At what point do the Stros consider trading Beltran?

Throw in the towel. Don't mortgage the future for these losers. This season is safe to say a disaster.

 

Turn your sarcasm meter back on.

 

So, do the "cheapskate" calls start up again right after trading Beltran or do they wait until Spring Training?

 

I think it is one year. Keep in mind that his shoulder is causing him a lot of pain. You can see it in his face when he is at bat. There are a lot of baseball folks who think he may hang them up.

 

He's got 3 years left on his contract. His buyout for the 3rd year is a ridiculous 7 million dollars.

I do believe if the slump continues he'll hang it up. However if he goes on a tear just has he has in previous years i think he'll keep going.

I thought his swings looked pretty good last night, hopefully its a sign of what is to come

 

So f*cking sad that in the preseason everyone was talking World Series...Central Division champs was almost a given. Now we're talking about limping into the playoffs as a wild-card team or even hanging up the season as a disaster...and everyone in management thought this was the Stros' year...

 

Beltran is the kind of guy you build a team around like Bagwell or Bonds. Sign him long term at all costs. Let Kent and Bidge walk. Buy out Bags. Give Burke and Lane their shot. Whoever they put a first will be a letdown but there are options there with Lamb or Hiatt or an FA . Nice to have a bags there but someone who can hit legitimate 5 or six and not trip over his feet too badly at first is OK.

1Burke
2Everett
3Beltran
4Berkman
5,6,7 Choose among
Lamb
Lane
Ensberg
Hiatt
8 Ausmus

O
Pettite
Miller
Hernandez

Lidge

That could be a fun team again and one to watch grow. Kind of like the early 90's.

 

Looking at NO stats. There are many more options Hiatt being the least of those. Whiteman, Alfaro, Huffman, Eckleman. maybe Buchholz is ready next year or B4. Fill it in the way you like but I think it's time to bring in some new talent to blend with some of the old and see what you get. It's going to be a tough not challenging for a year or two but exciting baseball has been tough to come by the last couple of years. Time for a change.

 

3 games out of the Wild Card. Don't give up yet.

 

i don't care how we get to the playoffs, as long as we get past the first round.

 

last two world series champions have come from the wildcard. If you get into the playoffs anything can happen

 

The last two wildcards in the Angels and the Marlins won with homegrown talent and had nothing to lose. The Astros on the other hand have alot to lose. If they keep this team together we could lose any leverage we have in getting prospects for Beltran and Kent. This team just doesn't have the make-up of a champion. Our starting pitching outside of Oswalt and Clemens is very questionable as with the collection of relievers we have. Despite when those two pitch well alot of times the offense dosen't tend to come through. The Astros have lost 6 of the last 10 series dating back to the start of June and in that time have gone 14-18. This team is just not getting the job done and as a result they are done. Bagwell is finished, and this team in general is old and slow and the manager and clubhouse reflect that. Let the rebuilding begin.

 

as a season ticket holder, i strongly disagree.

 

It will be tough for you. But your disappointment meter would be lowered.

 

Yep, 3 games out of the playoffs with 79 games left. Time to tear this sucker down.

 

Do you honestly believe this team can catch the Cardinals, who have the best record in baseball and are just running over teams, or the Cubs for that matter who are not even at full strength yet and have dominated the Astros this season? You need to come down from the clouds Buck, this team is playing like the season is done, and have been since last month.

We'll see how strong they come with a fairly easy schedule the rest of the month. My guess is they will get handled in the six games against L.A., who have been playing some good baseball. As for the games agianst San Diego, Milwaukee, Arizona, and Cincinnati, with the way we've been playing, I'd say it's up in the air. I think we'll be lucky to finish out the month .500.

 

I believe this team, with a little bully help, can make the playoffs, yes.

 

Good one Buck. But in my opinion, you don't trade Beltran period. I firmly believe that regardless of what happens this season(and I agree with Buck about the season not being over by far) the Astros need to keep Beltran in an Astros uniform because I think they have a legitimate chance to retain his services this offseason.

From all accounts, Beltran is a private guy who doesn't want to be mobbed by the press and media day by day and hates traffic, and also wants to win(like any player).

Now examining the choices out there for him this offseason, you have a few possibilities:

Yankees
Red Sox
Cubs
Padres
Mets
Angels
Tigers
Phillies

I think it's safe to scratch the tigers and cubs from this list as the tigers aren't contenders and the cubs shouldn't be considering moving patterson out of CF. The Mets aren't really that feasible either because he would just go to the Yankees if he was to go to NY.

As far as the Pads, Phils and Angels are concerned, I think philly has tapped out their spending already; the angels don't need more offense, and the Padres have that insanely severe pitchers park known as Petco.

So we are down to the Yankees/Red Sox. The Red Sox would have to shift damon to LF or RF to make this work for them, and that won't sit well with damon, who is going to be hard to move with his contract. Plus, it doesn't fit with Beltran's desire to have privacy and less traffic.

The Yankees are a serious concern I'll admit, since they need a CF, have burning pockets and Beltran has family in the Bronx. But they also have crazy traffic and the press will hound Carlos to death.

I am not going to lose sleep over whether the Astros keep Beltran or not, but I think the possibility he stays is at least 50-50 if the astros want him to be the centerpiece of their good future upcoming. And if you trade him now, you lose any chance of bringing back a player of his caliber and tick off your fan base, which rightfully has visions of success with the talent on this team.

For all those reasons, I wouldn't consider trading Beltran unless I got wowed and it was a lost cause trying to win this season(which it isn't yet).

 

gunn --

we know this team is capable of playing better than they have. they have already showed us that much in april.

people keep saying the cubs are going to run away and hide. they haven't shown us that yet. are they capable of it?? sure. but you don't scrap this team we have because the cubs are capable of beating them, Prime Minister Chamberlain.

they're in a race. probably the last race this crop of veterans will ever be in. they're 3 games out of the wild card. for all their bad play, they're 3 games out.

 

I would be far more worried about the Cubs than I would the Cards if I was an Astros fan. St. Louis's starting pitching simply cannot keep up the its first-half pace. Suppan, Carpenter, & Marquis are all having career years, and Woody Williams' age makes a collapse similar to last season's likely.

The Cubs, however, have stayed near the top of the division despite losing Prior, Wood, and Sosa for large chunks of the first half.

I still think the Astros have a slim chance of winning the division - the Reds & Brewers will almost certainly fade - and at least a 50/50 shot at the wild card.

The real question is which Astros team will show up after the All-Star Break - the one that tore out of the gates to begin the season or the one that closed out the first half whimpering.