Remind me not to check this thread again until January. At least I won't have to read about people hoping someone passes away because they think that'll make the team better.
or labelling the guy who has been the owner of a baseball franchise for 15 seasons, of which they only had a losing record 2 times, the worst owner in all of pro sports. please. go back to hoops, hoopsters.
if you're talking about me, do not twist my words. nowhere in there did i say i hope. maybe you're talking about the guy who said they should euthanize everett though. i do agree that either or both would make the team better though.
with Lane and Ensberg gone and Jennings soon to be on his way out folks should be ok. AE needs to be a late inning defensive replacement and Burke needs to be a bench guy as well. I'll let Scott and Anderson fight it out for a starting spot and I'll be happy with the direction of the club
I don't think anyone thinks he is the worst owner but he sure does get alot of credit for things he never did ie. Clinton getting credit for the over-inflated/fake late 90s economy or Purpura getting credit for being the GM of a world series team. Drayton has helped turn Houston into a decent baseball town and he did get the downtown stadium but the Astros have had a poor history and just flat out terrible ownership prior so it makes him look better. I really think the stars were alligned just perfect in 2004 and 2005 so we had our best seasons despite Drayton not because of him.
oh my, did not see that. I for one don't wish anything bad to happen to Drayton he seems like a nice fellow
If anyone actually thinks our offense is okay, have you been watching the team for the past few seasons??? Our offense is not good by any means. Sure we have a few core players in the middle who are very talented, but how many games have we barely scored in? or lost after excellent pitching efforts? A ****LOAD yes, we need pitching improvements but by no means is our offense 'ok' or even 'decent'
it's as if people think the offseason is over. chill out. people are speculating on what the end result will be given the current roster and saying what its potential could be. No one's saying Josh Anderson should be handed a job right now. No one's saying they should automatically give Burke the job without a fight. The pessimism in just a few posts on page 1 of this thread is ridiculous. The regular season ended freaking 2 days ago! Pitching certainly needs to be addressed as a #1 priority. 2 starters need to be brought in, and I hope we don't look at the Steve Trachsels of the world to fill in for a season. But I think this year, they realize it's undoubtedly a long-term thing, so they won't look at stop-gap solutions (like Woody was). I think Patton will likely make the rotation barring the signing of or trading for a lefty.. I hope Anderson does well and makes it in CF. I'm done hoping for Burke, and I hope another solution is found...and if not, I'd take Loretta. If Anderson pans out, the lineup would be decent with Wiggy, Everett, Loretta, Towles (who even at worst projection will be better than Ausmus offensively). Soo...bullpen should be priority #1b after starters are 1a.
Anderson will not start, unless Scott is traded. If he does, it would be one of the absolute most ridiculous decisions in the history of baseball, and I'm not sure I could stomach watching this team if that's the case. I'm pretty confident that it won't be, though. The actual lineup: 1. Burke 2B (below average 2007, above average 2006) 2. Pence CF (far above average) 3. Berkman 1B (above average) 4. Lee LF (above average) 5. Scott RF (above average) 6. Wigginton 3B (average) 7. Towles C (who knows) 8. Everett SS (below average offensively, but saves enough defensively to be average overall)
What does the "past few seasons" have to do with now? Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence, Ty Wigginton, Luke Scott (all but two months of 2006)... where were these guys in the "past few seasons"? What the Astros did offensively prior to 2007 is irrelevant because more than half the lineup is new.
Well if Chris Burke is the leadoff man on opening day I'm not sure I could stomach watching this team. We disagree on Everett a little, imo if he does not give you more at the plate he is a defensive replacement when a starter hands the game over to the bullpen with a lead.
Then put Pence at leadoff, or sign a Castillo or Iguchi in free agency and put them there. A leadoff hitter is only guaranteed to hit leadoff once per game. It's not worth the dropoff from Scott to Anderson (enormous) simply for the sake of Anderson's speed at the top of the lineup. There have been studies done before that show Everett's defensive contributions being so great that it's hard for him to be below the league average. However, I might actually agree with you on this, but for a different reason. Given Everett's age and the nature of the injury he's recovering from (and how it was much more serious than initially thought), there's a definite chance he'll never have the range he once had. If so, reports on Ransom are fairly optimistic. Most people who watched him at RR say he's a very capable defender at SS (nowhere near Everett, but nowhere near Loretta either), and could very easily hit around .250 with 15 home runs if he were an everyday MLB player.
Ladies......Ladies....... We are all Astros fans here...... Simmer down....and enjoy the upcomming NBA season and the Astros off season. They will retool....I can feel it. DD
With the Bagwell/Biggio era now officially over, we have to have the balls to pull off a big trade. The only person I dont trade is Roy O. Everyone else is or can be put on the market.... Gotta give to get, and we need starting pitching in the worse way. Put together a package for Santana and get it done!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/5175652.html The Astros honored their 2008 minor league most valuable players on the field prior to Saturday's game: infielder Cody Ransom (Round Rock), outfielder Ray Sadler (Corpus Christi), outfielder Mitch Einertson (Salem), Lexington outfielder Jordan Parraz (Lexington), shortstop Brandon Barnes (Tri-City), pitcher Leandro Cespedes (Greeneville), righthander Henry Villar (Dominican Summer League) and infielder Jhonny Medrano (Venezuelan Summer League). This link has some less than inspiring stat lines for our minor league MVPs: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/...ent_id=304737&vkey=pr_t577&fext=.jsp&sid=t577
