The Drabek and Swindell signings are good examples of why the Astros don't sign many free agents anymore. If I recall correctly, those two got long term deals, and really didn't do much afterwards. It prompted the Astros to actually set a club policy of never offering a pitcher more than a 3 year contract. It is a policy. This is part of the reason why Johnson was let to walk so quickly. He wanted at least a 4 year deal, the Astros wouldn't offer more than 3, so there wasn't much negotiation to be made. Now, I don't know if I disagree with that policy or not. Certainly it will prevent the team from getting hung out to dry with too many albatrosses for years and years to come, but it might also mean that we lose out on good players. Hopefully, since Oswalt, Miller, Hernandez, etc were brought up in this system, they will understand the reasoning behind this policy when their contract comes up, and they will accept a 3 year deal. Or maybe for those guys, exceptions will be made, since they will be young and hopefully injury free. I don't blame them for not giving Randy Johnson a 4 year deal. Who could have possibly known that guy would still be so dominant at this late of an age?
Hampton currently has a ****ty road ERA. He sucks away from Coors as well as at Coors. Why would you want to pay 100+ million to a pitcher who, at best ,is a bit above average. Kile is also a bit above average. But the contract he signed with Colorado was absurd. Ignorance is bliss, eh? The Yankees have the largest revenue streams in existence. The D'backs have no future. They're heavily in deb and have a terrible farm system. Then petition MLB for greater revenue sharing.
Nice language, dude. You want to make a point and use some examples, or do you prefer innanely spewing profanity around when someone disagrees with you? I might have missed a free agent signing, but I couldn't think of one when I posted, and still can't now. Caminiti comes closest, and he was a fairly cheap signing (took below-market value to come home, and the Stros were basically remedying a mistake they made in the first place by trading him away).
My point was that other teams are restricted from spending so much...with a salary cap, the Yankees and D-Backs wouldn't be able to field teams like they have. the point is there are no rules...no restrictions. in the NBA, players have to play somewhere...but all owners are limited from spending over a certain level. You're asking Drayton to spend as much as Steinbrenner who owns the freaking cable company on which his team plays!! The D-Backs are in heavy debt now...they won't be this good forever, trust me. As for Hampton and Kile...what people conveniently forget is that these guys didn't want to stay!! Both wanted to play elsewhere. The Hampton trade turned out great in my opinion! We traded Hampton (who now sucks!) and got Roger Cedeno (who played a year with us before he was part of a trade that brought in Ausmus) and Octavio Dotel (who was arguably the best setup man in baseball last year). Plus...that deal allowed us to unload Derek Bell's big salary. b
sammy: Don't you remember? We got in on the Great Marlins Firesale. That's how we nabbed Alou! Took on his salary... then we got the prime years of his career... and we're sending him on his way now that he's old and in decline. Sounds good to me!
Oh yeah! I forgot Alou. I was thinking there was a guy I had left out. I was actually a little worried about that trade at the time because we were giving up some good prospects - but they never panned out. I agree with you about getting Alou's best seasons (when he was healthy). I still think he's better than Ward, if healthy, but he's not worth what the Cubs are paying him.
Sorry 'bout the vulgarity, but it's Friday & I'm tired of being at the office. Have the 'Stros signed any big $ FA's recently? No, but to say that they've signed no FA's at all is a pretty silly statement. Also, why make the distinction b/t signing a player to an extension before he becomes a FA vs. after? It's better from a fiscal standpoint to do it before they hit the open market.
A few things : Johnson : Wasn't going to resign - he was going to Arizona, I believe he even told the Mariners so. Kile : Took less money to go to Colorado. Hampton : Wouldn't talk contract. Everett : Insane. Alou : Old, injury-prone(hasn't played a game for the Cubs yet), wanted way too much money. Astacio : Poor mechanics hurt his arm.
Astacio hadn't missed a start in 5 1/2 years before he went down. Poor mechanics would have shown up a lot sooner.
True, but he seems like one of those "innings eaters" announcers always talk about. I can't see him changing his delivery from one year to the next.
That is true, but playing in Coors could do funny things to a pitcher - its possible that he tried to compensate for the thin air by trying to force the ball down, thus screwing up his delivery. I've not seen him enough to know, but there were reports that he was changing his delivery back to what it had been, suggesting that last year he had tampered with it.
