I'd love Zito (especially considering how well AL pitchers have been doing once they're in the NL) and I'd love to get a better bat @ catcher. But who do we get to upgrade at third? There's nobody out there. I wanted Aramis Ramirez but he got resigned. I think our only option (barring a trade) would be to sign an outfielder. And, reading up on the net, most of the trade bait out there is for outfielders... not third, short, or catcher.
We'll see who is whining when they sign some .250 hitter and an old washed up pitcher with a 4.50 ERA and then tell us the market has gotten out of hand.
heard a rumor on another board (unconfirmed) that the mets offered lee an 8 year................. wait for it.................... $155 MILLION contract. like i said, unconfirmed, but that's what he heard. someone else said reports out of baltimore are saying the orioles have a deal at about $12 mil per, $95 total. take it FWIW.
Considering that the Mets just signed Moistness Alou to replace Cliff Floyd in LF...I'm thinking it ain't worth much.
Not the exact same team. We'd have Huff for the full season, and Scott for the full season. Granted, it's all a gamble, even signing Lee long term. I think the main thing here is not overpaying as badly as the Cubs did for Soriano. Our rotation will be solid with Pettitte and Clemens back, and like I posted before the Astros have a ton of talented young arms. I'm optimistic about Buchholz, Hirsh, Albers, Nieve, and Sampson this year.
I wish I were...I could use a new bulldozer. Here's Purp's thoughts on fandom in the age of sportsradio & interweb: "[Criticism] is part of the job. To me, it shows that people care. I don't expect everybody to know the intricacies of it and how all these pieces come together and the complexity of it. Just like I can't understand how people in other professions do their jobs, I don't know what heart surgeons go through. This is certainly more of a public arena than other jobs, but if people stop criticizing they stop caring. I'll take the good with the bad." http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/4344440.html
It sounds like you're going to be the one whining unless the Astros become the Yankees South, so is there really a point?
we need production from the corners...production we didn't get last year. don't sacrifice defense up the middle...just hold the corners accountable for producing runs.
Feeble offensive production is only acceptable if the player is an exceptional defensive talent, imo, and if you get production from the other positions. You can't count on 4/9 defensive positions for all of your offense. Everett's OK, because his glove is awesome. Ausmus is terrible with the bat and his defense is overrated. Biggio needs to get his 3000 hits and then sit, because both his glove and his bat are diminishing. And Willy T doesn't bring enough defense to justify his complete lack of power and walks, not when most teams get solid offense out of their CF.
Biggio is here to get 3000 hits. I'm ambivalent about Willy and Ausmus at this point. Particularly Ausmus. But I wouldn't let Everett go. I'd find bats elsewhere and bat him 8th. And let him work his magic in the field.
Why did Soriano get MORE years and money? He's also older than Beltran was, plays far worse defense, has similiar speed, and didn't come off a playoffs that made him look like Babe Ruth. The market is ridiculous this year... and Soriano's timing was PERFECT to have the career year that he hadn't come close to having before.
Just makes me ever-so greatful that the Astros were able to lock-up Berkman and Oswalt before they hit this market... they each would have gotten above $130 million, with the rate these contracts are being dished out this year. One things for sure... teams are making PLENTY of money.
Not really... sure, the "big name" always gets a huge deal, but the simply "good, not great" players get deals more tailored to what they are worth. Guys like Adrian Beltre, JD Drew, and Richie Sexon all got big deals in 2004... while Beltran got the monster deal... but none of those made you go "woah, he's really not worth that much." Maybe JD Drew got a bigger deal than deserved... and he OPTS OUT of that undeserved deal for a bigger one this off-season... that just speaks for this year's market itself.
One thing to consider - with more and more parity in the league the last few years, salaries are likely to rise. With more teams believing they can compete for the playoffs now, you have more bidders for any given player. Not sure if it's short-term anomoly or not, but we saw the same thing the last 2 years during the trade deadlines for the most part with them both being sellers' markets.
