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Are there any potential impact free agents this spring?

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by sydmill, Oct 26, 2005.

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  1. sydmill

    sydmill Member

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    The Stros obviously need a true 4 hitter or atleast a good average/power guy. Is there one that is going to be available this off season?
     
    #1 sydmill, Oct 26, 2005
  2. NJRocket

    NJRocket Member

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    This guy named Konerko
     
    #2 NJRocket, Oct 26, 2005
  3. TMac640

    TMac640 Contributing Member

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    any AFFORDABLE potential impact players? lol
     
    #3 TMac640, Oct 26, 2005
  4. Castor27

    Castor27 Moderator
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    Herer is a listing of FA by team:


    <font color="sienna" size="2" face="Arial">




    <b>Los Angeles</b>: Jason Christiansen (Team Option), Bengie Molina, Tim Salmon, Lou Merloni, Curtis Pride, Paul Byrd,
    Jarrod Washburn <br>

    <b>Arizona</b>: Buddy Groom, Tim Worrell, Royce Clayton, Shawn Estes, Matt Herges, Kerry Ligtenberg<br>

    <b>Atlanta</b>: Todd Hollandsworth, Eddie Perez, Julio Franco, Rafael Furcal, Brian Jordan,
    John Thomson (Team Option), Jay Powell, Kyle Farnsworth<br>

    <b>Baltimore</b>: Chris Stynes, James Baldwin, Rafael Palmeiro, Eli Marrero, B.J. Surhoff, Sammy Sosa (Team Option),
    B.J. Ryan, Jason Grimsley<br>

    <b>Boston</b>: Johnny Damon, Ricky Bottalico, Tony Graffanino, Gabe Kapler, John Olerud, Kevin Millar,
    Dave Berg, Bill Mueller, Jared Sandberg, Matt Mantei, Mike Myers, Mike Timlin, Roberto Petagine<br>

    <b>Chicago</b>: Todd Walker (Team + Player options), Enrique Wilson, Nomar Garciaparra, Neifi Perez, Chad Fox, Ben Grieve,
    Jeromy Burntiz (Mutual Option), Glendon Rusch (Player Option), Scott Williamson (Team Option)<br>

    <b>Chicago White Sox</b>: Geoff Blum, Raul Casanova, Chris Widger, Frank Thomas (Player + Team option), Paul Konerko, Ricky Guiterrez,
    Carl Everett (Team Option), <br>

    <b>Cincinnati</b>: Luis Lopez, Rich Aurilia (Mutual Option), Jacob Cruz<br>

    <b>Cleveland</b>: Ronnie Belliard (Team Option), Jose Hernandez, Juan Gonzalez, Bob Wickman, Scott Elarton,
    Kevim Millwood, Scott Sauerbeck, Bob Howry, Jeff Liefer<br>

    <b>Colorado</b>: Mike DeJean, Jamey Wright, Dan Miceli, Byung-Hyun Kim<br>

    <b>Detroit</b>: Ivan Rodriguez (Poss. Team Void Option), Fernando Vina, Bobby Higginson, Rondell White, Jason Johnson<br>

    <b>Florida</b>: Antonio Alfonseca (Vesting Option), A.J. Burnett, Jeff Conine, Damion Easley,
    Lenny Harris, Alex Gonzalez, Juan Encarnacion, Todd Jones, Jim Mecir, Brian Moehler, Mike Mordecai, Paul Quantrill,
    Ismael Valdez, Donovan Osborne, Valerio de los Santos, Ariel Prieto<br>

    <b>Houston</b>: Brad Ausmus, Jose Vizcaino, Orlando Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Russ Springer<br>

    <b>Kansas City</b>: Denny Hocking, Joe McEwing, Jose Lima, Brian Anderson, Scott Sullivan (Team or Player Option)<br>

    <b>Los Angeles</b>: Jose Cruz Jr., Paul Bako, Olmedo Saenz, Jose Valentin, Elmer Dessens (Mutual option),
    Jeff Weaver, Scott Erickson, Darren Dreifort<br>

    <b>Milwaukee</b>: Wes Helms, Jeff Cirillo, Rick Helling<br>

    <b>Minnesota</b>: Jacque Jones, Terry Mulholland<br>

    <b>New York Mets</b>: Marlon Anderson, Mike Piazza, Mike DiFelice, Miguel Cairo, Danny Graves (Team Option),
    Roberto Hernandez, Felix Heredia (Team Option), Braden Looper (Team Option),
    Jose Offerman, Doug Mientkiewicz (Vesting Option), Steve Trachsel (Team Option), Gerald Williams,
    Chris Woodward, Benji Gil, Mike Matthews
    <br>

    <b>New York Yankees</b>: Tanyon Sturtze (Team Option), Matt Lawton, Alan Embree, Kevin Brown, Tom Gordon,
    Hideo Nomo, John Flaherty, Al Leiter,
    Tino Martinez (Team Option), Ramiro Mendoza, Ruben Sierra, Rey Sanchez, Bernie Williams, Felix Rodriguez
    <br>

    <b>Oakland</b>: Alberto Castillo, Jay Witasick, Keiichi Yabu, Scott Hatteberg (Team Option),
    Erubiel Durazo, Octavio Dotel, Ricardo Rincon<br>

    <b>Philadelphia</b>: Michael Tucker, Todd Pratt, Kenny Lofton, Ramon Martinez, Billy Wagner, Ugueth Urbina, Terry Adams<br>

    <b>Pittsburgh</b>: Rick White, Daryle Ward, Jose Mesa, Mark Redman (Mutual Option + Player Option),
    Brian Meadows<br>

