Bright side? We can play Kaz and Geoff Blum and have the infield with the best hair in baseball. Much better than Munson's "free-ninety-nine" haircut.
Wow. All I can say is, Chris Burke must have put a bag of flaming doggy-poop on Uncle Drayton's porch or something, because the organization obviously does not like the guy. Is he a jerk or something? Geeza, I mean, to never even give the guy a CHANCE at the one position he should have been playing all along.. man. Any chance he could play Short for us, and hold up defensively? Maybe help us get Everett out of the lineup?
I was very disappointed in Burke last season. As horrible as Matsui was on the road, he was better than Biggio and Burke. I think it is pretty safe to say, production (offensive and defensive) from 2B should be higher for the Astros than the past two years whether Matsui is fulltime 2B or Burke rebounds and wins the position. That really isn't that difficult though, considering the lack of production in years past. Iguchi would have been much nicer. On the plus side, the Astros won't lose their 1st round pick this year regardless of who they sign because they sucked so bad last year. I'm rooting for Burke to win 2B. The Astros just need to find a way to get starting pitching. Hopefully, the Astros can get Jennings cheap with last year being a fluke.
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well....it seems that Burke's day's are numbered...which is fine i guess....he is probably one of the better bargaining chips we have in terms of dealing for a #2 starter
I'm not a great fan of this move. Would have preferred Iguchi. Having said that, this is absolutely an upgrade over Chris Burke. He's turned in over 1,000 AB's already. We've seen what Chris Burke is capable of, I believe. And I think Matsui is a better player hands down. Ultimately we're only talking about paying our starting 2B about $5 million/year. That's really not overpriced at all.
I'm mixed about this signing as well. Here are my thoughts: --Of course I would rather have Iguchi. I'd rather have Jake Peavey and A-Rod, too. In other words, I don't believe they had a realistic shot at Iguchi. --I wonder if Wade is positioning himself for some dealing at the Winter Meetings. All of a sudden, Luke Scott (or the Rule V pickup they got, or that AAAA OF they signed) and Chris Burke are quite expendable. There's also some depth in the bullpen and a surplus of #5-type or AAAA-type starters. Not going to get you a Dontrelle Willis of course, but he's got some wiggle room that he didn't have before. --I'm with Max that $5MM just isn't much to pay a starting 2B. I don't expect Kaz to light the world on fire, and I'm not looking forward to all the b****ing we're going to endure from folks who act like we're paying him $9MM for six years while he puts up fairly average, underwhelming numbers, but he's better than Burke and $5MM just ain't all that much money. --I'm intrigued by Bob's (was it Bob?) comments about Matsui's ability to move the runner over, etc. That's good stuff, but I've never really watched him play. --Hope his speed is still good for at least a couple of years. Them's my 2ยข.
What does Iguchi prefer, though? Matsui plays great D, is fast, can handle the bat, hits RHP well, and outside of Petco & Dodger Stadium, hit pretty well on the road last year. How will he take to MMP? Lots of room in the gaps, that would seem to suit his style. Hopefully they can sign Loretta to round out the IF bench & get some spot starts against some LHP. The offense will hinge on what Bourn, Matsui & Pence can do in the top 3 spots. Really like what they've done so far this offseason. Position players are pretty much set...now focus on pitching. Adios Luke & Chris.
It seems that Burke gets a pass from the average fan just because he won a playoff series with one lucky swing. It colors every objective opinion about his skills. He has yet to prove that he is a legitimate, everyday major leaguer.
I honestly can't remember the last time we had an offseason like this. I know we've had some big signings in recent years; I'm talking instead about the aggressiveness early and the adding so many little pieces. I don't know if it will produce anything any better in the regular season, but it's been nice to see something different anyhow.
Yeah, I agree entirely with this. No guarantees on the Iguchi thing...when you have a chance to lock up a position with a reasonable player, you do it. Loretta would be fantastic off the bench for this team, assuming he can live with that role. That would give me a ton of comfort to have that guy around still. Go get pitchers.
