5:16pm: The Braves don't consider any team the frontrunner for Soriano, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/
I'm pissed [rquoter]The deal, pending physicals, will send Lindstrom to the Houston in exchange for two minor leaguers and the Astros' first pick in Thursday's Rule 5 draft, sources told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.[/rquoter] http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4728817
Well...if Lindstrom puts it all togethar then it could be ok but if those two minor leaguers are of any substance I will also be pissed regardless of what Lindstrom turns into. Didn't know you could trade rule 5 picks till this morning, maybe its new.
I would have rather filled out our bullpen by picking somebody up in the rule 5 draft that the team could develop, not a 30 year old pitcher entering his arbitration years. I'll just hope it means a trade in 7 months.
RT @brianmctaggart: Deal done. Astros send RHP Robert Bono and IF Luis Bryan and player to be named to Florida for Lindstrom
Robert Bono is 20 and had a 3.20 ERA at Lexington last year(Better then Lyles and Seaton). Luis Bryan had a .836 OPS as an 18 year old in rookie ball as a SS(Only 106 ABs). I hate this a whole bunch.
You want as many players as you can get as long as one is blocking the other. Remember Chris Burke was once the 2B of the future, and we traded Ben Zobrist who was a nobody, but played well every where we put him. Bono isn't considered to have great stuff, which is why they traded him, but I guess they forget you don't have to have dominant stuff to succeed.
This part intrigues me on multiple fronts... I can't imagine Wade trading off MORE minor leaguers for bullpen help especially if Wren wants a nice return while getting rid of Soriano's salary. Lindstrom has potential IF HEALTHY plus he is only going to make about 1 million even after ARB.
I'm a little confused with the route they took with Hawkins. If the hangup was multiple years, like Hawkins says, why didn't they offer him arbitration? Seems like it would have been a win-win, if he accepts you have a relatively cheap option at closer for only one year, that won't cost you any prospects to sign, and if he declines you'll get two high draft picks. Instead, they don't offer him arb and he leaves without compensation, and in the meantime now they have to go after more expensive options (soriano) or options that cost prospects (lindstrom and soriano).
Amazing isn't it. This organization just isn't getting the message that the fans would rather suck for the next two years and then go through a great 10 years like they did than be stuck in mediocrity for 10 years. This trade is still salvageable because they may get more for Lindstrom down the road, but not offering arbitration to Hawkins was just stupid.
On the offensive front, the Astros remain interested in Pedro Feliz, who could play third base for the club http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/6761611.html
Definatly retract that statement. How could I forget about Geoff Blum. Nevermind. You are useless Mr. Feliz
This is what I don't understand. Why trade players for a worse guy than you already had, apparently wanted for only one year, and yet didn't even offer arbitration to? Hawkins seemed like the perfect stopgap closer - cheap, arbitration eligible, not someone else's free agent so it doesn't cost any picks, etc.
