A 3.38era relief pitcher is now worth $8 mil? Wow, things certainly have changed nowadays. Oh well, the Astros are going to suck anyway, so this really doesn't matter either way.
Now that he's signed, and that at under $10 million, is he even more tradeable? Not that I'm proposing a trade, just curious.
Relievers ERAs can be skewed by a couple of bad games. For example, Valverde pitched in 9 games in july and had a 6.75 ERA for the month. In 8 of those games he did not allow a run.
I hope not. Who would be the closer if he is traded? I have no faith in Brocail or Hawkins to close out games and for as many games as Valverde blew, he did lead the NL in saves.
Meh. Who's gonna close if we trade Wags? Who's gonna close if we trade Dotel? Who's gonna close if we trade Lidge?
Big difference. When you traded Wags, you had Dotel and when you traded Dotel, you had Lidge ready and waiting. When Lidge was traded, the Astros still had some tradeable assets left to trade for a closer.
We had a Dotel behind Wags. We had a Lidge behind Dotel. We have ???? behind Valverde? Dotel and Lidge both had the potential to be closers. No one in the bullpen right now has potential to be a closer.
I think we knew we were ok with Dotel & Lidge becoming closers. We don't have any dominating setup men on this team, and it would be pointless to trade Valverde than trade for another closer like we did when we traded Lidge. I hope they do trade him this summer if they can get a good prospect for him, but I can't remember the last time we traded a good player for prospects during the season. Dotel was the last good player I remember trading during the season, but that was for an established Beltran.
If we're not competitive in July and he's having a decent season, he'll be at the top of the closers market, I imagine.
We traded Wheeler mid-season for Wigginton - but yeah, that's normally not our mode of operation. I wish it were because I feel like the trade deadline is when teams are most desperate and most overwilling to pay.
There, fixed that for ya. I'm not advocating a trade of Valverde, just saying I don't think it's beyond the scope of reason. I don't see the Astros contending, anyway. That said, if the Dbacks couldn't get more than Burke and Qualls for a $4M Valverde, I'm sure what the Astros could get for a $8M Valverde.
Depends on how much they valued Valverde and how much they valued the prospects. Valverde was very inconsistent for them and had they had multiple closers-in-waiting (or at least they thought they did). Plus, Qualls actually provided numbers better than Valverde, for a cheaper price and under control for longer. So if they wanted a change at closer anyway, it made sense to get a similar but more consistent reliever for the 7th or 8th innings that they controlled for more years and save salary in the process.
yeah, and they needed that money with Haren and Byrnes contracts.. Plus, as you said, a deal in the offseason is different from a deadline deal..so we could get more for Valverde midseason regardless of his price tag...hopefully I was all for keeping Qualls, anyway--I think he would have been fine as a closer. But I'll be happy with it overall if we flip Valverde for any combo of guys better than Qualls/Gutierrez (cause Burke is a lost cause)
If the Astros are not in contention by mid-season, then a 30 yr closer about to enter free-agency is a luxury they can't afford. Better to move him then and get a high return than either lose him in free agency with little to no compensation, or sign him (a 30+ yr old reliever on team that didn't contend) to a high priced multi-year deal.
Dear Mr. Meh, we do not have a Wags, Dotel or Lidge in our minor league system or current roster. Thank you for your concern. MGT.
Dear MGT, Nor had "we" a Valverde in our minor system or current roster at the time of any of the aforementioned transactions. Thank you for your response, meh.
Dear Mr. Meh, you know and I know there is no one of that quality on our current roster or minor league system. We all knew the stuff Wags, Dotel and Lidge had before they closed. No one fits that bill. Thanks for your response. MGT.
Dear MGT, Shall I assume you've forgotten Valverde was not in the system when Lidge was traded, and that at the time of the trade there was no one in the system with any talent to close? Considering your recent record, MGT, I think I shall. Regards, meh.
