If Zobrist posts those numbers year after year, he too will be overpaid some day. One year does not get you into overpaid category.
Albert Pujols hit .214 in AAA. Aside from the fact that batting average is largely irrelevant and an .846 OPS in AAA from the catcher position (around .900 for much of the year) is pretty damn good, are you really going to judge a guy by about 200 at-bats, especially considering the Astros threw him into the majors without any AAA experience? The lack of logic within Astros fans' evaluations of Towles blows my mind. For years, all I've heard is complaint after complaint that the Astros take too long to promote people through the system. Then, the Astros promote someone virtually straight from AA, he has a poor one-third of one season, and all of a sudden, the guy has gone from good prospect to a terrible one who "can't hit major league pitching." It's crazy.
Cat, he was awful up here. I'm not sure he can hit major league pitching because he never has. He got more of a shot in the bigs than a lot of guys get. And it was a big nothing. I'm all for giving him another shot, just to see. But I'm not expecting much...certainly not Albert Pujols!
I agree with you on Towles and wish the Astros would just commit one way or another on him, but you do realize Pujols spent all of 3 games in AAA to compile that 0.214 average (3 for 14)?
You obviously have not seen him the multiple times he has been on the big league roster. He has one really good September. Other than that, he has sucked mightily.
I honestly can't believe there are multiple people arguing that Lee is a better player than Berkman. Lee's career year last season (0.937 OPS, 144 OPS+) don't even measure up to Berkman's career average (0.967 OPS, 147 OPS+).
Not to mention that Berkman gets paid $4 million less. Him and Oswalt were really quite the bargain as we were lucky to resign them right before the salary boom of 2007. That being said, Berkman has had a down year... with the early season slump, and then the injury just as it seemed as he was getting hot. Couple that with his awful finish to last year, and we may now be seeing the end of Berkman's "prime" years. That being said, with a year of full health, there's no reason why Lance can't have a +.900 OPS next year... and the fact that he can post that and still be on the downside of his career simply magnifies how good a hitter Lance is.
Did you see this ? [rquoter]He collected his 15th no-decision, which ties an Astros single-season record[/rquoter]
No, I have. I just have the perspective to know that in a sport where players routinely have fluke seasons, you can't judge any player by 200 at-bats. Especially when he's fast-tracked to the majors and isn't given his proper development time. As good as Ben Zobrist is now, take a look at his first 100 at-bats in 2007: .155 average, .184 OBP, .391 OPS. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7829;_ylt=AlLBe1VgusQBEhwiZFXWzf.FCLcF What did Zobrist hit in AAA that same year? .279 -- almost identical to Towles' number this year, which you said indicated he couldn't translate. No one's denying Towles has sucked in his limited time in the majors so far, because he has. What's at issue is whether a .276 average (.850 OPS) in one AAA season and 200 major league at-bats is enough of a sample size to think that long-term, he can't hit major league pitching. I don't think it's even close.
Fair enough. You are, however, willing to give him chance after chance after chance. We have given Towles more of an opportunity than he would have gotten pretty much anywhere else. There is a reason why most assume that Towles has little to no trade value.
Huh? What evidence is there to any of that? If you think most teams would give up on a good prospect after he had about 200 poor at-bats, can you provide some examples? I gave you Zobrist already, as an example to the contrary. Towles has the same trade value he always had -- a mid-level catching prospect. Nothing more, nothing less. In general, to declare a player a "bust," I think any reasonable observer would say he needs a season's worth of ABs after a reasonable development time period in the minors. In Towles' case, he hasn't had close to that.
A major league team simply cannot afford to give the guy an entire season to see what he can do after getting a pretty horrible glimpse. I just do not see the guy being a productive major leaguer.
If you're going to pull the career plug on one of your better prospects over less than 200 at-bats (and in Towles' case, before he even had time to develop in AAA), you're going to end up constantly overpaying for average veterans and thus be mired in mediocrity for quite a long time. Which is exactly what the Astros are.
Yea, I read about it the other day in the Chronicle. Sad. Pence is now tied for the lead in HRs and he's been batting 6th for most of the season. It makes no sense for Tejada to be hitting in a power spot in the lineup over him. As far as Towles, he has shown some plate discipline and a little pop but seemed to struggle adjusting to the speed of major league pitching. He was rushed through the system in 2007. His career minor league OPS of .861 suggests he shouldn't be given up on yet. What if we gave up on Bourn after the .588 OPS he posted last season? I'm not saying Towles will have that kind of turnaround but I would certainly let him share duties with Q next season until Castro is ready instead of spending money that should go toward pitching on another washed up vet.
