I seriously doubt Hidalgo will be playing on his current contract next year. The Mets can either buy him out for 3 million or keep him around with a 14 million (or so) team option.
Notice that most people in here aren't as upset about Hidalgo producing somewhere else, as they are about the hitting coach in Houston being unable to solve his problems with his swing. Don Baylor took 5 minutes to figure out what the problem was... but regardless, Richard needed a fresh start on a new team, and I'm glad he's contributing to them. The only thing I'm mildly upset about is that had the Astros forseen this, they would have tried much harder to unload him in the offseason... where his value was MUCH higher. But, they thought he'd bounce back with another good year... and they wanted to give the team the best chance to win with him... fair enough.
Odds are, this "fix" of Hidalgo's swing is really just a minor hot streak he is enjoying because of a change of scenery. I am totally confident that Richard will be right back to his old self before the season is up.
But what is his "old self"??? Is it the guy who was consistent as hell last year, hitting for average, power, and driving in runs? Is it the guy who basically was no better than a minor leaguer for 2 years from 2001-2003? Or is it the guy who showed so much promise coming up, and exploded in 2000 with 44 HRs? He's still young... too young in fact to be branded as a light-weight hitter for life. Indeed... I fear that his "old self" may be something that we've all never even seen before.
Well the consensus was that with Hidalgo's contract being bought out (if he wasnt traded this year), the money would have gone towards long-term contracts with Oswalt, Miller, Dotel. Now that Dotel is gone, and Miller pretty much playing (or not playing) himself out of a lucrative deal it frees up some money to make a legitimate run at Beltran... No it wont be as much as the Yankees, but a legitimate offer nontheless. and who knows, if Beltran likes his time here, he might want to stick around shrug.
Just to reiterate...Hidalgo was due 15 MILLION next season at the Astros option. If they chose not to pick up the option there was a 2 or 3 million dollar buyout. The odds were very slim that the Astros would have exercised the 15 millon dollar option.
I would rather have Beltran, but there is zero chance that we will have him next year unless this team really turns the season around.
I think the key to everything is Bagwell, both this season and next. If he comes around and is able to hit as he has in the 2nd half of past seasons, then it will help them win. If he can't produce then he may truly consider retirement and a contract buyout. Miller's health is also a key for both years. They need him to be healthy to enable them to have a good second half. If he doesn't return to form then it will hinder his arbitration hearing for next season. With the trading of Dotel, they will have "extra" money to spread around.
Maybe... but shouldn't whatever adjustments made also have a certain shelf-life? Maybe the pitchers caught on to Richard's tendencies, and figured him out... or maybe Spillman had nothing to do with it at all. Regardless... all I know is that when Hidalgo was traded, the Mets said they found an easily correctable hitch in his swing, and that he should be producing big-time for them once he corrects it. The results have to speak for themselves... whether or not this is just another hot-streak like April, remains to be seen (although, Hidalgo has not had a hot streak like this since his breakout 2000 season).
Of course. Hes the hitting coach. He gets credit for the good and bad. When it first came out after the trade, that Baylor immediately found what the flaw in Doggy's swing and fixed it, I honestly thought that it was a bunch of bull and that the Mets were just justifying the trade by saying that. But .362 7 HRs and 13 RBIs, I am starting to believe that it was indeed an easily correctable flaw in his swing. If Hidalgo ends this season strong, then I will be convinced that this is true. Don't get me wrong, if Hidalgo was never traded, then there would be no Beltran. So in that, Im not angry that he was traded and Ive always said that I fully understood it. I am mainly concerned that if Spillman is indeed having problems picking up inconsistencies in our hitter's swings, then it will have an affect on the players who are left on our roster.
Personally, I don't know who should get the credit/blame. I just don't recall a single thread last year (or this April) saying how Spilman sure did a great job getting Hidalgo back on track.
