look, he seems like a nice guy, and I've tried to give him the benefit of the doubt for a long time now. . . but richard hidalgo sucks. it seems painfully obvious to me now that his 2000 season was the aberration. it kills me that we've got so much money tied up in a guy who has nothing. what will jimy do? just keep playing him until his average falls below .200? does anyone think we might be a better team with brian hunter starting in CF and fatty boombatty [lance berkman] in RF? I don't know if doggy needs to go down to new orleans for a wake-up call or what. last year, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that his leg was hurting. plus, he hadn't played winter ball before the season, and that sometimes makes a big difference. but what's the deal this year? he's not hurt [that we know of]. he played winter ball. and he still sucks. the Astros cannot afford to pay a guy as much money as him for as little production. there has been speculation about who is the most overpaid Astro. . . biggio? wagner? can there be any doubt that it's richard hidalgo?
I don't watch the 'Stros much because I am almost always working, but I thought that when we brought in Brian Hunter the team would look to move Hidalgo for more pitching.
Ugh. Brian Hunter is a terrible baseball player. He hits with no power, and doesn't draw walks. That's a lethal combination, especially for a starting outfielder. For reference, Hidalgo's .751 OPS right now (he sucks, right?) is better than Hunter has ever done in a season. Even though he's not hitting for average, Hidalgo is hitting for power (6 HR, tied for second on the team) and driving in runs (19, also tied for second).
I want to stick with Hidalgo, but I think Jimy should move him to the 6th spot in the order and move Ward up for right now, anyway. Ward is proving to be a better hitter as of right now, and he needs to be in more RBI situations.
Williams already did this at the 1st of this month. Since then Ward's average has dropped around 45 points.
He moved him there for a long sequence of games? I remember seeing him batting 5th a couple times, but I didn't realize it was a semi-permanent move.
Doggy will never be benched as long as he is making 7 mill/year. We might try to trade him for an Adam Hidalgo though. I personally say trade him for anything we can get this offseason. Then use that 7mill we saved on another OF. Of course, knowing Drayton, he will just pocket the leftover cash. Hell, use the 7 mill on 2 or 3 middle relievers worth a $hit.
I think we should trade him and Ausmus for a good catcher. Maybe someone like Petrick or ???? but we got Jason Lane coming up. If not a catcher a SS but we got Everett and Burke could play SS but hes a 2b.
We don't need to trade for a catcher. We have a very good one in AA Round Rock. http://www.astrosdaily.com/files/listen/Buck_John.htm
Finn whats your impression on Hidalgo? I heard something interesting on the Astros broadcast last night. The broadcasters made the point that Richard was a lot more aggressive on first pitch strikes in 2000, maybe hes trying to please others and be too patient for himself?
Hidalgo is hitting for power and driving in runs like he was 2 years ago. The key for him is not to try to pull everything. 2 years ago he was hitting to all fields and hit .314. Last year he was trying to pull everything and chased a lot of bad pitches. He should be fine as long as he doesn't try to hit a HR every at bat.
Ward has played 5 of the 6 games the Astros have played this month. He has batted 5th in each one. His average after the game on April 30th (last game he batted 6th) was .362. His average today is .319.
I see. Oh well, I can't tell if you are listing the batting average decrease as a reason why Ward should not be 5th, but if you are, I disagree. Every player will have a 5 game stretch where he won't do well. Overall, I think Ward is by far the better hitter, and should rightfully be the 5th guy in the order.
Just listing it as a coincidence. With their current poor hitting I would prefer to see Ward bat 2nd. They are getting killed at the top of the order. They are having too many low hit games and then one really good game that tends to skew their stats. Lugo has started to hit well, so maybe it's time to see how he does at #2. Ausmus and Zaun are not getting it done on a consistent basis.
2nd....heck our leadoff hitter is hitting a paltry .235 or so.. We have no offense, and our bullpen is HORRIBLE....it is going to be a long season of mediocracy unless it gets straightened out soon. Our only hope is that Miller, Ohswalt, and Hernandez can dominate.... DaDakota
John Buck is considered perhaps the best catching prospect in baseball. He's fantastic defensively with a bullet of an arm, and has good plate discipline. He's a very large man that would make even Adam Dunn think twice about a collision at the plate. RE : Hidalgo - its not something that can't be corrected, and as bad as Dawgy is, he's light years better than Hunter, AND he's a good defensive player.
If the Astros were not so cheap, they could have a real good balance of speed and power in the lineup. At the end of last yr after another poor season, I thought the astros should have gotten 2 contact low strikeout guys like Nefi Perez and Lofton. I thought with the farm system they have, they could trade Hidalgo for prospects, sign Lofton and play him in center and make a simple trade for perez. Lofton,Perez,Biggio along with bagwell,Berkman and Ward would have given the astros contact speed guys at the top to load the bases up for Bags,Berkman and Ward. I don't think any pitcher would want to face that even handed lineup,but of course they only want to be first round fodder as usual.
