done deal Astros Sign Kaz Matsui Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 reports had it first: the Astros have signed second baseman Kaz Matsui to a three year deal worth $15-16MM. Ed Wade saved Jim Hendry from himself. Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald and Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle confirm the signing. Richard Justice speculates that the 'Stros could shop Chris Burke now, and maybe even package him with Luke Scott. Matsui is the early favorite for worst free agent signing of the winter. He is probably not worth half the money, and a three-year commitment for him is insane. Since he joined the Rockies in August of 2006, Matsui hit .256/.305/.370 away from Coors Field. Not that Matsui is a legitimate starting second baseman, but the signing clearly leaves Tadahito Iguchi as the one free agent starter at the position. That is, unless David Eckstein opts to market himself as a second baseman.
chron has the story as well http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5340665.html hitting sucks... how's his d?
Projected Starting Line-up 1. CF Bourn 2. 2B Matsui 3. RF Pence or 1B Berkman 4. LF Lee 5. RF Pence of 1B Berkman 6. 3B Wigginton 7. SS Everett 8. C Towles / Ausmus 9. SP Oswalt I like the speed at the top of the order with the dangerous 3-4-5 hitters but still don't feel comfortable with that latter part of the order
Wiggington is gonna be a free swinger and probaly get 20-26hr 75+ RBIs and a bunch of strike outs i think its pretty consistent to his other years. Everett is gonna be himself, maybe he will finally get it this year, or learn from matsui how to put the ball on the ground in the right spots and use his speed. I think towles is gonna be a damn good hitter. September for him wasnt a fluke (like it was for anderson) this guys is solid at the plate. He doesnt strike out easily and i think he's a clutch hitter. Everytime someone was on second, jr would get a big hit. And Rodrick98, Matsui is an excellent defender...... better than burke, castillo and iguchi. And his batting average, ops and obp arent the only things that ya'll should look at, Matsui is awesome at moving over runners, steals a ton of bases, and can play SS too.
Astros would be real dumb if they don’t offer arbitration to Mark Loreatta because he will either sign with the Rockies or the Yankees soon but the deadline is next week. They will get a supplementary first round pick if they offer him and he signs with somebody else.
They need to offer it to Trevor Miller too. So they can get the pick too. What are the odds that he actually accepts. Jennings is type A free agent i think, that one is tough because i think he'll accept it if you offered him arbitration.
Miller would be just about a lock to accept, and the Stros don't seem to want him back. He'd be guaranteed about 1.5M, and he likes Houston. Doubtful he gets more, or a 2 year deal, on the FA market. I'd be very surprised if Loretta isn't offered.
I was listening to 790 and Pallilo had Ed Wade on and he said that they have contacted Scott Boras about signing Eric Gagne . I don't know what to think about this . As long as they don't give him a ridiculous amount of money , it may be worth a shot .
i think signing kaz enables Wade to go to the GM meetings with one thing in mind....and thats adding a #2 starter. he doesnt have to waste his time chasing agents
Exactly. Signing Gagne is like getting Lidge back. Both were dominant, feared closers at one point in their careers. Both have struggled badly and are trying to get back to their former selves. It would be a decent signing considering the market for closers this year. I'd like Wade to explore the pitchers from Oakland. the A's are said to be shopping 3 of their top pitchers: Harden, Haren, and Blanton. Oakland's GM is even the one initiating trade talks for his pitchers.
I would love to see the Astros get in on the trade talk for Santana, Bedard, Haren, etc. Unfortunately those guys will cost big time prospects, which we are sorely lacking. If a package of Pence/Patton/Burke could get me Santana, I'd do that trade in a heartbeat. Luke Scott could play LF fulltime (by the way I am not a big Luke Scott fan, in case you're wondering) and you have two of the best arms in baseball as your 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Rodriguez and Williams are your 3 and 4 respectively, and you put the 5 spot in the rotation up for grabs for the young guys. I'd hate having to give up Pence, but you're getting Johan Freaking Santana. Patton IMO will never be more than a servicable 3-4 pitcher and Burke, well I think enough has been said about him. As for the signing of Kaz Matsui, the guy has speed which this team was sorely lacking before signing him and the acquisition of Michael Bourn. They should make an interesting top of the order with their speed. Lastly, I have a question for the Astro faithful. If the Angels contacted the Astros about trading for Carlos Lee (if the Cabrera deal doesn't work out) what would you want from the Angels to make that deal? Would you make a deal at all?
Not gonna get it done. Not when the Yanks are offering Hughes. Pence/Burke/Patton MIGHT get it done. But then we'd get to hear everyone here b**** about not having enough in the middle of the order.
Drink up fellas cause it's gonna take people drinking 7,716 $8 beers each home game to pay for Matsui.
