I was responding to Major's examples of getting rid of guys when it no longer makes economic sense to keep them. I was pointing out that those were bad examples of what he was saying.
Actually, two of the three were. Wagner was traded for prospects as well. The mouthing off was a catalyst, but he was going to be traded anyway. Lidge was the closer of the future, and Wagner was in the last year of an expensive deal. The team wasn't going to be able to re-sign him, so he was headed out. The mouthing-off just gave them an excuse. But regardless, that's all immaterial to the larger point. My point with the Astros was not that they were trading old for young, etc - that's what they should be doing *now*, not necessarily when they are winning. My point was that letting people go doesn't destroy a franchise. It's part of the process of making a team better. Loyalty for the sake it is not healthy if your goal is a winning franchise - loyalty only works when there's also a baseball reason to build around the players you are loyal too. You can let people go from losing teams, and it's simply not the big franchise-crushing deal you compared to the Nolan Ryan thing. On a side note, people don't come out to see Berkman or Roy anymore. There was no attendance boost when Berkman came off the DL. Roy's game on Thursday had the same attendance as Norris and Paulino before him on Tuesday and Wednesday.
No, he really is a good pitcher. He has one of the best curveballs in baseball. He pitched well down the stretch of 2008 as well. He had back spasms 2 days ago and if you watched the game today, you'd see that he got pretty unlucky early, not even factoring in the errors. He was throwing the ball well for the most part. He gave up an infield single, a flukey hit off of an inside pitch and a few other weak singles. The only really bad pitch led to a Glaus double. For $5 mil, he's still a terrific value.
HR, BB, BB for slick Sammy G. His gimmicks don't look so cool when he's struggling. Apparently, he's hurt now.
You don't have to look further than the other player we sent in that deal. The way he's been pitching, Mitch Talbot would look pretty good in the Astros rotation.
Gervacio has had some strong numbers throughout the majority of his time in the minors as well as last season with Houston. There is a disturbing trend though that at 4 different levels, he has had a significant dropoff in his second year, almost as if scouts and hitters figure him out. Apparently there are also some concerns about his throwing motion potentially leading to shoulder issues. Time will tell.
When did Gervacio start this idiotic showing the ball to the 3rd base side motion? I don't think he always did that.
Yea, I think he added it this offseason. He did a weird twitchy stepping thing last season that he's sort of cut out and replaced with the new stunt.
Carlos Lee is a joke. Almost every LFer in baseball probably makes that grab, or at least gets there in time. Soriano or Braun might drop it but they'd get there.
Maybe it's time for our pitching to catch up to our pathetic offense. All 4 pitchers used today have given up runs. We still have to get through 2+ more innings. Chipper hasn't even gotten on base amidst this Brave onslaught. A good grab by Bourn and a great one by Pence save Moehler from giving up more and keep it at 10-1.
Here's an article I just found on Gervacio from a few months ago in the Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/6920176.html It's a pretty good short read with a little humor. Check it out.
Carlos Lee -6 years/$100M (2007-12) -signed by Houston as a free agent 11/06 -$3M signing bonus -07:$11M, 08:$12M, 09:$18.5M, 10:$18.5M, 11:$18.5M, 12:$18.5M -full no-trade clause, 2007-2010 -contract includes nominal weight clause As far as the last bullet point, here is a funny excerpt on it (please read it if you like to laugh): http://www.maxim.com/sports/mlb/83982/baseballs-most-curious-contract-clauses.html
BREAKING NEWS!!! Tommy Manzella has drawn an unintentional walk! He joins Pedro Feliz in the 1 BB club. Edit: Now that I'm paying attention, this Venters guy can't throw a strike. It still counts though so good for Tommy. May you increase your 1 BB per month rate going forward.
Halladay just finished off his second CG SO of the season in 5 starts. He and Lincecum both in the NL sucks for NL hitters. Throw in Haren, Webb, Carpenter, Wainwright, Santana and Cain as well as youngsters like Hanson and Strasburg in the near future and you've got a whole slew of elite pitching. Oswalt is right there with those guys, too. Hamels, Kershaw and Wandy are also worth mentioning, among others.
