Who can tell what will happen with the youngsters? Still, one must admit, Drayton's hardly been impressive when it comes to retaining talent. I think he's earned our distrust.
Actually, with the state income tax and probable higher standard of living in Colorado, Kile may have lost money on that deal. The Stros weren't outbid too much. Kile said somehting about liking the family aspect of the Denver area and the Rockies. BTW, Hunsicker has already said don't expect us to make a big splash in free agency. You can forget Damon, though I hope I'm wrong. Cedeno or Bruce Aven anyone? Went beyond that. I think Bagwell or Biggio was involved. Someone knows alot more than I do, but I've heard things.
This could mean Astacio might be sticking around, and DEFINITELY Wags will stay. Oswalt Miller Astacio Reynolds Hernandez with Redding, Mlicki, Cruz, Dotel, Wagner, and 1-2 other slots probably to lefties (or one to Brocail). Two guys in Redding/Mlicki who could spot start if needed. Not a bad staff. This is not an inherently bad move in itself. If the Stros use this money towards keeping the staff, and Berkman together, it could work out. It's also possible we'll pick up Koskie (talk about a PERFECT fit-bats left, young, cheap, fills in nicely in the 6 or 7 slot) or Tatis via the contraction draft, and Ensberg is not bad either. As for shortstop, I expect Lugo to move to a utility role (2B/SS/CF), and Everett to start, maybe with a vet backing him up. Burke will be ready in a couple of years anyhow. CF worries me most. In a big outfield other than LF, like Enron, having some speed is necessary. Berkman is passable for LF, but Hidalgo is under average for a CF, and would be an above average RF. A strong arm in Enron's CF is not nearly as much of a necessity as the ability to cover ground. A Johnny Damon fits the mold, and will be leaving Oakland. If his price stays down, Hun may go after him.
I reaaaally hope we don't go after Damon. Yep, he's a great fielder. But his hitting last year wasn't just poor, it was obscenely putrid. Nobody who hits as poorly as he did has any place in a MLB outfield. Yes, it's nice to have good fielders. But They're inherently less valuable than good hitters, since pitching and fielding COMBINES to form defense, while hitting takes care of itself.
<B>That's called being outbid, my friend. Anyway, it should never have gotten to a bidding contest in the first place. If you lock up your young players to long-term contract before they are free agents, then you don't have to worry about bidding wars. Notice that the Braves just signed Andruw Jones to a long-term deal? </B> On the Kile issue, Kile was never good until his last season as an Astro. He had a lot of ups and a lot of downs. He was a headcase, and was Lima-like (the bad Lima) at times. He wasn't really a good, young talent until his FA year, at which point I doubt he would have even considered a long-term deal without checking out free agency.
RocketsPimp -- the reason I don't mind losing Alou is because we don't need him THAT much. Certainly, he provides good, solid hitting and a measure of consistency. However, consider that he'll run about 10 million, and this is the first season in a while where he hasn't been injured for half of it. Furthermore, despite having numerous awesome catches, he typically displays a lack of hustle in the outfield which is not worth 10 million bucks that could be spent elsewhere. However, consider that Castilla will likely be around 3 to 4 million at the most. He hit about .280 with us, and displayed good power and solid fielding. He seemed to find a good niche with the team, and was a great bat at the bottom of the lineup. He also played fairly well in the playoffs, which is always useful. We really could use a nice trade of Ward and maybe a prospect somewhere to nab a good center fielder. The other thing that I didn't mention in the original post was the attitude the Astros seemed to have about this -- the press conference seemed to be basically Gerry Hunsicker saying "Well, we just can't afford to re-sign our players." Which I suppose is fine, but the OUTRIGHT declaration, without having ANY TALKS WITH ANYONE seems to be almost an out and out admittance that Drayton will go cheap, and our team quality will suffer.
Vegeance: Just looking at it from the sunny side, it's easier for Hunsicker to say "we can't afford to sign these guys than," gee, Morgan Ensberg and Jason Lane are coming up and we'd rather go with them. Fans don't like the idea of choosing unproven prospects over veterans (in baseball, in other sports, they don't seem to mind). I'm going to give the Astros the benefit of the doubt for now, and assume they'll focus on resigning Oswalt, Miller, and Berkman and simply believe Ensberg and Lane will work out. If Lane's the prospect some people think, he might make you forget about Alou in a jiffy.
My feeling with Lane and Ensberg is that they are not QUITE ready yet -- Castilla would be HUGE, because he's only got 2 years or so left in him. Then when he's done, boom, we bring in our young guns and they rock. Perhaps Ensberg will work out just fine, but I have a bad feeling about this . . . and Chris Truby has no place starting in a major league lineup.
The main problem with signing Alou is that most contracts are multi-year. 10 million for 2002 may be O.K., but to commit to 25-30 million over 3 years is not. The Astros are commited to wrapping up Wagner to a long term deal so they have that to do this year. There is no need to tie up Oswalt and Miller yet. It seems Wagner has been around forever and he is still not eligible to become a free agent.
bobrek: Agreed about Alou. Aren't players eligible for salary arbitration after their 4th year? Seems like Berkman's coming up...
The Astros said they were seriously interested in re-signing Brocail... They just thought his option was too expensive. Considering he hasn't played in a year because of surgery, that makes sense. Free agency is going to be a whole new ballgame this year. If they dump two teams (which seems likely) that's 80 roster spots and two complete farm systems worth of players dumped on the market. While those aren't exactly star clubs, they have been getting some good draft spots over the past few years, and it's a lot of MLB players to dump into the system at once. Teams will probably have the opportunity to pick up players in a dispersal draft. The stars excluded, it should be a team market for free agents.
OK, so what happens to Lugo and Vizcaino now? Is Jose signed, I liked having him around. If we don't sign any FA's, I think Everett and Ensberg are our starting left side of the infield. The line up could look like this: Biggio Ensberg (??) Bagwell Berkman Ward Hidalgo Ausmus Everett I don't know................
One thing that was mentioned is that they will be going after a left handed, singles-doubles type guy to play third base with one/both of the kids. If they can do that, and acquire a speedy center fielder, I have no problem with these moves.
Berkman reminds me of a certain OF that played for Boston and happened to be the last man to hit .400. Interesting thing is, said Boston OF has gone on the record as saying Berkman reminds him of himself, too ! Will Berkman hit .400? I bet he could in Coors.
Please, pleaes Gerry Hunsicker don't sign a speedy CF who can't hit. And if you do, please, please, please make sure his OBP is above .390.
