i can't see any scenario where he leaves home. the guy is thinking retirement or play where it's easiest on himself and his family.
Thoughts: - There is little to no chance the Astros sign both Lee & Soriano. One or the other at best, barring a trade. They need $$$ for pitching, whether AP or his replacement. Woody wouldn't cost much, but they need someone in addition to him. - Don't expect too many big name "Type A" FA signings until after Dec. 1; that's the deadline to offer arbitration. Teams signing Type A (defined by the Elias Sports Bureau as being in the top 20% at their position based on averaged performance over the past 2 seasons) arbitration-offered FA's must surrender first round draft pick compensation. Many of these players will not be offered arbitration, but the team has the option of offering up to Dec 1, even after the player has already signed elsewhere.
This thread should be blowing up. First, because if true, again Drayton is at least making valid attempts to spend to improve the team. Second, because these are some serious potential acquisitions. Soriano would be a great great pickup. Great offensive player. Power and speed. And can play so many defensive positions. Gives you the option of moving Everett or Burke via trade. Like the rumored Burke for Jason Jennings deal.
Oh lol....my apologies then. I saw it in the Astros Off-season thread and missed the other thread while it is up.
I wouldn't exactly say he can play many defensive positions... 2 at best. And one of them is questionable at best, if not both. I do like the versitility of players, and that does somewhat make a Burke trade possible as much as I hate the idea. Luke Scott doesn't seem to hit left handers all too great, so you might see a platoon with Pence or something. Berkman needs to stay at 1B but hopefully not gain too much weight. His knees always seem to scare me nowadays. Biggio needs to find the fountain of youth for a season and Ensberg is due for a big season (He's like the Eric Moulds of Baseball in terms of production every other year) Willy is a nice center fielder with his defense and if he could get on base and take some pitches, he'd be perfect leading off. I'd be happy with one big signing and the resigning of Huff. Well, I'd be estatic.
Why is this surprising? The Stros this offseason are basically doing exactly what they've said they were going to do for the past 6+ months. If by "so many positions" you mean one, then I agree. He's a good LF and should improve with more exposure to the position. He has the tools to play CF, but has never really been tried there, so that's a huge "if". He cannot play the IF at an acceptable level, especially not SS. His potential acquisition has no bearing of AE at all.
Could this be a situation where they offer deals to Lee and Soriano at the same time while telling both of them that they are going to only sign 1 to put a little more pressure on them to sign a bit early. If one signs before the other, then there is one less bidder for the unsigned. Maybe the Astros are trying to speed this up a bit by going after both at the same time?
You realize that Wells is not as good as Lee or Soriano, right? Of the three, Lee has been the best and most consistent offensive performer. I've been saying since the season was over, resign Pettitte and Huff, sign Lee. Roger will come back if Andy does, and we're set.
Astros need to sing both Soriano and Lee... We would be the talk of the National League... The way I see it 1. Jeff Bagwell 19,369,019 2. Andy Pettitte 16,428,416 3. Plus Clemens 20+ Are coming off the books this year... That's more than enough money to sign both Soriano and Lee... Plus Clemens will come back for cheaper knowign this is the team that will have the best chance to win it all.. Also we allready paid him like 40+ min in the past two years it's time for us to get a little discount on him say 10mil.... I do believe Drayton knows that if they dont get at lease a couple of impact hitters Clemens is not goig to return and that means alot of revenus will be lost... Paying Clemens 10mil will pay for itself and everybody knows that. Woody not going to get more than 6mil anyways so that should be ok..
No, they are not "coming off the books". Bagwell gets $7M (though how his situation fits into the budgeting process is unknown). AP, if re-signed, will get around $10M (and if he doesn't re-sign, he must be replaced). Clemens, if re-signed, will get the same prorated $12M he got last season. That leaves you ~20M. Either Lee or Soriano will get ~15M of that. You *do* want them to have a pitching staff too, right? Also consider that Roy gets a $5M raise this year. Add in the uncertainty around the contracts of Lidge/Qualls/Wheeler/Ensberg/Huff, and it's clear that the Astros do not have $30M to commit to 2 offensive players.
