Which tells you alot about the offense, because the pitching was towards the bottom of the pack in the NL. The team needs players who can post a decent OBP, towards the top of the lineup. Other than Berkman (.420), nobody else even posted a .370 OBP. Compare that with a team like the Cubs, who had every starter but one at .359 or better. Imagine how many runs Lee could drive in if our 1 and 2 hitters could draw a walk.
If only Bourn could get on base 30% of the time. I'd really be happy with .350. Anything beyond that and I'll try to keep dreaming. It has been a while since we've had a lot of success out of the leadoff spot.
So true. If I remember correctly, the Astros' team batting avg and slugging pct were above average in the NL. Their OBP on the other hand was one of the worst. Naturally, their BB total was also near the bottom. We just have too many hackers in the lineup. We need hitters with better plate discipline, especially at the top of the order. After Berkman, the only other regular that has the potential to post a respectable OBP is Matsui (and Lee, sort of) but he's usually injured half the season.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3886732 Free-agent pitcher Ben Sheets is leaning toward elbow surgery that would probably keep him out for most, if not all, of the 2009 season, according to a major league source familiar with Sheets' medical prognosis. But it's believed the actual nature of the injury was uncovered after he failed a physical given by the Rangers' physicians, after tentatively agreeing to a two-year contract with Texas.
can somebody explain why we aren't looking at pudge? he's going to be had for nothing, and he can still play ball. the marlins are the leading candidate to sign him, and they don't spend money. is this franchise afraid of having a good catcher behind the dish? we are really going into camp with humberto quintero as our starting catcher?? sign pudge and pedro on the cheap and give us fans a shard of hope this season. please.
Randy Wolf signs one-year deal with Dodgers for $5 million: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6250973.html
1. how do you know they're not looking at pudge? 2. i think paying for pudge is overpaying for a name. i think you've seen diminished stats from the guy that are only going to diminish further.
Too bad (for him) he didn't jump all over the Astros' 3 year 27 million dollar offer before they withdrew it.
1. i guess i don't know. i also don't know that they aren't planning on signing Manny, Dunn, Sheets, Pedro, and the Hernandez bros before camp opens. 2. how do you know they'd be overpaying him? he didn't have a great season last year, but he's still lightyears better than quintero, towles, and whatever other bums we have that are competing for our starting catching job.
The Marlins are looking at paying Pudge $1M and having him as a backup. You sign reasonably priced free agents in order to improve your club. Pudge is better than the rest of the catchers we have. I have also read that Pudge is in better shape than he has been in years. He is not as overweight, and he believes he has regained his bat speed. I think that given the state of our catching situation, $1M or $1.5M for Pudge makes a lot of sense.
Astros Pursuing Dunn? By Nat Boyle [February 8 at 9:30am CST] According to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune, the Astros may be planning to offer Adam Dunn a one-year contract before camp begins. Rogers writes, "Dunn, a 40-homer man for five straight seasons, would allow the Astros to move Hunter Pence to center field and Michael Bourn to the bench. That would mean a huge lift to run-production. Dunn has multi-year offers on the table, including one from Washington, but clearly isn't crazy about them." I'm not sure i like this move, Im all for trying to sign some one but if your gonna sign him for 8-10 million...why not spend that on a decent #3 or 4 starter???
Heck, one year deal - Bourn to the bench - Dunns 40+ homers ... uhhhhhh, that's a no brainer. Instantly better. Not great, but better. Their strikeouts cancel each other out, & the homerage will exceed any assists or catches that Bourn might make, and keep us a bit closer in games that get out of hand due to our crap pitching staff.
As I recall from looking at it in the past...despite the strikeouts, Dunn's OBP is really good. As opposed to Bourn...... but I really like Bourn and really want it to work out with him. We'll see. This would be very interesting.
Dunn would be a good pick up. I think ideally you would want to add pitching but I don't know if there is a good pitcher to pick up at this stage of the game. Sheets if it is incentive based. And Dunn might give Houston a home town discount so he could get back on track and prove himself for when the economy bounces back.
I didn't realize he'd be that reasonable. I figured you'd be paying something more just based on name alone.
I do agree with you MadMax that he might not pitch this year. I have read something that says he might be ready in July. This Sheets situation reminds me how the Cardinals picked up Carpenter. He had elbow problems and offered him an opportunity to prove himself.
