[ESPN] Ausmus agrees to $7.5 million, 2-year deal with Astros

My girlfriend seems to love Lance Berkman. That's cool though, he's my favorite player....

 

What can I say, I've got killer looks.

 

Hilarious, and accurate.

 

thats hilarious!

 

This is good and bad...Good as Roger loves him, but bad as in his hitting...Although, he has improved somewhat, but still...

 

I just dont understand why we didnt pursue Molina a bit more(im assuming we didnt of course). Whats the worst thing that happens? We alienate Ausmus....cant afford Molina...and we end up signing a guy who hits 250.

 

As bad as his hitting is in the regular season... the man goes beyond clutch when it comes to the playoffs.

2001 - he was our only decent hitter when we got swept

2004 - starts the post-season off with a bang with a HR in Atlanta. He then almost has the biggest hit in franchise history, but is robbed by Jim Edmonds (which no longer gives me nightmares, since we now beat them).

2005 - This time, he does hit one of the biggest HR's in Astros history... man, he definitely nailed that ball.

Ausmus definitely deserves a lot of the credit for the success the Astros have had ever since he's been with the organization. I've seen what the days are like without him (2000), and it definitely isn't something I want to re-live.

 

I'm thinking Molina is holding out for at least a 4 year contract. Something like 4/24mil is what I'm thinking he sees. Guess that was too expensive for the Astros.

 

They still said catcher was a priority even if they re-signed Ausmus. Of course, would you be willing to spend $11-12 million dollars a year on Bengie Molina??... cause that's what he's going to get from some overspending team in this market.

 

You're really underestimating the market for him... he will command mucho $$$.... belive me.

 

I disagree a little.....you aren't really attributing our poor 2000 to not having Ausmus are you? I think that's a little off base.

He has had some big hits...but his offensive struggles along with his decline in defensive ability is reason alone to look elsewhere for a catcher. That being said, unless we could have gotten Molina or Loduca, its not like there was much else out there.

 

Possibly, but remember Ramon Hernandez only got 4/27.5mil. Ramon is not the defensive catcher Molina is, but he's a much better offensive player.

 

11-12 I wouldnt spend on Molina...itll be interesting to see what he gets.

 

I'm sticking with 4/24 possibly as high as 4/28.

 

I think 6 mil / yr on a good catcher is fair mkt these days....now, if we end up landing a LF or SP and use some of the momey that we WOULD have spent on Molina, then I'm ok with Ausmus.

 

I don't know about Hernandez being better offensively.

Molina had a better year last year, and then proved to be a big-time post-season hitter as well. He's got a high BA, and can give you HR power... all big-time bonuses from catchers.

Plus, he did it where it mattered most.... on the big-stage, beating the Yankees. AL teams notice that, and I wouldn't be suprised if one of them tried to up the bidding.

 

Here's the career stats of both.

Molina

.273avg/.309 obp/.397 slg/.706 ops
cs% .363

Hernandez

.262 avg/.325 obp/.418 slg/.743 ops
cs% .308

Maybe not much better, but Hernandez is the better offensive player especially if you use 3 year averages. Hernandez hit .290 last season.

 

These stats are close enough to warrant a guess that Molina will get nearly the same dollars as Hernandez. Not worth it in my book.