Yep, but we increase our chance to win it all now Risk Reward I think Crane and Luhnow want to try to win it now and trust that Luhnow can continue to replenish the farm
Hate to nit pick But he is 31 He WILL be approaching his mid 30s when his deal is ending, but he isn't there yet
I see it both ways. Badly want Hamels now... but don't want the albatross contract that possibly prevents flexibility when he's 36. Of course, if our farm system does what its supposed to do... or our owner continues to raise payroll regardless of existing salaries... they should be able to compensate for that. Hell, most "great" teams have one bad contract lying around... some of them squeeze just a little bit more out of the player that was previously thought to be "done" (see Barry Zito with the Giants).
Assuming the option isn't picked up, he will only be 34 when the contract ends, he won't turn 35 until after the 2018 season. He's got the Luis Scola syndrome, people always think he's older than he is. How people age is always wildly unpredicatable, but as risks go, 32-34 is as low as they will come, with a option at 35 if he does age well.
Ryan Raburn is an interesting guy who I would be happy with in a small trade. Mashes LHP, could platoon with Tucker in LF.
Given the amount of innings he's pitched thus far (with plenty of meaningful and post-season games), he's more than likely to begin to regress or get injured at some point during the contract. Will be very close to the Pettite signings... both in age and in possible performance (Pettite actually exceeded expectations in year 2, was hurt in year one, and regressed by year 3). Also, Luis Scola did get old and wasn't worth the contract he was signed to in a hurry.... I hope Hamels has more left in the tank than that.
"when" <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Luhnow said he would speak on trades "when something happens."</p>— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chandler_Rome/status/626153671710121985">July 28, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Agreed. You're not going to sign ANY star free agent pitcher to a deal that ends around age 34. Just look at all the recent deals and they generally go to 37 or 38 (Lester, Scherzer,etc) - and they are going for far more than $20MM/yr. The only elite pitchers signing 3-4 year deals are the ones that are already 33 or 34. So if the Astros want an ace without getting saddled with a 37 yr old pitcher, Hamels is probably their best bet. There's a reason he's in so much demand.
I know Hammels is Ace pitcher but I would really hate to give up a ton of our best farm players for a pitcher who doesn't even want to be here.
We won't have a place for all of them. At some point some of them will HAVE to be somewhere else. We are loaded with depth And think about it, of all the first round and comp picks we have had, Appel is the only one of those being dangled We need to make another move or two
100% this. We need to someone who can hit lefty pitching and provide some contact in the lineup. Tyler White has never seensmajor league pitching and we'd be gambling in assuming Carter will figure it out. Carlos Gonzalez is only other guy being talked about who does this. Maybe Cespedes.
I think we are acquiring all the quality LHP in the league so we won't have to worry about facing them, lol
Hamels is not a free agent though. He still has 2 years and a team option left on his deal. Totally different situations. If Hamels is dealt here, it's because he wanted to come here. Period.
Dangit, my bad. Anyways, it just irks me that the Astros are on his no trade list to begin with. I really want them to add a bat. I just feel that they have too many "easy outs" in the line-up, Carter, Singleton, Valbuena, Castro etc. First base is just a mess. They really need someone that is fixture there instead of this platoon thing they have going on.
Greg Bailey just said that from a source, the front office is currently working on a trade, for what it's worth!
Could he get more generic? Jeez! A non-update update. Astros FO is upstairs working on another trade to bolster the lineup. Trade for Kazmir could be just the beginning. Well thanks Greg!
