well Hunter Pence is having an INCREDIBLE spring. Its ridiculous, like .700 with some homers. We all know he had fantastic numbers in A and AA. But guess who is having a good spring as well?? Yes, freaking Jason Lane. Do you know what that means???? It means Tim Purpura is going to send Pence to AAA and Jason Lane, the king of pop-ups, and his sub .200 average are going to make the club. Hopefully I am wrong, and Pence at least makes it as a platoon guy. If Lane makes it, and Pence does not, well then Tim Purpura (go eat another sandwich) will prove to be even more stubborn than JVG, and far far far less intelligent.
It doesn't make a lot of sense that to use Pence as a platoon guy versus lefties since he would only get 1 or 2 starts a week. Rather have him in AAA where he could more seasoning. He needs to learn be more patient. With that being said, I doubt Pence makes the opening day lineup. Lane is out of options and the Purpura LOVES him for some reason. While I agree Pence could be very good, it makes no sense to use him as a platoon guy.
Pense will get called up in June so the astros will get another year before he's eligible for arbitration. It sucks, but it's a smart move.
You sure that true? I thought if you play anytime during the season, it counts toward your MLB service time because I remember when Seattle was getting ripped a couple of years ago for considering not bringing up King Felix in September because they didn't start his MLB service. http://groups.msn.com/BaseballForum/mlbgeneraltransactionrules.msnw
Im sick of the astros not callling player up until they are 28-30. At that age, guys like Lane and Scott are no long prospects. A guy like Pence would have a starting job on another team by the age of 23/24, but why dont the astros give him a chance. The astros are too patient and need to let younger guys get the time they earned
It is hard to argue with the Astros success over the past 12 years. Since they are almost always contending well into September they don't have the luxury of throwing rookies out there on a regular basis. Also, the Astros have started plenty of guys younger than 28-30.
next season opening day he is 24 for about 10 days. The astros are known for holding back guys. If he is your top prospect he should not be a 24 year old aaa player. Go look at the top players around the league and when they came up. Especially the younger guys in the league right now. I believe drayton does this to not have to give out many contracts to his top guys.
Well, except for Berkman, Oswalt, Wade Miller, Carlos Hernandez, Fernando Nieve, Matt Albers, Willy Taveras, Chris Burke, Daryle Ward, Bobby Abreu, Richard Hidalgo, and on and on and on. I believe all of those came up at 24 yrs old or younger.
D'you really think 200 at-bats in the majors over the course of a year will do more for Pence's development than 500, plus a full year of regular defensive work, in AAA?
That's one of the funniest things I've ever read. You do realize that almost all young players, regardless of their skill, make next to nothing (relative to MLB salaries) their first few seasons in the league, right? Having a young prospect take a starting spot instead of a veteran saves you money. To quote Major, like Berkman, Oswalt, Wade Miller, Carlos Hernandez, Fernando Nieve, Matt Albers, Willy Taveras, Chris Burke, Daryle Ward, Bobby Abreu, Richard Hidalgo and others? What happened there?
Hidalgo isn't going to make the team. Either Scott or Lane will go in to the crapper when the season starts. It's pretty much a given. They might both struggle. Pence will get called up after a month or 2 to platoon with the Scott or Lane. If Scott keeps doing well, I can't complain. That means that next year we'll have one hell of an outfield when Burke is back at second for good.
The only way Pence should make the team is if he's starting... and I thought everybody was firmly on the Luke Scott bandwagon. Also, there's an outside chance that Burke completely flops in CF, and they bring in Pence to play that position everyday... but then what do you do with Burke? (especially since they now have Loretta). This is literally the first year of the TP era that there are legitimate lineup options throughout the field. We didn't have Carlos Lee and Mark Loretta last year... that means they take playing time away from two guys who saw a lot of it last year. And if we do need Pence to be our next CF after this season, he needs to be in CF everyday in AAA to ensure it.
I think his point is that if the Astros wait till a player is very well developed before bringing him up, the Astros will have some of the player's best years under a controlled salary. So while the vet today that could provide similar production to the player's rookie year is much cheaper, six years down the road, the Astros could be saving several million with the rookie still under their control. The Astros will also have a better idea of whether a player is worthy of an extention well before that time hits if they don't bring players up early. Hidalgo is one of the few players the Astros overpaid in their first big contract and it looked like a pretty sweet deal at the time. The Stros got Catoed on that one. The Astros do not like starting MLB service while a player still needs a lot of learning except out of extreme need or Rule V , imho. I don't think the Astros have a problem bringing guys up that are well developed since they are getting good to great performance very early. I do believe the Astros are a little more cautious than some other teams with moving position players with holes in their game through their minor league system. The teams that provide on the job training at MLB level generally don't have guys above them that keep them down and are generally below the Astros in standings. I was surprised not to see Pence last year in Round Rock towards end of season.