anyone hear about how its either wags or hidalgo leaving, if its hidalgo their gunna bring in lane to take his spot and if its wags, well we gots lidge and dotel... i hope though that its wags, eventhough i love him as a player, dotel can do the same for cheaper... and so can lidge
Nomar was not talking about these guys as players but as people. I did not understand what he meant. I still don't.
Wags is a great closer, but that is all he is. So in my book he is not worth that much money. The money would be better spent on a starter(s). That is what this team lacks. Pitchers who can remain in the game long enough to allow the bullpen to rest, and I believe Dotel will be a good closer. Dotel rocks.
My thouhts exactly. People think a closer isn't that important. Look at Philly and most notibaly Boston who would have been in the world series if they had Wagner. So we trade Wagner and bring up Dotel, who by the way can't fill Billy's shoes all the way. Then we have to give Dotel a huge pay raise and were still in the same boat we were before, exept Dotel will probably make a little less. I for one applaud Billy for his words toward the club. What he said was the same damn thing we've all been saying for the last 5 years. I'm not gonna be a hypocrite. I'd rather trade Bagwell and Hidalgo and pick up a real grade A innings eating lefty pitcher like Pettite and a speedy contact hitter like Cruz jr.
I understand what Gerry is trying to say here, but I thought his job is to put together a championship team, not marketing. I think our "star" players have created an identity for this team, chokers.
Good pitching and defense (Marlins) will beat good hitters (Giants/Cubs/Yankees) most every time. The Astros need to follow this model. Unfortunately, they only have a couple of pieces right now and the farm looks pretty dry. But they could start building by getting in some good starters. Otherwise, Billy is right.
It is funny you put the Cubs and Yankees in the good hitters category. Most people would say they had the pitching, but not enough hitting.
Care to explain? Xixi - They aren't from the south. I like players from the south, with accents like Wagner and Oswalt, or that live here and hunt and have a southern lifestyle like Kent. Our team is a Houston team, and I like it when our players reflect the location of the team. It gives an identity to the team. I also think it contributes to why our clubhouse is considered one of the best in the league. I for one will be very sorry to see Wagner go. He and Os are my favorite Astros, and I won't enjoy going to Enron as much. I still will though...
He got jumped on by nearly everyone here by saying that he, as an African-American, would like to see fellow African-Americans on the team. I don't see how this is any different, yet no one's really jumped down your throat.
Oh yeah, I remember that. But wasn't he saying that it was deliberate? Like the ownership meant to exclude AAs from the team? That seems a little paranoid in my opinion.
The Cubs bullpen was what hurt them (but I love Woods and Prior) and the Yankees had a good staff (can we get Pettite?) but the Marlins staff played just a touch better. And the Marlins fielding was much better than either teams. I said they were hitters because of Bonds, Sosa and all the Yanks - big names. But your right, they have a good pitching staff; they just got beat by a better staff. The thing about the Marlins is they are not known for having great hitters (though I like Ivan and Conine). But like most sports, a good defense (pitching and fielding) will beat a good offense (hitting) when it comes playoff series time. While it's not as glamorous as hitting hrs and rbis, defense wins. I think to build a good team, we need to get some starters. We overpaid for some local favorites and people who had potential but aren't worth that kind of cash. Unfortunately, I think we're stuck with most of our contracts. But I do expect Wags gone. I'd like to see them somehow bring in 2 more reliable starters. Too bad we can't trade Biggio for a couple.
Here's my rotation for next year, given the almost 100% certainty that Wags is gone: Oswalt Vasquez/Pettite/Colon (in that order) Miller Redding Rosario/Robertson/Villone/whoever. I put that top 4 up against anyone in the NL.
Good points. I think the Marlins showed that good hitting is not always about getting a hit. Advancing runners and sacrifice flys can be just as important.
Is Carlos Hernandez still with the Astros? Is he healthy? From the limited games I saw him pitch, he seemed like the real deal.
Nobody knows about Carlos. If he comes back 80% of what he was, he'll be a solid starter, but at this point you just have to wait & see.
