Houston Astros Clubhouse Tension: Framber Valdez & October Outlook | Chandler Rome

Was it ever asked of Pena or Altuve or the center fielder who also have a pitchcom device what pitch was called in the infamous Framber Valdez Cesar Salazar incident? It was not um and maybe that’s a dereliction of duty on our part. Um I to be completely honest with you I I can’t I don’t know who specifically on the field wears pitchcom devices for the Astros. I know at one point Pena was I know at one point they had the third baseman wearing it depending on who it was. Altuve I don’t believe I think Altuve DH that game so he wouldn’t have been in the field with it on. Um but no that was not asked of the guys. It’s a good thought and it’s something we probably should have thought of but I mean to kind of peel the curtain back a little bit. I mean, we walked in that clubhouse and the first thing we saw was, you know, Frober and Cesar Salazar having a discussion at Salazar’s locker and then uh bench coach Omar Lopez came in and escorted both of them into the manager’s office. So, we were a little bit preoccupied just kind of, you know, watching that unfold and to kind of see what was going on next to maybe think that far ahead. And to be honest with you, Eric, we didn’t know what their stories were going to be coming out. So when we walked in, we really couldn’t have the wherewithal to think, all right, let’s go hear what was called and what wasn’t called because we didn’t get all those details until Cesar Salazar spoke to us afterward. And by that point, uh, the clubhouse had pretty much cleared out and the players no real players there to talk to anymore. You know, Kareah had pitch. I mean, there’s no way Kareah doesn’t play shortstop without knowing what’s coming. He likes to be in control of almost everything. So, you know, you know that he had the pitch. The the thing for me is you you mentioned when you walked in there that they were talking, but there’s now reports coming out that the players on the Astros weren’t happy and they made Frober go over and talk to him. Has anyone figured out the chain of events and then they went in Job Spot’s office and then they all came out with kind of the same story. Oh, I would never do that. Blah blah blah blah whatever. From his agents doing the PR tour saying this is ridiculous. But has anyone ever is that true first of all that the players on the Astros went to said hey you need to apologize and you need to act better towards Salazar and then do we know what Joe Espatada said to him other than what he said in his press conference yesterday. Yeah I mean I’m not going to pretend like I was in the room and and I know exactly what happened. Um you know I look I I can say that there were some there were some frustrations. Um there were some frustrations in there. I don’t know to what level it rose. I don’t know the chain of command of who apologized when. Was there a forced apology? Like I I don’t know. So I don’t want to speak out of turn. All I can know is Valdez told us after the game that he apologized to Cesar Salazar both in the dugout after the fifth inning and after the game. Um that is what he told us. Um we asked Cesar Salazar if he felt an apology was required and um he kind of said no he didn’t and and just kind of reiterated how good of a relationship that he’s built with and how and how well they work how well they worked together. Um so you know I I wasn’t in there so I’m not going to try to put words in people’s mouth or figure out what was and what didn’t happen. Um there was some frustration, don’t get me wrong. I do know that. But um I I I can’t give you a blowby-blow of who apologized when. Um was it a forced apology? Was it was it made? You know, all I all I can tell you is what the people told us on the record and Valdez told us that he apologized twice uh to Cesar Salazar on Tuesday. The dynamic of that clubhouse, who would be the guy, if you were to guess, because Koreah just got back. I know he has a lot of clout there. Who would be the guy that would get up in Frober’s face or maybe make this make sure we like, hey, we’re addressing this. This isn’t going to just get swept under the rug like like we like I feel like it kind of has been. I mean, we’ve got video evidence of Carlos Koreah getting in From Valdez’s face in the 2020 ALCS at uh Petco Park in Tampa. So, um Framber and Koreah do have history even though Koreah just got back here a month ago. Um, you know, Kareah is is probably that guy, the guy that’s going to be the one to take to take hold here. Don’t discount Jose Altuve either. I know he’s a quiet guy. I know he’s a guy that um usually doesn’t love the spotlight, doesn’t love being the the the focus of things, but he’s a leader in there and he will he’ll speak up when he has to. He probably will never do it publicly. He’ll never do it when the cameras are on and he’ll never tell anyone that he did that, but he is he is capable of doing that. So, it’d be those two guys. And then, you know, Joe Espatada had a playbook for this and he had to use this playbook a couple of months ago when Frober Valdez questioned openly questioned the Astros defensive positioning um after his start against the Nationals. You know, Frober made his comments that night and then they kind of set off a firestorm. We had not we talked to Frober that night after we talked to Joe Espatada, so we didn’t have a chance to ask Joe Espatada about it. The next day, Joe Espatada opened his uh pregame news conference with um a statement similar to the one he said yesterday, similar to the one he gave yesterday. And then basically said, “This is it. I’m not taking any more questions. I’m not talking about it anymore.” Um yesterday, he was asked a couple of follow-up questions. And I mean, he gave he gave answers, but didn’t really answer the question. Like, he responded to them, but the answers were not um he didn’t, you know, divulge anything else. So, they were clearly on that playbook of let’s address it once uh pregame on Wednesday and then as Joe Espatada said, put it behind us. Um, and they seem to do that. They went out and beat the Yankees 8 