Free Agent Targets?

[htownbball]

Aaron Rowand should be our #1 target. Philly will be content with not resigning him because they feel Michael Bourn is ready to take over. Pence has done a good job in CF, but we have no outfielders ready to come up to the majors in the next 2 years. He made $4.35 million this year, and he'll probably demand 5 years $45-55 million (depending how much the Ichiro deal affects the market). He turns 30 later this year. Biggio and Ausmus will probably retire, which leaves around $9 million.

I think we should resign Jennings. Not because he deserves to be back, but the pitching market is so thin and we can't get much for Jennings right now. If we let him walk, Purpura will not put the compensation picks to good use, and Purpura will get even more flack for making the trade.

It's starting to look like Mark Loretta is the only guy Purpura may be willing to trade. We won't be able to get much for him. The Mets and Padres are frontrunners. If the Mets would do Loretta and Albers for Aaron Heilmann, we should jump on that. Heilmann has been a reliever, but he could be put back in the rotation.

Qualls and Wheeler look like they're staying. If Wheeler could get Kelly Shoppach and Andy Marte from the Indians, that'd be nice. Marte used to be the top 3B in the minors, but since being traded by the Braves, he's really struggled. We can replace either reliever with Paul Estrada.

[DOMINATOR]

rowand or byrnes either is fine by me. next year i hope they go after peavy or santana

[MadMax]

rowand or byrnes either is fine by me. next year i hope they go after peavy or santana

SD will trade Peavy. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't intend to go back to SD. And he's made it pretty clear he wants to play closer to his home in the deep south. Given all that, I can't imagine they're gonna risk getting nothing for him.

[DOMINATOR]

here is the list. asterisk means option for 2008

First Basemen
Sean Casey DET
Tony Clark ARZ
Jeff Conine PHI
Julio Franco NYM
Kevin Millar * BAL
Olmedo Saenz LAD
Mark Sweeney SF
Mike Sweeney KC

Second Basemen
Marlon Anderson LAD
Craig Biggio HOU
Luis Castillo MIN
Damion Easley NYM
Mark Ellis * OAK
Marcus Giles * SD
Mark Grudzielanek* KC
Tadahito Iguchi CWS (if not signed to extension)
Jeff Kent * LAD
Kaz Matsui COL (if not signed to extension)
Luis Rivas CLE
Jose Valentin NYM

Shortstops
David Eckstein STL
Cesar Izturis * CHC
Ramon E Martinez* LAD
John McDonald TOR
Neifi Perez DET
Juan Uribe * CHW
Omar Vizquel SF

Third Basemen
Russell Branyan SD
Corey Koskie * MIL
Mike Lamb HOU
Mike Lowell BOS
Greg Norton * TB
Abraham O. Nunez PHI
Alex Rodriguez NYY (may void after 2007)

Catchers
Brad Ausmus HOU
Paul Bako BAL
Michael Barrett SD
Gary Bennett * STL
Ramon Castro NYM
Wiki Gonzalez WAS
Jason Kendall OAK
Jason LaRue KC
Paul Lo Duca NYM
Damian Miller MIL
Chad Moeller CIN
Jose Molina LAA
Josh Paul TB
Jorge Posada NYY
Ivan Rodriguez * DET
Yorvit Torrealba COL
Javier Valentin * CIN

Outfielders
Bobby Abreu * NYY
Moises Alou * NYM
Milton Bradley SD
Eric Byrnes ARZ
Mike Cameron SD
Brady Clark LAD
Jeff DaVanon ARZ
Adam Dunn * CIN
Jermaine Dye CWS
Darin Erstad * CWS
Kosuke Fukudome, Chunichi, Japan
Luis Gonzalez LAD
Shawn Green* NYM
Eric Hinske BOS
Torii Hunter MIN
Geoff Jenkins * MIL
Andruw Jones ATL
Bobby Kielty OAK
Rob Mackowiak * CWS
Orlando Palmeiro HOU
Corey Patterson BAL
Aaron Rowand PHI
Reggie Sanders KC
Brad Wilkerson TEX

