Do we trade him and hope to get close to what we gave up for him in return and just cut our losses? Do we keep him and try to get back in it this season without ant intensions on getting in a bidding war with other clubs? ie. just make a 4 year ???million dollar offer that we don't budge on plus it comes with a timeline. Do we keep him and resign him at all cost since we did give up a starter plus a top level prospect and another guy who is at the very least a guy who would make the roster. I say offer a contract now (if we know he has no long term injury issues) if he says no he wont talk till the offseason than trade him at the deadline for prospects. The AL is gonna have a hell of a wildcard race between many good teams there will be buyers.
ask again in about a month... god, i'm developing a genuine love/hate relationship with this division. if nothing changes over the next 60 days... would you count the astros out? it would really be helpful if the team could do something definitive over the next 30 days...
I'm not going to participate in this poll, given that you injected two of your opinions in places where they weren't needed (and took away what my response would probably be).
Well I 100% agree with your logic but the problem is even if we "compete" in this division just like our 82-80 team "competed" in the division last season than what we are talking about is fools gold. Astros need to get a whole lot better instead of hoping that lightning will strike two years in a row and a 500 team from the worst division in baseball will win the world series. Astros have the 4th worst record in baseball (2nd worst in the NL) keep in mind It might be worse if they played in the better AL We don't have a very good manager and the GM well at best is unproven and there is little reason for fans to feel good about him. I say dump Jennings and get what you can for him. Hell the Texans spent a number 1 overall pick on David Carr and decided it was time to move on we will take our losses now instead of not resigning him in the offseason and then losing three players for one season out of a pitcher in a year we did not compete in. As far as lidge goes I think it's r****ded to pay a pitcher what he makes if he is not a starter or the closer so if he can't close games for you than dump him for something. Nobody is taking Woody and the rest of our pitchers either have no value or we would be dumb to let them go. Burke has some value but not much so if he is in our plans than keep him. Berkman, Biggio, Lee and Pence are not going anywhere and the rest of the guys I would trade but nobody want's them. Loretta we could move IMO. Time to start a two year rebuiling process, we will still have Roy O, Lee and Berkman locked up for another run in 2010-2011 and two years should be plenty to rebuild the minor league system and fill in the roster with quality major league players.
while I share in those views I was simply spliting 2 options into 4 options to get a better read on the issue. Not trying to push any agenda. I see where you might think that and it was not intended to read that way. So please vote on what is allined with your feeling to make it an accurate count.
it's a mediocre baseball team... in a mediocre division. it's not ideal, but then, i doubt many cardinal fans would give back last year's WS championship. the key isn;t to post a great regular season record; it's to get into the postseason.
agree but two things need to be pointed out #1-last years Cardinals team was a lot better than the 1 game they beat the Astros by. (that team is much better than this years stros lets be real) #2-the 2005 Astros, while not a great team by any means was great at one thing. Pitching carried the load and down the stretch run we got clutch hits here and there. Ric, you seem like a big fan so I will ask you to really think about this statment. "If your a flawed team you better be great at one thing or else you will come up empty year after year." texanskan
#1 - Why do you say last year's Cardinals team was a lot better than where they finished up? Their expected W-L ended up being WORSE (the bill james' formula using runs scored/runs allowed). In the end, all things even out... the Cardinals were an average team that had an average regular season record (just like the 2004 Astros were a pretty darn good team... that needed a 36-10 run to play up to their expected record). #2 - What were the 2006 Cardinals "really good at?" Its a down year... they need to compete with what they have. Next year is next year... where you see more of Pence, some of Patton, the return of Backe, etc. You want them to stockpile young talent for 2011? What about competing NOW, while Lance and Roy aren't getting any younger. Also, the Brewers and Devil Rays have all the young talent in the world... enough to make you think that if that is all it took, those teams should be playing each other in the World Series for the next 4-6 years (thus making any attempt at reloading by the Astros a useless endeavor).
I was about to make a post saying how great the Devil Rays could be, but then I did some research and saw that the Devil Rays pretty much blow outside of about 5 players. I've been watching too many ESPN highlights of kazmir and shields throwing and crawford/upton/harris hitting, lol.
Even if Willy’s play this season isn’t a fluke (it likely is), in right he’s roughly equal if not a slight downgrade to Scott. He has a higher OBP and better defense, but the power difference and difference in driving in runs is incredible. (Obviously Lee and Pence won’t be touched.) So, replace Scott with Taveras, and the net impact is a wash, if not a slight downgrade. Take away a pitcher from this rotation with a 2.70 ERA, and there would likely be a pretty significant downgrade. Whether the Astros got fair value in the Jennings deal is up for debate, but there’s no question that they’re a better and more talented team with him than with Taveras. (If you don’t believe me, compare Taveras to Scott and then compare Jennings to Albers, and tell me which difference is bigger.) It’s not even a debate, in terms of on-field play (if you’re just comparing the two).
i'd rather have jennings then the three guys we gave up. so my thinking is if we resign jennings, and he's not damaged, then the trade was good. if we lose jennings in the offseason then there's no argument that this was a terrible trade. not because we don't have taveras and hirsch but because they had atleast some value before the jennings deal and we ended up with nothing for them.
I don't get it. I'd like to offer him an extention...but not trade him if he declines. So I won't choose that. I'd like to let him play out this year and offer him a fair deal...but I'd be willing to go up. So not that one. I'd like to pay him what it takes. But nothing ludicrous. And I wouldn't use the "we gave up too much; we are invested in him" logic for 2 reasons--a) I don't agree that we gave up too much and b) Even if I did agree, I wouldn't use that logic to pay him ANYTHING. I'm not voting. I would vote for "I'd like to re-sign him at a reasonable cost." The cost would depend on his performance the rest of the year, a physical evaluation, and the pitcher's FA market that is established in the offseason. I wouldn't pay him anything, but I'd be willing to give him a raise if his 2nd half of pitching dictates as such. And yes, I'd rather have Jennings than the 3 we gave up for him. After a quick start, Hirsh has settled into being a young and inexperienced pitcher. Who knows where he'll end up.. and Buchholtz hasn't been able to consistently crack the rotation still..
I am inclined to trade him. First off, they gave up way too much for him. I would like to sign him, but from what I hear on sports talk radio Jennings is looking to get paid. If that is true, and knowing how crazy the market is with the likes of Lilly, Meche, and Suppan all getting 40 plus million, I would rather trade him and try to recoup some of the prospects you gave up. I would love to get Saltamachia(sp?) from the Braves.
i actually wouldn't mind trading him if he is asking ~12m/y. for a young catcher (Salty like mentioned) 2008 rotation: Roy Backe Sampson Williams Wandy/Nieve then throw the bank at a guy like Peavy/Santana/Sheets Roy Peavy Backe Sampson Patton (Nieve/Wandy in pen) that's one hell of a rotation
is santana a free agent this summer? give him zito money plus another 10 million. oswalt and santana for the rest of their career? i like that.
did you guys read the SI article about peavy? he's not long for san diego. grew up in alabama and still lives there. he wants to play closer to home. oh, and he and oswalt hang out all the time in the offseason! just sayin'.
