lost to the brewers on the last day of the season at MMP. i was there with my older son, and we weren't real thrilled with that.
It was the FRIDAY loss that killed us. It was a 4 game series, and we took the first game on Thursday with Redding (who had a pretty good year that year). Then, we toss out the "unstoppable" Jeriome Robertson to go up against another former farm-hand in Wayne Franklin. A win would have guaranteed at least a TIE in the division. We lost (Robertson got bombed in the first inning), ended up splitting the series, and lost by one game. Pretty disheartening.
Really? He's batted .280 and .285 respectively the last two years. He's declining. He was pretty horrible the second half of last season. He has very little power. He's little better than Taveras at this point. The only differences are that he's an infielder and he has less speed. 2.5 million for a bench player in an area where we already have decent options when we have much more pressing needs is a mistake, whether or not you want to admit it.
15GWJR looked like he wanted to be anywhere but on the mound that day. Body language, facial expressions = scared sh!tless.
Yeah, I was there with old man and it pretty much sucked but they were not gonna do **** without another quality starting pitcher that season anyway
Since when is .280-.285 not good? He may be on a slight decline but he's still an above average contact hitter, and a guy who could start at 2b for many teams. And excuse me but if you are comparing taveras and loretta you have not seen him play, nor understand his approach at the plate. He has always been a 10-15 hr, gap hitter. Taveras is a use his speed slap hitter. And his power was sapped at fenway because of the park dimensions. And petco before fenway. And what decent right handed option off the bench did they have. Bruntlett? Lane? You have to be kidding me. What pressing need did they have that money needed to go towards? The bullpen is set. I already explained that I can understand the team feeling nieve can do as well as the retread 4th starters avail, ie like Ohka(who had shoulder issues last year). Loretta had a bad 2nd half, so what. It doesn't mean he's done. There are long lists of players that do better before the all star break and others that fair better afterwards. He is a good contact right handed hitter, and will be an excellent role player for the team. The fact that you think it was a waste of 2.5 million dollars just baffles me.
i did overreact, but some players make my blood boil and hidalgo is one of them. i'm still bitter the astros paid him a ton of money and he underperformed. however, i'm glad to see he lost the weight he put on with the rangers, and that should help him out defensively. but i still have reservations offensively and health-wise. he's 31 years-old now, and will turn 32 in the middle of the season. he was out of the MLB last year and in 2005 he was not very good in a great hitter's ballpark. obviously if we pay him very little the risk/reward factor swings in our favor. but i still think we are wasting our time with him. i think there are more pressing needs for this team than a guy who in the best case scenario makes the major league roster and plays sparingly.
Official signing today- http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070112&content_id=1778071&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou Astros sign Hidalgo to Minor League contract Outfielder hit 134 home runs in eight seasons with Houston; Will attend Major League Spring Training HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros announced today that the club has signed outfielder Richard Hidalgo to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. The announcement was made by General Manager Tim Purpura. Hidalgo, 31, has hit .269 (929x3459) with 171 home runs and 560 RBI in 987 career big league games. His most recent big league season was in 2005, when he hit .221 (68x308) with 16 home runs and 43 RBI for the Texas Rangers. Hidalgo was originally signed by the Astros as an undrafted free agent on July 2, 1991, and played eight Major League seasons with Houston from 1997-2004. In 813 career games with the Astros, he hit .278 (787x2827) with 134 home runs and 465 runs batted in during those eight seasons. "We are very pleased to bring an original Astro and a former team MVP back to the organization," said Purpura. "For eight seasons, Richard was a constant force in our lineup, and we look forward to giving Richard the opportunity to attempt to earn a role on our club in 2007." In 2000, Hidalgo hit .314 (175x558) with 44 home runs and 122 RBI in 153 games for the Astros. His 2000 campaign made him only the fourth player in club history to hit 30 home runs, score at least 100 runs, and drive in at least 100 runs in the same season. At that time, Hidalgo's 44-homer season was only the fourth 40-homer season in Houston franchise history, including the franchise-record, 47-homer effort by Jeff Bagwell during that same 2000 season. Hidalgo earned Astros Most Valuable Player honors from the Houston chapter of the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) in 2003, when he hit .309 (159x514) with 28 home runs and 88 RBI. Hidalgo is currently playing for the Magallanes club in the Venezuelan Winter League managed by Astros Special Assistant to the General Manager/Latin American Operations Al Pedrique. In 54 games for Magallanes, he has hit .273 (51x187) with nine home runs and 27 RBI, through games of January 10. At that point, Hidalgo led the team in home runs, RBI, walks (31), runs scored (33), and hits (51). On June 17, 2004, Hidalgo was traded from Houston to the New York Mets in exchange for right-handed pitchers Jeremy Griffiths and David Weathers. He signed with Texas as a free agent on Dec. 10, 2004. Hidalgo attended Major League camp for the Baltimore Orioles in 2006, but did not appear in a big league game last season. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Are you really going to war over the merit of Mark Lorretta? He plays three positions, he gets on base, he's a team leader and he can accept being a utility player on the Astros. 2.5 million dude...this was hardly breaking the bank. There is no problem with this signing.
Good to know you're being objective. Were you this apoplectic when the Stros invited Eric Munson to ST last year? Or when they invited him back this year? I don't see you carrying on about them signing Jose Rodriguez, Stephen Randolph, Kevin Walker & Cody Ransom to non-guaranteed deals & inviting them to ST. Did the Co-ards waste their time bringing in Weaver during last season? How about the Stros & Vinny the MexiMullet a few years back? You never know how the breaks will break. And who is "we" by the way? You don't think Timmy "Dual Tracks" Purpura can focus on more than one situation at a time? You don't think he knows about the shortcomings & question marks on the team as it stands? How much time do you think he invested in the Hidalgo signing, or the other ST fodder signings?
So long, Jason Lane. I see Hidalgo as a late-inning defensive replacement in center, taking over for Burke with Burke taking over for Biggio. He's also a good insurance policy against Scott regressing. And if both Scott and Hidalgo fail, Pence should be ready by then.
Has there ever been a case where a guy took a year off because he was fat and out of shape and came back a year later as a productive player? And, does anyone else think that Hidalgo might have had that one career year with a little help from Mr. Anabolic? DD
I think that there are Comeback Player of the Year awards because some people have been known to, well, comeback. But in any case, Hidalgo, even without a little help from his friends, is still a better option than Jason Lane. No doubt this a small move, but sometimes small moves can pay big rewards.