How much money and how many free agents do we need to win in 08?

LOL - what a bunch of hooey........

Our starting pitching has collapsed, unless Adam Everett is playing all 8 fielding positions, he would not make THAT much of a difference in overall team ERA.


Max,

I get that AE is a great defender, and I get that you think he is the best option on the Astros, I can not argue that point.

I am saying he is NOT good enough to be your every day SS.......he should be a late inning replacement.

DD

 

Not good enough to be your every day SS??? He was the every day SS on a team that won the pennant, DaDa! The only team in franchise history to win a pennant!

 

Yes, but they lost the world series in 4 games because the team's offense was so anemic, and AE was a big part of that anemia.

And I don't want a pennant, I want a WS.......one pennant in 45 years is an aberation......

Team's could pitch around the top of the lineup because the bottom was such a cream puff.

I am not blaming it all on AE, I just want a SS that can hit his way out of a paper bag, and field his position well.

Is that asking too much? How many other team's have great defensive/lousy offensive short stops starting for them now?

AE is a GREAT defender, but IMO, being one sided is not enough.......

And arguably the reason that team won the pennant was because of great pitching......and yes, defense....

But great defense is not as valuable if you don't have the pitching anymore.

AE is wonderful as a SS when you have quality pitching, but his liability on offense is magnified when starting pitching is suspect....or average.

I would rather have a SS that is GOOD on both sides of the ball rather than one who is great on one and HORRID on the other.

DD

 

1. it's ridiculous to say that AE isn't good enough to be the SS on a championship team because they lost the WS. give me a break. you know better than that.

2. once again...i'm not arguing that there is no upgrade to AE out there. i'm arguing that bruntlett isn't it.

3. ozzie smith was a pedestrian offensive player. he was a fantastic defensive player. he's in the HOF. if he were a 1B, that would never have happened. if he were a rightfielder, that would never have happened. he was a SS. you're trying to apply standards to middle infielders that just aren't applied.

AE has 2140 career AB's so far...he's batting .247 with a .299 OBP and a .357 slugging average.

Through Ozzie Smith's first four seasons he had 2233 AB's... batted .230...his OBP was around .294...and about a .277 slugging average.

Those numbers are eerily similar. There's no need to pretend that great defensive SS's aren't given a pass at the plate with their bats. It's happened for as long as I can remember. And Ozzie ended up in Cooperstown. I'm not suggesting that's where AE's headed...just suggesting there MIGHT be more value in AE than you give credit for in terms of run differential.

 

The "good enough to start in 2005" argument gets old after awhile. There are reasons why AE starts, but his merits or lack thereof should be based on current production and not what he did 2 years ago. I mean, Jason Lane started every game of the world series, but I don't hear anyone stating that he should be a starter now just because he was a starter then. Morgan Ensberg started for us 2 years ago, now he's been cut. Willy T got traded away. Bags retired. Times change, players change. Everett's OPS has dropped more than 60 points since that season. He's driven in a total of 15 runs in 200+ ABs. He stole 20+ bases in '05, he no longer runs. In short, Everett of 2007 is not the same offensive player he was in 2005 (and he wasn't anything special then).

 

He is good enough to start on a SPECIFIC type of team, one where offense is not needed, that is NOT the case of the Astros, nor almost any major league team anymore. Who has 4 quality starting pitchers?

I don't know if Bruntlett is it or not, but I think we have to have an upgrade at SS to compete in today's MLB.

Ozzie Smith was incredible, no doubt, but he developed into a good hitter, while Ozzie got better AE is getting worse, and MLB has changed since the days of the wizard, team's do not play small ball, they don't steal, they go for the big stick........not the same game at all.

The past is not indicative of the game today. There is a reason that lots of teams are not emulating the light hitting SS theory, because now, lots of the short stops are hitting with power, and hitting a high average AND playing good defense. Just look at the Marlins young SS....

AE might have been given a pass in baseball played during the 70s and 80s, now, he is just not good enough on offense to warrant a starting position.

IMO.

I don't know if the Astros have a better option, but they darned well better be looking for one.....

DD

 

Ya'll are right. With Bruntlett starting all year, this team would be in the division lead.

No one's saying they're opposed to a replacement for Everett. You just have to be better all around than someone like Bruntlett or Loretta. For some of us, it makes more sense to improve the offense everywhere else you can before removing the best defensive player at arguably the most important defensive position.

But yeah, we're the ones that don't watch the games. You're the ones that only watch the box scores.

Oh and let me go ahead and add

 

RM,

I don't just want an improvement at SS....that is just a start.....I want Starting pitching, I want a better catcher, I want a better 3rd baseman...

I want Burke and Loretta to fight it out at 2b.....

I want Willy Taveras and the gang back from Colorado...

And I want Woody Williams to retire.....

This team has a ton of holes, and I would not rank Everett as the number 1 hole to fix....not by a long shot.

But he is one of many that need fixing...IMHO.

DD

 

Though I'm not really a Bruntlett fan at all, I for one don't miss AE and his "killer defense" and terrible bat.

I agree AE is an amazing SS, but he's too much of a liability in the batter's box.

He would be perfect on an AL team where he can hit in the 9 hole

But Bruntlett isn't too good either

 

Pitching is the most important.

Sign or trade for two very good starting pitchers to shore up our rotation, and obtain one good reliever to replace Wheeler. And also re-sign Lamb, and this team should be set and likely win the Central next year.

 

stop b****ing about the SS (who will be our #8 hitter, no matter who is there).

Start banging the drum for more pitching... top to bottom.

 

I second that. It would be one thing if there was a hot SS going to be available in the FA market this offseason... I'd understand the debate going this far. But there isn't. And if you think Uribe is an upgrade at SS... WOW... hehehe

Can the Brewers bring back Cordero and Linebrink? What do you think about Al Reyes? Do you bring back Springer? Do you bring back Miller or do you go after Romero? Or do you go after both and three lefties in the pen with McLemore? Can the Astros land Carlos Zambrano?

These are the questions we should be debating. We will have plenty of time to debate AE. He can become a FA after next season. Let's try not to skip ahead.

 

sry for double post. but...

And if you they don't land Zambrano... wtf do you do then?

 

Of course for a SS with killer defense to even matter, you have to have the offense to produce a lead.

I personally don't care if we lose 3 to 1 or 5 to 1. It's still a loss.

 

I personally don't care if we win 3 to 1 or 5 to 1. It's still a win.