Tell me about it. For the life of me, I can't figure out how any self respecting Astros fan would be against the possibility of getting Soriano (at a reasonable price). If we did get him, it's obvious that Ensberg (Sorry The Cat, but you can't possibly keep defending him at this point) would be the one sitting down (I'm still laughing about him claiming he was back and that he'd learned his lesson about not playing through pain after he hit that fly out that barely inched into the Crawford Boxes). I mean, with Willy hitting well right now, you leave him in the leadoff spot and put Soriano behind Berkman and if the first three up go down, he leads off the 2nd inning with Scott now having a guy he can bring home and bring up his RBI totals.
I never disagreed with that. But your argument for getting rid of AE seems very contradictory to your reasons for not needing Soriano. All in all, if this team has any chance they have to improve offensively. In a perfect world they would add a better hitting SS or C. But how many of those are available today? According to the original report, it may be possible to get a top 15 offensive player but he'll have to supplant the teams 3rd worst option instead of their 1st or 2nd worst option. IMO as long as the deal is reasonable, you do it.
i think you missed his point. as for Soriano not playing 2nd base, well, i could give two sh!ts about Biggio's 3000th hit. if it means adding Soriano, put Biggio on the bench. of course that's not gonna happen b/c the club and fans would go apesh!t, even it means a better chance of making playoffs.
This is thing that's quite frustrating about the Stros. Why must a potential acquisition of Fonso be a short-term idea. I understand he's a free agent at season's end, but shouldn't the mindset and philosophy be to obtain and keep a player of his caliber on this team. Whether it's offering the big money, building a more talented club, or a exemplifying a more embracing community and/or organization, it seems that our goal should be to have a guy like Soriano on the team. Build around him and Berkman. That's quite a dynamic duo. I'm just not sure why this is not a more highly pursued option for us.
Soriano has to want to sign here for that to happen. You don't trade away major prospects on the hope that someone will sign, especially when you'll be competing with the likes of the Yankees, who will be happy to overpay for him.
So do we just operate assuming that we're only gonna go after second-tier talent because the Yankees and Sox exist? I believe if you show the dedication, financially and through the operations of your organization, you can get the high caliber ball players. You're absolutely correct in that we shouldn't trade major projects on the hope of re-signing Soriano. We should only trade major prospects or any significant prospects if we have reason to believe that we'll have a competitive financial offer, that we'll have a team talented enough or are devoted to obtaining a team talented enough to be attractive, and that we maintain a comfortable and enjoyable environment for a guy like Soriano to thrive and succeed. If we can't do those things, why would any upper-echelon talent want to play for us. In order to obtain all-world talent, you've gotta operate on that level.
If we're talking about Soriano's defense in the OF, it's one thing. To think that he is a major league caliber 2B is another. He is terrible...to the point that it what he generates offensively would negate or be less than what he'd give up defensively. If you're adding Soriano, I think it has to be for Willy T.
Why not just throw Biggio back at catcher? jk Seriously though...if you can get a player of Soriano's calibur, you do it...and you find a way to stick him in the lineup. Who cares if he plays OF? Would we reject having a Vlad Guerrero, Carlos Beltran, or Carlos Lee on the team just because we already have Willy T out there? Get real fellas.
I would find some way to fit him on the squad. We might have someone who is hitting well over .400, but his .289, 38HRs and 78 RBIs would be a nice compliment to the team since Ensberg ain't doing ****.
Fair enough, but if it only for a 30 day rental, and we fail to make the playoffs, it will be a huge mistake to mortgage the future for this guy. Now if he could catch or play SS.....then HELL YES !! DD
soriano would play left huff in right and scott in center, this is because luke said himself in an interview that to him playing center was a lot easier than playing left or right so hopefully he could back up the talk
if i had a say...whether we give up willy for soriano or not...and since burke cant play 2nd cause of biggio.. cf burke lf soriano 1b berkman rf scott 3b huff 2b biggio ss everett c ausmus
Trading top prospects for a risk is dumb. We had a better team, better organization, and a more-than-competitive offer to Beltran last year and he still didn't sign with us. Had we traded major talent to get him, we'd be screwed. By the way, I don't consider Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, or Jeff Kent second-tier talent. Same for Randy Johnson and Carlos Beltran. We both trade for and sign top talent.
Something to remember, anyone on the 40-man roster that we are going to give up in a trade would also have to clear waivers (or at least have the Nats granted a claim on them). Not that it would be that difficult considering their record but it wouldn't surprise me if the teams ahead of us didn't try to get a team below WAS to take anyone we submit. On another note, somewhat unrelated, can anyone answer this for me? I was thinking last night about all the trades going through for PTBNL. I know teams have a certain amount of time that they can set to make that decision (I want to say it was up to 45 days). Can a team make a trade with a PTBNL included, where it circumvents waivers. Meaning, in this situation, can the Astros say: We'll give you Willy T but because he wont' clear waivers we'll just call him PTBNL, and the 45 days is up after the end of the season. So on day 45 he doesn't have to clear waivers and we can freely trade him.
If its so dumb, why does it happen all the time? Red sox and yankees do it all the time, as well as other teams. Remember larry anderson for bagwell? Yes it didn't work out for the red sox, but they continue to contend every single year. How is that, because they continue to get good talent on their team. I think soriano would be a great addition to the team and he would play left field.
I believe there are restrictions on who can be a PTBNL. I'm 99% sure a major leaguer doesn't qualify. I imagine anyone on the 40-man roster wouldn't as well.
