According to the following translation tool, which uses a player's current year AAA numbers and translates them to big league numbers, Maysonet is expected to produce about a .576 OPS in the big leagues: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/pagePCLyear.php It's just an approximation and merely a translation but it gives you a good idea of how much Maysonet overachieved in his limited PAs earlier this year. Give him a couple of months and he'll end up disappointing you. He'd very likely hit far worse than Matsui's present and career-worst .630 OPS. Here is an explanation of the translation tool: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/minoreqa.php#meaning
I'm at the point where I would prefer the team not bring back Tejada. I really hope Matsui can get off to a good start next year and some team will trade for him.
Well after the 2007 season we made MAJOR changes I can only imagine we would do the same this offseason as there is no excuses like last season with Ike. I hope we don't just put lipstick on a pig this time.
Fixed it for you. We played against good pitching, but the offense should still be embarrassed, though a lineup without Bourn & Berkman is usually doomed from the start.
You're right man, pitching was refreshingly decent this series after embarrassing us all in Phoenix. Massive kudos to Boone. Did anyone get to watch? Did he look rusty, or did he look like a 70-year-old? I'm amazed at someone playing ball on a high level within 6 months of having his sternum cracked open.
Boone looked OK today, everything considered. I hate to be a dick but as moving as his comeback is, this season is over and he's washed up as a baseball player. I can't imagine he'll be back next season.
I've been an Indians fan all my life and while their season has been equally disappointing as that of the Astros, at least they have interesting September call-ups and one of the strongest farm systems in all of baseball. They consistently move high end players for high end prospects when their seasons aren't going well. It disappoints fans a little to lose guys like Sabathia, Martinez, Lee, etc... but before you know it, a few seasons later, there is the next Sabathia, Martinez, Lee popping up out of the minors. After the most recent trades, they are probably right behind the Rangers in terms of depth of talent. They were ranked 5th halfway through the season, before the Lee, Martinez and DeRosa trades.
I just made a strange connection. Tejada is a fitting player for Cooper and Cooper is a fitting coach for McLane. They are all impatient and overly aggressive.
Yeah I'm not sure the point of coming back either. Boone's career wasn't thriving before he had the open heart surgery.
Can you guys be that obtuse? He loves playing pro baseball. And anytime you love doing something like that, when it is over you want the ability to go out on your own terms, and not have an injury dictate when you have to quit. Deke's career was doing well this past year but not thriving, yet none of us wanted his career to end with that injury. I realize that he was still contributing to a playoff team, but you never know what Boone will do. You have to respect the guy and root for him to come back, no matter what after that. And it takes me a lot to say that since not only am I an 'Stros, but former Red Sox fan, and used to add the freaking to his name all the time before this spring training.
Perhaps. All I'm saying is he's not going to be that great at being a productive player again.. If he wants to go out of his own volition, I certainly can respect that.
I know that strategy has worked for teams like the Twins and Indians, but has that ever worked for the Astros? The only time I can remember the Astros dumping a high end player in recent memory is the Billy Wagner trade and that didn't work out so well.
The last time they rebuilt in the late 80s early 90s they traded Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell and Glenn Davis for Curt Schilling, Pete Harnisch, and Steve Finley. I would say those worked out well, to say the least. In more recent memory, the last high end player they traded for prospects was Lidge two years ago. Bourn is making that look okay too.
I think you can find plenty of isolated failures if you dig into the Indians' and Twins' past. For that kind of philosophy to work, it has to be put into action on a regular basis. The question is whether the Astros need to pursue more of a "sell when you're out of the race" philosophy. Our owner is a relatively willing spender, at least on the major league level. We also don't have the Yankees and Red Sox to contend with on a regular basis. My feeling is that the Astros don't need to be as extreme as the Indians but management should slightly tweak their organizational philosophy when it comes to keeping the farm in good shape and scouting/drafting/developing players. If they keep these parts of the organization in good shape, McLane will end up getting a lot more bang for his buck with the big club in the long run. There are already some signs that McLane is starting to get it but we'll see if they continue in this direction. I was personally discouraged to see that, despite signing so many picks this season, a team with the 30th ranked farm system spent in the bottom tier on this past draft and were one of only 7 teams to spend below slot allowance (both of these rankings were based on only the first 10 rounds). The draft is to a large extent a game of luck but I have to think that being willing to spend above slot would be a good move given our situation. I think Drayton's been respectful enough to Bud already.
I just noticed that only the Nats and Pads have a worse run differential than the Astros among NL teams. That's kind of sad for a team with a payroll over $100 mil. It just ain't right. We've had injuries but so have a bunch of other teams.
