Sweet Zombie Jesus, pitchers & catchers don't report until February, there's 873 pages of thread discussing David Carr & Vince Young, the real NBA season doesn't start for another 5 months, and now we're once again rehashing the World Series from 2 years ago? Where's that Hennigan's?
The most important WS in baseball history. Despite the results, it's my favorite one to discuss. The Astros bein' in it, an' all.
msn, their pitching was not <i>better</i> but <i>deeper </i>. They had a very good 5 man rotation. But our top 3 were better than theirs. And I truely believe u can win a best of 7 with a 2-3 Ace pitcher team (Arizona beat a monstrous NY team a few years ago).......I'd take my chances with Roy, Pettite, and Rocket against their 3 any day of the week.
What about the bullpen? If the starters don't finish games (and Roger never does), then those guys have to compete as well. Secondly, their ace (name escaping me) was having a career year, on par with Oswalt's (iirc). Over his career he's not as good, but in 2005 he was all that *and* a box of rocks.
Astros face same decisions with less pressure The Astros will decide between Morgan Ensberg or Huff at third base, or make a trade. Ensberg, who made $3.8 million last season, is arbitration-eligible, and Huff could command as much as $8 million or $9 million per year for three to five years, which is too pricey for the Astros. Looks like Huff may be on the way out ...
Whether Astros pitchers were more talented than their guys or not isn't really important. Lets say Astros pitchers were really good and Sox were just good. Well their good pitching had to face a bad offense and the Astros really good pitching had to face a decent offense that could hit homeruns. Also, when comparing stats between the two teams in pitching, keep in mind that the White Sox played in the American League.
Astros don't offer arbitration to five HOUSTON -- The Astros have declined to offer arbitration to all five of their free agents, general manager Tim Purpura confirmed on Friday. The list includes Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Aubrey Huff, Russ Springer and Jeff Bagwell. The Astros are extremely interested in negotiating contracts with Pettitte and Clemens, should they decide to pitch in '07, but they appear to be only moderately interested in Springer and Huff. Bagwell recently filed for free agency but is expected to retire in the very near future. Pettitte, 34, expects to make a decision regarding his desire to continue his career by Christmas, while Clemens, 44, has no timetable. Agent Randy Hendricks, who represents both Pettitte and Clemens, indicated that there were no hard feelings from their standpoint. "I take it to mean that the Astros do not want to pay what they would be expected to pay under arbitration criteria," Hendricks said via e-mail. "Arbitration is a one-year contract. No one will take this personally. Both Andy and Roger are most appreciative of their relationships with the Astros and the Houston fans. Time will tell how all of this plays out for 2007." "Basically, you look at your interest of being able to negotiate a contract versus turning it over to an arbitrator to decide for you," Purpura said. "If Andy decides to play, or anyone else decides to play, we can negotiate a contract as well as anyone else could." Under the new rules of the Basic Agreement, teams can continue to negotiate with players not offered arbitration up until Opening Day. Under the old rules, teams had until Dec. 7 to determine whether to offer their own free agents arbitration, and if they didn't, they could no longer negotiate with them. If a team did offer arbitration and the player declined, negotiations could continue until Jan. 8. After that date, the club couldn't discuss contract offers again until May 1, if the player was still available. But under the new rules, the date of offering arbitration has been moved up a week and players have until Dec. 7 to accept. The Astros, having not offered arbitration to any of their five free agents, have no deadline to meet. Had they offered Pettitte and Clemens arbitration, it's unlikely that either would have made a decision by Dec. 7 anyway, and both probably would have rejected the offers. "In these cases, we don't have declaration of what's going to happen," Purpura said. "They've already said Christmas [for Pettitte] and they only have a week to make decision as to whether to accept or reject arbitration. It's nonsensical, really, given public announcements." Huff appears to have priced himself out of the Astros' market with his desire to sign a three- to four-year contract worth more than the nearly $7 million per year he earned toward the end of his three-year contract that expired this year. Springer, who has been with the Astros since the middle of the '04 season, also appears to be slipping off the Astros' radar screen, mainly because the club prefers its middle relievers to be able to pitch multiple innings. "He's a one-inning guy," Purpura said. "His ERA in one inning is stellar. Go past one inning, it goes to 20." The Astros are going to need relievers who can pitch multiple innings next season, considering the 40-year-old Woody Williams recently joined the rotation, and Clemens, who will turn 45 next August, could sign on next year, too. "Woody's not going seven or eight innings," Purpura said. "He's a five- or six-inning guy. We have a need in our bullpen for guys who can go deeper, two- or three-inning stints. Maybe [Dave] Borkowski fits into that role, maybe [Chris] Sampson, or other guys can fill that role."