Starting Pitchers
Kris Benson * BAL
Paul Byrd * CLE
Shawn Chacon PIT
Matt Clement BOS
Bartolo Colon LAA
Scott Elarton KC
Josh Fogg COL
Casey Fossum * TB
Freddy Garcia PHI
Livan Hernandez ARZ
Jason Jennings HOU
Brian Lawrence * COL
Jon Lieber PHI
Kyle Lohse CIN
Wade Miller CHC
Eric Milton CIN
Odalis Perez * KC
Joel Pineiro * BOS
Kenny Rogers DET
Curt Schilling BOS
Carlos Silva MIN
Julian Tavarez * BOS
Brett Tomko * LAD
Kip Wells STL
Randy Wolf * LAD
Jaret Wright BAL
Carlos Zambrano CHC
Victor Zambrano NYM

Relief Pitchers
Jeremy Affeldt COL
Armando Benitez FLA
Hector Carrasco * LAA
Francisco Cordero MIL
Rheal Cormier CIN
Vic Darensbourg DET
Elmer Dessens MIL
Scott Eyre * CHC
Trevor Hoffman * SD
Jason Isringhausen* STL
Todd Jones DET
Jorge Julio COL
Joe Kennedy OAK
Byung-Hyun Kim FLA
Scott Linebrink SD
Rodrigo Lopez COL
Ron Mahay TEX
Trever Miller HOU
Mike Myers NYY
Joe Nathan * MIN
Joel Pineiro * BOS
Chris Reitsma SEA
Mariano Rivera NYY
Rudy Seanez SD
Mike Timlin BOS
Mike Venafro MIN
Luis Vizcaino NYY
Bob Wickman ATL
Scott Williamson BAL
Jay Witasick TB
Kerry Wood CHC

[DOMINATOR]

SD will trade Peavy. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't intend to go back to SD. And he's made it pretty clear he wants to play closer to his home in the deep south. Given all that, I can't imagine they're gonna risk getting nothing for him.
i meant i hope astros pursue him as a free agent. can't imagine them trading for him when they probably wont be in the contention.

[Refman]

SD will trade Peavy. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't intend to go back to SD. And he's made it pretty clear he wants to play closer to his home in the deep south. Given all that, I can't imagine they're gonna risk getting nothing for him.
I agree with this. I just wonder what, if anything, we have that SD would take in trade. Perhaps Jennings and a prospect or two (not named Patton or Towles)?

Also, is he signable?

[MadMax]

I agree with this. I just wonder what, if anything, we have that SD would take in trade. Perhaps Jennings and a prospect or two (not named Patton or Towles)?

Also, is he signable?

1. he wants to play closer to his home in the south;

2. roy oswalt is among his best friends.

[htownbball]

dude if peavy really wants to come here i will personally polish his knob after every game. not really, but thats how excited id be.

mike lowell has really rebounded since that terrible year in florida. gold glove caliber as well. he's getting old though and is past his prime.

linebrink is a FA huh...they could use mike lamb. then we can trade qualls/wheeler. unless we cant resign linebrink that is.

what do people think we can get for loretta and maybe a few prospects?

[MiniMing]

This is a good thread.

It's time to rebuild, they need to make some trades before the trade deadline and throw out some dough for some free agents next year.

[Refman]

1. he wants to play closer to his home in the south;

2. roy oswalt is among his best friends.
Should I take this as a yes? :D

Of course, that is assuming that Roy is here next season (I still am not convinced that is a given).

What do you think we'd have to give up in a trade, SD knowing he likely isn't coming back next year anyway?

[DOMINATOR]

i could see peavy wanting to go to the braves too.

[htownbball]

i could see peavy wanting to go to the braves too.

screw the braves man. if they hold on to andruw, they wont wanna open up the wallet for peavs

[xishi]

adam dunn anyone?

[redgoose]

adam dunn anyone?

As much as i'd like to bring the guy and his HR power back to Texas, i couldn't afford a bunch of new TV's. I could just imagine a few of the couple hundred times per year of him striking out, and then me being frustrated and throwing something at the TV. :(

[MadMax]

Should I take this as a yes? :D

Of course, that is assuming that Roy is here next season (I still am not convinced that is a given).

