I know the guy is brilliant behind the plate, but he has a rag arm and can't hit his way out of a wet paper bag? Why not make him the backup catcher, get one that can hit, and let Ausmus call the pitches from the dugout? DD
I must have missed us winning it all last year, or even one game in the WS. And we talkin bout THIS YEAR !!!!! DD
Ah, I didn't realize winning the World Series required different skill sets than winning during the ~170 games preceding it. By that standard, I guess we'll never win with Berkman, since we didn't last year, and that determines what can or can't be done. Actually, Nice Rollin was not talking about this year - he was talking about forever.
you can give up some offense for the kind of defense that everett plays. i understand the argument that it's difficult to have him, ausmus and taveras in at the same time, though. of those 3, i'd hang my hat on everett. for taveras to be truly productive, he needs to be at the top of the order. but he can't get on base. and he has zero pop. and when he does get on base, he can't steal. ausmus will likely retire soon, anyway. i'd rather keep everett, hide him in the 8 hole and build offense elsewhere. it still cracks me up that the focus of attention for improving the offense is the SS batting in the 8 hole when the top of the order isn't getting on and you're not getting power production from any corner outside of 1B. as if adding khalil green or the like would solve this team's problems offensively. i certainly would understand replacing everett with tejada. but tejadas don't grow on trees...there are few middle infielders who produce like that at the plate.
I think the right question is why WOULD we get rid of him? I don't think his bat is as important as his excellence as a catcher. IMO he's one of the best.
Max, you bring up an excellent point. You can get by with Everett in the 8 hole if you don't have Ausmus and Taveres and the Pitcher batting too. That is 44% of the lineup you don't really have to worry about, and if you add in Lane, it pumps it up to 55%.....which is HORRIBLE. At most only one of them should be an every day player, and I would hang my hat on Everett, and bench Ausmus. DD
His excellence is NOT behind the plate so much anymore (rag arm) but in his head, he really knows how to call a game....and he is GOOD at blocking the plate, so bring him in with Lidge, but just don't have him in the lineup full time. DD
That was what? Like 5 years ago? He is an aging catcher, who should be used in more spot type conditions. Where the Astros brass failed is in thinking that this team - 1 year older - would pick up where they left off last year. Especially with no Roger for the first 2+ months of the season. The rally starts now, or never. DD
the problem is he's going to have to be replaced sometime. and frankly, i think he probably doesn't have much desire to play much longer. i agree with your sentiment. catcher and SS in particular are not positions where you want Mitch Meluskey rotesserie league-style players...with great bats and below average gloves. i'd guard against that big time.
What do you want to do, make Munson the every day catcher? Who are we going to trade for? Barrett's on the market, but we'd have to overpay the Cubs to get him and he's terrible blocking balls. Who else would we replace Ausmus with? I realize that Max, but I'm not sure what we're going to do before the deadline. Unless the O's want to throw in Hernandez as well.
no one during the season. i don't know if dada meant an immediate thing or if he meant during the offseason. i'm just suspecting we're not gonna have a choice soon, anyway..because i suspect ausmus will be hanging it up soon.
Munson should be the starting catcher. I know Garner won't ever make him the starting catcher but Munson should be starting at least 2 games a week. Ausmus will be gone next year IMO. Only reason Astros re-signed him was because of Roger and Andy.
We drafted a C this year. His name is Max Sapp out of high school. Left Handed Hitter. He should be in the bigs in like 4 years.
Out of the two, Everett or Ausmus, I think Ausmus is showing the most vulenerability right now. He's never been a good hitter to be sure, but the things he did excell at, his strengths, are slowly slipping away. How did he go from getting about 35% of baserunners out to 13%? He's still great at blocking balls and calling a game, but that really doesn't equate to a full-time starting position. Besides, he's more than likely retired very soon. I'd work on bringing in a catcher in the offseason and sliding Ausmus to the backup/mentor role, then perhaps/hopefully coax him into a coaching role after retiring. I think at this point in his career, that's where his biggest assest lies. And considering a lot of catchers get their calls from the dugout anyways, you wouldn't miss much of a beat, plus you'll be gaining offense.
This is blasphemy, dontcha know. No other catcher in the history of the game can block balls in the dirt - none I tell ya. And no other catcher in the history of the game can call a game like Brad either - I tell ya. How did that bum Clemens maanage to win any Cy Youngs before he hooked up with Brad? Must have been lucky I guess.
