No way in hell you get him at that price. The baseball contract situation is totally out of whack right now but there's just nothing you can do
Oh, he's due. His pattern heretofore, unless I remember incorrectly, is basically alternating years of stardom and suckiness (yes--despite the OBP, last year's performance sucked).
It may be too much but I was more than willing to overpay to get a legit bat in this lineup. they could not go into next season without having made drastic changes. They cannot be cheap and go after a mediocre option like Preston Wilson again. I'm glad they got this deal done, hopefully there are more moves to come (starting pitching still needs to be looked at).
You can put together a trade for another player, with a better contract, who you could reasonably expect to put up similar numbers. It harder work, and you have to lose some of your own prospects, but it's a way to keep from overpaying.
Except its a sellers' market there too. You'll save money, but you'll overpay in prospects. So money you might have had by having cheap players in a few years will have to be spent on free agents since you traded away those prospects.
Precisely. Or, you could make those trades *and* sign the big money guys, gamble on winning it all (and it's worked for some), then go into the tank and absolutely SUCK for 6 or 7 years before getting into position to supernova again.
Uh, if Ensberg has a .800 OBP it will be the most productive offensive season in the history of baseball. But yeah, if his power doesn't come back I wouldn't mind seeing him at #2.
Is Lee fat? He looks out of shape to me.....or is he just a big guy? Scott, Lee and Taveras is a mediocre outfield at best. Scott is an average to below average feilder Taveras is an above average fielder Lee is ....well....way below average fielder. But, if they all can hit.....and can field adequatly then problem solved. DD
Heh, getting on base 8 out of 10 times. Nice. But, it would be like the 35-pound 4th grader in little leagues. At all of 2' 6½ inches, dude drew a walk every at bat. Ensberg shouldn't hit like that kid.
All of you saying this... have you actually seen him play the OF and botch a bunch of routine plays, or are you just looking at his body type and automatically assuming he sucks (kinda like Pupurra is fat... therefore he sucks too). I vividly recall a game last year where Lee not only hits the go-ahead HR against STL... but makes a leaping catch to rob a HR at the wall to preserve the game. Sure, he's not going to cover a lot of ground in LF... then again, neither did Scott last year, nor Berkman before that. Hell, Berkman has been our everyday CF before... and had limited (albeit better than expected) range. Nevertheless, Lee won't LOSE games defensively for you... and he's a more athletic player than you may believe (hence his high steal numbers). Here's a pic of the game I was talking about... as well as a link to the mini-blurb about the catch+HR, as well as a link to the video: Carlos Lee robs Cards Link to video (scroll down to April 13th).
Honestly, I don't recall anything about his defense at all. Not good, not bad, nada. According to John Dewan & the Fielding Bible guys, Lee's defense is a bit above average ("Lee's reputation [as a poor defensive player] isn't deserved.") & he was the best defensive LFer on the FA market this year based on their rankings. Given that their fielding data comes from *watching actual baseball being played* I tend to give it a lot more credence than FRAPPE or whatever blender setting was bandied about earlier.
This is interesting because everything I have read suggests he is not that great of an outfielder. The LFer in Houston does not have to cover all that much ground as long as Willy is in center field. But the primary question I asked is still not answered. Is Lee fat? DD
He's fat like Barkley was in his prime... you see the big body, and you see him lumbering, and yet the guy can jump pretty high to rob HR's, and runs fast enough to steal bases.
Nick -- thanks for the video link. great play! frankly, LF in MMP isn't overly difficult to cover. the defense that concerns me most is Luke Scott's. that guy is an absolute adventure in the field.
Yes, indeed... which is why it wouldn't suprise me if Scott played LF when he was in the lineup (with Lee in RF), whereas Lane plays RF when he is in the lineup. (its funny that Lance Berkman may still be the best corner OF on this team). Justice's blog said that Lane has lost 15 pounds this off-season, and is pretty damn motivated to rebound after the terrible last season. He also said he would be playing CF in winterball... interesting possibilities if he gets in shape.
wow, good news on lane. yeah, my father told me the other day that he thought we'd be far better off with lee in right and scott in left. scott scares the crap out of me out there. but he's a helluva hitter, so i'm good with it from a corner OF spot.
