seven nineties own Aaron Wilson, as he has been all over the free agency news, and one of the things that broke earlier today was that the Texans had a chance to get Keenan Allen from the Los Angeles Chargers, and his tweet about an hour ago said Texans got close on a potential trade for Keenan Allen, who went to the Bears with Houston offering a twenty twenty five third round pick in a pick

swap return per league sources, ultimately went for the Bears for a fourth round pick one hundred and tenth. Over All, Texans were willing to take on Keenan Allen's contract as currently constructed, with an eighteen point one million dollars signing a million dollar base salary and five million dollar roster bonus, then work on an extension. Ultimately, it's a moot point as he went to the Bears

an NFC team, but the Texans took a huge swing. While it would have been nice to have had Keenan Allen because you add him along with Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz in the return of Tank Dell, I mean, all of a sudden, what was once a just okay receiver group. I mean coming into the season. I mean I remember when me and Wex did a show and we were talking about the group of Nico Collins of Robert Woods. Yes you had Noah Brown, but you're going into that year saying, oh,

man receiver, I don't know with this team. But the Texans were able to show no, actually a pretty good group that could actually make some plays, and they did, and a huge part of that was c. J. Stroud. And yes, if you had Keenan Allen, that's massive. But here's the positive part of all of this is that it's not as huge a loss as you would expect because I've talked about it before, the

receiver position and how it is viewed in college football. Now there is college basketball happening to day, but college football it's not viewed the way that it had been in the past. In the past, I think it had been looked at with receivers coming into the league as a rookie that that, well, you know, they're gonna have to learn our scheme. They're probably going

to have to learn different route trees that they didn't have in college. So there's going to be a little bit more of an adjustment period for them getting to this level of play. And now it's not necessarily a case. I've talked about the proliferation of the passing game in college football and also to the passing game concepts that you have in college football. Of course RPOs run pass option, it's a little bit more on the college level, but still it's

the fact that you have to be able to account for different things. Am I a blocker here or am I in the middle of a route? Those are things that I have to be able to account for, and those are things that college receivers now have. And there's a reason too, with the amount of recent success that we've seen from roocky wide receivers, that teams are starting to look at the receiver position as there's so many of them, so there's so much value out there that demand is not as high and we're able

to find guys that can be meaningful contributors right off the back. And this coming NFL draft has a ton of receivers, a lot of people wondering if the Texans had state at twenty three, would receiver had been a route they had gone at that point, because again, you feel like you're getting really

good value. I have pulled up the cbssports dot Com prospect rankings that I believe Dane Brugler used to do. I don't know who does them now for CBS Sports, but anyway, of course you got Marvin Harrison, He's going to be gone way before the Texans would have taken at twenty three. All right, fine, Maleak Neighbors, Roma Dunza, Brian Thomas Junior, Lad

McConkie, who has started to really jump up. And I think somebody that could possibly be there in the second round if you're the Texans, and of course I know a lot of you out there might be saying, oh, well, you know a Georgia guy. Of course Dan wants him. It's also a damn good receiver. Ad Mitchell out of Texas. Another guy that could be there in the second round for the Texans. Xavier Worthy, same deal, Keon Coleman, same deal as well. So the picks are a

plenty in the receivers are a plenty. That the move made by Nick Cassio, well it might just pay off just yet. And also two, while having Keenan Allen would have been nice, Sexans still have plenty to choose from next month when they get to drafting up there in Detroit, which as of right now will be on day two, not day one. We'll see how it all shakes out. I want to thank Adam Snyder behind the glass. I want to thank all of you out there for listening to us here on

this Saturday. I'm Dan Matthews. This has been another edition of Space City Saturday. As we are here on your home and the Astros and the Rockets Sports Talk seven to ninety Hamster came off the wheel