I'd like us to sign a legit CF like Tori Hunter, or work a deal with TB and get Carl Crawford. We need 3 starting pitchers badly but I don't see us signing that many FA's and we don't have much trade bait in the minors so if we want to wheel and deal we are going to have to part with somebody, but I doubt we move Roy or Lance, so I have no idea what he's going to do.
Rebuild the farm. Sign the first, second, and third round picks in the next draft and the following draft. Offer arbitration to Lamb and Loretta, to either retain them them or get top round picks for them, These top round picks will very likely all be pitchers, who are at least 4 years away from contributing at the MLB level. What to do with Jennings is a real puzzler. We have no idea if he will ever return to last year's form. Offering Jennings may lead to keeping him at a high price and a long contract. Offering a short term, "fair" value contract may not land him, since some GM on a gamble may offer him a 4 year / $40 million contract, which the Astros should not match under any circumstances. My guess is that it is less than 50/50 that Jennings remains an Astro. Sign one good fit second tier FA in each of the next two offseasons. Think Jeff Kent or Carlos Lee. Not likely a pitcher, since they always get way over paid. This should fill some of our position needs at (C,2,3,SS,RF). Give time to our current set of top pitching prospects (Matt Albers, Mark McLemore, Fernando Nieve, Troy Patton) to see if they can develop into middle of the order starters. This is a big gamble, since it is hard to project how good any of these pitchers will be. None may make it. If the Astros make these moves, next year will be as bad as this but the following year they could get to 500 and be moving in the right direction.
The team should trade Carlos Lee immediately. He will never have any more value than he does right now and that contract of his is stupid. The Dodgers have no power and a lot of young talent (LaRoche, Billingsley, Loney, Kemp, Lu, etc.), maybe the Angels would give some of their young talent (Kendrick, Kotchman, Wood, Adenhart). I'd also be dangling Lidge and Berkman all the way to next season's trade deadline. If you get 2/3 decent prospects or young players for Lidge I'd pull the trigger and if you get a Teixeira type offer for Berkman I'd pull the trigger on that too. I wouldn't trade Oswalt or Pence, they're my definite keepers. The problem with Drayon's reloading issue is that our core players are a lot older than Milwaukee's core players. Braun, Fielder, Gallardo, Hardy, Hart... all of these guys are 25 years old or younger. We have a window of 2/3 years with our current core group of stars whereas the Brewers have about a 10 year window. Not only is there the age issue but there's the quality issue. Their core of guys is just better than ours right now and they're only going to get better while we're probably not with the exception of Pence. So we can go at it for the next 2 or 3 years while we get older and they get better and continue to get our butts kicked or we can do something about it right now. The only way to get appreciably better at this point is to spend gobs of money on free agents like Torii Hunter and even that won't work because there are no free agents out there at the position we need most which is pitching. It's time to trade these 30 something guys off and get talented again.
1. what in the world are you guys watching with carlos lee so far suggesting he hasn't been worth the acquisition? he's exceeded what i expected from him. 2. yeah, the brewers are younger. they have to be. do you honestly believe the milwaukee brewers will hold that nucleus together? 10 year window?? please.
Think "reloading" the team and "rebuilding" the farm. A few additions can make this team competitive again...it's not totally doom and gloom. And it really starts with starting pitching...and then the bullpen. If you're gonna sign another top FA, it HAS to be a pitcher...we got enough bats to put runs up...Lee, Pence and Scott in the outfield is fine...Wigginton, Everett, Loretta and Berkman is good too. And then you have catcher which I think is a big question mark. If we get some good arms to surround that cast, I think we'll be fine...remember Pence didn't come up until a month into the season and Berkman struggled through much of the first half, and Loretta didn't see much playing time early on either. If the organization is really about putting together a winning team...they'll keep Burke on a VERY short leash and sign Loretta back to replace him or serve as a super utility. They also won't just hand Woody a sport in the rotation for next season. He's had basically one good month....he needs to fight for his job like everyone else not named Oswalt...I don't care what he makes. Have him fight with Albers, Patton, Sampson, Backe and Wandy and perhaps a good solid proven number 2 (if one exists outside the org.) and whoever's left standing gets a spot in the rotation and the others get sent down or put in the pen...I think Albers and Woody could be good canditates for a bullpen spot...thus getting rid of Borkowski and Miller's roles. Basically, I'm fine with Mclane using the term "reloading" so long as he's serious about truly fielding a competitive and contending team...and it'll start with whoever he hires as GM.
The only "reloading" Uncle Drayton is doing is lining up his banks with cash after ripping off the Houston fans with an inferior team!
So you are suggesting that Houston fans are too stupid to decide on their own whether the team is good and whether to go to games? That they are going to games to have fun, but not actually having fun and getting ripped off?
It will be easier to trade Berkman because of the contract and his overall numbers. I trade Berkman if it nets world class pitching, otherwise I would build around him. He's still in his prime.
that's on you! if you want to go watch them play, so be it. just don't think they are a good team who is just 1 or 2 players away from getting back into the worlds series.
Lee is not one of the elite players in baseball but he's getting paid like one. He's not even close to being as good a player as Berkman's been. He's overweight and over 30 already, he doesn't hustle on the field, and I don't see him being a leader for this team. As for the Brewers, chances are that some in the group they have now will fall off some and then 2/3 main guys will emerge. If they aren't able to pay them they still have them for 5 years which is longer than our window is with a core of Lee, Berkman, and Oswalt.
if the owner is going to feed me a bunch of bs that the team does not need rebuilding just some reloading, then the stros are not going to be very good for quite a while. i watch teams who are competitive, i don't choose to be a homer.
why wouldn't the owner send you BS? he wants people to buy into his product so he makes money... if you don't like his product then don't buy a ticket or watch the astros.
i think you need to stop concering yourself with the owner's soundbites. so did you stop watching the rockets when they didn't make the playoffs for 4 seasons in a row?
Nah...you obviously choose to be a fair weather, bandwagon fan. In 1995, you probably wore a Rockets jersey...in 1997 it was a Bulls jersey...and early in this decade, it was a Lakers jersey. There is no debating sports with a bandwagon fan...they can rip on everybody because their team of the week is always on top. Good for you.
To me the difference has been that the Rox always tried to do positive things - getting TMac, Stro, Battier. Getting a coach who had been to the Finals. The owner often said buffoonish things (greatest team ever yadayadayada), but I could feel comfortable he was making the effort, if oft ill advised. McLane's 'stros are several players from being serious 'players'. They fail to sign draft choices and they fail to make moves to jump start the recovery (ala Texeiria). The owner often says buffoonish things (tho with a Texas accent not NY) that seem to run counter to reality (reloading not rebuilding) and I don't feel comfortable he is making an advised effort (will TP's successor have real imact any more than Timmy didn't?). Back to the point, at least as I see it, if Roy O or LB were to be traded who/what would comprise a satisfactory return? Gee, if Uncle Dray asked me (as if), I would say "Rebuild. Let's get excited about an exciting tomorrow. I can enjoy watching a bad season or two while the new guns load up."
i already said that in a previous post. i watch "competitive" teams, teams that have stable organizations. i don't watch teams whose owners have absolutely no knowledge how to run a team, only the business of making money.
i can honestly say that i watched less of them when rudy changed his coaching style to make it more guard oriented with francis, mobley, and moochie. that is not good fundamental basketball.
