Burke-2B Pence-CF Berkman-1B Lee-LF Lamb/Wiggington-3B Scott-RF Towles-C Everett-SS Oswalt Backe Patton Rodriguez/Woody/Albers/Sampson Wish list: Luis Castillo-2B Andruw Jones-CF Dontrelle Willis/Bartolo Colon-SP
i really dont think that pursuing luis castillo is a make-or-break move...hes mark loretta with a little less power (amazingly, the dude only had 1 HR and 19 2B in 548 AB this yr). yea hes got some speed, but its not as if speed is going to solve many of our problems. hes a marginally better defender (at 2B this yr, loretta did not make a single error, last season and the season before that: 4 and 6 errors respectively)...loretta might not have his range, but again...i really dont think luis castillo is a must-get player
my $.02...i just dont think its worth it to go out and spend big bucks on any of the "marquee" FAs. willis (as a trade option), as i showed above, has been in STEADY decline for 3 yrs, colon has been injury-prone and otherwise horrendous in the 2 yrs since the cy young in 2005, and andrew jones looks like hes in decline also (plus his defense is overrated) let jennings go let mike lamb go (even though i feel bad he never got his fair shake here) since hes just a left-handed wigginton keep scott (even though anderson was great for like 20 games, scotts got a pretty decent track record-- 116 OPS+ this season!!) hold on to lidge, but get rid of the crap in the BP (miller, bork, moehler, randolph-why is he still on this team??, dont know who else off the top of my head) throw the kids out there and if its possible, maybe get a stopgap SS (AE is a god defensive player but man is he a terrible hitter), but there seems to be slim pickings there also (eckstein, uribe, izturis, vizquel) we should take our 70-75 wins and be patient until the real players hit the mkt. i think we can suck it up as fans, we should keep an eye on the future instead of trying to maintain our (great) past...i know this is unacceptable to a few, but the astros have been good to us, no need to cripple the payroll with a few desperate moves for aging, declining players so i guess the lineup goes: 2B: burke/loretta if burke doesnt return to 2006 form CF: pence 1B: lance LF: caballo RF: scott 3B: wigginton C: towles SS: everett, i guess bc there arent a lot of better options (maybe ransom pushes him, who knows?) rotation spots should be up for grabs after the wizard (best option on the FA mkt is carlos silva...but hes likely gonna get big bucks)
Yes, Andruw Jones had a terrible year, but he's only 30 or 31. I think he'll have a resurgence in '08. In Minute Maid Park he could hit 40-50 bombs and solve our CF problems, allowing Pence to move to Right.
I'm not sure where this came from, but the Astros don't have a CF problem. Pence was a good defensive center fielder, with a range factor and zone rating substantially better than his predecessor (Taveras), for example. He's very fast and makes solid reads. His only weakness -- an inconsistent arm -- likely would become a greater detriment if you move him to right. Going from Pence to Jones isn't much of an upgrade defensively, if any. In general, CF defense wasn't a problem for this team, and for the Astros to focus their limited resources on that (given their other holes) would be a big mistake, imo. Here's what has happened, for the most part. A lot of folks projected Pence as a corner OF while coming up through the minors, and as such have this mental block that won't allow them to realize that he's a legitimate center fielder. One of the Astros told me that was his take, as well, and he was very disappointed... until he actually watched, objectively, how Pence played out there every night. Then, it made sense. Step away from the pre-established biases and look at Pence... he's a solid defender in center. If you can get a great defender, maybe you make an upgrade, but it's not anything urgent.
why not just pay luke scott 20 million a year? same production... and akhorahil i think the astros will pass on castillo.
They should pay Luke close to that if he hits 50 dongs next year. I don't think it's gonna happen, though.
Whatever. I agree Pence is good in CF. Luke has average production for an outfielder. But, Andruw Jones has always been on a winning team and has NEVER been hurt, is still young even though it's hard to fathom and, in my opinion, would create a SCARY lineup for the Astros. Castillo/Burke/Loretta Pence Berkman Lee Lamb Jones Towles Everett But, whatever...
