I don't doubt that the Padres may deal him next year, but the Astros have absolutely nothing that they could offer them. We may sign him as a free agent, but there's little to no chance we could make a deal for him.
well, theres no actual salary cap, but drayton likes to keep it around $85-95 million. he wont mind going over $100 million, but it wont be for longterm contracts like 5-6 years. Get Rowand. It's really hard to judge his value since Ichiro's contract. Ichiro is making $18 million. Torii Hunter will probably seek $15 million. Rowand has only had 1 really good year. doesnt walk much, but doesnt K much either (once ever 6 AB's roughly through his career). his calling card is his defense and ability to not suck with the bat. He's probably worth $8 million in a normal market, $9-10 million with the inflated prices this year. I think teams will go after him pretty hard and then go for Hunter as a last resort because Rowand will be the cheaper option. Our big contracts dont go up much (Lee goes up $1 million), so after Biggio and Ausmus retire, we're around $71million before arby and free agents. So Rowand adds $9 million or so and we're at $80 million. Lee's contract goes up $6 million in 09, but Woody is off the books to offset the spike. Jennings is somewhat comparable to Jon Garland, and he's getting $10million a year. Jennings is older and is coming off a bad year, plus he may give a hometown discount. He's probably gonna be around $9 million as well. $90 million after signing those 2 guys, and we still need to get a catcher, 3B, and another SP. Not to mention we lose Lamb and his cheap $3 million contract. He may seek $6 million, maybe even more if teams know about him. Oswalt Jennings Sampson Wandy, Woody, Patton, Albers, and Gutierrez will be fighting for those 2 spots. Munson and Quintero are our catchers going into the season, with Towles as an outside shot. Kelly Shoppach and Landon Powell are the best offseason targets at catcher. 3B is scarce. Maybe we deal Lamb now and let Ensberg work his crap out the rest of the season. Mike Lowell is the only guy worth signing from FA. Loretta and Juan Gutierrez for 3B Chase Headley. Wheeler for C Kelly Shoppach and B level prospect. Move Qualls into 8th inning setup, call up Paul Estrada for 7th inning and middle relief. Keep Lamb for 3 years $18m and platoon him and Ensberg with Lamb getting the starts and Ensberg subbing in late for defense. Once Headley is ready, move Lamb for prospect.
yes, in as many as 17 uniquely different stadiums, which is why teams have a tendency to build around, you know, the stadium they play half their games in. radical thinking, i know...
i love houston; love it. but... really? who in their right mind would want to LEAVE san diego....? is it because of the female anchors? i hear their periods attract bears. likely, but that's not really a bridge they have to cross until the 2009 season. until then, i can't imagine what package would pry peavy out of san diego: he's 27, a cy young contender and he's "only" making $7M next year.
On the Pence in center or right field subject, I talked to Tim about that today and put it in my notebook. Nothing too earth-shattering, but in short, the club isn't committed to either one... it depends on what options come their way for that third OF spot. They definitely like what they see out of Pence defensively right now. For full transcript: http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/...t_id=2104288&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou
is there a trade in the works for somebody? like everett and ensberg for rodriguez and jeter or reyes and wright? you got inside scoops. hook it up.
it isn't houston that's the draw for him...it's being closer to mississippi, apparently. i think they'd have to address it BEFORE the 2009 season. and i'm with you...i'm not suggesting the astros could put together a trade package good enough to warrant the friars sending him our way.