    <b>San Diego</b>: Trevor Hoffman, Andy Ashby, Brian Giles, Ramon Hernandez, Chris Hammond, Joe Randa,
    Pedro Astacio, Rudy Seanez, Mark Sweeney, Eric Young (Team Option), Robert Fick<br>

    <b>San Francisco</b>: Randy Winn (Mutual Option), J.T. Snow, Ray Durham (Player Option), Moises Alou (Player Option),
    Jason Schmidt (Team Option), Brett Tomko, Scott Eyre, LaTroy Hawkins (Player Option), Jeff Fassero<br>

    <b>Seattle</b>: Dan Wilson (Retired), Dave Hansen, Pokey Reese (Team Option),
    Eddie Guardado (Mutual Option + Player Option), Jamie Moyer, Shigetoshi Hasegawa (Vesting Option), Jeff Nelson<br>

    <b>St. Louis</b>: Armando Almanza, Einar Diaz, Mark Grudzielanek, Cal Eldred, Abraham O. Nunez,
    Matt Morris, Reggie Sanders, John Mabry,
    Larry Walker (Team Option), Jeff Suppan (Team Option), Julian Tavarez, Al Reyes<br>

    <b>Tampa Bay</b>: Eduardo Perez, Travis Lee, Alex S. Gonzalez<br>

    <b>Texas</b>: Greg Colbrunn, Richard Hidalgo, Kenny Rogers, Steve Karsay, Doug Brocail, John Wasdin<br>

    <b>Toronto</b>: Gregg Zaun (Team Option)<br>

    <b>Washington</b>: Tony Armas Jr., Hector Carrasco, Deivi Cruz, Preston Wilson, Gary Bennett, Carlos Baerga,
    Esteban Loaiza (Mutual Option), Joey Eischen, C.J. Nitkowski<br>
     
    #4 Castor27, Oct 26, 2005
  5. The Cat

    The Cat Member

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    Plenty.

    The problem is, if Bagwell comes back, where do you play them?

    If Bagwell wants to play, he'll get to play, if for nothing more than PR and respect for his history with the franchise. If Ausmus wants to play, he'll get to play because of the respect pitchers have for him. I don't see any way Ausmus, Bagwell, Biggio, Ensberg, Berkman, Taveras and Lane get pushed out of the starting lineup for next year. That only leaves one position (SS) available for change.

    I could see making a run at Furcal or Garciaparra to replace Everett, but other than that, I can't see us bringing in an elite hitter because there's no place to play them. If Bagwell retires, all that changes, but if he doesn't, where would you put them? I think we try to make a run for Furcal, and if it doesn't work, the Astros look at spending money to deepen the rotation and bullpen.
     
    #5 The Cat, Oct 26, 2005
  6. NJRocket

    NJRocket Member

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    Rafael Furcal ,Johnny Damon, Paul Konerko, A.J. Burnett, Juan Encarnacion, Matt Lawton, , Brian Giles, Ramon Hernandez, Preston Wilson,


    those are the ones I'd look at
     
    #6 NJRocket, Oct 26, 2005
  7. JunkyardDwg

    JunkyardDwg Member

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    I agree... and I think Damon, Giles and Konerko would fit in well this team. Furcal would be a good choice to replace Everett (who I'd like to come off the bench in defensive situations), but I fear he'd be bad for our team chemistry (maybe I'm unfairly judging him on that DUI though)

    I think our future looks bright, as these young guys proved they can win. We just need one more clutch bat...and maybe a starting pitcher if Clemens goes (please don't)
     
    #7 JunkyardDwg, Oct 26, 2005
  8. geeimsobored

    geeimsobored Member

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    This is somewhat contingent on if Clemens comes back and for how much money. But the two areas that we really need to fix are left field and i guess shortstop.

    Brian Giles still seems like the best option to me. The guy never strikes out and has a great OBP. He has some power and generally will hit around 270 to 280. He'll give you solid offense and won't cost too much money.

    Guys like Konerko and Damon are out of the question. Teams like New York and Boston will overbid and will make it impossible to get them for a reasonable price. Both could go for Beltran money and I don't think Drayton wants to pay that.

    The problem with getting a shortstop is that there are so few of them. Garciaparra and Furcal are the only two out there and there are tons of teams that need a shortstop that can actually hit the ball. Both will get major contracts. Garciaparra may go cheaper because he gets injured so often. Hopefully, we can get a Jermaine Dye kind of deal for him that is reduced because of the injury factor. Otherwise he'll be out of our league also.

    Finally, this is really dependent on how all the arbitration/Clemens deals go down. Lidge and Ensberg both get arbitration and Clemens will get as much as he wants if he comes back. If those two factors do happen, then we won't be spending much on free agents this year.
     
    #8 geeimsobored, Oct 26, 2005
  9. Aceshigh7

    Aceshigh7 Member

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    I don't think Clemens will come back unless we get some free agent offense here. Even he didn't anticipate this year's lack of run support. He WILL come back I think, but only if we show that we are going to improve offensively.
     
    #9 Aceshigh7, Oct 26, 2005
  10. RocketManJosh

    RocketManJosh Member

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    If Clemens doesn't come back, I wonder how much of his $18 million would go towards free agents. The sad thing is that even though Clemens was awesome this year, we pretty much wasted it all and could have done just about as good with a crappy pitcher because we got shut out so many times. We might have wasted one of the best years of his career.

    I'm hoping we can go get a impact hitter for the outfield, and it would definitely be nice to get a guy like Furcal, but I don't see that happening.
     
    #10 RocketManJosh, Oct 26, 2005
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