I think their argument is that you replace Lyon with any cheap, league-average player and get the same results. I'm not sure I agree, but that's what they are basing it on - that the Astros spent $5MM where they could have spent nothing. For example, you could probably stick Gervacio in the closer role and get about the same numbers, but you're paying him minimum wage.
I'd point out that the new 3rd baseman is no better than the old 3rd basemen were. Blum, Keppinger, and Feliz all are basically identical 0.700 OPS players, except that Feliz is more expensive than the other two.
Lyon's two years as a closer? 6.44 ERA 4.70 ERA His numbers are a lot better outside the closer's role. I wonder if Lyon should be the closer.
Sources: Feliz would play 3B for Astros By Enrique Rojas ESPNdeportes.com Archive Third baseman Pedro Feliz and the Houston Astros are close to agreeing on a one-year, contract, sources told ESPN.com. Feliz will receive $4.5 million in 2010, a source told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4731387 Feliz, 34, batted .266 with 12 homers and 82 RBIs in 2009, his second season with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles were the other teams interested in acquiring Feliz during baseball's winter meetings in Indianapolis, said the source. The Astros' primary third baseman last season was Geoff Blum, who started 94 games at third. But Houston would like to return Blum to a role as a super-utility player. The Astros explored the possibility of bringing back Miguel Tejada to play third base, but Tejada's contract demands were richer than they had in mind. Enrique Rojas covers baseball for ESPNdeportes.com. ESPN.com's Jayson Stark contributed to this report.
If one of those guys being Keppinger, who is rarely even allowed to bat against righties because he sucks so bad from the left side, then those particular numbers look better than they would if he were able to play full time. The other guy -- presumably Blum, is desired for a utility role. Since his glove is an adventure, that's a good move. So, we're wringing our hands over $4M? Come on, now.
Thank goodness we got Feliz and his .704 OPS against righties. I knew Kepp's .661OPS against righties(203ABs) was what was killing him or Blum's .663. Of course Blum had a .719OPS against righties in 2008 while Feliz was at .636. Yes $4.5 is a big deal. If it wasn't a big deal, they would have offered Hawkins arbitration like they freaking should have. They should be sitting here today with 6 picks in the first 2 rounds. They should have gone ahead and saved the $10 million and used it to sign those extra picks.
how about .249 .302 .402 .253 .290 .418 .244 .281 .428 Just saying Feliz has traditionally been a slightly better power guy than he was last year. I get your point, but yeah, msn's arguments above on the other 2 pretty much. Blum hasn't even had 500 plate appearances since 2001, and that wasn't a good year for him. He's best-suited for a utility role, and if we keep Kepp, he's best suited to play against lefties..
Blum has higher career OPS against both lefties and righties than Feliz. He committed 3 errors last year in 100 games at 3B, compared to 15 for Feliz in 150 games. I didn't watch much of last year, but my impression was that Blum has been very good defensively. Lamb was the one that was always the adventure.
I'd venture to say that a guy who tends to pull the ball with power may well improve those #'s coming to MMP.. career #'s at MMP .301 avg .326 obp .530 slg = .856 ops 83 ABs, so it's not a super small sample
Sign Feliz, move Blum to second, second base problem solved. Now we just need to find another utility player and payout Matsui's contract.
You are correct. I must have "misremembered". I don't agree with everything the Astros are doing, but: I know they're going to suck, so I'm not getting too worked up about anything. They haven't had much in terms of great utility play. Blum could never be The Great Billy Spiers, but he'll be much better in that role. Looking forward to having a guy like that to root for off the bench. In this baseball economy, $4.5M for an everyday starter just isn't much money. It simply isn't.
Overall, I tend to agree. These are all relatively minor moves in the grand scheme of things. I don't think they change the trajectory of suckiness of the Astros next year, and I don't think they really harm their future (unlike many past moves). In the end, they are just "eh, whatever" moves to me. Which is fine - like you said, they are going to suck, and I don't want them trying to do things to not make them suck this year that will hurt them down the road.
Its $4.5 million on a player that isn't a substantial improvement over what we have. Not as bad as the Lyon signing IMO, but still doesn't make me happy. Its spending money to spend money. The team is afraid to completely rebuild.
Lets just hope that is the result of the park, and not our pitching. I decided to look at Blum and Kepp's numbers at Minute Maid over the last 3 years and they didn't have near the advantage. Kepps numbers are actually worse a MMP. Feliz's aren't good over the last 3 years either in 44 ABs. I really wish they spent that money on starting pitching if they were going to spend it on this roster. Oh well.
I don't see how this hurts their rebuilding effort. If they have made the determination on Chris Johnson (entirely possible at this point), then you have to go in another direction. Spending this money doesn't somehow take away from their prospect budget.. plus, see my post on Feliz's numbers at MMP. There is a significant possibility he could outperform his career averages here. In that case, he could fetch us something towards rebuilding at the deadline. Isn't that better than sitting on the money?
haha agreed.. i had the same thought when i saw it! But he is the type of hitter you would expect to succeed with the Crawford boxes I would think...so it makes some sense.
I'd like to see the money spent towards the draft or international FAs. The problem with Drayton isn't spending money, but rather spending it wisely. I'd love for them to trade some players away at the deadline, but I doubt they do.
Feliz should fare well in MMP. Of his 12 homeruns, 11 were to left field, and 9 of them were to nearly dead pull left field. Edit: I agree with everyone that it seems silly to spend this $10 million on pretty insignificant players, but at the same time, the Astros aren't a slum team and Houston isn't a town with a proud baseball history and devoted fans. You can't go pure Kansas City and just suck miserably with nothing but low grade minor league players on the field all the time. The Astros are going to try to be "competitive" (hate that word) while they rebuild. That should be acceptable to the fans. It should mean that they will have fun games throughout the summer that are worth going out to see even if they lose.
I like this perspective. And I agree! Well, our history isn't "storied" in any sense of the word. But (while this probably isn't what you were getting at) this idea that Houston isn't a "baseball town" or is a "football only" town is completely and entirely wrong--even though American football, like in most US cities, reigns supreme. There are quite a few folks like me who have fond memories (passed down or personally experienced) of the Houston Buffs. They didn't win any titles, but the Astros/Colt .45s have a colorful history. When the Dome went up in '65, it was an international event. Changed the landscape and culture of our city forever. And a lot of people forget or gloss over this one:<br />Southeast Texas, including the Houston area, is a freaking hotbed of baseball talent. Youths here play baseball, and they're damn good at it.
