Spending limits not hurting results

The Astros have never rewarded an Astro with Fernando Tatis Jr. money.

Mike Trout or Mookie Betts money.

Bryce Harper, Manny Machado or Giancarlo Stanton money.

Heck, Gerrit Cole had to leave Houston’s Major League Baseball team to receive a nine-year, $324 million contract from the New York Yankees.

But guess which big-city franchise made it further than the Yanks in the 2020 playoffs.

The same team that has reached the American

League Championship Series four consecutive seasons. And is the smart, safe spring training pick to claim the AL West in 2021.

If the latter occurs by early October, it will guarantee six postseason ap

pearances in seven years for the Astros. Which would mean the foundation of former general manager Jeff Luhnow’s old master plan — annual competitiveness and sustainability — will still be in place during an era when a 14-year, $340 million contract extension for a 22year-old with 143 big league games under his MLB belt is instantly praised.

Tatis is a fascinating and highly talented young ballplayer. In two abbreviated campaigns, he’s hit .301 with 39 home runs, 24 doubles, eight triples, 98 RBIs, 111 runs, 27 stolen bases and a .956 OPS.

But the $340 million that mid-market San Diego just promised doesn’t guarantee anything. And the last I checked, MLB’s 2020 world champion Los Angeles Dodgers are still the club to beat in the National League West, not to mention the sport.

Jim Crane’s Astros used to be cheap, cheap, cheap. I mean ridiculously and insultingly cheap, if you believed in the modern competitive spirit of the grand ol’ game.

Since then?

The Astros have been financially smart. The business side of their baseball intelligence has allowed the franchise to successfully emerge from a sign-stealing scandal, endure the $33 million that veteran ace Justin Verlander is promised this year while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and overcome George Springer’s becoming a Blue Jay in January.

Jose Altuve’s five-year, $151 million extension in 2018 represents the Astros’ largest long-term investment. Alex Bregman received a five-year, $100 million extension in 2019.

The James Click/Crane Astros were never going to give old No. 4 $150 million over six years to remain in orange and blue. But a typical Astros deal soon followed — $32 million for two more years of the highly respected Michael Brantley in Houston — and Dusty Baker’s 2021 club should still feature one of the strongest daily lineups in the game.

The moment Springer pledged his allegiance to Canada, Twitter started yelling that the Astros were being cheap again.

If Carlos Correa doesn’t receive a new contract before opening day on April 1 and eventually signs a monster deal with a new team for the 2022 season, the shouts will become frantic screams.

But it’s not like the Astros don’t spend Crane’s cash. As March approaches, they are in the top five in MLB payroll ($174 million), trailing only the Dodgers, Yankees, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.

How are Phillies fans currently feeling about Harper’s gargantuan 13year, $330 million deal? Philly hasn’t made the playoffs since Harper left Washington in 2019 and posted a .467 winning percentage last season. The Nationals spent real money in ’19 — their $172 million payroll ranked seventh in MLB — and they won it all by overcoming the Astros in Game 7 of the World Series during the year Harper was seriously paid.

Click is still proving himself to a fan base that spent years proclaiming “In Luhnow We Trust” until a sport-altering scandal suddenly ended the chant. A huge decision — financial and baseball — about Correa’s future is the second-year GM’s next test.

The 26-year-old shortstop is set to make a teamfriendly $11.7 million this season. Tatis-like money won’t follow. But even with a loaded shortstop market looming in free agency, Correa would stand out nationally on the open market.

The No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 draft — one of the critical early decisions during Luhnow’s rebuild — has become a fan favorite again and publicly made it clear he wants to be an Astro for years to come.

“I’m not scared of free agency, but as I’ve said before and shared before, I feel like this is the team I grew up in,” Correa told reporters Monday from West Palm Beach, Fla. “I feel like this is my team. I feel like I belong here. But they have to feel the same way.”

Trout has been the best player in baseball for years. But the Angels haven’t been to the playoffs since 2014, and Los Angeles hasn’t won a postseason game since the three-time AL MVP joined the club in 2011.

Trout received a 10-year, $360 million extension in 2019. Albert Pujols was awarded a 10-year, $240 million deal in 2011. Technically, the Angels have nothing to show for both blockbusters.

Then again, the Dodgers finally won it all again last season with MLB’s secondhighest payroll. And Los Angeles’ better baseball team hoisted a World Series trophy after acquiring Betts and giving the former Boston star a 12year, $365 million extension.

Altuve and Bregman aren’t going anywhere. Correa could remain, keeping three of the rebuilt Astros’ Core Four intact.

But who’s the Astros’ ace in 2022? Big-money veteran arms Zack Greinke and Verlander were acquired via huge trades, and both are set to become free agents after this season.

For almost a decade under Crane, the big-city Astros have annually avoided Tatis, Trout, Betts, Harper and Cole money.

They spend enough to compete and contend for yearly titles. But overall, they don’t overspend.

The Astros’ financial balance will again be a defining story in 2021.