to7. And like I said on crush city territory this morning, the thing I love about baseball is that the news cycle just constantly moves, right? Like this isn’t football where you have to wait six days for another game. This isn’t basketball where there could be a day or two between games and the new cycle can drag on. like um the quickest way to put it behind you is go out and play the next day. Go out and play. Go out and win. And I the Astros took a good step toward that on Wednesday, kind of distancing themselves from all this uh from this hoopla. Chandler, do you think this is something that lingers around? I know you were saying they’re trying to distance themselves from it. Is it is it pretty obvious to say that Salazar won’t catch Fromurn next time he pitches? And then also, is this something that in the clubhouse and going forward with the Astros? I’m not even talking about maybe this year, but when he’s a free agent that the Astros look at and say, “Ah, because this isn’t, listen, as good of a pitcher as Framber Valdez is, this isn’t his first thing where guys, people have said, “What the heck is he doing?” And he’s kind of done some stuff, right? So, do you think going forward this is something the Astros look at in free agency and say, “Ah, maybe we’d rather have somebody else here, even though they know Fromber very well.” Well, I I the Astros probably aren’t bringing Fra Valdez back, but it’s not because of anything you just said. It’s because they’re they’re not going to give him the sort of contract that that he his market value says he’s worth and that he will command on the free agent market. Um, you know, he’s a year older than Max Freed, but has very similar career numbers, if not better in some regards to Max Freed. So, you look at 8 for 218 that Max Freed got. I’m not saying Framber Valdez is going to get that exact deal, but that will be the framework that, you know, perhaps is a starting point. And the Astros have never guaranteed a player more than $151 million, much less a pitcher. Um Jim Crane, the one thing in his ownership tenure, he has not given massive deals to starting pitchers. Uh Lance McCuller’s got a 5-year $85 million extension before he went to free agency. Josh her got a $95 million deal as a closer. 95 million is the most they’ve ever guaranteed to a pitcher in Jim Crane’s ownership tenure. So, the Ashers probably aren’t bringing Valdez back, but that’s more of a money thing. That’s more of like that he is going to want a contract that they just don’t give. Um, as far as what it’s going to do for the next month, month and a half. You know, Victor Keratini is back off of the IIL, off the concussion IIL. So, the Ashers have three catchers on their roster right now. Um, I don’t know who’s going to catch Frober in his next start. I’d be surprised if it was Cesar Salazar for no other reason than um you know I for no other reason than I think Victor Keratini and Yiner Diaz are, you know, better options to catch just from an offensive upside. This is a team that needs to score runs. This is a team that is looking to upgrade its offense in any way possible. Those two guys are are just better offensively. You have to remember the reason Cesar Salazar caught Fram Valdez on Tuesday was because Victor Keratini was still on the concussion IIL and they needed Yiner Diaz to DH because if I’m remembering the days right I I think you Alvarez was off. So whatever like the Salazar caught Valdez because they were in a little bit of a pinch just roster-wise. They’re not in that anymore. So I’d imagine one of Keratini or Diaz catches Valdez in his next start. And then with Frober specifically, and I’ve I’ve reiterated this on Crush City Territory, you know, they know how to handle him. Like this isn’t a a new guy that’s come in and is just um been like this, like they they’ve had Framber around for going on seven years now. Like they have seen him evolve. They they know how to get the most out of him. You know, sometimes things like this happen. They’ve had instances like this where where some stuff has occurred and they’ve been able to manage it. they’ve been able to handle it. I don’t think it’s going to be that as big of a deal maybe as most think just because they’re so experienced with this. Like they kind of know how he is. They know what makes him tick. They they understand kind of how to how how to handle him in the clubhouse. So, I think they’ll be able to to to be fine with it for the next month and a half. But um as far as the future goes, like I I never thought Valdez was coming back to Houston when this season began. And and nothing that happened Tuesday night changes my thought on that. And it has nothing to do with the cross up or the failed to step off. FTF fam, designer clothes can be expensive, but we want our clothes to look good. We want to feel good. We want them to be affordable. And Kratz, if you tell me that I can wear a t-shirt that looks like it’s tailored, but it’s not actually tailored and it just comes that way, then sign me up for True Classic. Have to. You got to sign up for it because these shirts are soft, they’re thin, they’re durable, and they’re very versatile. You can wear them to the gym. You can wear them out to a nice dinner. Let’s get after it because these shirts are the real deal. They are. Check it out. I’ve got one of the performance ones. It’s a nice blue. fits well. I can go to the gym. I can go out. I can do FT in a shirt like this. FT fam, there’s a reason why True Classic has sold over 25 million shirts to more than 5 million customers and they are racking up over 200,000 five-star reviews. See for yourself with our exclusive link at trueclassic.com/foultosave. That’s true.comfol. Chandler, I’m going to take us to the lineup. How much better does it look with Yordon Alvarez back and looking mostly like himself? And then I saw you writing about Esacho Parade. So is there a chance? Um let’s start with Eso Paradus. Um I don’t think anyone knows if there’s a chance. You know, he got cleared to start baseball activities uh on Wednesday, yesterday. Um, if you watched him at Dyken Park while he was taking ground balls