What do you think we'd have to give up in a trade, SD knowing he likely isn't coming back next year anyway?

i think roy will be here. he's super-high value...all-star player whose contract is below market value.

not sure...and my understanding is he has one more year on his deal with SD. so it's possible they'd move him next season at the deadline.

[redgoose]

To answer the original question, i really think it depends on whether we want to win or we want to compete playing .500 baseball. Since we have no immediate farm system help, i don't see us winning unless Drayton is willing to bust out the checkbook and spend around 150 million in payroll on next year's team. Someone is gonna have to educate Drayton that when you don't have a talented farm system to help the club, that's when you have use your check book if you really want to win. With the impact FA's probably wanting Barry Zito and Ichiro like contracts, it could get very expensive if we want to win the next few years.

That's my reasoning for blowing up the team and rebuilding. No need to get in that debate here. I just don't see Drayton filling the holes with the $$$ it will realistically take to win. He'll probably sign a couple Loretta and Lamb utility type players that have been around the league to convince the average fan he's trying his best to win.

Therefore, i have no idea who he will target since it's probably whatever Purpura is whispering in his ear. No doubt Purpura is telling Drayton what he wants to hear, (We have a great team that has just underperformed this year), so he can hold onto his job as long as possible. Then he can get one somewhere else when he inevitably gets fired since he'll have a few years under his belt.

[kaleidosky]

it'd be great to get peavy.

i like rowand, don't think he (or byrnes) is worth 9-10 mil per year..

(rowand is way too injury-prone for sure)

[Zac D]

Two things: first, it's not an absolute given that the Phillies will let Rowand walk; second, yes please to Heilman, but I'd think twice about moving him out of the bullpen.

[Zac D]

Also, wouldn't it make more sense to snag a right fielder than Rowand?

[kaleidosky]

Also, wouldn't it make more sense to snag a right fielder than Rowand?

I'm guessing the goal is to get Rowand for CF and move Pence back to right..

[Zac D]

I'm guessing the goal is to get Rowand for CF and move Pence back to right..

Right, but isn't Pence's arm the weakest part of his game?

[Ric]

not sure...and my understanding is he has one more year on his deal with SD. so it's possible they'd move him next season at the deadline.
he has one year left, worth $7M (+ potential escalators) and the padres hold a team option in '09. he's rep'ed by the same agent as bagwell and biggio and, as MM mentioned, is offseason hunting buddies with oswalt. the astros looked into him this winter and then immediately lost interest when they heard jason jennings was available (kidding about the jennings part - they did, reportedly, ask about peavy).

i can't imagine why san diego would deal him and even if they did, i can't imagine what the astros have to offer that would put them at the front of the line.

[Ric]

Right, but isn't Pence's arm the weakest part of his game?
yes, and...? has anyone here actually been to minute maid park?

[htownbball]

I'm guessing the goal is to get Rowand for CF and move Pence back to right..

yes. Pence has always been projected as a corner OF. moreso for LF than RF, but his arm isnt nearly as bad as scouts said it was.

plus the RF crop is thinner than the CF crop. Dye has been terrible this year, abreu is falling apart, geoff jenkins is a k machine who is past his prime...

one player that we have no shot at, but would be very intriguing, is the japanese guy kosuke fukudome. strong arm, has good speed, and has 20-30 homer power. he's a straight free agent with no posting fee. people say he's gonna seek $10 million a year. he can play RF and pence can stay in CF.

[xishi]

As much as i'd like to bring the guy and his HR power back to Texas, i couldn't afford a bunch of new TV's. I could just imagine a few of the couple hundred times per year of him striking out, and then me being frustrated and throwing something at the TV. :(

im sure you must've gone through 100 this season with ensberg, scott, ausmus, and everett batting. :eek:

[Jared Novak]

If JdJO is to be believed that Drayton wants to retool, then he needs to go after Big Z to make a dynamite 1-2 punch with Oswalt (dominant pitching is what made this team great), grab one of the FA CF's and get a capable 3B.

IMHO I just don't see it happening, the Astros need to rebuild starting with the farm system.

