Thanks you Astros for one hell of a ride win-or-lose tonight!!! That said, I want the 'Stros to sign FA Torii Hunter. He'd bring another good stick to the line-up and plays great defense. This would be my line-up for next year: 1. Taveras - LF 2. Biggio - 2B 3. Hunter - CF 4. Berkman - 1B 5. Ensberg - 3B 6. Lane - RF 7. Everett - SS 8. Ausmus - C I'd rather NOT trade for an Adam Dunn because it would cost us pitchers and w/ Clemens NOT assured of coming back, I don't want to give up any starting pitchers (Backe or minor leaguers). Also, I want to keep Burke as Biggio's eventual replacement. All it would cost to get Hunter is Drayton's $$$..... What do ya'll think???
The Mets are probably gonna offer Paul an 8 year 125 million dollar contract. Their scouts watch the playoffs on TV, too...or so I hear. That's how they roll.
I really dont think we need another 1st baseman. Konerko is nice but I couldve sworn that there are other players in baseball who can also effectively hit the ball...
I heard Torri Hunter wants out. He has already sold his house in Minnesota. He also got into a fist fight with Justin Morneau.
They'd have to trade for him, plus he is due 10+ million next year and probably 12+ in 2007, plus he is coming off ankle surgery.
I like Furcal, and think he would help our team a lot, but I think with the money we would have to spend on him we should go after a better power hitter. Brian Giles caught my eye from that list that was posted in another thread.
White Sox are gonna offer Konerko monster money. He's not really available. WOnder what Minny would want for Hunter?
Mabye Luke Scott will be ready to make that leap...he was nails at AAA after getting over being sent down. And, he is a power hitting left handed bat... DD
Most importantly we need some RBI guys... Last year we had Kent, Berkman, and Beltran (if you add his KC numbers) with 100 RBI and Bagwell with 89. This year we really had Berkman and Ensberg (and to some degree Lane)... Brian Giles is a .300 hitter with an OBP over .400 and a guy who has some power (he'll hit around 20 homeruns). He had 83 RBI last year but I figure with a better team that will go up. He hopefully won't cost too much since every team will go after Damon, Konerko, etc.. If we can pick him up and teach Lane to get some more plate discipline, things could shift quickly. Also Taveras needs to stop diving at bad pitches and learn how to hit straight. And as a bonus, if we can pick up Garciaparra for cheap because of his injury woes (the White Sox pulled this off with Jermaine Dye) then we could be set.
I get this feeling that the Astros won't be doing much to their roster until Biggio's done.... At the present, Burke's spot might have to be the most expendable. I really hate the idea of moving Berkman to LF half the time. So, either Burke plays or something has to be done about LF or CF. Tori would be interesting, but he's also hurt himself pretty badly this season and had conflicts with others in the team. Then again, he's one of the premier CFs in the league. Oh yeah, he also strikes out a TON! Konerko would be great, and that would then move Berkman back out. MAYBE if Lance's knee is good, that he'll be ok at LF again. Konerko would be a nice power bat in Minute Maid Park. The only other spots depend on Everett and Ausmus. Good hitting catchers are NOT easy to find, but if Ausmus must be kept to catch Roger, then maybe an average hitter would be nice for a few games Roy pitches, etc. Everett's defense is great, imo. I don't feel that he's overrated, but his bat bugs the living daylights out of me. For an OK contact hitter with no power, WHY does he ALWAYS want to pull the ball and lift it?!?!? He was an above average 2 hitter just last year before he got hurt. That guy has some potential to do some damage at the bottom of the lineup if he learns to hit line drives. Get the pitchers some at bats and bring it back to the top if 3 outs aren't made.... Other than that, I see a few tweaks here and there. Hopefully, our pitchers will continue to be deep from the majors to the minors. We could add some younger potential bats. If we get a 1B or LF, we have Burke, etc.
The only guys the Astros have shown they'd be willing to sign are bench players once every 3 years (Viz/Palmeiro) and white Houstonian (or in Kent's case Houston-lovers) willing to come home for a discount (and please, I don't mean to start a "Drayton is racist" argument, but it's the truth). So you can all forget about Hunter (resigning with Twins IMO, Damon (who knows) and Giles (Braves or Cards). So if Viz and Palmeiro don't get resigned, you might see us get Jose Cruz Jr. or Miguel Cairo, but that's about it. Bagwell will want to come back and collect his 18 mill and CLemens might not (20 mill dollar loss either way due to drop in attendence if he doesn't come back). Free Agents
