and even if it was Wade's move.. Willy T can barely stay on a ML team. He's a 4th-5th OF wherever he ends up. Not that huge a deal in the end
The biggest problem I have is it was evident this team wasn't a serious contender either of the last two seasons (even with Ike). Can someone explain to me why in the world a guy like Tejada wasn't traded when he had some value left, even if it was for a few minor leaguers?? Was it draft pick compensation when he signed with Oakland that's going to lead to comparable/negligible difference?? And what was the point of Mike Hampton or Russ Ortiz? Why spend the money? Did anyone really believe the Astros were going to be contenders in '09?? I don't mind rebuilding, but I sense missed opportunities at a head start each of the last two years. I guess mediocrity is better than cellar-dwelling, but I would have preferred a 2-3 years of cellar-dwelling (which could be over this year) if it meant contending with new talent. I completely lost interest with the Astros last year when they basically committed to mediocrity. The future is bright, I hope.
He resigned with Baltimore not Oakland. Maybe the Astros felt they could possibly bring him on for another year or two and decided to let him finish the season out. And Mike Hampton/Ortiz were just 1 year low risk fill-ins because sadly we had nothing else. I honestly think this team could be a quality team in 2-3 years. Our upcoming draft is going to be huge with all the picks we have.
That is true but let's take it to another level. Every draft going forward is going to be huge for this team. Every draft should, theoretically, be huge for every team, even those with the highest of payrolls. This organization got away from building from the ground up. Hopefully, McLane (or whoever ends up owning this team in the future), Wade, Heck and crew consistently make scouting, drafting, signing and developing players in their farm system a very high priority. Let's build up that pipeline and get this ship going in the right direction. We simply can't afford to ignore the lifeline of any good organization and try to solve all our problems through trade and free agency year in and year out. In fact, it's hard to even use the trade route effectively once your talent pipeline dries up, as it has for the Astros. The last couple of drafts have been nice but it's just a start. We still have one of the worst farm systems in all of baseball, if not the worst. Even organizations like the Yankees and Red Sox place a lot of emphasis on scouting, drafting, signing and developing players despite being able to outbid other teams for multiple top free agents each offseason. It's nearly impossible to compete with those big dogs if you don't maintain a healthy farm system.
Generally a positive feeling for this move. I think Wade is a good guy for a rebuilding team. He knows how to draft, and how to get a good farm. But honestly, I want Wade either to be replaced in a couple of years, or have the Astros hire a top level major league talent evaluation person by then. Ed Wade likes to overpay on some of the most mediocre players I've ever seen, both in Philly and here. The guy is every journeyman reliever's dream GM. Basically, I like him for the rebuilding process, not for the contending process.
Put me in the camp of not liking the move. The problem I have with Wade is that he spends money in the wrong places, and ofter like a drunken sailor. The Lyon, Feliz, Matsui, Moehler, & Myers are just a few. He seems like he bids against himself.
where are you getting the info on who he was bidding against for these players and what their other offers were?
ha. no, timing, as in coming off a 70-win season and finishing 5th in the division. like i said though, i think he's been fine so far and don't have a huge problem with it.
weren't we hoping for Luis Castillo before he signed for the Mets? A supposedly comparable player to Kaz at the time? Didn't they sign for similar amounts? Were there other RP's with closer experience (but not elite closers) on the FA market besides Lyon? He only got 5 mil per year, right? Did someone else get a ton more or less? I don't recall anything like that.. I don't know who you want to compare Feliz to. If you compare Brett Myers to Ben Sheets as former #1 SP's coming off big injury issues, I'd say we got a similar deal (based on relative potential) if not a better one.
With Kaz, the main issue with him was that he could never stay healthy. You were paying for 100 games at best, so if you extrapolate that $6MM/yr, you're basically paying the equivalent of $10MM/yr to him for when he would be healthy. For a team in transition, would you rather have Lyon (who hasn't really had any success as a closer) for 3 years at $5MM/yr, or an elite closer in Wagner for $7MM for 1 year (plus a $6.5MM club option)? Or Dotel is probably more at Lyon's level with more upside - he signed a deal to be the Pirates closer for $3.5MM/yr for 2-years. Kevin Gregg signed for $2.75MM/1-yr. Capps signed for 1-yr, $3.5MM. Fernando Rodney signed for $11MM/2-yrs. Hawkins - $7.5MM/2yrs. DJ Carrasco, who's stats are fairly similar to Lyon, signed a minor league deal. All of those except Capps (because he struggled so much last year) would be as good or better than Lyon, mostly with cheaper & shorter contracts with lower risk. The player he's probably most identical to is Geoff Blum, who signed for $1.5MM with the same team. They are basically the same player both offensively and defensively, and we already had the cheaper one locked up. I think the Myers deal was completely reasonable, and maybe even a great deal if Myers can get back to his better form.
good point on Kaz. Thoughg he did play the majority of the season last year...if he can play in another 130-140 games this year, i'll consider it successful well Wags wasn't realy an option to come back here...don't think we can consider him. Dotel, I'd say less upside than Lyon. He's 35, and he's never had success as a closer either. Would rather have had Lyon than Dotel for 2 years. Capps struggled, Rodney has struggled somewhat his last 3 years out of the pen and was the same price for 1 less year, Hawkins was solid for us last year...but giving a 36 year old a 2 year deal? Again, I'd rather give the 31 year old a 3 year deal. DJ Carrasco at a minor league deal is nice, though he has no closing experience. Can't beat that price Kevin Gregg was a great bargain, and I wish we had grabbed him instead for sure. But given all those options, I don't think Lyon was a horrible deal. As for Blum, it's definitely been said before...but he's never been a full-time player. Feliz on the other hand can be counted on to play (start) the entire season. I think that's worth a pretty big contract differential.
My personal opinion of Wade is that he's been one of the worst execs in baseball over the past decade. He's done nothing in Houston to deserve firing, but he's certainly done nothing to warrant a two-year extension.
I think with GM's, you always want to have them locked up for a few years. With a coach, the focus is on maximizing your success this year. With a GM, you want them looking at the long-term. If they are not locked up long-term, their financial motivation is to going to be to focus on the short-term to have success while they are here. While professionalism should make them do their job properly, human nature is going to say if you're locked in through 2012, you're more likely to make a trade that will help you in 2011 and 2012. If you're only locked up this year, you might pass on that deal if it helps you be better this year.
That's a great point. Because I was thinking that they had to offer Kubiak the extension to give him some confidence so that he's not constantly thinking about his future.. but really, it makes way MORE sense to lock up your GM
I understand the theory, although I can't imagine a GM would make much different moves if he had one year remaining on his contract as opposed to two. The problem with the logic is that you wake up one day and you've had Ed Wade at the helm for five years. Which is not a good thing.
Since the time Daniels took over after 2005, they've been a pretty solid organization. Starting at a point much worse than the Astros, they've basically had the same major league record as the Astros over the last 4 years while building one of the strongest minor league organizations in MLB. That actually would be the perfect model to follow for a middle-market team.