[redgoose]

im sure you must've gone through 100 this season with ensberg, scott, ausmus, and everett batting. :eek:

I kid you not when i say i surf the channels whenever our #7-9 slots come up to bat. Or when the inning leads off with the # 6 hitter do i immediately know it's useless to bother watching since if he does possibly get on base he'll just get LOB. So my TV is still fully functional to date. :)

[MaxwellsTemper]

Right, but isn't Pence's arm the weakest part of his game?
Right on. Because of that, I'd prefer seeing Pence stay in CF.

[xishi]

ok purpura:

trade some of the expendable players to get young players to contribute now or very soon.

sign peavy

sign dunn/byrnes

a little piece here and there. then we're ready to compete next season.

:D

[xishi]

ok scratch that. peavy fa AFTER next season right? oops.

[Zac D]

yes, and...? has anyone here actually been to minute maid park?

You know how they have to play 81 games a year on the road?

[htownbball]

for the last time, pence's arm is not that bad. it profiles as major league average in RF. he has enough carry and zip on his throws and he's fairly accurate. not to mention he always charges balls hard to cut down on the throwing distance.

watching hunter play is very deceiving. his actions are very...nerdlike. like watching a computer geek swing a bat, throw a ball, and run. it gets the job done though. he's pretty unorthodox in everything he does.

[redgoose]

yes, and...? has anyone here actually been to minute maid park?

Never heard of it. I've been going to Enron Field ever since the Astros moved there. Very nice stadium compared to the Astrodome. :) It even has a train that sits still for us but is always moving back and forth when the other team bats. I have no idea why, but maybe it's to distract them. :confused:

[Mr. Clutch]

Alex Rodriguez.

Ultimatum: If they dont sign him, I am never cheering for the Astros again.

[Jared Novak]

Alex Rodriguez.

Ultimatum: If they dont sign him, I am never cheering for the Astros again.

Start looking for a new team. :)

[H-Town Info]

i would go after aaron rowland and move pence to rf. The team will boost in defense and production in both CF and RF

[Mr. Clutch]

Ok, what's our salary cap situation? Are we still going to have Lidge? Lamb and Loretta? Are we going to try to resign Jennings?

There are a lot of questions marks about which particular direction this team is going. And the perplexion of Purpura isn't helping divine what the Astros' brass is thinking.

[xcrunner51]

i would go after aaron rowland and move pence to rf. The team will boost in defense and production in both CF and RF

Agreed. Spend that $30 million in ARod money on Rowand and two quality SPs.

[MadMax]

i can't imagine why san diego would deal him.


i read an article in SI where, if memory serves me right, Peavy was pretty clear that he wanted to get out of SD and get closer to home in his next contract. i would think the padres would ultimately want to get value for him if they felt that he wasn't going to stick around.

[Refman]

i read an article in SI where, if memory serves me right, Peavy was pretty clear that he wanted to get out of SD and get closer to home in his next contract. i would think the padres would ultimately want to get value for him if they felt that he wasn't going to stick around.
OK Max...get it done.

Signed,

Timmy P in Houston (for now)

[RocketFan007]

i read an article in SI where, if memory serves me right, Peavy was pretty clear that he wanted to get out of SD and get closer to home in his next contract. i would think the padres would ultimately want to get value for him if they felt that he wasn't going to stick around.

I don't doubt that the Padres may deal him next year, but the Astros have absolutely nothing that they could offer them. We may sign him as a free agent, but there's little to no chance we could make a deal for him.

[xcrunner51]

I'd give em Lane, Ensberg and the rights to Clemen's personal services contract for Peavy.

[htownbball]

Ok, what's our salary cap situation? Are we still going to have Lidge? Lamb and Loretta? Are we going to try to resign Jennings?

There are a lot of questions marks about which particular direction this team is going. And the perplexion of Purpura isn't helping divine what the Astros' brass is thinking.

well, theres no actual salary cap, but drayton likes to keep it around $85-95 million. he wont mind going over $100 million, but it wont be for longterm contracts like 5-6 years.

