And that's not just Houston baseball, but all Houston sports... Just need a closer.... Giles Just need a PG..... Ty Lawson Just need a QB.... Osweiler Houston man... it hurts.
Why the dig on Giles, he was almost perfect the last month or two of the season. Also Giles and Lawson came into Houston in lower capacity roles. Osweiler came into Houston too be the face of a franchise that was already enjoying playoff runs with 50 mil guaranteed. The way he will handicap the Texans cap space is really the only big blow moving forward. But Giles was perfectly fine after he made adjustments/stopped pressing too much
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Ken Giles was not fine. We traded for a guy with a sub 2 ERA. His was over 4. He went from giving up a 1/3 of a run per 9 innings to giving up 1.1. He had a negative WAR. He also was not almost perfect down the stretch. He gave up 6 earned runs in a 1/3 of an inning in late September at home vs the Angels. He was not the player the Astros envisioned they were getting when they traded away what was their top prospect for him at the time. I always think it's funny when people try to say a guy did well ina season by suggesting he did so provided we ignore a portion of that season. If he has that same season again next year, they'll be looking for a new closer.
At this point how much has the Astros payroll gone up from last year? I know a few players have come in and a few have gone out.
Our pre-arbitration payroll is at 91MM (http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/houston-astros/payroll/). I believe our payroll after arbitration will be around 125MM, which would be around 17th highest in the league. For reference, our payroll last year was 114MM, good for 20th (http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/2016)
This. Ken Giles was nothing close to what the Astros expected when they traded for him. They expected an elite closer, they received a closer that lost his job several times during the season and was below replacement level.
Giles posted a better SIERA and xFIP in 2016 than he did in 2015. His K-rate was up from 2015 and his BB-rate was pretty steady. The question is what the heck happened to his ability to keep the ball in the park? He had a 1.5 WAR according to Fangraphs, which focuses more on the FIP statistics.
I don't disagree that the raw stuff was there and he would look dominant on some pitches and even some outings; but the overall outcome wasn't sufficient last year from Giles. What I noticed from Giles is he struggled with command last year and with his velocity; he was hit really hard when his command wasn't there. The only concern I had with Giles going into last year was that he reminded me a lot of Brad Lidge in that when his pitches didn't move like they should or usually did, he got hammered hard.
Giles was also subpar with wild pitches; a rarely mentioned stat with pitchers as it doesn't negatively effect FIP, BA against, and other stats..
He didnt allow a run throughout July and while he was up and down in September, I have faith he can be the pitcher the Astros traded for.
Thanks for posting that. Hopefully that means there is room for a TOR starter trade between now and the trade deadline.
Wasn't Phillips considered the top prospect in the organization at time of his trade? If not, he was 2.
Assume you mean Velasquez, who went in the Giles deal. I think he was at the top and Bregman was on his way, but not quite there yet (at least IMO). Phillips went in the Gomez deal.
