i agree with everything you just said. i also hate Moneyball. baseball isn't played on a sheet of paper. thanks for your consideration!
Says the man who broke down Neifi Perez' stats on a monthly basis. What Ausmus brings to the table defensively is intelligence(Dartmouth). I think he's good at what he does and sure as hell dont complain or blame him if Lidge misses a spot with a pitch. I still remember Marc Bailey, Pujols, Robby Wine, etc. so I value Ausmus. Eventually you're gonna have to find a replacement for him, and I dont think Chavez or Quintero is the solution. Piazza would only be a short-term fix(2 yrs), and if you put games played incentives in his contract it should be worthwhile offensively. Like I said, personally I hate Piazza. But I think he could add offensive production at a hard to fill position. Kind of like the Kent situation. Overlook the player intangibles for needed offensive production.
Piazza would be a good addition if we were using a DH....but putting him behind the plate is turning a single into a double for anyone with any hint of speed.
I'm sorry you don't know anything about the defensive value of a good catcher. Really, I am. As far as solutions, if I were that smart *I'd* be a GM. Most of my chat here and elsewhere is parroting guys who are in the business who know what the heck they're talking about. The Furcal idea is intriguing to me, as is the Konerko idea (except 1B is pretty stinking full right now). Someone mentioned Torii Hunter as well. All those are intriguing, but I have no idea whether they're feasible. Personally, I want to see what a sophomore Taveras and Lane look like. Will they develop into solid contributors, are are they Daryle Ward and Gerald Young? Also, I *don't* say that Ausmus and Everett are untouchable; the tradeoff just has to be closer. Gaining 20 or 30 hits and giving up Everett's glove would be a huge mistake; gaining Furcal or Garciaparra would not. I'm sure there are catchers out there who aren't total defensive zeroes like Piazza. As far as "why don't you come up with suggestions!!" goes, I'm not the one whining.
You're giving up about net 60 SBs compared to Ausmus. Of those, probably 20-25 tops result in runs that wouldnt have scored. I'm done campaigning for Piazza--but Purpura is gonna have to do something out of the box to improve the offense. Chances are the top 3 SP's arent gonna have sub 3 eras next year.
I'm going to go ahead and say this, and it may surprise some people, it may not surprise others. I don't think the team should change at all. Not one single iota. Not a bit. Maybe get rid of Astacio. That'd be nice. But our offense is fine. We went to the World Series with our offense. That offense was enough to sweep the White Sox. But our pitching failed us when it couldn't afford to. We are a team built around weak hitting and phenomenal pitching. Our pitching proved to be anything but when it could least afford to be. I already explained how our offense was enough to win Game 1, if Clemens hadn't fallen apart. If Qualls doesn't give up the grand slam, we win Game 2. We might even win after that if not for the homer from Lidge. If our ace doesn't give up 5 runs in one inning, we win Game 3. We might still win if Meatface isn't put into the game. The only game our pitching did what it was supposed to was Game 4, and we were already too emotionally beaten by that point for it to matter. Everett doesn't hit, but he makes plays that drop your jaw. He wasn't hitting the whole time we came back to win the Wild Card, except in spurts every now and then. Ausmus doesn't hit, but without his pitch calling, maybe Clemens and Pettitte don't have career years to get us to the postseason. Ditto for everybody else, in various ways. Our team is fine. I'm as disappointed as anyone, but our offense doesn't need to change. Our pitching just needs to do what it's supposed to. This team could take us back to the WS easily next year, if everyone performs at close to the same level. Hell, we might even be division champs next year instead of going in through the Wild Card. Everyone calm down.
I cant beleive so many of you guys are saying Piazza when he obvioulsy can't catch everyday. I personally think they should upgrade shortstop and keep Ausmus.... that being said Ausmus is declining as well... If you want to upgrade that there is a mutch better option who is available and that is the Angels' Bengie Molina... Gold Glove defense and he had clutch postseason hits.... I dont see why the astros shouldnt seriously look at making Molina their everyday catcher and make ausmus a backup to catch Clemens... Cuz we know Clemens loves him. Molina stats G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 2005 119 410 45 121 17 0 15 69 183 27 41 0 2 .336 .446 .295 Career 716 2484 250 678 108 2 65 362 985 118 231 2 6 .309 .397 .273 Git R' Done Also Everett is an out.... I say ( and I am going to get crucified for this....) Sign Nomar.. hell come cheap because of his last 2 years of injuries... he proved he can still hit when he came back... ended the season with nine homers.... he hit 9 homers in a fraction of the games everett played ... Everett hit 11.... you still have Evertt under contract cheap....kepp him on the bench use him as a late inning defensive guy....and if Nomar goes down you got a guy who has started before and would be hungry to get his job back.... 2 year deal for nomar 15 mill with incentives... G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 2005 62 230 28 65 12 0 9 30 104 12 24 0 0 .320 .452 .283 Also get a lefty releiver that can work a full inning... instead of just one hitter... Alan Embree maybe... although he couldnt freakin get an out this year in Boston or New York... so maybe not... but does have postseason expeerince or Mike Myers maybe.. Ray King wants out of St. Louis but I doubt theyll trade him to H-Town.... Just some of mY thought... but first thing find out whats up with Clemens... Then you know youll need to get a starter....then u can work from there... Plus Burke needs to play everyday next year... 2b ss or lf.. whatever he needs to play everyday.
