Agreed. I'm going to the Yankees game in Kissimme this year (3/31). I know we'll see enough of them for years to come, but it will be a nice mental exercise to get used to seeing AL teams play.
I'm pumped thanks to MadMax! Thanks for the pep talk! It'll be great beating the Cards in the World Series in 2016.
I think Singleton has a good shot at being here. If he is indeed starting in CC, I expect to see him eventually. His biggest problem is lack of potential playing time unless Lee & Cust are gone, because Wallace and Hinze could easily see playing time first. I'd definitely expect him to compete for 1B/DH spot in 2013 Spring Training.
The Astros actually got some radio time this morning. Jimmy D was on 790 talking about the squad and he said the young player he's looking forward to seeing get a full season is Paredes. Loves his athleticism and his bat. He touched on the usual suspects like Lyles (thinks he should start in the rotation) and Altuve, but mainly focused on the guys will likely start in the minors like Cosart, Clemens (expects to see called up this year), and Singleton. It made me think that an infield of Singleton/Wallace, Altuve, Lowrie, Paredes, and Castro would be fun to see towards Aug/Sept. That gets me excited...only because there isn't a re-tread in the group. It may take that group some time, but at least it's not Lee, Hall, Sanchez, Johnson, and Quintero.
I'm excited, and kinda sad too. I'm excited to finally have baseball back, but then I'm sad that this is the Astros last year in the NL.
Im excited to see Astro's baseball. Anxious about guys like Singleton, Springer, Cosart....the list is growing, which is something we couldn't say a year ago. I agree that the future is bright and exciting with the young players,as fans of the Astros we have been forced to find something positive in a dying cause. Now I'm excited because the cause has a direction. I was sickened to learn of the move to the American league, yet slowly I'm looking to the possibilities that it could bring.
Paredes really impressed me last year. Seeing him live, it was nothing like what I expected when we acquired him. He was a lot bigger. The guy is such a phenomenal athlete. I'm surprised he hasn't hit for more power. His swing looks just like Robinson Cano's. Between all the call-ups last year, I think his potential is actually the highest. I think Martinez is the safest bet to be a 10 year player in this league. Paredes' fatal flaw is that he doesn't walk enough. He also needs to find his permanent position.
I totally think Wandy will net the Astros a top prospect or two, I think Myers will be a shutdown closer and could net a mid-level prospect. I think Carlos Lee is untradeable but come Sept. I expect him playing very little if at all with Singleton getting some AB's under his belt. I'm very excited I think we have a very good young nucleus of guys already. C Castro 1B Singleton 2B Altuve/DeShields SS Villar/Mier 3B Paredes OF Martinez OF Springer OF Santana P #1 Pick, Norris, Lyles, Cosart, Weiland, Clemens, Oberholtzer, etc.
Lee will be very tradeable as long as he doesn't have a decline in performance. He'd actually a great fit with the Rays, who could platoon him with Pena and Scott. Lee actually had an OPS over 1.000 last season against lefties. He would have been a major improvement for the Giants last year.
Yep. Hopefully the walks will come with time and adjustments. Regarding his power, I remember a couple of shots that he hit to right-center while batting right handed that shows he has the power...just needs to get consistency with it. Sad to hear he's banged up a little (left wrist injury) but he should be good by the time the season starts. I really think the 3B job should be his to lose.
Folks in Houston don't understand exactly just how much of a disaster this move to AL will be for the Astros and how much Crane & Selig really screwed Houston baseball fans. The team is already at rock bottom talent wise and next season in the AL West, they'll be thrown into the shark tank with the likes of Texas and Anaheim not to mention the Yankees and Red Sox. Young talent or no, they will be uncompetitive for years to come. In the AL West the best they can hope for is to become another Kansas City in 3 to 5 years time. Oh and now you folks get the pleasure watching the organization go out and find, develop and nurture nice talented baseball players only to have them poached away by the Yankees and Red Sox $$$. While the AL move may indeed bring possibilities, I don't think you'll like them.
It's amazing that any team ever wins in the AL. I mean, it isn't like the Texas Rangers just won consecutive pennants while having a similar budget to what we have always been capable of. This whole time I thought it was about being the best team in baseball, not just the best team in the NL central.
I didn't know a move to the AL meant we're only playing the same 4 teams all year. Wow...Crane really did screw this up. The glass-half-full approach would be: All the more gratification when my team does well against all of your "juggernauts". I don't really worry about who we play is much as I worry about how we play.
The Astros new broadcast deal has them bringing in about $80 million more each year than they did with FSN. That puts them on par, even with their new TV deals, with the Rangers in terms of ability to spend. The move to the new division doesn't concern me over the next few seasons...seasons I don't expect the Astros to be competitive in anyway. But let's stop pretending like the AL West is some killer division that puts out WS champ after WS champ. Frankly, it's been the afterthought of all divisions in MLB for quite some time. There's no reason why the Astros can't ultimately be competitive in that division.
That's a really, really short-sighted and odd view of things. In an ideal world, the Astros might be competitive by the 2013-14 timeframe. And sure, maybe if they were in the weak NL Central, they might "stay alive" into September. As far as contending for a World Series, though, you're looking at 2015 or 2016 - at a minimum. By that point, Albert Pujols and many of the stars that make the AL West a "shark tank" right now will be on the decline, and those organizations will need to rebuild to some extent. Other than the Yankees and Red Sox, who have the money to fix anything via free agency, these things are cyclical. The way things look for the next three years is irrelevant to the Astros, who won't be in a position to contend even if they were in a AAA division. Also, as far as NYY and BOS, it's not any phenomenon that's exclusive to the Astros. Every team in the AL West will have the same schedule to deal with. There are two postseason slots - division title, and one Wild Card - that are guaranteed to be on the table, even if you assume the Yankees/Sox are each in the playoffs every single year. The real battle is between the Astros and the other teams, who have the same obstacles to deal with. Um, what? You see, the Yankees and Red Sox have these things called televisions, statistics, scouting reports, etc. They're just as likely to "poach" a player from an NL team as they are an AL team. The likelihood of losing a player to the Yanks/Sox is just as great with the Astros in the NL Central. I'm going to assume HillBoy's speaking from the same Dallas wisdom with which he authoritatively mocked us for thinking "Mr. Fix It" could help the Texans.
The Astros are going to lose 100 games again this year. They have very little pitching (even less once they move Wandy) and no power.
If the Astros won't be good, I think the best case scenario is sweeping the Brewers in that 2nd to last series...knocking them out of the playoffs. They might become my favorite team to beat this season. It's always been the cubs but that it likely going to change.
Not going to gang up on you more than everybody else already has... but you alone should know that everything is cyclical.