Have you heard? Cleveland would deal starter Jake Westbrook for closer Brad Lidge, but the Astros say they won't trade Lidge. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/afl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23930_5185708,00.html Uhh, I don't know about yall, but if this rumor is true, I would do that deal. I'm not sure about westbrook's contract status, but he'd be a hell of a pitcher in the NL, and closers can be found much easier-ie borkowski and todd jones. Edit- Astros also intersted in juan ricon. See, get ricon, slide wheeler/nieve into closers role, trade lidge for westbrook, resign pettite, and we are di-no-mite. I know I know, I have no idea why I'm not the gm either. The Twins don't want to depart with Juan Rincon, but a little birdie says the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies are talking about Rincon with Minnesota, which is seeking starting pitching and another hitter. http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/16152324.htm
Now that we're no longer going after Huff as he is out of our price range, how big of a liability would it be to make Lamb an everyday starter at third if we deal Mo? Also, is a package of Mo and Willy T fair value for Jason Jennings? Who would play center is Willy was dealt, Burke? I don't really remember seeing Jennings pitch, but from what I've heard he's pretty solid. With the limited budget we now have after the Lee signing, this might be our last chance to get decent second or third starter, unless Drayton is willing to break the bank for Andy after the winter meetings.
You guys see the chron this morning? Says Peavy is on our radar as well. Maybe Willie, Mo and X? They lost Roberts to the Giants...and they have been looking for a 3B since last season....not to mention that Peavy is all but locked up pretty cheap thru 2009. Peavy would be HUGE. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4379479.html
I'd throw in either Pence or Scott if the Padres were interested in talking: Ensberg, Taveras, and Pence/Scott for Peavy would make me a very happy man. Maybe they'd even want Ausmus back!! In a perfect world, we'd have enough ammo to maybe pry Linebrink from them as well, but that's probably too much to even dream about. If we did get Peavy and Linebrink, we could move one of Qualls/Wheeler/Lidge for another starter, Jake Westbrook anyone? Ok, back to reality (sort of), in his blog, Richard Justice insists that Peavy won't be traded, and Jason Jennings will only be moved if the Rockies can't sign him to a long-term deal. Boy, if Purpura comes out of these winter meetings with a solid top of the rotation starter and maybe some bull pen help, he'd certainly silence a lot of his critics!
Holy crap, that'd be awesome. If we get Peavy, guaranteed that either Andy or Roger will come back, maybe both. Think about... Roy Clemens Peavy Pettitte Woody Im dreaming, but thats just too damn sweet.
Carpenter and Cardinals Agree to New Five-year Contract The Cardinals announced a five-year deal with 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter on Monday, locking him up through the 2011 season for about $65 million. The deal also includes a club option for 2012 that would bring the total value to $77 million. $13 miilion per year. Jason Schmidt will be lucky to get more than that?
Peavy and JJ would be soooooooooooo sweet esp. peavy, but he does have probs in the postseason, maybe our new pitching coach would turn him around. Poopora has his work cut out for him, for sure.
I dont think we will get both.....for no other reason than if Willie is in one deal and Burke is in the other, we leave ourselves with Lane in CF...which would be a disaster
The deal is this The Astros are showing interest in acquiring Jake Peavy from the Padres. It's highly unlikely that Peavy will go anywhere, though an offer that includes Brad Lidge, Jason Hirsh and Hunter Pence would at least give the Padres something to think about. Source: Rotoworld.com The Rocky Mountain News believes the Astros could give up both Willy Taveras and a young pitcher for Jason Jennings.Astros are also believed to be intrested in 1 of there 3B. Tracy Ringolsby also sees the Twins offering Jesse Crain and a young starter. The Rangers, Cubs, Mets and Tigers are also showing interest, according to the report. We doubt the Tigers will get him, but if they did, they'd then likely move Mike Maroth. Source: Rocky Mountain News Jake Peavy for Morgan Ensberg Hunter Pence and Troy Patton Jason Jennings and Jeff Baker for Willy Taveras Brad Lidge and Pitching Prospect. Leaving us a Rotation of: 1. Roy Oswalt 2. Jake Peavy 3. Jason Jennings 4.Woody Williams 5.Jason Hirsh And a Lineup of: 1. Chris Burke CF 2. Jeff Baker 3B 3. Lance Berkman 1B 4. Carlos Lee LF 5. Luke Scott RF 6.Craig Biggio 2B 7. Adam Everett SS 8. Brad Ausmus C
