Bagwell's size at Spring Training

ESPN just said that bagwell said something about his relationship with the organization will never be the same..

I really wanted bagwell to be part of the organization in some way after retirement.. hope things don't get too ugly between him and the organization

 

ESPN:

Bagwell, the Astros' starting first baseman for 15 seasons, has said the team wants him to quit and that the situation has created a rift that may never be resolved.

He said the start of this spring training was "a little awkward," with his role on the team questioned for the first time.

"Just to get out here, get back on the field, I felt like it was a little bit of a trial camp today," Bagwell said. "I felt like I almost had to try and prove something, but yet I've got to sit back and say, 'No, I don't, I just have to get ready for April 1."'

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2343040

 

Regarding the "baggy" shirt theory: Two years ago, that shirt wouldn't even be baggy.

 

uprsing.. thanks

I hadn't seen the story on it, had just seen what they said on sportscenter

 

Houston Astros' infielder Jeff Bagwell arrives suited up for the first time this season at spring training in Kissimmee, Fla., Friday, Feb. 24, 2006. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

link

 

Bagwell's in denial, it's sad. That said, I hope he proves me wrong. He's also quite possibly the only person I out there that would say no to an eightteen million dollar year off. Drayton, if you do want to pay somebody nearly twenty million dollars to sit around and don nothing, I'm your guy.

 

This is my concern. Berkman should be at first base. Period! End of story! And if he gets hurt playing the outfield while Bagwell is at first base, any good feelings I have for Bags will disappear. Hopefully he'll realize he can't be effective and quit so they can park Berkman at first base for the remainder of his career. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't care as much about what happens with Bags.

One thing I like about Phil Garner is he clearly runs their clubhouse. I can just imagine him making the decision that even though Bags can throw the ball well enough to play first base, Berkman still starts at first and Preston Wilson starts in the outfield because that gives us our best chance to win. In fact, I'm sure this is what will happen if Bags doesn't retire.

 

If I'm the Stros I hope he comes out and proves he can hit for power, I then try to trade him to an AL club to be a DH. If Bags doesn't go for that then option him to triple AAA. The time has come for Bags to retire, period. Much like Hakeem, the glory days are gone and he isn't going to be an everyday player. It is time for the Astros to move on.

 

There's no way he's going to accept a buyout, and he shouldn't. He's been taking hometown discounts and restructuring his contract for years to help the team out. Even if he can't play, he is well deserving of his contract.

 

Sad but I agree as well. It's becoming somewhat frustrating to hear him react this way. What exactly did he expect the organization to do? The team has said they would love to have a healthy, contributing Bagwell back, they're giving him his chance, trying to be optimistic...but being realistic, something he needs to be as well.

Plus this story seems a little to sensational to me. This is the same ESPN that blew the initial rift out of proportion in the first place. They just seem to be taking things out of context and spinning it to suit their needs. Not that they're isn't tension, but doesn't seem quite as much (based on the local outlet reports) as ESPN is claiming.

 

What part of proves he can hit for power didn't you understand. He would have to prove in spring training that he could still hit for power for anyone to trade for him. Of course no AL team is going to trade for a DH that can't hit for power. If he can't hit for power then he shouldn't be on the Astros bench either.

 

Yes, option him to AAA....I have season tickets to the Round Rock Express, I could give updates on his progress.

DD

 

haha..

but i dont think you can option players who've played as long as he has without his prior permission, which the astros will never get.

 

They won't trade or option him. Garner will sit him on the bench if he can't hit for power or average. He's not a weak fish manager with veteran players like Dierker or Jimy Williams. Garner makes some questionable decisions, but he's in control and will do what's best for the club. Bags, I assume, will bail out if he's not a starter. If he doesn't, we will have a new definition of selfishness.

BERKMAN TO FIRST BASE!!!

 

Looking at this pic he doesn't seem to be that much smaller. At least not like the original picture in this thread.

 

Take a look at the video from ESPN. You can see Bags taking BP and actually throwing! He's actually just lobbing the ball, however it's interesting to see him in action.

