Weird... did you guys catch that graphic right before the commercial? It showed the Astros winning 6-4. That can't be possible. We don't win baseball games, esp. against the Pirates.
Almost as weird as seeing the NL central standings this morning. Nice win, feels VERY good. So we traded Roy Oswalt for a pitcher with an ERA almost at 6, a platoon 1st baseman and a 20 year old SS? By the way Anthony Gose is starting to show some serious stuff at AA for Toronto. I like Brett but its obvious the Stros are skeptical, this isn't a 21 year old high school kid who shot up the farm system, he is an advanced college hitter who had good numbers throughout the system his was win and is about to be 25.
A lot of people liked Gose from what I recall. Raw but lots of potential. If they are skeptical about Grimace, what would be the point of sitting him? To keep his value from dropping?
I'd agree but not sure what they are trying to do with the guy. If they thought the guy was going to be a "hitting machine" then just play him, let him go through his struggles and have him make adjustments against lefties. Platooning him at this point tells me they don't think he can hit lefties and don't want to kill his confidence.
It's very unofficial and apparently hasn't stuck. It just dawned on me a few series ago that both Wallace and Grimace share endomorphic traits. Unrelated but I found this pic while searching for Grimace. Does this qualify as reverse pedophilia?
Hunter Pence for Starling Marte, Jeff Locke and Colton Cain...who says no? Pirates get an affordable 28 year old semi-star player to matchup with McCutchen and Neil Walker while the Stros get a young exciting outfielder, a MLB ready pitcher and a nice projectable arm for Corpus.
I agree but since the Pirates would make sense, and are in town, I'd wanted to see what they had to offer. I am a little concerned about what Pence's trade market might be. You'd like to move him to Atlanta or Boston since both need outfielders and have great farm systems. Problem might be that the Braves problem would be more inclined to go for Bourn since they have a big hole in CF/leadoff man while the Red Sox might go for a more affordable option like Josh Willingham...affordable in giving up prospects that is. Leaving the Phillies and Pirates as viable options and besides the big 3 in single A and Singleton also in high A, the Phillies have very little. Leaving the Pirates and a decent farm system. Almost forgot the Giants but they seem to have their sights on Carlos Beltran. They would also be an interesting partner for the Stros/Pence.
r934, you keep leaving out the Indians. He fits their needs better than any other team in baseball and they have tons of great prospects. I don't know if the Indians would give up what Wade would ask for but I guarantee they're interested and have contacted or will contact Wade. Here's a previous post on the subject: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=6226084&postcount=5
Yep, your right, I even read a rumor within the last few days about them going after another outfield bat and Pence fits perfectly. Thing with the Indians, for me, is that I really don't know what they are willing to give up. I know Altuve is all the craze right now but I would ask for Jason Kipnis right off the bat, he could be special or at the very least REALLY solid. Probably go with Austin Adams after that, probably MLB ready at this point with some nice stuff just needs to put it together. I would also see if we could talk them into including Chun-Hsiu Chen, dude can hit.
I was discussing Pence with some Indians fans and some were okay with the idea of including Kipnis, other were not. The unanimous untouchables were Pomeranz, Chisenhall and White from what I recall but I'm sure there are others. The Indians have a bunch of nice pitching prospects and depth in that area so I'd look to try to pry away at least one, maybe two, pitchers in any deal with them. Overall, just about everybody liked the idea of getting Pence but it was a mixed bag as far as if they wanted him for the short or long-term. They all like Choo as their RF of the future but some tossed around the idea of sliding Pence to LF and Brantley to CF if they end up parting ways with Sizemore for any reason. In general, I'm absolutely convinced that there will be some level of converstions between the two teams and feelers were probably already put out there. I think it'll come down to how the market plays out as far as whether the Indians will be willing to offer up enough to outbid other potential suitors. The makings for a win-win trade are definitely here though.
Would the Rays be interested in Pence? Joe Madden has already said that the only thing he feels his team needs is offense and the Rays always have a strong farm system.
“@SI_JonHeyman: word is, incoming #astros owner wants payroll cut to $60M, wandy, myers being shopped. heariing theyll keep pence tho”
Ugh... Hoping this is inaccurate. Edit: Not that I mind the desire to cut payroll to $60M, assuming it is temporary, but our payroll hasn't been that low since 2001.
I'm OK with this. Myers clearly had a career year last year and Wandy is at the age where I doubt he is a big part of the team when the Astros are ready to contend. I've also been a proponent of keeping Pence.
If you're going to be as bad as this, might as well not waste money that could be put towards signing picks, international free agents, and upgrades in fan comfort at MMP. In the past, they've paid for stopgaps just to fill a viable MLB team (Matsui, Wilson, Feliz, Hall, Barmes)... but NONE of those guys provided enough production to justify their cost. Might as well bring the young ones up and see if they sink or swim.
