Tropeano is a guy I think is going to be a solid MLB player. When Cosart was traded, I was very disappointed he didn't immediately replace him.
I'm not gonna lose sleep over the 'Stros not signing Vogelsong. I know it's unlikely, but I'd rather us try to find another diamond in the rough over throwing a 37 year old Vogelsong out there. We've hit the jackpot the last two years with Keuchel and McHugh, let's see who emerges this year.
I agree. I am hoping for a .500+ record this year. Anything more than that is icing on the cake for me. Having a 37 yr old stop gap for one season just doesn't do it for me. I would rather see Straily+White+Woj try and fight for the fifth spot and even see Appel later in the year and risk having some dud performances as a result. Also, it is getting pretty easy to see that Luhnow would rather trade for someone that is young and where he has club control than just try and sign someone for the sake of signing someone. The only player that goes against that is maybe Feldman (gotta pay for pitching and we needed someone last year) and Rasmus (buy low and hope that he gives you a solid year). I am okay with those signings, but even a good Volgelsong to me is not better than letting the young guys struggle and see who rises to the top.
Straily gonna run away with it if he regains a few ticks on his heater... which i expect because he just turned 26, so it's mechanical.
That's true but why pay for mediocre when you already have a plethora of it waiting at Triple A. Might as well use that money on another relief pitcher like Soriano and try to have at least one area of your team have the potential to be top 5 in the league.
Astros don't have a plethora of it in AAA. Astros might need a guy for long relief to serve as 6th starter. I'd rather young guys start in majors, work in short relief, or pitch in minors. Since Cosart was traded, Tropeano, Folty, and Thurman have been traded. Astros no longer have a bunch of BoR hopefuls. Woj is in AAA. I suspect Appel will be as well, for a short period of time if he pitches well. Others in AAA are rougher than Woj. On the plus side, Appel and Velasquez are No. 2/No. 3 hopefuls.
One of Asher, Straily, White, Buchanan, or Peacock (when healthy) have a better chance of outperforming Vogelsong for a fraction of the cost. That doesn't even include a potential McHugh type signing or another pitcher rising up through the minors. I really wish they drop even more money on the pen and be like the 2014 Royals. Get a lead going into the 5th/6th and let the bullpen work from there. Greatly takes pressure off bottom of the rotation types and your offense.
Agree with you in theory, but, we are talking about a 1-year deal here, on a team that we are holding out hope to take a sniff at the wild card race this season. Odds are in favor of Vogelsong being the best option among that group right now.
Also, if we are going to content by next season as was the plan, I would think we can get a BotR guy in off season next year. In the mean time, lets figure out what we have.
$1.0625 million for MG <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Astros agree to terms with IF Marwin Gonzalez today. All arbitration-eligible players now under contract.</p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/558743143323926530">January 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
[rQUOTEr]Vogelsong says he wasn’t comfortable with Astros Well, I’m assuming you’re talking about Houston right? I made a visit to Houston and met with A.J. Hinch the manager and the staff, the training staff, and I took a physical — just as the process went along here, really wasn’t comfortable with what was going on. Ultimately, made a decision to come back with the Giants and I’m really just really happy to be back and glad things worked out the way they have. We’ve had conversations with the Giants all through the offseason. Some a little bit more in depth than others. You know, some just check in and see where we were at, and some of us calling them to see where they were at. Talks did intensify here in the last week. It came down to decision time. I thought at the beginning, I thought Houston might be an intriguing place, but after going down there and meeting with people, you know I had great meetings with them, ultimately my decision, I felt I needed to be back in San Francisco. Ultimately, you know, when a decision came down everything kept leading me back to San Francisco. And honestly, I think it’s just, it’s just where I’m supposed to be. And stuff happens for a reason. And you know, you guys know that I’m a big believer, and I just believe that, you know, that a lot of things have happened this offseason that make me a Giant. … We couldn’t be happier about it. You know how things are in life sometimes. You just have weird inclinations about things and things show themselves to you in weird ways and that’s kind of the way it was here. Like I said before, I made a trip to Houstonn but ultimately it just wasn’t comfortable and I wasn’t comfortable there. It’s crazy: as soon as I re-engaged with the Giants, it was like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders, and that was where I was supposed to be, and it kind of hit the ground running from there. Like I said, it’s just kind of weird how things work themselves out. I’ve learned through the years, not just dealing with contract negotiations, but also as a player, sometimes patience is the best thing. It might be a little bit easier for me because I’m not looking to make the most money and I’m not looking to have my ego stroked, so to speak, like some other guys might be. So I’m just patient, and I just kind of listen to what everyone has to say and try make the best decisions possible. Like I said, it just seemed like the way things were happening this offseason, the roads kept leading back to here. I mean, I also have a wife that loves San Francisco and loves the fans and got her chirping in my ear every two seconds about re-signing with the Giants so that always helps them on their side. It’s, like I keep saying, it almost seems like that this offseason was some divine intervention going on that led me back, back to those guys. Some things happened that I just weren’t comfortable with and negotiations kind of broke down after that. Once that happened it was time to move on.[/rQUOTEr] Spoiler <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Vogelsong is on KNBR right now. He was asked if the Giants weren't involved, would he have needed to find another team besides the Astros.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/558778715560091648">January 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Here’s his response: <a href="http://t.co/pcb4JzGXFS">pic.twitter.com/pcb4JzGXFS</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/558778815007047680">January 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Vogelsong says to his knowledge, his agent was still talking to Giants while he was in Houston.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/558779661140754432">January 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Vogelsong said to the radio hosts 10 years from now over beer he’d tell them all about his offseason, and they’ll go “No way that happened"</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/558779991165374466">January 24, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Drellich is such a joke. It is clear Vogelsong was just using the Astros as leverage to get the attention he wanted from the Giants.
Well sure if you gave all 5 guys the same amount of playing time as Vogelsong, one would probably perform better than Vogelsong. Actually successfully picking the one guy for a single active roster slot who will perform better than Vogelsong is the hard part.
Vogelsong is the joke. He always wanted to go back to SF. My guess is Astros weren't willing to comit to him as a member of the rotation, and he wasn't interested.
I don't see why anybody would think Vogelsong is a decidedly better option than Straily. Straily pitched basically a full season in 2013, and was pretty solid. It isn't as if Vogelsong has been good the last 2 years (75 ERA+). I Would much rather try Straily, White, Woj or Buchanan to see if one sticks. In the unlikely scenario this team finds itself in an actual playoff chase, you can trade for a Vogelsong type very easily.
