Lance Berkman has an assload to say (Clemens, Pettitte, Wade,Valverde)

Actually, the bullpen will have just as much (if not more) to do with that... Roy would have had 20 last year if it wasn't for the bullpen (whereas Roy did win 20 in the years where the offense sucked).

But I don't think Roy even cares about that... he wants the team to win games and pitch in the post-season... and that's not going to happen with this rotation as it is now.

 

tongue and cheek

 

he is simply alienating the "new guy" who happens to simply occupy the most stressful position on the team.....he didnt caution anyone.....he came out twice...not once by accident...but TWICE to make it clear that he will not tolerate Valverde's antics on his team. He COULD have taken the 2nd opportunity he had to speak (today on the radio) to say "what i meant was......blah blah blah...i wanna win and i just miss my guys but heck, we got the leader in saves which is going to make a huge difference for us....but im sure all will be cool".....instead, he made it a point to say he is going to let Valverde know exactly how he feels the first chance he gets

his initial reaction was stupid....he had a chance to correct it....apparently he doesnt feel like it matters.

What happens if Valverde comes in here and says..."if he doesnt like it, tough...thats my way...i dont tell him how to react to hitting HRs so he doesnt need to tell me how to react to a strikeout". What happens then? There goes any hope for team chemistry

The only thing that shud matter to Lance is W's. If Valverdes comes in here and blows a bunch of saves and starts pumping his fists in late Sept when we are 10 games out (God for bid)...then tear into the guy....but until then, how about a "Welcome Jose, you are just what the doctor ordered! Lets win some games"

 

I have some words for Lance: You get paid millions to play baseball; baseball is a business; why don't you stop crying about teammates being traded, seeing as how the latter two facts make it seem foolish to do so?

It is a big deal. Why is this guy being such a child? Just play the freakin' game and if you're sad, call burke up--maybe he'll fly down and you can go down on him.

It's a business--stop crying and do what you get paid MILLIONS to do.

 

True that, good post.

 

Chris Burke and Lance Berkman = Steve and Cuttino?????

 

Not particularly. If you had stated "Berkman was our only offense in September and October of 2005", it might make sense to do that. But since you were talking about 2005 as a whole, it seems that Ensberg's MVP-caliber season that was better than Berkman's year would suggest that maybe Berkman wasn't the team's entire offense in 2005.

 

Maybe Chris Burke and Lance Berkman =

 

The phrase is, "tongue in cheek", and count me among those who don't think it's funny.

 

I'm glad you posted that, because Berkman is really starting to get on my damn nerves. Like you said he needs to stop crying and play baseball. If he doesn't want to be here forget him. Demand a trade Berkman, I'm sure we could get a quality number 2 and even a good number 3 rotation pitcher. I really respected berkman and was a huge fan but if he is going to continue having this attitude the only thing I can say is "we don't need you anymore times have changed and its time to move on".

 

I don't care what Berkman says as long as he is hitting .300 with 40 HR and 120 RBI. With that said, last year he didn't, so he needs to worry about getting his game together.

I will somewhat agree about Valverde though. I hope that guy doesn't cause any problems. I'm not overly excited about him being our closer either, but he was obviously better than anyone we had available in our own pen.

 

Ridiculous... the guy has his first "bad" season, where he summarily puts up an OPS of .896... and he "needs to worry about getting his game together" before he can voice an opinion?

Its unbeliveable how much some of you take this guy's production since 2001 for granted. If he was in NY, he'd be hailed as a non-alcoholic Mickey Mantle. If he was in Boston, forget Big Papi... Big Puma would be a household name... hell, first borns in boston would be named Puma.

The guy is ultra consistent, and the fact that people called last year "bad" for him speaks volumes of the precedent he's set.

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt to be, at the moment, not thrilled about this organization's off-season... and to go into this season (where he thankfully will remain at first base) with the same preparation/focus that he's had since he came into the big leagues (because more likely than not, he'll have a damn good season).

 

Another overreaction... and please restrain me if I care a tad bit more about Lance's "happiness" than I do Valverede's.

When Valverde earns the respect of not only his teammates, but his peers around the league (which according to Lance, he hasn't)... by his performance... everyone will be happy.

Valverde's performance hasn't been all that "stellar" despite his 47 saves last year. Sure, it may be a tad better than Qualls... but it doesn't put our bullpen in the upper echelon of NL teams.

 

The guy is not "ultra-consistent." The fact that he had last year defines that. I'm obviously a HUGE Berkman fan, but I'm not gonna sugar-coat his performance last year.

He didn't have a bad first half, then turn it on after the AS break. He didn't tear it up in the first half, then trail off badly. He had a bad YEAR. He did not get it done. I don't take anything of what he did for granted. People are calling his lat year bad because it was. If he lived in NY, he'd be torn a new one in all kinds of way putting up a year like he did last year. Headlines would be "Big Puma slinks away like a scared kitten." Can you imagine the bad press he'd be getting. Instead he's in H-Town, so its kind of overlooked. So don't act like playing in Houston is only bad press-wise because he doesn't get praised as much as he should nationally, he also doesn't take a lot of heat that he would otherwise get.

I also give him the benefit of the doubt. No one is saying "Berkman sucks!" or "Trade Berkman!" We all know who he is and how awesome he is. But he needs to shutup in the press and act like a leader, not dismiss new teammates he hasn't even met, and worry about getting his game together.

