im sure Trevor Miller and Borkoski will be in the pen. i LOVE this deal....and i think Wade is doing a great job of trying to right the ship. Wouldnt surprise me to see us sign Prior to an incentive laden contract....we are going to have to go the FA route since we dont have much left to trade. Well done Astros!!!!!!
Yea, I really wanted Kiko Calero for that role. Too bad Oakland re-signed him a day after he was non tendered. He ****ing owned us in the '04 NLCS.
exactly. Wade has basically turned a bunch of dead weight (other than perhaps Patton) and turned them into solid pieces of a contender. ANd guess what.....im thining he aint done yet!
If you want I can come up with a list of frontline #2 or #3 starters who had have similar AAA numbers at 24. It wouldn't be a short list. He has been regarded for several years as one of the top 10 prospects on the Astros. This year he was ranked #4 by Baseball America, right behind Troy Patton and Felipe Paulino and ahead of Michael Bourne, who was such a big deal for the Astros to acquire. The year before he started in high-A and made it to AAA in one season. But, whatever. You know better from looking up some statistics on astros.com, right? Here is the scouting report from 2005 when he was ranked #8 in the organization. He came in at #5 last year, when he added a slider which was considered a plus pitch, BTW: [rquoter] 8. Juan Gutierrez Background: Gutierrez repeated both the Rookie-level Venezuelan Summer and Appalachian leagues, so the Astros had to protect him on the 40-man roster before he reached full-season ball. He accomplished that mission in 2005, even making it to high Class A in August. Strengths: Yet another Venezuelan power pitcher in the system, Gutierrez has a 90-96 mph fastball and a big-breaking, 77-78 mph curveball that he uses as his out pitch. He’ll even flash a plus changeup at times. His curveball was more consistent in 2005, and he showed much better control and feel than he had in Rookie ball. Strong and durable, he should be able to accumulate innings. Weaknesses: Gutierrez still needs to grasp the art of changing speeds. His changeup has its moments, but it’s a distant third pitch. His mechanics break down at times, costing him control and command. He needs to improve his conditioning and tone down his on-field antics. The Future: If Gutierrez continues to improve like he did in 2005, he could soar through the rest of the minors. The Astros will start him off back in high Class A in 2006. [/rquoter]
CF Bourn 2B Matsui 1B Berkman LF Lee SS Tejada RF Pence 3B Wigginton C Towles C Ausmus INF Loretta INF Blum OF Ramirez OF Abercrombie SP Oswalt SP Backe SP Rodriguez SP Sampson SP Williams RP Nieve/Gervacio/Estrada/Reineke RP McLemore RP Brocail RP Villarreal RP Geary RP Borkowski CL Valverde So far that's what it's looking like
Remaining prospects C JR Towles RHP Felipe Paulino RHP Bud Norris RHP Chad Reineke OF Eli Iorg RHP Brad James LHP Brian Bogusevic RHP Sergio Perez C Max Sapp OF Jordan Parraz OF Mitch Einertson RHP Sam Gervacio RHP Jimmy Barthmaier OF Collin Delome OF Josh Flores RHP Ryan Thompson Not a whole lot of top level talent, and most of the guys here probably wont be much of anything in the majors, but the minors arent that bare. We do have a high draft pick, plus a supplemental 1st if Miller signs elsewhere, and a supplemental 3rd for failing to sign Deitrich
Throw in Wesley Wright (Rule 5 draft lefty) and Ryan Houston (waiver pick up) into the bullpen mix. I would imagine Paulino may have a chance at a starter's gig, too.
Damn, DBacks got Haren from the A's...that would have been sweet if we could have pulled a Haren deal. Im happy with Valverde though...I like him a lot.
Now we can check off the closer. We need a quality inning eater,a #2,and things could get interesting.I hope Backe is healthy.TJ surgery says it's about time. Nice deal as it appears we're committed to being more than competetive with another pitching move. I like what Wade is doing,but anything short now of finishing off the staff is not a good move by Uncle.He seems like he's set on doing it though. It appears we're making a run now....at a cost,but if we can actually get a legitimate window then rock on. I'll admit that I've given Drayton a hard time over the years,but again if we get the pitching...with all this balance in the lineup...!!??!
Valverde is on a different level than qualls because he has the ability to dominate opposing hitters with overpowering stuff. Qualls relies on a great sinker to induce grounders, but when it's off, he's off. Still a solid reliever though and will be missed.
totally forgot about jose cruz jr. paulino needs some seasoning at AAA i dont think wes wright has much of a chance, even if he was drafted through rule V. his track record isnt very pretty same thing with ryan houston. just another arm to look at in ST
We desperately need at least one good starting pitcher to be the number two. Maybe I should have just stuck Dr. Strangelove's post here. (Kubrick rules!)