Get Rowand. It's really hard to judge his value since Ichiro's contract. Ichiro is making $18 million. Torii Hunter will probably seek $15 million. Rowand has only had 1 really good year. doesnt walk much, but doesnt K much either (once ever 6 AB's roughly through his career). his calling card is his defense and ability to not suck with the bat. He's probably worth $8 million in a normal market, $9-10 million with the inflated prices this year. I think teams will go after him pretty hard and then go for Hunter as a last resort because Rowand will be the cheaper option.

Our big contracts dont go up much (Lee goes up $1 million), so after Biggio and Ausmus retire, we're around $71million before arby and free agents. So Rowand adds $9 million or so and we're at $80 million. Lee's contract goes up $6 million in 09, but Woody is off the books to offset the spike.

Jennings is somewhat comparable to Jon Garland, and he's getting $10million a year. Jennings is older and is coming off a bad year, plus he may give a hometown discount. He's probably gonna be around $9 million as well.

$90 million after signing those 2 guys, and we still need to get a catcher, 3B, and another SP. Not to mention we lose Lamb and his cheap $3 million contract. He may seek $6 million, maybe even more if teams know about him.

Oswalt
Jennings
Sampson

Wandy, Woody, Patton, Albers, and Gutierrez will be fighting for those 2 spots.

Munson and Quintero are our catchers going into the season, with Towles as an outside shot. Kelly Shoppach and Landon Powell are the best offseason targets at catcher.

3B is scarce. Maybe we deal Lamb now and let Ensberg work his crap out the rest of the season. Mike Lowell is the only guy worth signing from FA.

Loretta and Juan Gutierrez for 3B Chase Headley.

Wheeler for C Kelly Shoppach and B level prospect. Move Qualls into 8th inning setup, call up Paul Estrada for 7th inning and middle relief.

Keep Lamb for 3 years $18m and platoon him and Ensberg with Lamb getting the starts and Ensberg subbing in late for defense. Once Headley is ready, move Lamb for prospect.

[Refman]

Wandy, Woody, Patton, Albers, and Gutierrez will be fighting for those 2 spots.

Really good post. Just don't forget that Bandon Backe will be ready for next season.

[Ric]

You know how they have to play 81 games a year on the road?
yes, in as many as 17 uniquely different stadiums, which is why teams have a tendency to build around, you know, the stadium they play half their games in. radical thinking, i know...

[Ric]

i read an article in SI where, if memory serves me right, Peavy was pretty clear that he wanted to get out of SD and get closer to home in his next contract.
i love houston; love it. but... really? who in their right mind would want to LEAVE san diego....? is it because of the female anchors? i hear their periods attract bears.

i would think the padres would ultimately want to get value for him if they felt that he wasn't going to stick around.
likely, but that's not really a bridge they have to cross until the 2009 season. until then, i can't imagine what package would pry peavy out of san diego: he's 27, a cy young contender and he's "only" making $7M next year.

[The Cat]

On the Pence in center or right field subject, I talked to Tim about that today and put it in my notebook. Nothing too earth-shattering, but in short, the club isn't committed to either one... it depends on what options come their way for that third OF spot. They definitely like what they see out of Pence defensively right now. For full transcript:

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070723&content_id=2104288&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou

[Kam]

is there a trade in the works for somebody?

like everett and ensberg for rodriguez and jeter or reyes and wright?

you got inside scoops. hook it up.

[The Cat]

is there a trade in the works for somebody?

like everett and ensberg for rodriguez and jeter or reyes and wright?

you got inside scoops. hook it up.

Ensberg for Pujols. Write it down. :D

[MadMax]

i love houston; love it. but... really? who in their right mind would want to LEAVE san diego....? is it because of the female anchors? i hear their periods attract bears.


likely, but that's not really a bridge they have to cross until the 2009 season. until then, i can't imagine what package would pry peavy out of san diego: he's 27, a cy young contender and he's "only" making $7M next year.

it isn't houston that's the draw for him...it's being closer to mississippi, apparently.

i think they'd have to address it BEFORE the 2009 season.

and i'm with you...i'm not suggesting the astros could put together a trade package good enough to warrant the friars sending him our way.