 

Lance Berkman's 'bad' year last year featured an OPS that was better than any year that Carlos Lee or Miguel Tejada has ever had (including Tejada's MVP season, and the season before Lee became one of the top 5 highest paid players in the game).

Yes, it was a down year for Lance... but only because his best is that much better than anybody else.

 

are you sure your'e familiar with lance berkman or even baseball for that matter? he's consistently excellent and though last season was down it was most definitely not bad.

 

There's no need to get high and mighty with the "sure you know baseball" comments when you are trying to prove a point, give me a break. Yes, I know Lance Berkman. Yeah he hit .280 and hit 34 HR, but that is not what is expected out of him, any way you want to slice it. A .900 OPS doesn't mean he had a good year either.. the Houston Astros aren't a fantasy baseball team. OPS is a great stat, but I'm tired of people using that as the measuring stick for ALL hitters.

Subjectively watch games and look back at how many times he failed to produce as the number 3 hitter of our team. He had 100+ RBI but should have had a lot more. He had 60 XBH as opposed to 74 from the year before. He had the MOST strikeouts he's ever had in his entire career.

Yes, I love Lance Berkman. I have the guy's frickin jersey. Which is why I expect way, way more out of him. And the team REQUIRES more out of him. He's being paid $15 M a year. Yeah, if Brad Ausmus would have put up his numbers, I'd be elated. But for Lance, it was a sub-par year. It was a good year for most major league hitters - he is not most major league hitters. He is on the team for his bat, not for his defense or even for his colorful comments to the media. He isn't exactly known as a clubhouse leader, other than the fact he talks a lot.

 

And all this just gets me back to what is actually the point at hand. Lance needs to shutup and not bad-mouth teammates if he ever wants to have any resemblance to a leader for our team. Yeah, he likes to talk, but he he needs to at least think about what is coming out of his mouth.

 

Care to come up with a better stat? The great thing about baseball is that mostly all statistics, because of the vastly large sample size, have significant validity. The great thing about OPS is that it combines several statistics, and gives you a standardized measure... .OBP takes into account both batting average and walks, and slugging % takes into account HR's and XBH's. Now, we can argue about whether or not OPS should be limited to a 50/50 split between OBP and slugging (given that OBP tends to be more valuable for an overall team's success)... but for now, its the most level-headed objective stat for comparing one hitter to another hitter.

Hell, its not even a fantasy baseball stat... not sure where you came up with that.

And if you use OPS as a benchmark of how good of a year a player had... or if you're using it to project future stardom... a .900 OPS is nothing to scoff at. Its below Lance's career average, which has been noted significantly, but ridiculing him for "not doing what he's paid to do" because of a .900 OPS year is ridiculous.

You say to look "subjectively"... and then you proceed to list a bunch of STATISTICS to back your claim (which are objective facts... not subjective). His XBH's were down... his strikeouts were up... and hence, his overall OPS was the lowest its been since he's been a regular. Magical revelations? No... but a "terrible" year... hardly.

Woah, woah, woah... that changes everything. You have his jersey... how dare I question you questioning him. I forgot that when a grown man buys another grown man's jersey, he becomes the judge and jury of whatever that player does.

What about Carlos Lee? (who's getting paid more than Lance) Even though he didn't dissapoint, he didn't have as good of a year as Lance. What about Miguel Tejada? I'd GLADLY take a .900 OPS year out of next year (too bad he has never had a .900 OPS year in his career... and given his current career path, its not looking too likely).

Overall, I'd worry more about Lance being "happy", and continuing to produce at the torrid pace he's set for himself, rather than worry about our new closer's feelings.

 

No I don't care to come up with a better stat, nor did I ever say I wanted to or there needed to be.. and I never even said it isn't an objective stat. I know what OPS is. I don't need a tutorial. OPS doesn't take into account that Berkman largely failed as the #3 hitter in our lineup which was the single biggest reason our offense failed as a whole this past season. He failed in many key spots to drive in runs as well as move runners over. This is based on watching games, not statistics.

OK. throw "and then" in there. Make you happy? Doesn't change that SUBJECTIVELY he didn't look good, flailing at pitches down the pike and going out of his strike zone much, much more than he had before and OBJECTIVELY his XBHs were down, Ks were up, and OPS was the lowest. So we agree.

You serious? Now the e-penis machismo argument that I'm less of a man because I bought a player's jersey. And I typed that in only because the other user, BigM, felt the need to ask me if I "knew Lance Berkman." So I was getting that I KNOW who Lance Berkman is and I KNOW what Lance Berkman is capable of/what he should be producing. And he didn't do it last year.

I disagree. Carlos Lee had a better year last year. He looked great at the plate all year, shot the ball to all fields (which Lance suddenly forgot how to do last year), and didn't get out of his strike zone often. He looked like a fantastic hitter last year. And statistically, he put up great power numbers and he struck out only 63 times.. that is amazing. That really is amazing. He has a great feel for his strike zone. He won a silver slugger award for a reason.

And I'd gladly take a .900 OPS out of Tejada too. I'm with you on that one. I won't get into it, because I'm not a fan of the Tejada trade in any sense of the word. I don't see how Tejada's production (or lack thereof) has anything to do with Lance's down year though.

How does Lance running his mouth make him "happy"? Its not about our new closer's feelings, its that teammates won't appreciate it if he starts getting into bad mouthing others during the long-haul. He is not looked at as a leader in the clubhouse already, and now with Bidge gone, it would be nice if he at least made an effort at it and kept his mouth shut.