Perhaps, but so what? That happens at EVERY position. Should we then dismiss salary comparisons all together? If and when Uggla, Weeks, and Utley hit the FA market (or are given mega-contracts), then the average for second basemen will adjust accordingly, making Matsui's deal look better or worse by comparison. RIGHT NOW, though, Matsui is making more than the average for NL second basemen, which makes the topic worthy of debate.
Im all for the move, so long as we can package Burke/Scott to someone for some decent pitching. Our rotation suuuuuuuuuuuuucks: Roy O ? ? ? ?
Free agents are exciting and all but I have a feeling it'll come down to how the rooks handle regular PT. Is this more a trend of success in the league today or just the lack of strength in free agency? There don't seem to be any Clemens or Pettitte deals waiting for us this year. It did seem like we were pretty deep for quality youth in September. I didn't see too many games but I got that impression.
My guess is it seemed that way because the Astros were far gone from a playoff race and as such the kids got to play. We traded one of those "quality youth", Josh Anderson, away for a decent bullpen arm.
could we get AJ Burnett for Scott/burke/prospect? scott could be their LF. i know they have Aaron Hills at 2nd so dunno what they would do with Burke. Blue Jays may be wanting to dump salary so it could be a possibility. i already see the rotation being better than last season. Backe > broken Jennings Wandy will continue to improve woody = same patton > sampson/albers
Ummmmm yeah Matsui isn't Iguchi and all......but lets talk numbers between these two Runners on B- .270 M-.309 Runners in Scoring Positon B-.211 M-.295 Pre-All star B-.235 M-.312 Post-All star B-.224 M-.267 Runners in scoring positon w/2out B-..265 M-.388 Baseloaded B-.100 M-.167 Home B-.241 M-.330 Away B-.222 M-.249 Matsui BA against the astros was .258 Burke BA against the Rockies was.091 I would have put up Loretta but it looks like the Yanks snagged him.........but it looks like Matsui is better........ This is from the Astros fourm. So finally, please burke lovers. shut it.
CountingCrow and Dubious, you are the naive ones if you believe that Matsui being Japanese had any appreciable impact on the Astros signing him. The Astros signed him because they believe he fills a position in which they believe they have a need. And he wasn't even their first choice. TV revenues are split among MLB clubs. Unlike the Houston Chinese community with Yao, Houston does not have sizeable Japanese population to pander to or try to entice. Japanese businessmen at the games? LOL, this is not LA or NY. Finally, the Astros have never even attempted to sign a Japanese free agent before, and there have been very many. Such a priority eh?
Not sold on the move but pretty much a guy hitting with a blindfold can do as good as a job as Chris Burke just knowing that he wont be our everyday 2nd baseman brings a smile to my face. He had one of the biggest hits in Astros history but if it wasn't from an even more awkward hitter in Brad Ausmus hitting a 3 run homer I believe with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. That play does not exist. Chris Burke has had more than his fair share of chances, hell I felt better with Bruntlett hitting than Burke and Bruntlett is a much better fielder than Burke.
Matsui is a better hitter than Burke. Hands down. Everybody who thinks that Burke should be the starter needs to be prepared for who Burke really is. He is a .229 hitter. Wow...what a crappy average for your starting 2B.
lol its crazy, Burke is horrible at defense. Yet people want to get rid of everett sooo fast because he isnt that good of a hitter. Burke isnt much better hitter then Everett but Everett is easily the best SS defensively in baseball.
To be fair, Burke was a 0.229 hitter last year. But he was a 0.275 hitter w/ a 0.350 OBP the year before with slightly more at bats. Matsui, last year, was a 0.250 hitter away from Coors with a 0.300 OBP - which is similar to (slightly better than) what he did with the Mets in 2005 and 2006. He was better in 2004. He's also played 114, 87, 70, and 104 games in his four seasons due to lots of injuries. He's basically missed, on average, 40% of every season. Matsui definitely has more speed and is a better baserunner; Burke has more power. I haven't seen enough of Burke's defense at 2nd on a regular basis to know who's better there, though I imagine it's Matsui. And as someone mentioned earlier, Matsui is by far the more prototypical #2 hitter while Burke seems to fancy himself a power hitter. I'd say Burke is probably the better "pure hitter", but maybe not as good a fit for this team. But I'm not sure Matsui is going to live up to what people are expecting. He's likely going to be a low OBP guy in the #2 hole w/ no power, and he very well could miss 50-60 games a year. People are going to be screaming to move him down to the #7 spot, I think, and will be complaining that we have the two holes in the lineup again (Matsui and Everett instead of Ausmus & Everett).
Wow. I've been busy and hadn't heard the news. I actually like the signing for a lot of reasons. As I said before I really like the 62 stolen bases and ONLY 9 caught stealings. That's impressive. I like the combo with Bourne and Matsui, followed by Berkman, Lee and Pence. Or Pence, Berkman and Lee. One more starter and I like this team a lot.
Signing or not signing Matsui should have no impact on them improving starting pitching (even though they won't and shouldn't get Dontrelle). Matsui will be fine... may not be great, won't be terrible... and that's about what $5 million/year can do for you. I do like adding diversity to the lineup in the form of left-handed batters... mixed in with bourne, Berkman, Lee, and Pence, this team should no longer be plauged by a certain handedness of a pitcher. Regardless, the team still needs more proven starting pitching. From where, I don't know... but I'm not going to sit through another year of this team hoping that Wandy, Albers, Backe, or Sampson can magically blossom into a #2 starter.
