http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/post/Barmes-returning-to-Astros-?urn=mlb-398494 Someone tell me this is false. Tell me Wade didnt tell Barmes he wants him back. This has to be wrong, right?
He's one of the worst in the league. There is no reason to even sign him to an arbitrary "cheap" contract. He has no place on this team if the Astros envision a winning ball club within the next 10 years.
Why you say? 1) 32 years old 2) Batting .246 3) Would be eating up playing time that is more needed for evaluating young players. 4) Astros are in rebuild mode. Why give money to a aging vet with a deteriorating game in a year (2012) where their is ZERO hope if contending?
Who is going to play in Barmes's place? Manzella is gone. Villar and Mier have a couple more years to go. Barmes seems like a good stop gap for another year.
He's not that bad. He's at or just slightly below average Offensively and is a plus defender. He's basically Adam Everett plus. He's worth 2-4mil as a vet on a young team
How the hell does re-signing Barmes prevent us from having a winning ball club? He also ranks 7th out of 13 in the league in OPS for SS with at least 400PAs. That is squarely in the middle. This news has been known known since July, when Wade said he wasn't available for trades, and this has even been on the Astros front page for weeks. A great defensive shortstop, and does decent enough with the bat. A .700 OPS isn't terrible out of your SS, especially when he can flat out glove it. He isn't blocking any young talent. There isn't a SS in the system ready to play. He is a stopgap to Villar. If we don't resign Barmes we will trade for or sign a different veteran SS. Resigning Barmes is the best option for us this offseason, unless we can deal Wandy for a ML ready SS.
This, this, this. Would rather see Angel Sanchez or even Anderson Hernandez. If playing a young kid with no real shot at being a difference maker seems pointless, how about paying a few million to a has-been who has no real shot at being a difference maker? I *loved* watching Barmes pick it this year. A real pleasure to watch that excellent 'D'. But I'm not really interested in watching non-contending geriatrics next year.
What does resigning him do for the Astros? Even if we are signing him for depth, then its still pointless. He is not a part of the future...the Astros need to be looking down the line and planning accordingly, starting now. These stop gap, borderline MLB players for "cheap" contracts are exactly what the Astros do not need. Get the young guys in there and start building for the future.
Angel Sanchez is a terrible baseball player. He plays bad defense at SS, and his OPS is below .600. The same can be said for Anderson Hernandez. We might as well move Carlos Lee to SS and get comedic value out of it. Neither Sanchez or Hernandez is young. Will be 28 and 29 respectively.
The point is, we will terrible no matter who is at SS next year, so why pay 2-4M for a guy, when we can either call someone up or pay 500k for a guy who will bat .220 and ops .600. Is it worth 1.5-2.5M for that .100 ops and 24 pts of batting average in a year when we wont be over .500 anyway? I dont.
Clint Barmes is a good shortstop, he's a good stop gap considering we have zero alternative. Sanchez is terrible and no prospects are ready. His .698 OPS is right at league average for the position. Shotstops usually don't hit much, when will fans realize this. His defense is well above average for a defense first position. Its sad how little credit fans give to defense. They watch web gems and assume thats the measure of a great defensive player. Truly excellent defenders get no credit because they don't hit. At this point hes actually a much better player than Derek Jeter.
I don't see why all of you are trying to play GM/Owner and acting concerned about paying Barmes $2mil. He's our best option and a league average major league vet. The money isn't coming out of your pockets. We're going to be rolling out a tiny payroll with or without Barmes. Not competing for the division... and it's not like he's not blocking some young stud with grand potential.
I do. I care about wins. Winning 70 games is better than 60. I want my young players to be winners. I want the guy that can help teach those young players how to be good professionals. Like I said, might as well put Lee at short if you want Sanchez playing short next year.
A team with 7 rookies/2nd years and Carlos Lee is a recipe for a terrible product. I want at least one solid vet with good habits providing someone for the young guys to look up to. C-los is not that person.
I think everyone cares about wins and wants the young players to be winners. Its kinda silly to suggest anyone is saying otherwise. But what me and some others are saying is that wins next year are not as important as wins the following years. It is also silly of you to suggest we put Lee at SS. The simple math is, we owe nothing (at this point) to Barmes next season, but Sanchez is due arbitration. I am TOTALLY against keeping both. It is also not inconceivable that Wandy, Myers or someone else is dealt in the off season, and a ML ready prospect SS in return would fill that hole. I am not arguing that Barmes is a bum, or that he probably isnt worth 2-3M. Im arguing that retaining aging vets isnt a good recipe for rebuilding. And thats clearly where we are.
Your not very familiar with our roster if you believe Lee is the only vet besides Barmes on the team. Ill admit that many of them are pitchers, and not position players. But leadership and setting a good example transcends ones position.
Play the young cheap guys one more year, get another #1 pick and invest the money you would have spent on the roster on international signings and the draft. Dump Lee after next year and then we'll be ready with serious talent in the farm and money to spend in FA.
Giving an aging vet a low cost one year deal when you have nobody else really capable of playing the position, is not a bad move for a rebuilding team. Depending on what happens with Wallace, we could be an extremely young team next year. We are likely stuck with Lee for this final year. We've pretty much bled the system dry of ML ready talent. Having Barmes is a good thing as long as it is for 1 year. I'm somebody who was strongly against the Barmes trade, the Hall, Feliz, and Lyon signings, but keeping Barmes now seems like a logical choice as long as he isn't expensive. I don't see us asking for a SS in return for Wandy/Myers because of Villar.