 

Yeah, check out the Popeye forearms. I think the first one was an optical illusion. I bet he can reach the Crawford Boxes on occasion.

Not that he's the Bags of the mid-90s, though.

Here's another "Bagwell deserves a chance to try" piece. Love the headline.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/john_donovan/02/24/astros.bagwell/index.html

The $15 million workout?
Bagwell deserves a chance to show he can play

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Jeff Bagwell popped out of the Astros' clubhouse on Friday, just as he said he would all along, and commenced his stretching and jogging and fielding and hitting, exactly the kind of "ings" players go through every day at spring training. Bagwell even did a little throwing, if that's what you want to call it.

It was, quite possibly, the costliest workout in the history of Major League Baseball. If anyone has earned it, though, Jeff Bagwell has.

This strange, convoluted and increasingly sad case -- Bagwell vs. the Astros -- took a fateful, inexorable leap forward on Friday when Bagwell, just as he said he would, reported to spring training at the Osceola County Stadium complex. There, he'll spend the next couple of weeks trying to determine whether his surgically repaired and arthritis-ridden right shoulder is up to the demands of a 16th big-league season. But this story has way more to it than that.

The Astros have serious doubts as to whether Bagwell can play. They've had two doctors certify Bagwell as "disabled," because of that shoulder, and they've filed an insurance claim in an attempt to recoup $15.6 million of Bagwell's $17 million salary. And now they're concerned that, by simply showing up, Bagwell has jeopardized their claim.

To say the least, the saga has strained the relationship between the front office and its popular first baseman. Bagwell and owner Drayton McLane, once the tightest of owner-superstar pairings in the game, reportedly had not talked to each other in months before they bumped into each as the team convened for the first full-squad meeting on Friday. They shook hands, but that was about it. "A chance meeting," Bagwell called it.

"This is a difficult thing," Bagwell said after his morning workout. "I understand the business side of baseball. Trust me, I want them [the Astros] to collect as much as they can. But I just want the chance to see if I can play.

"I still should have the right to see if I can play."

That, before any legalities and insurance folderol, is the overriding question here this spring. Bagwell has hit 449 homers in his career, driven in more than 1,500 runs, played in 2,150 games, averaged .297. But crippled by the shoulder that has bothered him for years, Bagwell underwent radical surgery last June and played in only 39 games in 2005.

Can he play in 2006?

"He doesn't know and we don't know," said the team's general manager, Tim Purpura. "That's the hard part."

There is little question that Bagwell still can hit. Throwing, though, is another matter. When the shoulder was at its worst, in the 2003 and '04 seasons, second baseman Craig Biggio sometimes shadowed Bagwell on foul popups so he could be there for a flip, just in case a relay back to the infield was needed. A throw home, or to third, or even a throw to second for a 3-6-3 double play was almost out of the question.

Friday, during fielding practice, Bagwell took grounders and lobbed the ball on a hop back to the plate, an easy throw of less than 90 feet. Bagwell wasn't particularly thrilled with the action -- "There feels like there's something still locked in there," he said -- but teammate Morgan Ensberg was practically giddy watching the drill. He insisted that Bagwell threw more easily than he did last year and could play effectively with just what he showed in the drill.

Manager Phil Garner disagreed. And it's his job to assess Bagwell over the next couple of weeks. If Garner says Bagwell's not well enough to contribute, the team will put him on the disabled list and try to collect the insurance. It's possible that, before it comes to that, Bagwell will come to the decision that he can't continue.

Nobody in baseball today has meant more to his team, for a longer time, than Bagwell has to the Astros. In an era of rent-a-stars and hyper-inflated egos, Bagwell has been a constant source of pride in Houston. If anyone deserves a chance to see if he has anything left, this is the guy.

Yet, by simply being in Kissimmee on Friday, Bagwell may have cost his team the chance to recover millions of dollars. But if that ends up being the case, the Astros will just have to chalk it up to the high cost of doing business.

They, as much as anybody, should understand that.

 

His throws to home get there on a hop? Wow.

 

Look at how Baggy Baggy's clothes are now. I guess it would be too obvious if he went back down to an "M" from an "XL".