Chris Johnson Traded to D-Backs

About half of their current roster are either waiver claims or Rule V picks.

All of this is needed. It will be unwatchable for a year or 2, then slightly watchable for a couple of years after that. They will spend money as needed, from everything Crane has said, unlike the Royals/Roots/Rays/etc, to complement what they develop. We all need to just shut up and cope and continue to bend over for MLB.

If anyone wants to direct their vitriol at a singular person, his name is Drayton, the charlatan/hack/huckster/BSartist that he is, I hope he burns eternal in a flaming pit of feathers and tar, with Bud Selig as his jacuzzi-mate.. He took a top-10 franchise and through sheer neglect and greed, turned it into the worst franchise in 70 years. His legacy is being built on the banks of the Brazos, and I hope the damn thing burns to the ground. What has he done to be a champion today?

 

How long are players usually in the Minors? Sorry if it's a noobish question I've been getting into baseball recently.

 

For now at least because signing someone to a Carlos Lee contract wouldn't make sense. Now if the Astros were a few players away I hope they would pull the trigger on signing a big time free agent.

 

It really depends on the player, their work ethic and age. Some players spend a little more than a year while others might take 3-4 to develop.

 

How easy we forget the $100+ million team payroll and sale job he did to land Clemons. 14 winning seasons compared to 2 losing seasons from '93 - '08. Lots of good memories during Drayton's run, but he is responsible for the wreck of a team we have right now.

 

Agreed - the pieces added for the time being will be on small-ish deals that they can easily discard or trade, if need be. Kaz Matsui-esque signings are iffy when you're trying to have a playoff team and have limited resources to push you over the top. At the current Astros' spot, however, they're not as bad. Mediocrity of that caliber can reduce the temptation to rush prospects through the minors, as well as give positive reinforcement to your young MLB talent by not letting them lose 110 games or whatever.

Plus, as Bima said, you have the Clint Barmes-style compensatory payoff if they play reasonably well.

 

3-5 years is a good ball park number. I'd say at least one and half standard deviations from the mean falls in that range. College players are usually on the low side of that number and high school and international signees are on the high side.

Occasionally you'll get the odd stud prospect who makes it up the year after he was drafted. Even more rarely you'll see the advanced college prospect make it to the majors in the September of the year he was drafted. Flip side, raw high school players and international signees have taken 6+ years; especially if they signed at 16 or 17 y/o.

 

The old system was broken. Toronto stockpiled like 11 picks in the top few rounds this year because they kept trading for players who'd give them draft pick compensation. Flip side, giving compensation picks by position was ridiculous because you had middle relievers that would require giving up a first round pick to sign.

It remains to be seen whether the new changes help the small market teams (as the original compensation rules intended to) but it's hard to argue that change wasn't necessary.

 

Not anymore. New CBA.

 

"What have you done today to be a champion?"

He checked out about 5 years ago, around the time he alluded to his children having no desire to continue ownership. Absolutely did not care about the franchise, just about the sale price. I bought his bag of tricks for awhile, just because I tend to look for the good in all things, but he was a 100% bull**** artist. There would be no AL move if he had any sort of backbone, will, character or desire, he just didn't give a ****, he got out when he wanted to. He went path of least resistance and handed Houston baseball tradition to Selig to do with as he pleased. Fick him. Hope Baylor likes their stadium.

 

So... Chris Johnson hit a grand slam against the Dodgers tonight. Good for him.

 

Funny what a winning culture does....


*ducks under table*

 

Norris & Lopez are the 2 guys left with real value. They aren't trading Altuve, and Lowrie's slump and injury make his value too low to move today.

 

A team would have to overpay to land Norris imo. He has nice stuff with the +K's to inning's pitched numbers. I haven't really been watching the Astros this season, but what are people's opinion on Norris possibly transitioning into a closer role?

 

That plus the most competitive era in Astros history by far are the silver linings...they came at a great cost, particularly given the hole new ownership is trying to dig out of.

 

If I remember correctly, when he was in the minors there was talk of Bud becoming a closer if he couldn't 'stick' as a starter. I think he'd absolutely be a stud closer. He has an aggressive attitude/mentality and he uses 2 pitches to get virtually all of his K's. HOWEVER, his value is the highest right now as a starter, especially since there aren't any games lately to close. If this team was contending or just completely stud-loaded in the rotation then I'd def look to transition him. In a couple of years hopefully!

 

We've blown something like 4 saves in the past week. He'd have opportunities. Long-term, it is like Myers situation. Do want a decent starter or very good reliever. I think Norris would probably be closer to Dotel than prime Lidge/Wagner, but that would be a huge improvement over what we have now.