Astros Major Press Conference at 4:30 (UPDATE: Astros trade 3 for Jason Jennings)

Ironically, Victor Zambrano was let go by the Mets today.

(This is Astros related based on the numerous Kazmir-Zambrano comments in this thread)

 

My prediction:

Jennings' era is no more than 3.2 next year.

Hirsh's era is no less than 5 next year.

We resign Jennings. A bunch of people look like idiots, and eat crow.


And I will eat some, too if I'm wrong.

 

I predict we sign someone else or make another move on top of this one.

 

Pettitte's Return to the Bronx a Blessing in Disguise

Dec. 12, 2006
By Scott Miller
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer

The biggest crock in sports today is the tired "no respect" crutch, and that Andy Pettitte essentially fired it on his hometown Houston Astros while leaving town is both wrong and lame.


So the Astros' $12 million offer made Andy Pettitte feel down? (Getty Images)
We long ago reached critical mass on this subject. You can no longer wade through the postgame of any playoff or championship without at least one of the winning players riffing on how everyone disrespected them, nobody gave them any credit, the whole world was against them, yada, yada, yada (yawn).

Anyway. So it goes in negotiations, too.

The Astros so far this offseason addressed their biggest deficiency from 2006 by investing $100 million in slugger Carlos Lee -- something their pitchers should appreciate each time they take the mound.

They worked with Pettitte while he waffled on whether he wanted to retire, finally offering him a one-year, $12 million deal for '07 when he decided that, yes, he did want to play again.

Two years ago, just after the lefty signed with Houston, the Astros even reached out and hired his playmate, too. Granted, the playmate -- Roger Clemens -- is going to the Hall of Fame one day, but still. You get the point. They've done everything possible to make things warm and fuzzy for Pettitte.

And Pettitte, who went to the Yankees essentially for $32 million over two years (including a second-year player option), says he was "shocked" that the Astros didn't do more? Welcome, Jason Jennings.

No, Pettitte says, it's not about the money. It never is. Uh-huh. Except, in the end, it's always about the glue. That's how you measure respect, to many of these knuckleheads.

What, genuflecting and laying a path of rose petals would have seduced Pettitte to re-sign in Houston?

All sorts of theories abound: From the Astros having to hold the line with Pettitte because owner Drayton McLane wanted to appease commissioner Bud Selig, who was angry at the dough the Astros handed Lee, to the club being over Pettitte by attempting to acquire Jon Garland from the White Sox last week.

That trade, in which the Astros would have added an established starter in Garland for pitchers Taylor Buchholz, Jason Hirsh and outfielder Willy Taveras -- same package for which they acquired Jennings on Tuesday -- was nixed when the White Sox didn't like Buchholz's medical reports.

As to the second point -- the Astros' run at Garland. If they're not proactive this winter after getting themselves hamstrung in each of the past two offseasons, they're not only irresponsible, they're negligent.

Two winters ago, they badly miscalculated the Carlos Beltran negotiations by graciously adhering to his timeframe, and they wound up high and dry when he signed with the New York Mets.

Last winter, they danced the will-he-or-won't-he tango with Clemens, who wasn't sure whether he would pitch or retire, and that diverted their attention for far too long.

They need to make their plans before Pettitte, Clemens, Beltran or anybody else does it for them. In acquiring Jennings, a serviceable right-hander who was 9-13 with a 3.78 ERA for Colorado last season, they take a step in that direction. The big concern, though, is Jennings is free-agent eligible following the 2007 season, and Hirsh, Buchholz and Taveras will be a steep price to pay if the Astros don't keep Jennings.

As to the first point, they still offered Pettitte $12 mil. True, contracts have sped from ridiculous to ludicrous this winter, and yes, if Gil Meche is an $11-million-a-year pitcher, then the least the Astros could have done is purchase Pettitte his own hotel in each of the other NL cities in addition to his salary. Not his own hotel suite, his own hotel.

Yes, there could have been some flexibility on their part.

But for Pettitte to say, as he did at a news conference late last week, that "it shocked me that they would not continue to go up when the Yankees continued to push and push and push and pursue, and (the Astros) really didn't do much" ... well, somebody grab a box of tissues.

Mr. Sensitive knows the Yankees are in a financial league of their own -- and when he left the Bronx the first time, following the '03 season, he did so with bruised feelings because the Yankees appeared disinterested in bringing him back.

Now he's hurt that the Astros didn't pay enough homage. Can't wait to see how, at 34 and having contemplated retirement, this sensitivity plays out when Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Vernon Wells and the other sluggers dust him up on the increasingly mean streets of the AL East.

As for the Astros, their winter just got a little longer because now that a man to whom they've bent over backward for two years has scooted, they're in scramble mode to fill their rotation. Clemens, if he opts to pitch again, will almost certainly follow Pettitte through the exit door toward either New York or Boston.

So Jennings joins Roy Oswalt, who has Cy Young stuff in his arm, and Woody Williams, who has Cy Young smarts in his brain (but at his age, savvy doesn't always induce outs).

Then there are a whole lot of unknowns named Fernando Nieve and Troy Patton and Juan Gutierrez.

Undoubtedly, general manager Tim Purpura will continue exploring other options. But forget Barry Zito, because if the Astros wouldn't pay Pettitte more than $12 million annually, they're not going anywhere near the $17 or $18 million Zito will command.

Jeff Suppan? Jeff Weaver? They've no doubt fielded calls from Purpura, but again, if Gil Freakin' Meche is getting $55 million over five years in Kansas City, Suppan and Weaver, after earning World Series rings last year, are in line for a ton, too.

