But how many hits would he have got in the National league, and with less protection than when he was a yankee?
If the Astros weren't stupid, they'd bat Bagwell and later Berkman behind him. Jeter has 6 more bWAR than Craig Biggio, he's a HOFer regardless of where he went.
Yes... but they drafted Nevin expecting him to be MLB ready within a year (this was an era where players were rushed through)... they delayed his call up due to him refusing to workout with replacement players or something along those lines... and Jeter was full time in the bigs by 1996.
Jeter was bad defensively but... he would have been an upgrade for anyone from Orlando Miller to Carlos Correa.
He was the Mitch Meluskey of third baseman. An a-hole that Biggio and Bagwell would not tolerate for more than a year.
funny that he eventually became a catcher.. just like melusky. nevin drafted as a shortstop but sucked there.
I seriously think McLane going for Swindell and Drabek and then having them underperforming, really exposed McLanes business cautiousness. He was always weary of big contracts after those didn’t pay off as expected. We can all remember when Biggio was just about ready to sign with the Rockies (I think it was them), and then the Astros upped their offer by 1 million at the last minute, which was just Biggio wanting the Astros to show good faith and not more penny pinching ways. That was McLane quitting being a penny pincher and putting his money where his mouth was. McLane was all in on Bagwell, he was constantly boasting that Bagwell would be the first Astros HOF’er. But it turned out Biggio was the first HOF’er. Bagwell ended up being the second HOF’er for the Astros. Regardless of hindsight, the 90’s Astros really did take us on some wild and exciting rollercoaster rides.
This. I was sick of watching Biggio and Bagwell suck every playoffs and they had little to no help around them. Bell, Ausmus, Berry, Hidalgo, Everret. Just turrible. Then Berkman came up and they added Alou and they were much better. In 2004 with Kent and Beltran finally they had a truly deep and dangerous lineup. With Oswalt, Rocket and Pettite and Dotel, Wagner, Lidge bullpen. Sigh….
Bagwell didn't get a multi-hit game until the 2001 playoffs, and no HR's until 2004. Even then in the 14 playoff games from 97-01, he had only 1 such game, and only had 1 game with multiple RBI's. He didn't even get a single extra base hit until 2004. He drew a lot a walks (10), mostly in 99 and 01. Biggio also didn't have a multi hit game until 2004 playoffs. In the 14 playoff games from 97-01, he had no steals, 1 extra base hit and only 1 RBI. Yes he got a lot of walks (6), mainly in 98, but that was it. No matter what happened for those 90's Astros teams, the best players were Biggio and Bagwell, and they just didn't show up in the playoffs. You can say they didn't have great protection in the line up, but in the playoff your best players have to at least play well, if not great. They cannot be no shows.
He averaged .310BA on 616AB per season Biggio averaged exactly 50 AB fewer. Reasonable to assume Jeter has the same. Assuming same .310 BA he loses 279 hits. Finishes career 15th at 3186. 2 ahead of Ripken.
There are other factors too. Astroturf. Coaching. Players around him. Baseball not an exact science. Im sure he would’ve still gotten 3000 but we really don’t know.
The strike year set back this franchise by 4-5 years with that awful trade with SD. Thankfully we didn't collapse as bad as Montreal financially.
Was that trade due to the strike? I never understood it? Just they just trade for the wrong Pedro Martinez?
I still remember how excited I was when we signed Drawback and Swindell. LOL...Oh, Drayton... "we're gonna be champions!" Those 90's teams couldn't hit good pitching. Every fall, you could just count on the bats going completely silent. SO many men LOB every game. Meanwhile, the braves were hitting home runs on checked swings. Derek "operation shutdown" Bell. Makes me so happy that we're in such a fun time right now.
