Glavine? Well, Leiber and Glavine have both been on record not wanting to come to Houston, and that makes me glad that the following will not be possible: 1. Roy O 2. Jon Lieber 3. Tom Glavine 4. oody illiams 5. Chan Ho Park Talk about your geriartric ward. Perhaps we can bring Roger back in May, and maybe after resting has back the last three years Shaner can come in and do middle relief.
They are probably trying to get an idea of the market value of pitchers. So they contact everyone on the market whether good or bad, like they did with Schilling so they can see who wants what and how the market shakes out.
I think the only 2 guarantees in our rotation are Roy and Backe. If Jennings comes back, he needs to be our #4 or 5...period...this way anything out of him is a bonus. We need a #2 and even a guy who we can slot ahead of Backe as a 3 if possible.
I take it we don't have the prospects available to make a fun for Cabrera? Obviously we'd have to give up Pence, Patton -- but I'm not sure Patton's considered among the top class of prospects still. I guess not with none of the baseball fanatics here discussing the possibility!
Patton isnt untouchable because we have a glut of young pitching arms. But he's still a top prospect which doesnt mean guarantee anything about his future except that he has value while getting hyped up.
I've got to think the Marlins will want serious major-league ready talent for Cabrera, so I'm not sure Houston has the pieces to pull it off. Plus, I think getting Cabrera would clinch Houston winning the Fattest City in America again.
I think the astros should trade a young pitcher for josh barfield and make him and burke compete for pt. Would anyone else do that? Or would the price be higher for a player like him?
We need all the pitching we can get. And, I seem to remember reading that Barfield was pretty terrible last year. I'd rather go after Castillo or Matsui and use Burke as some sort of trade bait.
how can you miss baseball so soon? The Rockets are going to be 5-1 after tonight, college football has been great and now we are getting into the second half of the NFL. Even the Texans can give us some hope if they beat the Aints and move to 5-5.
Am I the only one who reads Astros.com anymore? Some great stuff in the latest article about Bourn ... Everyone ready for a 3/4/5 of Pence/Berkman/Lee? Cuz that's what Coop has in mind: http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/...t_id=2296617&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou
^ That's not a terrible idea at all. Still have to find someone to capably fill the #2 spot. Luis Castillo would be that guy. Burke could, but he's no where near the OBP guy that Castillo is. It would sap the top of the lineup of any power, but it would sure make it the fastest top 3 in baseball.
I'd be happy with any of the free agent 2B, but I think Castillo would be third on my list behind Matsui and Iguchi. Both are pretty similar to Castillo in OBP, but have a lot more extra base pop in their bats, which I like in the two hole. Matsui also stole 32 bases last season.
To me, Coop's comments make it pretty clear that this is the plan. I'm guessing that Iguchi/Matsui might be more of a fit than Castillo since we're looking for a 2B who can hit in the 2-hole now and not leadoff. I'd be happy with either of those guys: Bourn Iguchi/Matsui Pence Berkman Lee Wiggington Towles Everett Not bad at all. I kind of like Wiggington after Lee more than Wiggington after Pence.
that lineup is good.....but if we have Oswalt, Backe and 3 tomato cans we are still going to struggle
because baseball is my first love among sports. always has been and always will be. my wife always laughs at me being "mildly depressed" the day after the Astros season ends and the day after the World Series. that's completely independent of how i feel about the texans and the rockets. i feel much stronger about the rockets than i do about the texans...because there's history there. and i'm excited about the rockets for sure!!! but that isn't in the same stratosphere of how i feel about baseball or the 'stros. fortunately, my older boy plays little league...and his practices start up in february..and we practice together a lot...so that keeps some connection to the game throughout the year.
I think its a tradeoff between the two asian players, Matsui gives you average fielding, switch hitting, good baserunning while Iguchi give you some power, good fielding with a cannon, and average baserunning. Im gonna go with Iguchi if i had the choice. I think he had a down year HR-wise last year, has better obp and i think his defense would pay dividends next to everett, they could seriously cover up berkman and wigginton, not that they are bad fielders.
I'd get Castillo. I know he doesn't hit for a lot of power, but he plays great defense, can steal bases, and gets on base at a great clip. Iguchi would be my second choice. Kaz wouldn't even be an option.