If Rocket re-ups(unlikely IMO), without any FA signings you're looking at 90M+ payroll. I think Molina stays with his brother in LA, unless somebody offers him 7M+/year. Also, Molina started 101 games at C vs. 100 for Piazza. If you could sign Molina at 7M and add Nomar at 7M/year you've got a payroll of 105M. 10M committed to the C(Ausmus+Molina) Big injury risk(bigger risk than Piazza) at SS making 7M Pissed off Everett on the bench
If the Rocket does return and no other significant changes are made then I think we are in the same situation next season as we were this season, which is good. Quality starting pitching is the single most valuable commodity in baseball. There simply is not enough to go around, that explains the likes of Jaret Wright getting paid top money. If we get the Rocket back then we should be in the hunt for the postseason once again. The biggest FA pitcher this year is AJ Burnett. He has a nice arm, but he is not going to be a guy that can carry a team and he will most likely get paid much more than he is worth. I don't really worry about the offense for the Astros. Now if they want to add a bat then that's fine, but I fully expect Jason Lane to the bat we need for next season. He showed more patience at the plate as the playoffs went along, and if he can build on that then he will have a year similar to Morgan's 2005. So long as Mo does not prove to be a one season wonder then we'll be fine. Also we'll expect further improvement from Willy T. and Burke when we can get him into the lineup. I am just going to assume that Bagwell will be on the payroll next season, but I don't really expect much so as I see it anything we get from him is gravy.
The only FA shortstop that I consider to be a sure upgrade on Everett is Furcal. Only two catchers out there that I think would make the team as good or better than Ausmus makes it are Molina and Ramon Hernandez (who, coincidentally, played for the one other team that Ausmus would consider playing for). I don't think it's very easy to upgrade these positions.
Trade Berkman, Ensberg, Oswalt and Taveras to Chicago for Prior, Zambrano, Ramirez and Dempster Trade Lidge and Backe to Cleveland for Hafner Let Clemens retire and Bagwell. Sign Brian Giles and Rafael Furcal Resign Ausmus Depth: C Ausmus 1B Hafner 2B Biggio 3B Ramirez SS Furcal LF Giles CF Burke RF Lane Lineup: 1. Furcal 2. Biggio 3. Hafner 4. Ramirez 5. Giles 6. Lane 7. Burke 8. Ausmus Starting Rotation: 1. Prior 2. Pettitte 3. Zambrano 4. Wandy 5. Zeke Middle: Dempster, springer etc set up: qualls closer: wheeler what do you guys think?
BINGO!!!! Give that man a prize! Seriously--you have driven the nail squarely into its resting place.
I can definitely see why people wouldn't want to mess with this team too much, seeing as how we just went to the world series. If Bagwell gets back healthy, maybe we'd be okay...I think the best bet for Baggy is to try to turn into more of a contact hitter instead of trying to kill the ball. I certainly wouldn't hate it if we got Clemens and Baggy back and decided to stick with these guys and make another run...but if one or both of them goes, we need help. Perhaps you can try to depend on a guy like Luke Scott to make a name for himself. However... This team as it is had to fight and claw to get in the playoffs. It took a full 162 games to clinch a spot. Sure, you can say it was because of the slow start while Berkman was out...but who's to say we'll be injury free next year? I love our current team's chances again next year once we're in the playoffs, especially with the same rotation...but the hard part is getting there. I'd like to see us bring in that bat that can help us win 5-10 more regular season games, and take pressure off of the pitching staff all season. It'd be nice to clinch a playoff spot halfway through September, maybe even a division title, and not have to physically and emotionally drain these guys all summer. We know this team can do damage in the playoffs...the hard part next year will be getting there.
I agree, too easy and obvious to pitch around Berkman. I think Manny Ramirez would be perfect. Consistently devastating hitter, very patient, steps up when it matters. Maybe Manny wants out. Young OF (Taveras or Burke), pitcher (Quals, Lidge) and Lamb. Hell maybe Roy and an OF if it takes that. Got to try to win the WS with Petite and Roger. Bags 18 mil would have to come off the books of course. Maybe not Manny, but a dominant hitter like that is needed. I don't think the extra hitting from an SS or C over Everett and Ausmus would have the profound impact of a 1st rate right handed slugger in the clean up spot would do. Preferably this guys is a LF so Berkman is every day at 1st base.
That post officially went off the deep end. I'd like to say that I'd support this team no matter what, but trading Roy Oswalt for Manny Ramirez would probably end that. Roy Oswalt has won 59 games in 3 years, his ERA is always among the best, and is simply one of the top few young pitchers in the game. You just don't trade away a pitcher that good...for ANYONE. You do that and the future of our rotation is shot to hell. There were some really good posts in this thread before that one by torque and this one.