and while he was running, he is nowhere near full speed. Not that I expected him to be full speed, but this was very light baseball activities. Like, I’m talking he fielded five grounders that didn’t really require him going side to side. Um, he did some running in the outfield that he said was about 50%. Um, he is not close to coming back. So, but they are going to send him to West Palm Beach this week to continue his rehab. He’ll be down there. Um, Esacho said that he’s still not sure if he’s going to play this season. He’s going to try his best, but it’s still very much up in the air. I think the bigger question is, you know, if everything goes well and let’s say he is available for a potential playoff spot on a roster, like he’s obviously going to have to DH a little bit. Um, he’s gonna have to probably DH primarily because I don’t know by that time if he’ll be in good enough shape to play a nine-inninging game defensively. Um, I also don’t know where he would play defensively considering, you know, Carlos Korea is on the team and now plays third base. They’re rotating Ramon Urius and Mauricio Duban and Jose Altuve at second. um they could play Paradus at second and um you know have left field for either Yordon or Altuve, but if they if he comes back in a DH role, that would force both Alvarez and Altuve to play defense every day. Um whether the Ashers would be okay with that tradeoff, you know, this is a team that misses Paradis’s plate discipline. They miss how many pitches he sees. Like he would be a massive addition to this lineup. So I think they take the trade-off, but again, this is this is really far off. like I I I I think it is still very much up in the air if Paradus, you know, plays again this season, but is still a good sign to see him doing baseball activities after he faced the possibility of undergoing surgery that would have sidelined him for 6 months. So, um that’s a win in and of itself that he’s back to to do baseball activities. And then Yordon, I mean, it’s it changes the complete dynamic of the lineup. And we said this and we we kind of Joe Espatada had reiterated this before Yordon came back. Even if he came back at, you know, less than full Yordon, even if he came back at a little bit less efficacy, just his presence and just the fear he strikes in opponents is going to change how opposing managers and opposing pitchers navigate them. You know, his first series back against the Rockies, I think he walked five times and the Rockies like they weren’t even trying to hide it. Like these were they were pitching around him and he hadn’t played a major league game. he had missed a hundred games and and they were pitching around him and you could already tell it was a different sort of um presence. Now last night would lead me to believe that he’s all the way back. He hit five balls last night, all 103.5 or harder off the bat. Um was spraying the ball to all fields. Um Josh Reick was was marveling earlier this morning about him, you know, going with a Luke Weaver change up into left field uh for a game tying single to the other way. He he pulled the ball. He went up the middle. Um this is I mean he is when he’s on he’s a top five hitter in baseball. And you know adding that can only help this lineup that you know has had its struggles with runners and scoring position that has not been able to to have the run production we think it could have. But I mean adding Alvarez in there just changes the calculus entirely. He’s one of the guys the only league the only the only chance the league has against him is if he gets called up to the next league which I don’t think they’ve created that yet but he’s one of those guys. Last question. We haven’t hit on this bullpen and I’m not saying this because a Bru actually had a blip last night. He’s ridiculous. Does this bullpen have enough length? Does it have enough just ining skill to succeed in the playoffs? I mean, I think it could, and I also think you’re going to see starters go into the bullpen in the playoffs, just like we see, you know, every year. So, I think that the complexion of this bullpen could look a lot different in the playoffs. Um, one thing we didn’t hit on is that Spencer Arrigetti went on the IIL yesterday with elbow inflammation. That would have been maybe my pick as the guy that would have translated best to the bullpen in a playoff scenario. I’m not sure they want to risk that with Javier and Garcia, two guys that have just come off long arm surgery recoveries. I’m not sure they want to risk putting them in the bullpen that quick. Arrigetti only, you know, broke his thumb. That’s why he missed so much time. So, to me, he profiled as the guy that would have been the obvious kind of swingman guy that could give you some length or guy that could the stuff could play up out of the bullpen. Um, without him, it’s going to be a little bit more difficult. But, you know, I think they’ve got some good pieces. You know, Brian King is a guy that as a left-handed hitter, as a left-handed pitcher, excuse me, has been dominant against right-handed batters, so they can use him kind of regardless of platoon splits. They’ve got Delos Santos, who’s been very good for them since they, you know, got him from the Braves. Caleb Ort has pitched some leverage innings and succeeded. Pitched very well last night. And then they have all the confidence in the world in Brian Abrau. Um, I know the blip last night wasn’t great, the homer to Bellinger, but um, he is, you know, by most statistical measures, he’s been as good, if not better in some categories than Josh her this year. So, when they give him the ball in the ninth inning, they’re not worried. I think it’s just the bridge to get to a Brayu. I think that’s going to be a little bit interesting and I think it’s going to test Joe Espatada’s kind of managerial kind of how he’s going to match guys up, how quickly he goes to his bullpen or quite frankly how long he sticks with his starters because maybe his starters can give him maybe he’s got a little more confidence in the upside of the starters than he would going to the bullpen in maybe the fourth or the fifth inning.

