Jeff Keppinger vs RHP: 2011: .278/.307/.320 (.627 OPS) Career: .262/.318/.350 (.668 OPS) That is the biggest reason why most teams do not view him as an everyday player. On top of that, despite his versatility, he has a negative defensive WAR for his career. In other words, a replacement level player would be better. His ideal role is as a utility guy and pinch-hitter who primarily comes off the bench to face LHP.
Who do you think has the better dWAR this season? Who do you think has more OF assists? It isn't the one you would think. Beltran is no longer a plus defender or baserunner. Not that I'm actually claiming Lee is better than Beltran at those things.
They flashed to her and his dad a few times. She was very easy on the eyes. And he did quite well pitching, too. I thought for sure Bill Brown was going to jinx him by mentioning his scoreless streak.
Praise the lord Quintero is back. I trust him behind the plate much more than any of our catchers (Excluding Castro). Guy seems to know how to keep the pitchers composure and call a good game.
You start to appreciate Q's defensive skills when you see a guy like Corporan struggling to throw a ball online and without bouncing to 2nd base.
Good win for the Stros, especially after their "meeting." Norris has emerged nicely and now can be seen as a top of the rotation type guy. Throw in Lyles and your an ace short of a nice 1-2-3. If they can fix Happ and tap into Anuery's potential...that's an interesting young rotation. Pence is a beast right now, 2nd in the league in hitting, tied for 1st in doubles, 6th in RBIs and 12th in slugging...great season. I am truly torn on whether dealing him is the right move or not, I'm still not thrilled about paying someone 10 million a year on a 100 loss team but if you make the right moves with the other pieces like Bourn, Wandy, Kepp and Myers then you can add good young talent around Hunter. Wade was again very honest today during his weekly chat on 790. Basically said the team was selling at the deadline without coming out and saying it. He also said that he would be focusing on young major league ready talent.
I remember seeing her during his first appearance, and mentioning how good looking she was. Especially next to those ugly, morbidly obese parents of his.
I'm firmly in the camp for keeping Pence. He's young enough to still be in his prime when the youngsters are coming up and ready to contribute. I feel like they shouldn't totally give up on improving in 2012 just because 2011 is so bad. I think you need Pence to help the organization make the turn back to being competitive. The other benefit is that he's used to being the face of the team and might take some of the pressure off the kids as they come up.
The one thing about Pence is that he's a good athlete for a power-type hitter. He should maintain his bat speed longer than the average player. I'd still absolutely look to trade him though while his value is up right now. I was on an Indians blog tonight and they loved the idea of getting Pence. They need another RHB in their lineup in the worst of ways and their starting RF Choo is out another 2 months. I grew up an Indians fan so I'd be happy if Pence somehow ended up with them. They could use Wandy as well.
He may still be good by the time we are ready, but it will delay the turnaround, because we don't have enough talent yet, and he will be expensive.
Exactly how I see it. Plus, it's unlikely that we'll be contending for the playoffs within the next 4 years or so. We still have a long way to go and there are a lot of NL teams already on the rise or poised to be contenders for the next few years. I wouldn't be surprised if we aren't playing meaningful baseball down the stretch until 2016. It could even be longer. There is no way to predict when we'll be back on the rise. We don't even know how Wallace or Lyles will turn out let alone all the other prospects in the system. Even the best prospects often fail to make the transition or live up to their potential at the next level. Until we have a number of cheap, young talented player actually producing over time at the ML level, we are a rebuilding team.
I honestly don't see that great of a team rising up in the Central. Reds are good but that rotation seems very inconsistent, Cards are either going to lose Pujols or sign him and wave goodbye to Wainwright while Carpenter is getting old, Brewers will lose Prince this offseason and Grienke has struggled all year long, Pirates are a wild card and Cubs have tied up their team with bad contracts. Braves seem to the be the team of the future but they're in the East, as are the Phillies. I can see the Stros getting back in the hunt by 2014 but they need the right people in charge with the right mindset to make it happen. It starts at this deadline, if they can turn their assets into young talent and add it to what they already have in the farm then it might not be so difficult to envision a good young Astro team by 2014.
I could be convinced to sell high on Pence, but I would have to absolutely BOWLED OVER with the offer if I were Ed Wade to pull the trigger.
I guess what they have is leverage when it comes to Pence. There is no pressure to trade him since he is the face of the team right now. But if some team comes calling that's desperate and has 3-4 good prospects, Wade would be dumb not to listen. I guess when you've had the run of good players/citizens the Astros have had over the last 25+ years, it's hard to imagine the team without any identity at all.
