to complain about a bunch of top 100 prospects is kinda of annoying and ignorant... we'll have this discussion in four years when these players are hitting or nearing their prime... you don't have to be a top 5 prospect to be successful in the mlb.. chill out houstonians.. we sucked before... and now we still suck, just have reason to hope now..
You got 2 (Singleton, Cosart) maybe 3 (Clemens) Top 100 prospects in deals for your 2 best players. Believe me, I hope you are proven correct and all these middle of the road prospects turn out to be all-stars but a bunch of average prospects does not inspire alot of newfound hope.
Interesting that the Yankees were offering to pay $21 million of Wandy's deal only....so if they were expecting the Stros to eat $17 million of the contract, who were they offering? (Not that the Astros should have taken it)
The best explanation about the trade today was that we got #3 starters and those are the guys signing 7-12 million dollar contracts right now. Also remember Bud Norris ceiling was, and might still be, a #3 starter, same for Lyles, and we are all happy how those two have turned out, arent we?
I like this evaluation of the trades.. http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2011/8/1/2308550/my-take-on-the-astros-deadline-deals
http://www.astroscounty.com/2011/08...m_campaign=Feed:+AstrosCounty+(Astros+County) The Astros were SHOCKED in the lack of interest in Myers
I always keep those types of reports in perspective. Cafardo could have asked someone in the org who is bullish on Myers and that person could have been "shocked". Not sure how Wade could have been surprised at the lack of interest, he hasn't been bad but rather exactly what we got him for last year but on a bad contract. I'd look to dump Myers at all cost but it would probably happen in the offseason or deadline next year if he turns it up a notch. I still shake my head thinking what he would have brought back last season and what he's worth now...*sigh*
Lots of folks like to measure how good an organization is. Often, we disagree about what criteria to use in such an evaluation. But the Myers example hits the nail on the head, for his value to the club couldn't have been handled worse. Even last year, we were clearly in rebuild mode and yet, instead of trading him while his value would never be higher, we sign him to a contract that makes him virtually worthless when he came back to his sustainable numbers. To a lesser extent, we did the same with Wandy. While some could point to this year and say that we learned our lesson and got top value from players at their peak in Bourn and Pence, I wonder how much of that was wisdom, and how much of that was Crane's edict to cut payroll.
http://houston.sbnation.com/houston...riguez-the-houston-astros-and-the-waiver-wire Wandy Rodriguez, the Houston Astros and The Waiver Wire by David Coleman • Aug 11, 2011 4:50 PM CDT A few different stories out that Wandy Rodriguez is set to hit waivers soon. It's a mix of reactions, from the indifferent to the really negative. The piece to this puzzle that we just can't know is whether or not Jim Crane has ordered the payroll down. We might know more about that after he officially takes over on or about Aug. 22, but until then, we just have these reports from other team executives to go off. That's a huge factor in getting Wandy traded or passed through waivers. We all assumed that there would be some interest for him and that Houston could get a return on him. But, the logic in that FanGraphs piece is pretty sound. Houston might just dump his contract on whatever team chooses him off waivers and count themselves lucky. If that happens, it'll be a dark day for Ed Wade and the franchise. When Wandy signed his extension this winter, I thought it would make him more attractive on the trade market, because it gave the team trading for him some long-term stability. However, what we didn't count on was how down on his pure stuff other teams would be. Wandy has been putting up solid numbers for three seasons now. His strikeout rate is down a tad from last season and he missed some time with an injury, which means he's not going to hit 3.0 WAR this season, most likely. But, you can't look at his numbers and expect he's going to be a terrible pitcher soon. Well, you can, if you're looking at his home/road splits. That's why Wandy means more to Houston than to another team and why he would most likely not have earned Ted Lilly money on the free agent market. Houston chose him to sign him to that deal anyway, which is fine, but the direction of the team seems to have drastically changed since Crane took over. You have to wonder if Myers and Wandy would have gotten extensions if they had been up for them this winter instead of last. Either way, it's a sad state of affairs for an Astro who still has value. If Wandy leaves because the Astros want another team to eat his contract and they get nothing in return...September may turn into a time all about football with no baseball in sight.
Early returns on Jim Crane aren't good. I understand not wanting to maintain a high salary while losing, but he seems to be forcing salary cuts at the expense of winning. We should get something for Wandy, not just give him away. It seems we could have gotten more for Bourn in time, but Wade was all but forced to trade him, BTW we still haven't signed our 1st and 3rd rd picks. Crane may be saving now to spend in the future, and if he is this is Ok, but if he's saving money just to save, we're in trouble.
We should have never signed Wandy or Myers to an extension. Wandy's contract is what prevented him from getting traded... not his talent. Also, I'm not so sure how much input Crane has on our draft pick signing as he's not technically the owner yet. I'm sure he's authorized the dealmakers a certain amount of cash... but remember, these weren't his handpicked players in the first place. Also, our 3rd round pick wants 1st round money... with injury and talent concerns.
I see dark days ahead for the Astros under Crane. There is no reason to just waive Wandy without getting something in return. You could even try to package him with another player at the end of the season. We're going to miss how great we had it under Drayton.
FWIW, they said from the beginning that signing Springer would come down to the end, but both sides expected it to get done. Negotiations with Armstrong began today.
Not on Norris, it's clear where he is headed. Lyles has been what most expected him to be and thus happy with him, so far.
As good as an owner as Drayton was its been time to move on. Drayton led us and spent his $ to the world series, but the past 5+ years since then have been brutal and devastating to the franchise. Crane will do fine as long as he handles drafting and our minor league teams properly. Hopefully the Astros can get back to the top in a few years. This was a great sports town when the Astros were thriving. Definitley a baseball city.