Crush City Territory host and Astros beat writer (The Athletic) Chandler Rome joins Foul Territory to unpack the Framber Valdez–César Salazar cross-up: what the Astros said privately vs. publicly, clubhouse reactions, and how Joe Espada handled the fallout. We dig into PitchCom logistics (who’s wearing it and why that matters), whether Salazar will catch Framber again, and why Houston is unlikely to re-sign Valdez—more about money than the incident. Rome also breaks down Yordan Alvarez’s impact since returning, the latest on injured reinforcements, and how the Astros can navigate October with their bullpen bridge to Brian Abreu (plus which starters could shift to relief).

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37 comments

  4. How long do we have to keep the name Dakin Park? Next time maybe "Union Station" since the train and The Original
    train station for Houston was right there…… but understand everything evolves around MONEY!

  6. Let’s be honest and face it, the Astros aren’t the same team they were a few years ago when A.J. Hinch was managing them. He’s doing with the Tigers now what he did here. The only reason they’re leading the A.L. West is because Seattle always collapses and the Rangers have been the biggest disappointment in baseball due to their lack of hitting.

  11. If they don't its because content creators like this blow it way out of proportion. How many days will this channel be talking about this. The rest of the week, I bet. Let the players figure it out. You are making it worse. Are these guys in the locker room. I don't see either one of them on the lineup card.

  13. "Maybe that's a dereliction of our duty on our part." Maybe? Okay. Remaining silent about all the details per Astros' management is the likely accurate response.

  15. The Astros have a full schedule ahead of them and they look burnt out. Most teams are stressed out ahead of the post season. Framber knows his market value will be determined on how things play out, he doesn’t look okay and he took his frustration out on the wrong person.

  26. Here's my take on why Framber became a head case: At a time a dynasty was taking form in Houston, the Astros lost draft picks and Grienke and some pitching after 2019. The Astros found themselves in a pinch to retain ANYTHING they had to stay competetive. Verlander had a few seasons left but he's not going to be ace forever. So they promised this to Framber while Brown was developing and in some ways Brown has surpassed him since then. Framber has always been #2. I think it gets in his head that he's not a true #1 for some reason. I also think the team injuries have annoyed him. It's worn our bullpen out and sapped our offense of winning lineups. When we lose it usually a blowout, which just feels bad throughout multiple seasons. I think he's annoyed with the Astros team itself which was manifested in throwing a pitch at the catcher after giving up a grand slam he knew his offense couldn't match or pass. He knew the game was over with that grand slam. The catcher called him off before that pitch, which puts all the blame on Framber.

    Other teams seem to know all of this, especially teams with former Astros. They get in his head by hitting the ball to Framber to get him triggered by having to field which he knows and the teams know he sucks at.

    I think Framber hates being an Astro and since 2022, I don't think he belongs on a team of legends like Altuve and Correa.

    Framber should have been traded after 2023 for a haul. Now his value is dropping because he's a horrible teammate. He'll go to a bad team for 1 season in FA then its straight to the Stankees or Doggers for his "revenge" on the Astros. Bet on this. I'm Banksy, yall!

  30. I’m Astros fan for 41 yrs; and I say get rid of that nut-job, this is beyond “apologies”, I don’t see how Salazar ended up on the defendant’s dock side, is all that head-case,nut-job and his tantrums, this is something the ball boy mistaken for a manager can’t “ put behind us” I say f**k Valdez, send him packing, do not bring him, back, nobody is indispensable in this world,

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