Dalati: Astros in "Serious Dicussions" About a "Major Deal"

Did you see those two in the playoffs? There's no comparison offensively.

 

In the playoffs. They were extremely similar all year long.

 

yeah...but it was burke's first season..and his playing time was spotty. i think it's pretty safe to assume that given everyday time, burke is a better hitter than AE. they knew that when they drafted him. how much better?? i don't know. but i think there's a lot of potential there.

 

I would not want Manram on the Astros simply for the fact that his salary is to high, he seems to have a bad attitude and I cannot stand how he showboats after hitting a HR. To much cash for one guy who has a question mark on his character not to mention that he is getting up in years.

 

He has such a bad attitude that his teammates and the fans in both cities he's played have absolutely loved him.

 

Pairing ManRam with those Crawfords will make me forget about all of that.

 

The guy would have to be pretty damn awful of a person for me to not cheer when he hits 40-50 HR's, has an amazing average, leads the league in RBI's and is a top-3 hitter in this league.

Hell... Kent didn't even put up numbers that much better than Jason Lane did last year... and we still cheered our asses off for him... and his reputation was just as questionable, without the loveable east coast bias spin.

 

Can you imagine how many Crawford box bombs ManRam would hit....he would instantly make our lineup good.

One more Clemens note....IF he had decided to come back, is there a minimum amount he had to make (ie 18 million)? Is it theoretically possible that Clemens wanted the team to free up some resources to go sign offensive help so he could come back in May to sign for a few million (which may not infuriate the players' union)? I dunno...maybe it's the conspiracy theorist in me!

 

When Bogar was here, all everyone talked about was how great his defense was. He sure wasn't out there for his bat.

BTW: I've seen Everett kick a lot of routine plays. He's very, very good on the field, no doubt, but he's no gold glover. Combine that with his weak bat and, to me, he adds up to a very average ML shortstop. I'm not saying he kills us, but we could do better. I rate him behind Bruntlett and Julio Lugo. I wouldn't miss him if he was gone.

 

There is no minimum amount he would have to make... but if he was really set on this, why wouldn't he just sign for his minimum contract now, let the team go about its business with its payroll numbers completely set, and then decide later on whether or not he'd actually retire and walk away from the pre-determined minimum contract.

The fact that he held out probably had more to do with trying to coax the Stros to get arbitration, and him truly being unsure about his status next year without it, rather than a conspiracy theory.

But... I would definitely not mind it at all if it did go down like that... hell, I would take him back in August, let alone May.

 

Manny is a powerhouse. Just look at his stats:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=2974

 

Are the Stros considering a Taveras for Javier Vazquez swap?

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=54801

Just found this....I guess Burke would be our CF.

 

I'm sure Drayton has no interest in trading a young (i.e. cheap) player for a pitcher with a big contract and an era over 4.

 

I think just about anyone on our team is better than Everett.

 

I'm also sure Drayton has no interest in trading a young (i.e. good with a lot of potential to improve) player for a pitcher with an era over 4.

 

Sample size. Do you think Burke will have a .600+ SLG% next season? Silly to base any evaluation on any 14 game stretch.

And the key word in my post is "significantly". I used it twice.

Maybe not a "huge assumption" as I said earlier regarding Burke's hitting, but definitely a large one. I think we can count on both players performing better at the plate next season, given Burke's inexperience & AE's early season bout with pneumonia and his family issues later in the year.

Does the potential offensive advantage outweigh the very large defensive disadvantage?

 

please no !

 

You are stating the very reason that the market is so limited for Manny and the Red Sox would be happy to dump him if they could. Nobody..........nobody............nobody claimed him. Not the Yankees, not the Braves, not the Dodgers, not the Mets, not the Angels..........NOBODY. Nobody wants his contract because they think they are gonna get double Bagwellized and more.

That's why the Sox are behind the 8 ball. If Manny really wants out of there and starts more trouble like he did last year, they have Manny with negative value. They are gonna have to pay a chunk of his contract or take back some junk contract like Bagwell to get a deal done, in my humble opinion.

 

Well....Buster Olney seems to think the Stros will NOT spend the money allocated to Clemens on other needs....here's a bit from his blog today...

He won't start the season in Houston for sure, now that the Astros declined to offer him arbitration, and while Houston executives maintain that they needed a decision from Clemens sooner rather than later, I think it goes deeper than that. The Astros are not going to spend $18 million on Clemens, but they also have made it known that they aren't going to spend that $18 million on anybody. In effect, the decision on Clemens was completely separate from anything else going on with the team; not re-signing Clemens will have little impact on other roster decisions, other than to create an opening in the rotation.

 

Its just my opionion. I do not want a player who doesnt hustle to first base on every play or complains to the media that he wants to be traded every year. IMHO the Astros have a good team with decent character and I do not see how he fits into the picture when you add to the fact that he makes over $ 20 million per year and is getting up in years. Would I love to have his numbers, your damn right I would but I dont think it would help in the big picture. Like I said, its just my opinion