Baltimore is scared of Prior because of his injury history. Sure, he's a great pitcher, but he's one pitch away from being another Fidrych. I think they would be interested in a couple pitching prospects plus some front line position players in exchange for Tejada.
Tidbits from the press conference: Contract is one year, with a club option to pick up the final 3 years of the deal after next season. Purpura would not set a position for Wilson in stone, but he said Phil would find a way to continually place him in the lineup. Purpura said Wilson has a reputation as a great teammate/clubhouse guy, and Wilson called them to say he wanted to play with them. Finally, Preston said one thing the players around the league always say about the Astros is how they treat their players with class, and that he is glad he doesn't have to face the Astro pitchers anymore.
I have a feeling that the Astros might not be done with this move. I hope they use this and now find a package that works for tejada. I heard on espn radio this morning, I think it was the Colin Cowherd show, that Manny is causing problems with any potential deal because he wants his two club options at 20 mil per season exercised if he is to agree with a trade. If that is the case, and with Tejada's continued grumbling I think the Astros should move this to full throttle.
ok this joke really stopped being funny a while ago... In fact its been repeated so often that some people started taking it seriously. So lets just simmer down now guys
CRRRRRUUUUUUUZZZZZ But in terms of the african american stuff, it just gets sad that what was once a funny little side joke for the astros quickly degenerated into people slinging accusations of racism at each other when it originally was just a joke. Some people just forgot that and all hell broke loose That's all
How come the Astros don't have any brothers on the team? Seattle has some. New York teams have some. Chicago White sox have some. St Louis has one. What team is Byung Hyun Kim on? I found him, he plays for the Astros.
He's high-strikeout, but when healthy, he produces. Plus, he seems to be a class guy who WANTED to play for us. In my opinion, at 4 million per, it's a great deal.
P.S. How can you not like this comment from the ESPN.com article: Wilson is the stepson and nephew of Mookie Wilson, who played for the New York Mets and attended Tuesday's announcement at Minute Maid Park. Preston Wilson recalled coming to the Astrodome as a teenager to watch Mookie play. "I remember that big, crazy screen they had with the little cowboy shooting," Wilson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that.''
Wow, reading more about the signing...VERY interesting contract details. 1 year at $4.5 mil with the 3-year option (if exercised it would be $24 mil/year; if it's a buyout, hence the extra $.5 mil), so maximum value worth $28 mil. The guy is 31, but you can bet with this contract he will have an AMAZING year. GREAT, GREAT negotiations on the Astros part in my opinion (Purpura did this on his own???). I'd be PISSED if Houston gives ANY consideration into exercising that option though. I pretty much EXPECT Beltre-lite (the '04 version). Maybe not quite as amazing, but a very solid pick up. If no other trades or signings are made, it will be very interesting to see how they can entice Roger. At this point nothing will make him want to come back to this unspectacular lineup, but through Spring Training and the first month of the season this current roster (additions of Wilson and the chance of Bagwell contributing) has a real shot at being at the top of the league. I can already envision 2006: A torrid start the first month as they are playing their hearts out to bring back Roger. Once Clemens returns they play well for a bit, but get a little too comfortable and "relieved" to an extent with the reliance on the strong pitching. This slump calls for a midseason trade (by this point Everett has been replaced by Burke at SS). Second half is easy to watch; Houston wins NL Central by 5 games; Clemens wins 10 games; Biggio has a decent year...hard to match what he did in '05, especially with Wilson "taking away" some of his offense. Oh, and the Cubs lose 117 games.
