i have been a huge fran hater but if he can win at texas then i am all for him staying as long as he wants
There is simply no evidence that the Astros have written off Pettitte, or Clemens. If the Astros had a healthy Backe, or another proven starter you could say they that, but the starting rotation is still too thin. It's not like Purpura and Drayton don't understand how much they need to resign at least one of the two players.
They both had similar facial hair. Doesn't that mean they're pretty much the same pitcher? Also, Drabek wasn't all that bad here--at least in the beginning (going purely off memory for that). I felt like Swindell was the bigger disappointment.
On my t-shirt of the Houston Post's sports front page the day Hakeem won his MVP award, there's a little blurb about Drabek shutting out the Braves for his seventh win in a row. It's nice.
Drabek '93 9 18 3.79 '94 12 6 2.84 '95 10 9 4.77 '96 7 9 4.57 Swindell '93 12 13 4.16 '94 8 9 4.37 '95 10 9 4.47 '96 0 3 7.83* *The Astros released him on June 3rd, 1996. Drabek signed for $18.575 million, while Swindell was signed for $16.4 million.
Would I be too greedy in saying that we should make a move on Zito or Schmidt? We still need a number 2 starter. If Pettitte and/or Clemens (I believe in Clemens comes back, Pettitte def is) come back, we would have a solid rotation top to bottom! I am being too greedy huh?
Theres nothing wrong with wishful thinking. That being said I think convincing Pettitte is the #1 priority right now, getting Williams helped the rotation. Right now I'm sure the Astros are looking at lower-tier pitchers like Ted Lilly, Randy Wolf, Gil Meche, Adam Eaton,etc. With the market being where its at I definitely think the Astros are done as far as significant signings of big name free agents, and from what I hear Schmidt wants to stay on the west coast (SF or Seattle) and Zito (and Boras) has his heart set the Mets. Thats not to say the Astros haven't inquired I just think their interest in those two isn't that great because of the salary implications. As long as were being wishful (greedy, call it what you'd like) I'd like to see the Astros trade for Dontrelle Willis. Do we have enough to offer the Marlins? Don't know, but it never hurts to call and find out.
Especially, at Minute Maid park. I think as visiting pitcher he has the most wins in our park. Hope he keeps winning in our park.
