I wasnt able to watch this weekend's games because I was out of town. How did they look? Has Phil lost the team? I did not expect them to get swept. I knew Friday against Zambrano would be a loss, but Roy got rocked and it looked like they just choked today. 39-53- This has the potential to get real ugly. We havent had a bad season since 2000.
Fair enough..I'll wait a couple years for ya'll to grind out the Runs Created over Park Adjusted Replacement Backup Middle Infielder and Isolated Double Reverse Doubles power. When you come to the conclusion that he isn't very good wake me up willya.
Burke's numbers last year were as good as or better than any of Biggio's first 3 years in the majors. His OPS last year was better than any of Biggio's first 5 seasons. Would you have dumped Biggio after a year or two as well? What exactly do you base the fact that he's not any and can't be any good on?
Wake up and smell the garbage juice. It *is* ugly, and it has been for quite some time. This is just a bad team.
it's a team of decent individual parts that just don't seem to mesh as a team, sunk by a below average rotation. i think they need AE to come back healthy; they need a 3b who can slug and a CF who can patrol the field and get on base often. i hope towles is ready next year, too. and then they need to strip the rotation and very nearly start from scratch with it - rodriguez and sampson are #5 starters; they need to rebuild the top 3. if they do become sellers, those are the areas i'd focus my attention.
Agreed. I think we have the CF, though--his range is good and he'll mature with routes to the ball and with his throws just like Willy T. did.
Sampson has been struggling lately...but prior to that his performances have shown he could be a capable number 3 or 4 guy...Wandy is probably a number 5 though. You get Backe back next year and see if he can pitch effectively as a number 3, slide Sampson to number 4 and bring up some guys to compete with Wandy for the 5th spot, then sign a solid number 2 and this rotation will be ok...then rebuild the bullpen...and then upgrade at least two out of catcher, 3b and outfield...I say outfield because rf is obviously the weakest area right now and Pence is doing just fine in center but if you can find another capable cf who's has some pop in his bat and can get on base fine; just get the best available outfielder for your money and figure out who's playing where later. This team shouldn't be this bad but it is..and it probably has a lot to do with the organization holding onto pieces that are average at best, banking on the idea that they're good enough to take the team into the postseason like in year past...time for a change though...let's get some ballplayers in here that'll do their job night in and night out so we don't have to rely so much on a franchise players.
pence doesn't have willy's arm. never will. plus, i'd rather lessen his defensive assignment; let him concentrate on hitting, not running up and down tal's hill. i don't think as highly of backe or sampson as you seem to. neither have been consistently effective for long enough stretches for me to consider them anything beyond back-of-the-rotation fodder. imo, they need a new top 3 - oswalt and.....? and it does, on the surface, seem like the team has given guys like lane, ensberg, scott and burke too much rope. i often find myself in that camp, too - but go back and look at some of their minor league seasons... they've all put up big numbers, including entire seasons that were simply great. it's easy as a fan to sit back and yell "failure!" because we don't have the access or investment, but i think i'd ultimately prefer an organization be patient with their prospects than well, doing what they did with taveras. they've just endured a rough stretch where it looks like lane, ensberg, scott and burke may all flame out right on top of one another. that hurts. and maybe they should have had a better handle on those guys... and they may have dealt a solid 25-year old CF/lead-off hitter... and they waited too long to pull the trigger on pence... yeah, on second thought, they do suck! fire purpura!
True, but making the throw from Tal's hill isn't quite a big a deal if you got there to catch the ball (a runner on 3rd would score no matter *who* was throwing from way back there). Secondly, if we're that concerned about his arm, then LF is the only place for him. I don't buy that defensive assignments can hurt someone's concentration on hitting. I agree that each still has much to prove. ...I'm almost rooting for Willy to fail just so we can stop having this argument here!
But is moving him to RF -- a more arm-dependent position -- the answer? I'd prefer leaving him in center, where according to almost every possible statistic he's among the top center fielders in the league in terms of range covered (comparable with Willy). He's already above average in his range, and he's only likely to improve as he takes better routes and responds to additional coaching. As a result, it's fairly unlikely they'll find a CF as good from a range standpoint... from an arm standpoint, they certainly can, but I'm not sure if Pence in right is the best move. Furthermore, it's much easier to acquire a RF that can hit than a CF who can hit.
my concern is guys taking extra bases on pence - his arm is not strong or accurate. and unfortunately, LF is taken. i think pence will be OK defensively, but its never been his selling point. and i don't think it's a concentration issue, but wear and tear - CF is a much more demanding spot that right or left. it's starting to look less and less likely. he's maintained his current level of production for a solid year now after expected up and downs his first year, year and a half.
and yet, the astros on going on three years now without an everyday RF (or, whenever berkman made the move to 1B official). lane wasn't the answer; huff wasn't the answer; scott doesn't appear to be the answer...
Huff wasn't bad (although he is this season)... the Astros just didn't have the money to re-sign him. With Scott, the jury is still out, but you're right - it's not looking good. That said, when you look at free agency, at least in theory it's an easier position to acquire.
sure; the problem is that astros assumed they had it filled and made moves accordingly. this is a much better team with taveras and pence. not necessarily playoff-bound, per se; but better. and better situated for the future. i think the jennings trade will end purpura's tenure here.
We've gone around in circles on this before, but I like the future of this team the way it is more than if Taveras were here. If Taveras were here, first off, there would be questions as to whether Pence could play a capable CF. Second, while some might think Taveras makes them a better team this season (I'd still prefer Luke Scott in my lineup right now, no question), I think his presence in the lineup would make bringing in a legit power bat to RF less of a priority than it is right now. As far as I'm concerned, that's a bad thing.
why would anyone question whether our everyday starting RF could play CF? i can't imagine why, given their comparable OPSs and taveras' huge advantage defensively. i don't understand why it's priority when they addressed a legit power bat last winter with lee. he and berkman are good for 60 HRs; pence looks like a 20-25/year kind of guy. find me a stick that can rake at 3B, hope towles can pump out 12-15 and i think they'd be OK with taveras getting on base for all these guys.
