Valid

​Okay. So we should just shelve Fernandez because a couple of guys on an Internet forum feel like we have no shot of winning. Great way of conducting business. The fact of the matter is that we are within striking distance, and if Jose is healthy, there is absolutely no reason not to bring him back.

​I don't understand. Because you don't think we are winning anything year, we should shelve arguably the most dominant pitcher in baseball even if he is fully healthy? And I mean, despite a bevy of injuries, we are only six games back in a horrendous division with the All-Star break still a month away. It's silly to throw in the towel this early.

​So we can't draft arms?

​The minor leagues are a cycle. Chances are, we are not going to have to wait three years before we have some nice arms in the system.

Crazy that we are only six games back of first place in the loss column. Given that we had stretches of 3-11 and then 5-17 (I think?), I'll take that and run with it.

​To be fair, he also showed significant improvement last year, and his numbers are finally starting to reflect his slick defense. While it's certainly early, I absolutely do not think it is out of the realm of possibility that he is developing into an All-Star caliber shortstop.

McCullers does look good, but it's a very small sample size. He was solid (not great) in the minors and has pitched 24 innings in the majors so far. He looks great, sure, but I think we need to wait before saying he is better than Alvarez, who has already pitched two very good ML seasons. As far as McHugh goes, he turns 28 this month and has a lifetime 4.22 ERA and 3.74 FIP in 272.2 innings. He might turn into a decent back-end-of-the rotation starter, but are we even sure he is any more desirable than Cosart (who is three years younger)?

​I mean, a healthy Jose is better than anyone in their rotation, and unless I'm forgetting someone, a healthy Alvarez is better than any Astros starter not named Dallas Keuchel.

I think it's a little early to think of mentioning Latos' name among our biggest busts. I mean, the dude has started five games.