Between Lee, Pence, and Scott, I think the OF is a plus. Scott is an average starting OF, not a stud like in 06 but far from the weak spot on the team. I'd work on upgrading the mediocre left side of the IF and the horrible rotation before I spent more cash in the outfield. I would give Burke/Loretta a shot as 2B and Towles a shot at C, and do whatever it takes to get an innings-eating starter or two in the rotation to go between Oswalt #1 and Backe/Patton at # 4/5.
You having your own opinion is fine. But don't use the fact that he's "always been on a winning team" to support bringing him here. How is that a factor? The fact that the Braves have always had good talent on their team somehow makes Jones a better player on OUR team?
DISCLAIMER: this would never happen... If AJones would sign for 4 or 5 million and play right, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Low risk, high reward type of move. I like Luke and all, but Jones's track record speaks for itself--it just doesn't speak "I deserve $20 million per".
It was pretty neat watching Anderson slap singles all over the place when he came up - but if he's starting for us next year we are in a heap of trouble. He's just not that good.
oh hell yes, i'd take his experience and hope for a turnaround and sign him at that price. And if it didn't work out (or if he couldn't beat out Luke), bench him. But that's not the price he's going for obviously, which is a big reason I'm so against him.
Having a lot of experience winning and expecting to win can be a great thing and can rub off on others. I agree with msn, and I too doubt he'll sign for 4-5 million. But I would offer him a huge one year deal. Next year the Astros can go after the many great starting pitchers available. I just don't see anyone this year who could really help. Who knows what they can possibly do in that aspect? Next best thing, imo....is to bash lots of homeruns and outscore the opposition.
Wait a second here. 49 games and 82 ABs... that's Loretta at 2nd base this season. So most games he didn't start and most games he didn't play the entire game at 2nd. Add in the range factor... 0 errors at 2nd base goes right out the window. He either wasn't able to get to the ball or he wasn't playing at all. I'm going to take a wild guess here... You haven't watched Luis Castillo play much, have you? I mean I'm not trying to talk smack here or anything. But marginally better defender?!?!?!?! Your talking about a guy who set a major league record of 143 games without an error at second base. Which is amazing for a guy who has as much range as he does. He's got 3 gold gloves for a reason. From 2002-2006 he led all of baseball in groundball percentage at 2nd base. The guy is Adam Everett at 2nd base, with the bat of Loretta. Plus he's a switch hitter. At best Loretta is a temporary solution at 2nd base.
I agree completely. And I'm a guy who wanted Anderson to make the club last spring. Just because I knew we would be in more trouble without a real leadoff hitter than with a rookie leadoff hitter. I want Anderson to succeed, but I don't trust that he will. That's one of the major reasons I'm trying to force Luis Castillo down everyone's throats.
Hard to hit alot of home runs when you're hardly ever in the lineup thanks to our manager's ineptitude.
I hope you're merely joking. If you're being serious you have alot to learn about baseball. You think getting rid of our best reliever and the 4th best bat on the team are good ideas? CF Pence 3B Lamb 1B Berkman LF Lee RF Scott 2B Wigginton C Towles SS Everett With the exception of Everett, every single player in this lineup can mash. Combine that with solid seasons from Backe and Patton and this is a 90+ win team easily.
that's exactly the problem, my boy. if mike f'ing lamb is your 4th best hitter, kiss even dreaming about a playoff birth goodbye (and we did!). it's all relative. david weathers is the reds best reliever. if they lose him, are they really hurting that bad? our team needs to be remodeled, and trading lidge and shifting our "strengths" is by no means an unreasonable solution. he's obviously no longer a lock to nail down every save opportunity he has. he's been shakey for 2 years now. it's time to move on, and we can still get value for him. what exactly do we have to lose? we drop from a 70 win team to a 50 win team just by moving brad lidge?
