He was signed as the closer. Unfortunately for him he was hurt in spring training and the job went to Lindstrom. Once Lindstrom was injured, Lyon did a commendable job as closer. They did not sign Lyon to a 3 year, $15 million dollar deal to be a set up guy. After the all star break, Lyon converted 19 of 20 save opportunites and had an ERA around 2.5. If the season were to start today, I think it is clear cut that Lyon would close.
alysonfooter: ...they say they do not know who will get bulk of PT at 1b in '11. They truly believe Wallace can win job during ST. They also realize... alysonfooter: ...Carlos may end up there instead. This is one story that will be very interesting to follow when we get to Fla. in Feb. alysonfooter: Mills: "In December, to say this guy is going to be at this position or that position, where we have question marks, would be difficult. ...
He's not a lefty, but how about a return of Ty Wigginton for super utility player? He isn't worse than Lee in LF and hits for power.
This is not an interesting story Alyson. Its sad and depressing that there's even a remote possibility that Wallace will be kept in AAA for Carlos Lee, while Lance is an everyday LF for the Cardinals.
Didn't Lindstrom start the year as the closer? I could be wrong, I do get them mixed up. yes, I do agree that is is a luxury to have a setup man that can also close, and I'm not saying I disagree with Lyon closing. I just don't think we can say for certain yet.
the depressing part is that, obviously, Wallace isnt nearly as ready as we thought he was......if he really needs more seasoning we should flip him for something NOW while he still has SOME value. He's been the key piece to 2 superstar trades in the last couple years so my guess is someone will take him. If he IS ready, i sure hope we dont pull a "jason lane" and wait til hes 29 to give him a shot
Wallace has hit well at every level ... except MLB. He just needs more time to make the adjustment and an actual hitting coach would not hurt either.
So the only way for Wallace to have proved himself was to have been lights out last year in his first limited stint in the majors? That doesn't always happen. The guy has already hit well at every minor league level, including AAA. He's 24, and he's already been traded THREE times (thus, he's been scouted by 4 different MLB teams). 4 different teams have thought highly enough of him that he could one day be a contributing MLB player. At some point, he needs to be given a chance to play. He's currently on a team that is not expected to contend next year. Why he's not being given the opportunity to prove himself is baffling. Last year's sample size of intermittent playing time should not have been his true "audition."
So you trade the youth and play the past-their-prime vets? Hasn't that been the Astros problem the past few years?
Nick/Leroy...i dont disagree w u guys....what im trying to say (and maybe didnt do a good job of it the first time around)....is that if we are lookng at this guy in the same light as a Lane or Burke or "fill in the blank", then I'd rather do something about it sooner rather than later. Currently, its obvious that we are in somewhat of a rebulding process(i know, understatement of the year)... so let the kid stay up and play. Is Ryan Church or Jason Michaels gonna make us or break us in terms of winning the division at this point? I would just hate to see us waste the next year or 2 lettin Wallace ride the bus when we have a perfect, nothin-to-lose opportunity for him to play everyday.........and IF the plan is to let him toll in the minors for a couple years because he is not turning the corner like we had assumed he would, flip for some other young talent
Agree with your plan...except said "other young talent" also faces the prospect of sitting on the bench behind Carlos Lee, Barmes, Michaels, and whatever other useless vet they still have on the club. They need to play him. He's younger than Lane/Burke was and he has better minor league numbers. Problem is, the only position he can play is 1B. They may find an AL team willing to give him a chance as their DH, but I'm pretty sure every single AL team out there has a better DH option. Regardless, that may be his future anyways.
Love to see them go out and make a deal for Josh Willingham if they are going to move Jaaba the Hut to 1B. Willingham is available and I wonder if Kepp interests the Nationals?
Wade told Tags teams are asking about Wandy, Pence and Bourn and told Zachary Levine they are going to be VERY reluctant to move any players in their system.
Honestly I want to see if Wallace can develop some more power by using his legs more in his swing. A mechanical adjustment like that shouldn't be done at the major league level. I'm not too worried about holding him back for too long considering he is only 24 and not 26. And one more year won't hurt him. Benching Lee is such a bad business decision and will make this franchise less appealing to sell. The best chance we have of trading Lee and receiving any value or not having to pay off a large amount of his contract is playing him at 1st base. Think about it if you were another team's fan... Would you want to trade for Lee and if you did would you put him in left field. (99% of you would say no to both those questions.) The only situation I see Wallace at first at all is if he develops some big time power. Otherwise we are better off looking elsewhere for another 1B and sticking him at 3B or LF.
Lee is attractive to other teams ONLY as a DH. And, you can bet that the Astros will have to pick up the VAST majority of his contract in order to move him. All that being said, most AL teams that would be in the position to trade for Lee already have better options at DH.
So my understanding of the Astros rebuilding strategy now is to play all the oldest and fattest players they can find and give the young guy who's already had 2 full AAA seasons a 3rd AAA season? Brilliant. If they wanted to play old guys and needed someone to platoon in LF, Berkman *would* have been the perfect option. For some crazy reason, I thought they might want to actually play young players.
How would you propose that we showcase a DH in the national league then? I wouldn't put Lee into the "bad fielding" first baseman category like Dunn and Konerko considering that he did decent fielding last year. Honestly we are just going to have to wait until one of those teams that have better options needs that type of player. But it would be impossible to trade Lee by having him lumber around in Left Field. You have to make him look like he'd give some value to a team other than the power bat. Otherwise why would anyone want him wasting space on their 25 man roster?
