Oswalt, WW, Hirsh, and spare parts are not enough to win with the current team. Lee will help the offense, but not enough to compensate for the potential loss of both Roger and Andy. No position is as dire as the need as the Astros rotatation is currently. Changing the catcher won't matter without someone to pitch him the ball. Having a second baseman that can't throw the ball on a line to first is an infinitesimal problem compared to throwing out a rotation with three unproven starters. Having a slick fielding SS or not won't matter if the ball is in the Crawford boxes. Deciding between Lamb and Ensberg is a much better problem than deciding between Wandy and Patton. I don't think the Astros can count on Clemens. Jason Schmidt and Andy Pettite are the two guys the Astros should be trying to get to fill the No. 2 starter role.
of course this deserved a whole new thred. If Brad "I'm a good catcher" Ausmus can get a thread all by him self . . .there can be a thread about how we will suck three out of every five games next year.
I agree... and it totally sucks to have to scroll through 800 pages of "Soriano or Lee?" and "trade for vernon wells" posts to get to anything current.
Sampson, Nieve, and Albers are all promising. Wheeler and Lidge are also possibilities for the rotation if Andy and Roger both do not return.
Please be patient. Everyone wants everything NOW! Just relax. The signings will come. It's easier said than done. Pettitte is not signin untill the FA market is set. His agents are smart. When Schmidt signs, then Pettitte's agents will say he deserves as much or more. As a FA, you never want to be the first to sign unless the offer blows you away. I.E. Soriano. Again, please be patient.
I think I remember hearing Wheeler wouldn't mind a shot in the starting rotation, though maybe that was in jest. But Lidge? No way, with his recent struggles and his injury history, would he see a starter's spot. Plus, that would just create some major holes in the bullpen. Look how St. Louis sucked down the stretch without a viable closer (until Wainwright started to fill those shoes) Oswalt, Hirsch and WW is a good start...but I would venture to say the Astros are looking for one more arm then bank on Sampson or Albers or Buccholz, etc in the number 5 spot. If Pettite comes back then those three can provide bullpen or spot-starting help and if Clemens comes back as well then Hirsch or whoever the other starter the team acquires can move to a spot-starting role. It's really not that bleak, because this city has been blessed and spoiled by the great pitching we've thrown out there the past few seasons. We should be lucky to have an Oswalt.
Last year was an anomaly. Although Suppan and Weaver did step it up for them during the postseason, that Cards team has to be one of the worst in history to win the World Series. If you're talking about making it to the postseason I guess anything can happen in the crappy NL. However, if we want to do anything in the playoffs we're going to need someone better than Woody as our number two starter. The only problem with waiting for Pettite and Clemens is that by the time they make a decision the market will be pretty much dried up. If we can sign another solid starter soon I would be much more confident in this team.
I'd think Qualls will start before Wheeler or Lidge.... As for panic mode. Why is it that everything has to be set already? We're like 4 months away from Spring Training.
Because we all want to make sure everything falls in place. That includes signing Pettitte (and hopefully Clemens). I wonder how this board will react when they realize after they got their big bat, that Pettitte decides not to sign with us...
The hope is Roger and Andy come back. The team must know that they will most likely be the last of the free agent pool to make a decision. We don't need to spend tons of money on an arm, but spend something for a little depth. If a starter goes down, or we struggle in the pen, having a reliable arm laying around would be quite useful. Best case scenario, that arm is woody. worst case scenario that arm is wandy/et al. I don't really know what it is . . . I just have a really bad feeling in the deep pit of my stomach concerning the pitching. This was the year that we had Jeff's contract coming off the books. This was the year that we could actually spend some money and be smart about it. Drayton can still find some guys out there, but he just spent 100 mil on an outfielder . . . do we really think that he is going to sign that many more impact players? The season hinges on two brothers that control the two biggest names this off season.
I do strongly expect at least one of the following to have a GOOD season: Hirsh Albers Buchholz I just think that with the arms these guys have, and their overall minor league track records, something good will eventually come from at least ONE. There's also the Troy Patton experiment... which could be ready for unveiling if things really get desperate (kinda like in 2001, when the Astros had no choice but to call up Roy Oswalt). Other than that, there's not much to expect next season if they don't have Andy/Roger or suitable replacments (for which I don't see anybody). Hell, Woody Williams may turn out to be pretty mediocre, or injured.
I know sampson doesn't really get people excited but I think we have found a gem in the rough with him. he could really be the 4/5 we need. he will give us a lot of quality starts because of his control. that being said we need to resign pettitte and do the clemens rental again. I don't want to sign schmidt for that insane amount with his injury history. ace level talent but the risk is off the charts. please no more insane signings!
pettite has been mediocre. clemens is great but wasted his talent last season when he got no run support and just got too many loses.
