NO DISPUTE: PER COHEN, ASTROS RUNNING FOR THIRD TITLE IN SEVEN YEARS

Hardly anyone gives Jim Crane any validation, but thanks to Steven A. Cohen — who has given up on his embarrassment — the owner could be looking at his third championship in only seven years

     That suddenly, you can see the Houston Astros winning their second straight championship, the first since 2000, the first in forever-and-ever. That quickly, why wouldn’t they use a pitcher who posted a 7.29 earned run average in July to trigger style, neatness and fashion? That judiciously, why not have Framber Valdez pitch a no-hitter for the hell of it?

     “It’s a wonderful day,” said Dusty Baker, the manager, who couldn’t hide the smile on his lips.

     With Justin Verlander back to the rotation crankshaft, the Astros are looking at an October where a first-round goodbye becomes another title. This is another look-see at an owner, the embarrassing Steven A. Cohen, who thinks his crash of the New York Mets can become another gentleman’s reprieve — never mind the almost $400 million he’ll continue to owe for an all-time crash. He was there when Jim Crane complained the Astros should have been alongside the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees and others, and sure enough, he was there when commissioner Rob Manfred told him to bag it in Texas.

     “A piece of metal,” said Manfred, who apologized for his misappropriation.

     But now comes Cohen, who once was in major trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission and no longer cares. He wanted what Verlander sought? That would be Houston again, so off he went to cut a deal with Crane, the owner of the Astros, who are looking at their third straight championship more than six years after winning their first. It should be obvious that the Astros, who have only four players left from that team, are not trying to bang on a trash can with a bat or a massage device known as a Theragun. They’ve been watched more than any team in modern captivity. They do not cheat. They keep winning.

     And now, Valdez and Christian Javier — he pitched six innings of a no-hitter in the World Series last season — join Verlander at the top of a order that could lead the Astros to another title. “There was a lot of money on the table. I think Dana Brown came running into my office as Scherzer was traded, what was reported on what they had given up,” said Crane, referring to his general manager. “We started penciling that and it made sense to make the call.”

     No one takes the Baltimore Orioles as anything but a cool story and a second-round loss. No one takes the Tampa Bay Rays as anything but a second-round defeat. But the Texas Rangers? They could be the American League team in the championship series … and they have Max Scherzer, also made available by Cohen. Suddenly, an NLCS wrapped around Verlander and Scherzer becomes an ALCS. Never, ever say that Cohen didn’t have the entire season beyond his digits, though he and general manager Billy Eppler never could figure out how to reach .500 in a blur of blurs.

     “I talked to Billy,” Scherzer said. “I was like, ‘OK, are we reloading for 2024?’ He goes, ‘No, we’re not. Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026, ‘25 at the earliest, more like ‘26. We’re going to be making trades around that.’ I was like, ‘So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?’ He said, ‘No, we’re not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We’re going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. ‘24 is now looking to be more of a transitory year.’ ’’

     That’s it? “The Mets, we went into the season with high expectations. And rightfully so. We had a very good team. Unfortunately, we didn't play up to it," Scherzer said. “And because of where everybody's at within their contract situation — age, everything, Billy and Steve, they had a different vision now. The math changed.”

     So much for the grand design. The Mets went for it, failed miserably, and traded away two guys — one at 40, one at 39. Could both fail again? Yes. Could they succeed? Chances are, I’m liking the Astros because they’ve won twice in six years and could mean three in seven. Until then?

     “The last couple of games, I just wasn’t as focused as I could have been and I’ll be the first to admit that,” said Valdez, who now has six complete games and three complete-game shutouts. “I just came very focused, very positive and leave it all out on the field.”

     “It was just sort of destined to be,” Baker said. “And I’m sure Justin is smiling right now on his way here and he’ll be the first one to congratulate Framber when he gets here. It’s a great day.”

     This could be the beginning of a fascinating three months. Amazing how the awkwardness of a bad owner leads to another’s third championship in seven seasons. Doesn’t that make the Astros the best team of the 21st century? You think.

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.