As a Giants fan, I'm glad we got another bat. Freddy Sanchez' return is unknown, and Bill Hall has been awful.
so we traded for a pitcher (sosa) we could have had for free when he was taken off the giants 40 man roster earlier this year. great.
As Astros fans, we know. :grin: Tejada has been even worse. He's pretty much the worst player in baseball.
Must note that Keppinger is very good against LHP and well below average against RHP (career splits: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=keppije01&year=Career&t=b#plato). Combine that crucial fact with his mediocre to subpar defense (depending on where you play him) and you see why he never really stuck as an everyday player. He's a very nice situational hitter (vs LHP) and occasional starter on a good team.
[rquoter]Here’s what Ed Wade said about the rapid acceleration of the youngsters, namely, Altuve, to the big leagues: “Over the last four years we’ve talked about creating an express lane in the organization for players. Obviously it’s driven by talent, and everything’s driven by talent, but it’s also driven by makeup and whether players can take on that type of a challenge and move at that pace. We saw Jason Castro do it coming out of college and being in the big leagues in June of 2010. And we’ve seen Jordan Lyles’ ascent to the big leagues this year in the same fashion and we think Jose is made the same way. “I don’t think we’ve presented a challenge to (Altuve) yet that he hasn’t embraced. Everybody is going to see Jose and see his stature and begin to question his ability from there. In that case people are really going to underestimate what this kid is all about. He’s got a chance to be a really good big league player. Again, we’re not bringing him up here and saying the future of the franchise or the franchise cornerstone is here. We’re bringing a kid up here that we think is capable of handling this level and hopefully benefiting from the experience going forward.”[/rquoter]
Lee actually has value. His WAR this season is 2.3. The difference between Carlos Lee right now and when he was in his prime is the number of HR. The only problem is he is owed another $28 million. If we ate $25 million of that, I don't think we'd have a problem moving him, though we still wouldn't get much in return.
I swear you just can't keep fans happy. A couple years back we were b****ing about the Astros keeping guys down and not advancing them. Now we finally bring up some young talent instead of letting it rot at AAAA, and we're b****ing about that. And no, it won't hurt them financially. If these guys are mediocre ML players, they won't net very much in arbitration. If they're *great* ML players, you'd look to lock them up long-term and avoid arbitration anyway, the way they did with Lance and Roy. So, can we maybe just sit back and enjoy the first thing we've had to look forward to since like 2009?
It's a good move no matter how you look at it. The argument BrooksBall is making is almost like he's arguing the negative for the sake of arguing. We can't assume what the status of the club, on the field or financially, will be 4 years from now. I'd fully expect more of these moves as the trading continues. If it means these guys get valuable experience w/o the pressure of being in a pennant chase, then I can only see this as a positive. If they don't pan out, it's not going to be because they didn't spend time in beautiful Oklahoma City.
Altuve is getting playing time either way: minors or bigs. It's not like the NBA where some high school show off enters the draft and sits on the bench for his first two years and takes a step back in his development. If the guy has confidence he will be able to overcome his shortcomings and develop into whatever sort of player he is, maybe David Eckstein.
What if we kept Altuve and those guys down another two years....then we could just flash forward 4/5 years down the line from then and ask the same exact questions. What if we need some help and these guys are making too much money. lol It doesn't matter when you bring them up, if they are good enough to get you into contention four years from the date you bring them up, then the same question will arise.
In David Eckstein's wildest dreams he never hit as well as Altuve did this year in Double A. And Eckstein was 3 years older when he passed through that level.
My guess is that he ends up somewhere between Eckstein and Pedrioa... which would make me ecstatic. Plus, he just "looks" like a guy who could cause havoc on the field... one of those guys you hate to play against, but you love when he's on your team. (I know, I'm violating my own rule of liking a player because he "looks" like a good fit).
