Especially after watching the Rockets last night... Like redgoose says, we could be better than the yankees next year while spending half as much! Life is sweet.
I think (and hope like hell) that Clemens signs with the Astros. We will have an unbelievable pitching staff with or with out him. What my question is, what the hell are we gonna do with all of these pitchers. On the Astros website, they have 22!!!!! pitchers listed. I relalize that probably 6 or 7 of these guys will go down to the minors but that still leaves 15 pitchers on our staff. From what I see, about 7 of these guys started for us last year. If you add Clemens to the mix, that is 8 starters. For sure starters: Clemens Oswalt Pettitte Miller Possible staters: Redding Robertson Hernandez Duckworth For Sure Relief: Dotel Lidge Micelli Sarloos Stone The Rest Ezequiel Astacio Backe Barrett Bland Buchholz Gallo Nieve Qualls Ramirez Taveras We cant possibly use all of the rest for middle relief and closing. Are there going to be any trades? Which guys do you think will go down to the minors? I wasnt able to watch many Astros games this past year because I am in Indy so if I screwed some guys up in certain categories, please dont execute me. What do you guys think.
ML Rotation: Oswalt Pettitte Clemens Miller Redding (he earned it last year, his job to lose) ML Bully: Dotel Lidge Miceli Gallo Stone Duckworth Saarloos/Backe (would rather have another LHP, Scott Sauerbeck anyone?) AAA Rotation Buchholz Hernandez - let him get healthy, he's perfect insurance in case any of the MLB starters get hurt Robertson - he sucks, no way he should sniff the ML staff this year The rest of the guys you listed are all AAA/AA material.
You can pull Saarloos out of the "for sure" relief category. Kirk has only been in professional baseball for 3 seasons. He was the 2nd player to make the majors from his draft class (Mark Prior was the first). He can use a bit more seasoning and confidence. If they were to sign Clemens (for 2+ years) , I suspect that Redding and/or Robertson would be used for trade bait, especially if Hernandez is healthy.
Use your "extras" as trade-bait for your offense for the right deal (like someone said - come deadline time, things get interesting for pitchers) or let them grow a little more in the farm system.
thanks for the pitching breakdowns, guys. I noticed no one mentioned Rosario. what's the latest with him? is Hernandez still pitching well in winter ball?
I noticed no one mentioned Rosario. what's the latest with him? 'Stros will re-sign him eventually. They found a bunch of stuff wrong when they cut open his shoulder - rotator cuff, torn labrum (a beyotch to recover from) & something else. He won't pitch in '04. is Hernandez still pitching well in winter ball? Yes, all reports are his velocity is coming back nicely, which is the main thing you look for post-surgery.
If The Rocket signs he would pay for his and Doggies's salaries. He will draw like Johnson and even better than Ryan. He will put and extra 10- 15 k in the Juicebox every time out. With Pettite doing the same to the tune of about 8-10 k per outing , this is a no brainer for the 'Stros. They will draw close to 3 mill this year if they sign Clemens. Maybe more.
Eeehhh...tough to say. Carlos would be back already if they'd opted for surgery after the initial rotator cuff injury, but they tried to let it rest & heal itself, then he tried to pitch some more & further messed it up. Rosario's got a few things wrong with him, most importantly the torn labrum (same thing Bagwell had, and we've all seen how well he throws now , but all reports are that the tear isn't as bad as Bags'). Basically if Rosario ever comes back to major league form, it's a bonus. It's possible, but don't count on it.
someone just told me that 740 in houston is saying that clemens wants his mom to be around when he gets inducted, and is worried that playing more years might jeopardize that.. anyone else hear this? if that's the case, can't fault him for wanting his mom to be around for it..
Can't fault him either... but if this was his no. 1 priority, he woulda retired as soon as he won the world series back in 98... since that was the only thing left he had to accomplish. He'd still be playing for the same reasons this year, and it only delays his induction by another year.
nick .. that's true. I dont know maybe she has gotten worse physically.. but I thought he didn't care so much about the hall of fame.. all the nonsense about not going if he isn't inducted as a yankee
lol and maybe 10 mil or so a year.. compared to whatever we would pay him makes it a little less motivation to play hehe
I wonder if batting in the NL and having to face Mike Piazza the NY Mets is on Clemens mind in his decision process??
this is just idle speculation, but. . . reading between the lines, it seems to me that the one who is still undecided is Mrs. Clemens. I think she's been looking forward for a year [or more] to finally having her husband be around. major league wives sacrifice a lot of time, and I've never known too many women who were indifferent about having their man around. I think it's pretty obvious that Clemens really wants to pitch for the Astros this next year. and some comments indicate that the kids are cool with it. she's the one who's talking about going to Hawaii and getting a cool head. also, Bagwell in the Chronicle article [again reading between the lines] mentions the being around family thing and there being "key issues". I think Roger has until February to convince Debbie. I think it's as simple as that. ironic if that's the case. we pretty much got Andy because of Mrs. Pettitte. will Mrs. Clemens be the reason we don't get Roger? sucks for her to be in that position. I wouldn't want to be the reason Houston didn't get the Rocket.
Chievous, I believe Drayton has mentioned before that Clemens can have the option of only pitching at home. This would mollify Mrs. Clemens greatly and also help McClane's bottom line (i.e. with an attendance boost). Sure, we'd desperately need Roger on the road, but I'd rather have a little Roger than zero Roger...
