Given the starting pitching market, there might not be much they can do prior to the season. Makes their offseason focus on defense that much more understandable; it can compensate a bit for weakness in the staff. Need to beef up the pen, too.
We should just take our chances with the young arms and see what they are gonna give us. Its no lose for wade because if they dont do well, they have the excuse of being young pitchers, if they do well and we find a gem he's a freaking genius for letting the kids play. I dont think that McClane needs to worry about a drop in attendence because people are gonna wanna come out to see the local boys backe, patton, bourn and the young guys play.
If Prior gets non-tendered by the Cubs, the Stros should gamble on him on an incentive laden type deal.
Hey he started horrible this year. Plus pence gives you triples and stolen bases so you can have three speedy guys at the top and have berkman (who is more of a cleanup anyways) to play a better role for him. Plus if we put pence in the three spot, he's gonna get MORE pitches to hit cuz pitchers are gonna want to get him out than to face berkman then lee.
I hear you there, I can't wait to have a son some day those are some of my best memories as a kid with my dad. It's just has not been much time since baseball ended, I will say that I am excited about this offseason because it brings hope as an Astro fan
I'm not saying who should bat in which spot, but to say that Pence is clearly the best hitter is ridiculous.
Evidently Iguchi has a clause in his contract whereby he cannot be offered arbitration. Appears the Mets have not yet offered it to Castillo, but as they've indicated an interest in retaining him, I have to imagine that they will.
hes the best overall hitter not named berkman or lee...thats for sure...and btw...that is NO knock on pence....he just isnt where those guys are YET
Cheers. Thanks for the info. That's interesting on Iguchi, if brutal on the Phillies - he was designated a Class A FA - if they can't offer him arbitration they lose out on two high draft picks.
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/pl...news.asp?sport=MLB&id=2286&line=226244&spln=1 According to the New York Times, Luis Castillo "could receive a four-year deal" on the open market, which "may be too steep for the Mets." The Astros are among the teams that are said to be interested in Castillo, but a four-year deal for a 32-year-old whose leg injuries are becoming increasingly problematic seems like an awfully big risk. The newspaper suggests that the Mets would be interested in Orlando Hudson if the Diamondbacks made him available via trade.
