I was reading the ESPN article about Pat Gillick being elected to the HOF, and this little blurb caught my eye: [rquoter]Tal Smith, now the Astros' president of baseball operations, and Paul Richards, Houston's first GM, shaped many of Gillick's philosophies. "Tal Smith is the biggest influence on me," Gillick said. "Paul Richards only gave me one piece of advice. He told me that looking at players, usually your first impression is your correct impression."[/rquoter] Since a lot of people on here wish Tal Smith was fired, I found it very interesting to see a successful GM give him that praise.
Don't know if the Astros will be interested, but: @jorgearangure: Agent Scott Shapiro says OF Leonis Martin,22,considered best position prospect out of Cuba in years,in Mexico and should be declared FA soon http://twitter.com/jorgearangure
Not liking the Carlos Lee to 1b move one bit. Completely counter-productive after declining Berkman. Would be worth a swing if he's as good as they say he is (can't find anything on him though). Problem is the Astros hate opening up money to prospects.
I for one have hope that Carlos Lee can hopefully get one more year of a .300 hitter and 25HR/100 RBI season. Although his OBP always suck I doubt he can be as bad as he was last year.
Needing to cut payroll? They have $44M in payroll obligations. After arbitration cases are settled, it should add another $20M. That is $65M and they need to cut payroll? Who are we...the Royals?
A team with less long term salary obligations is more attractive to potential buyers. It isn't that the team needs to shed payroll b/c it can't afford it, it is all for the purpose of selling the team.
Well the theory floating around is that they are trying to move Kepp and Lindstrom in order to take on JJ Hardy's or Jason Bartlett's salary. Both are arbitration eligible and coming off disappointing seasons so they should be looking at about 5 million. This would keep it around 70 million and allow them to add another starter, LF and LH reliever. If they are counting on Lee playing first then they might have to get a pretty decent LF rather then some dirt cheap bench guy. I would assume they want to keep payroll under 85 million when it's all said and done.
But both Kepp and Lindstrom are arbitration eligible and combined there salary's should be cheaper than either JJ Hardy or Jason Bartlett. Kepp made 1.1 last year and would probably raise it up too about 2.5 and Lindstrom made 1.6 last year and with the injuries i'd say he gets no more than 2. Plus I just like what Keppinger did and would not want to mess with chemistry. I really don't see Astros being over 60 mil in payroll after arb. Wade has done a good job so far hammering out deals and has a pretty good track record in those hearings. If we did move Keppinger or Lindstrom, it should be for prospects.
Still trying to figure out why we traded Paulino for the $4 million dollar man, especially in light of these concerns about payroll. It seems like it would have been better to just give Paulino away. Then they could keep Lindstrom and Keppinger with no concerns. I really don't get Ed Wade. I seriously think he is using a Magic 8 Ball to decide what to do. Either that, or he has multiple personality disorder and keeps entering a fugue state. It doesn't make sense. Trade for young first baseman. Move LF to first base so young first baseman goes to the minors. Trade mediocre young cheap player for $4 million dollar overpaid bum. Shed two decent inexpensive players from your team to save roughly $4 million. I really don't get it.
What's not to get? None of these things have happened yet, except for the Paulino trade. I'll let the roster shape up and spring training get in full swing before passing judgement.
thanks for the link! i've never seen that before. his swing reminds me of ryan howard. hopefully he won't strike out that much!
Lets say the Stros trade for Hardy, Willingham and move Lee to 1st... Bourn Willingham (High OBP) Pence Lee Johnson Hardy Barmes Castro That is a nice looking lineup and the team's defense is VASTLY improved at the same time with Barmes, Hardy, Willingham and Lee at 1st, now lets assume they add a fifth starter like Francis to the rotation... Myers Wandy Happ Norris Francis Pretty good looking rotation and the bullpen should be pretty strong. So can this team win the divison?
This happens every year. The Astros make a couple of moves, it's barely the beginning of the first winter meetings, and everyone starts screaming about latent stupidity as if this were their final plan and we're headed into ST tomorrow. It's December folks. Relax.
It could compete in the division if things go right. CJ has to prove last season wasn't a fluke. I don't mean put up the same numbers, but something that shows he's an everyday 3B. Wandy has to do it for the full season. Myers has to be at least as good as 2010. Norris has to be consistent. Lee has to be closer to 2007-2009 Lee and not 2010. Bourn absolutely has to get on base better. If all those things work out, yeah, we'll be competing with Cincinnati and St. Louis.
