He's done alright @ MMP...but he's only played 3 games here. 2-0 .222ba 3.50era and 2hr over 18 innings...not too shabby. His numbers in the Astrodome were really bad.
This is ridiculous. Tomo Ohka just signed a one year deal with the Blue Jays for 1.5 mil. He would have been a steal for us at that price and would have been a very solid #4 starter. But from what i'm hearing the Astros didn't even pursue him. Horrible move on the Astros' part.
You moan about Ohka in nearly every post I've seen. If the market could only get him 1.5 million, there's clearly a lot of teams in this league who don't think he's that good. The guy has only 2 winning seasons, and is yet to post a 200 inning season (for that matter, has only broken 110 innings 3 times). Get over it, or become a Blue Jays fan.
First of all. I've mentioned Ohka maybe 3 or 4 times previously. Second of all. Jason Jennings. A guy we gave up an arm and a leg to get and who is supposed to be our #2 guy, has only had two winning seasons as well. I guess he sucks too. And you want to mentioned innings pitched? Jennings has started 156 games lifetime and has 941 innings pitched. Ohka has started 162 games and has 943 innings pitched. Wow. Big difference there. The Astros screwed up. Stop trying to justify it. I love the Astros as much if not more than the next guy. I've been a season ticket holder for years. Doesn't mean I have to be blind to the times they miss a great chance to better the team at almost no cost.
...and has been starting games since 2001, with over 30 starts in every full season he's pitched but one. ...and has been starting games since 1999, with over 30 starts twice, most recently in 2003. I don't think Ohka would've been a bad signing, but let's not compare him to Jason Jennings.
Currently the Astros 40 man roster is full. In order to sign anyone, they will have to move someone off the 40 man roster or sign him to a minor league contract. I seriously doubt that Ohka would agree to a minor league contract when he could get a major league contract with other teams.
Geez, alot of vitriol over a guy with a 4.83 ERA last season who doesn't strike anyone out. Imagine if we failed to sign a real pitcher! I think Okha would have made an ok 5th starter, but he's probably not going to perform significantly better than our other options, and might not have beaten them out for a spot in the rotation.
This might be an unpopular opinion but what about giving Jose Lime a minor league deal. He is lighting up the Dominican league and will be pitching tonight in game one of the Caribbean World Series. In postseason play, he is 5-0 with a 1.31 era. Veteran Dominican Seeks Opportunity What could it hurt? He just wants a chance. I know his track record at MMP ain't great but you never know.
i just can't imagine the astros bringing that guy back. btw -- I'll be at MMP on Saturday for my son's birthday party!!! Woo Hoo!! I don't know who's more excited..him or me.
Um, where is my invitation? He should have at least one grown-up there that's not a Titans' fan. Tell Jamarcus (or Webster, if it's his) I said happy birthday!!
Me either, but I always find it amusing when people treat free agency as a one-way street where a club can just sign any player it wants. "Tomo took less money to come pitch in Toronto," said Jim Masteralexis, Ohka's agent. "He wants to prove that he's healthy and show he has the mettle to pitch in the toughest division in baseball." and "We've made a decision to take less money to pitch for a more competitive club, which would give Tomo a good offense," he added. "He's never had good run support throughout his entire career. [Ohka wants] to pitch on a competitive club, pitch well for one year and then go back into the free-agent market." http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=215f0174-f178-4f60-9332-abe45afbe65f&k=15689 http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/new...t_id=1784630&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor
LOL at the suggestion that the Blue Jays have a shot at being 'more competitive than the Astros this year. And with the offseason moves, the Astros offense is as good as, if not better than, the Blue Jays' offense. Ohka is not great but is alot better than alot of you want to realize. Also, what's ridiculous is not that he signed elsewhere. It's that the Astros didn't even pursue him when it was clear that he would be quite cheap for a #4 caliber pitcher.
Here's the thing you're failing to realize, again: It doesn't matter what you think, it doesn't matter what I think. It matters what Tomo Ohka & his representatives think, and those are the reasons they gave for signing with Toronto. We'll see how Ohka's '07 shakes out. If his shoulder is healthy, he can be good.
You make some good points Buck. But every free agent and his rep are going to say those type of things after signing a contract. Anyways. It's over and done now. I think we would have been better with Ohka in our rotation than with Wandy, Albers, or (shudder) some stiff like Traschel. The Astros seem committed to filling out the #4 and 5 spots with MLB minimum salary players. Let's see how that works out. Still, 1.5 mil for a very solid #4 when even the front of our rotation (less Oswalt) is pretty weak would have been a steal. The Stros can give a 4 mil contract to a bench player (Loretta) in an area where we didn't have a pressing need, but don't want to go 1.5 or 2 mil for a solid starter when our rotation is a shell of it's former self?
Trachsel pitched more than 160 innings with a 4.97 ERA and 15 wins. His career numbers, if you want to go back further, are better than that. Ohka had a 4.82 ERA and under 100 innings pitched, and somehow that 0.15 difference in ERA is the difference between a "solid" pitcher and a "(shudder) stiff"? Huh? And sorry, if you look at Biggio's declining numbers when he gets too many ABs and the reality of his age, you'll see that a solid 2B was a very real and pressing need. Bruntlett's not going to get it done as a starter multiple times per week.
Biggio's declining, but .246 BA, 21 HR, and 62 RBI's actually makes him one of the better offensive 2nd basemen in the game. Take a look at all the teams trying to make a go of it at 2nd by starting scrubs the caliber of Todd Walker, Mark Grudzelanik, etc...