And it would have been a whole lot more palatable for the Astros to pay Pettitte than to compete financially against the Cardinals, Mariners and others who are still shopping for pitching.

So another homecoming meets with an unseemly end; another player takes offense because he didn't get enough biscuits and pats on the head.

Pettitte will get over this -- he has $32 million reasons now to ice his strained feelings. As for the Astros, at 28, Jennings is six years Pettitte's junior, and they need to get younger anyway.

Now's as good a time as any to kick-start that process.

 

I still get the feeling that we may end up getting burned on this trade, but I guess those are the risks we had to take. We simply could not go into this season with Woody as the #2 and 3 of the "others". It simply wouldn't matter how much offense we had because unless we caught lighning in a bottle it wasn't going to happen. Now we have 3 solid pitchers which is the bare minimum for a playoff team IMO. I still think we need to add one more, and adding Roger halfway through the year wouldn't hurt either.

I feel better about our team for the upcoming season, but I have a bad feeling we are going to regret this later on. I sure hope I am wrong though, and I have to give the Astros management credit for being very proactive this offseason with a win-now attitude. You can't ask for much more than that as a fan.

 

The more I think about it, this is a move that had to be made. We gave up 2 pitching prospects and a light hitting CF with tremendous speed. Is that too high of a price for a pitcher of Jennings' caliber? I would say that this a good deal for both sides.

Colorado gets the CF they wanted this winter in Willy and a couple of former top prospects in Buchholz and Hirsch. We get a sinkerball pitcher who we can count on to give us quality innings at the #2 slot.

I could not be happier to have gotten rid of these 3 and to have received a Jason Jennings in return. Neither Buchholz nor Hirsch will ever be a #2. The former does not have the command and the latter does not have the velocity to be all that effective. Patton, Sampson and Albers are all better. They are wildly overrated by Astros fans.

I am also happy to finally bid farewell to Willy T. He had his chance here, and I really believe his value to be as high as it will ever be. He is a weak, undisciplined hitter, and should have a lot more steals with those wheels. Yeah, he could improve, but I would rather see him be somebody else's project. Burke brings so much more to the table with his gap power and hustle.

Now we just need to sign Huff, trade Morgan for pitching, and let Hector Gimenez get the majority of starts behind the plate.

 

More then likely Pupura probaly just signed his ticket out of town, maybe as earily as the all-star break. Lee and Jennings better be hovering around all-star type numbers or this could be the worse offseason in the history of the franchise.

 

If Lee and Jennings are putting up all-star numbers at the all-star break (meaning they're all-stars)... along with the predictable performance of Lance and Roy... would likely mean Pupurra is GM of the year.

 

Man I feel like I got ripped off.

 

Is this kinda like the Silent Bob bit or something?


Next thing you know Yetti's in the NBA Dish posting quality analysis.

 

Did you take some English grammar classes, or higher a proofreader?

You've come a long way from the Karl Kolb posts.

 

Oh no, it's contagious!

 

Good call on the self ownage.

 

We really needed Willy T to cut down some open space between Carlos and Luke.

Chris Burke in CF scares me. I've seen him run and look like he's running in quicksand on balls that Willy T gets to easily.

 

YOURE AN IDIOT.....

Frank (Tulsa, OK): Steve, Are the Astros and their offense legit? Do you see Clemens in their rotation next month?

Steve Phillips: If I had to predict today I'm guessing that Clemens goes to the Astros. They just seem to answer all the criteria that Clemens wants. It's close to home, they have a competitive club, they've offered an extraordinary amount of money. They are going to be a good team, though I don't think they have the pitching depth without Clemens.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=11645

 

Please... he was athletic enough to start in CF for games 3, 4, and 5 of the 2005 NLCS (the one we won... all home games, btw).

He's also a hell-of-a-lot better than Biggio/Berkman/or Hidalgo was from 2002-2004 (and we didn't lose any games because of them playing CF).

Also, Willy (while improved) still misjudged his share of balls last year as well... and his good defense doesn't make up for his not so good bat. (unless he was batting 8th... like Adam).

 

Agreed, Willy "no balls and 2 strikes" Taveras was more than expendable. An undisciplined hitter who doesn't get extra base hits and doesn't get on base doesn't deserve to be playing every day. I got tired of him slapping fouls balls away, then finally whiffing on slider low and outside.

 

I think we've all heard the saying that a good trade hurts and this does hurt, but I think it means it hurts both teams and if I'm the Rockies, I don't feel like that hurt very much.

 

Astros starting lineup wil be:

Craig Biggio 2b
Chris Burke CF
Carlos Lee LF
Lance Berkman 1B
Morgan Ensberg 3B
Luke Scott RF
Adam Everett SS
Brad Ausmus C
Roy Oswalt P

If Ensberg can stay healty we're solid from 2-6 and hopefully Biggio can bring some magic up at the lead off spot while chasing for 3,000. I like our starting rotation with Roy, Jennings and Woody Williams. I don't think we're done yet in the pitching department. The Astros felt like Burke was better than Willy T. and I agree. Burke is going to be something special. You saw it in the playoffs in 05. I love Willy T, don't get me wrong, but he did have poor plate selection and Burke will put up better RBI and HR numbers in the 2 hole. The only kicker was Hirsch, he might turn out to be something special, but who knows. He's just a prospect right now. We'll see how Coors treats him. Jennings is a Texas work horse. Don't let those Coors field numbers fool ya, he's gonna bring it here in Houston.

 

Talks like this induces vomits