You realize its not about which player is better but rather which player is a better improvement over what we currently have manning that position, right? Taveras is a weak hitter with good defense. One glance at his OPS numbers and you would realize that. Replacing him with Wells (great hitter, great defense) would be the biggest improvement to the lineup possible at this point. And obviously the pitching needs help with Pettitte/Clemens possibly gone.
With all due respect, many of ya'll have no clue what your talking about. Don't worry the Astros do not either. Priority number 1, Field a team with players playing at natural positions (ie. do not stock your team with first basemen and have them play 3rd, right field, left field and so on and so on. 1st base Lance Berkman 3rd base Morgan Ensberg (an upgrade would be very nice but the free agent market is dry so if you can swing a deal great but if you can't he is cheaper by being club controlled than Huff and the production level is not much different) 2nd Burke/Biggio (making folks happy aint gonna win you games) SS Adam E/Burke Lamb-plays 3rd if Ensberg is inconsistant and first when Berkman has an off day. C-Ausmus (We need an upgrade) CF-Willy T LF-Scott RF-Pence Where does this lineup need help? Everywhere but first base but I say give the young guys a shot in the outfield and do whatever you can to bolster the left side of your infield and the catcher position. If we have those guys in our outfield I will know one thing that for the first time in a while we will have a true lf, rf and cf out there day in and day out and if either Pence or Scott aint producing you make a move at the trade deadline. This brings us back to Lee and Soriano, I guess Soriano could step right in and play SS or second base but IMHO Lee might give you two, three nice seasons at the plate and then we are gonna regret having a fat slow outfielder tied to a huge contract. I say spend money on top flight pitching and just worry about landing one "big bat" as long as we send out eight guys everyday who are not out of position. Astros get a plan! Get rid on Lane (trade or just release him, 30 year old players don't just develop all of a sudden so cut your ties with him) Start bringing up young players! FYI TO ALL ASTROS FANS THE REASON YOUNG PLAYERS ARE NOT BROUGHT ALONG TILL THEY ARE IN THEIR LATE 20s IS THAT UNCLE DRAYTON KNOWS PLAYERS ARE IN THEIR PRIME FROM THE LATE 20s TO EARLY 30s AND THAT MEANS THEY ARE CONTROLLED FOR SIX SEASONS BY THE CLUB SO THAT DRAYTON DOES NOT HAVE TO PONY UP BIG BUCKS FOR HIS OWN FREE AGENTS!
Where is this top flight pitching? Schmidt? Zito? Suppan? All are bigger risks than Soriano/Lee, and will cost nearly as much.
I'm torn, but on paper, it says Soriano, but for some reason, I think Lee would be a better fit...I would also like Woody...40 or not, he can still ball...
That was not calling anyone out all I was saying is folks on here want this player or that player just because thay are a big name. Hey I am all for signing Soriano but they better have a plan to move Adam Everett. Burke has not shown me anything that proves he is gonna be a top flight MLB player so I know we need upgrades my point is that our infield is hurting worse than our outfield and we need a plan. Chris Burke=poor man's Ryan Freel The Astros were not a good team last season they were very average and they are losing pitching, hell maybe their 2nd, 3rd and 4th pitchers from last season. (Clemens, Pettitte, Backe) I say they focus on what kind of team they are gonna be and go with that. IMHO the Astros are closer to being a solid defensive team (apposed to a traditional al club that slugs out wins)with good pitching so I would focus on that by first putting above average defensive players at their correct positions and figuring out what to do with your starting five. If you can land an impact bat at a position of need great if not make sure you upgrade you biggest areas of concern. The BBS sounds like this...(ok we have an above average bullpen, one starter and one major hitter in the lineup but if we sign Carlos Lee coming off a contract year all our problems are solved and that is just not true)