there is no possible way that oswalt is on the block. he's among the best pitchers in the game on a pretty friendly contract. i'd say he's about as untouchable as you get. i'm not for trading backe but if someone comes with a real strong offer i would definitely look at it.
In the back of my mind, I kind of hate Tim Purpura. I sort of have since the day we hired him. I don't know why, though.
pgabs -- i didn't say pitching alone would win. read it again. i said pitching is harder to come by than hitting. backe has shown flashes. and despite his 4.50 ERA for his "career" he's performed best when it counted most...down the stretch and in the playoffs last season. i'd give him a bit more rope before i trade him for a bat. people said the same thing about darryl kile that you're saying about backe, with a lot more reason. keeping him was a good thing. young pitchers have lots of adjustments to make. few come in and dominate instantly.
I don't doubt that the Astros will do everything they can to sign Oswalt to an even longer term deal when the time is right.
More Backe rumors http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/scorecard/06/27/truth.rumors.mlb/index.html The Houston Astros apparently turned down the Mariners last week when the Seattle club offered outfielder Randy Winn for pitcher Brandon Backe, who is 6-6 for the Astros. It's possible that trade is being revisited. --Seattle Post-Intelligencer
I would have turned it down to. A 31 year old outfielder with a .283 batting average and 2 home runs is going to have very little impact on the lineup. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5998
absolutely. you don't give up a guy in your starting rotation for a guy with Winn's production at this point.
Here's more from Ken Rosenthal on that rejected deal. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3720378 For those interested in White/Monroe, here are their '05 stats: White: .297, 8 HR, .328 OBP, .796 OPS, 33 years old Monroe: .282, 8 HR, .337 OBP, .789 OPS, 28 years old Both are more than capable... if one of them is available for a package not involving Backe, I'd do that deal unless we're netting an absolute stud (Dunn?) in any Backe transaction.
Backe numbers are steadily going down and you are trying to get Dunn? Good luck. Monroe seems almost more than fair.
the price of pitching is high. particularly young pitching which has performed already at the highest levels.
Max understand that pitching is more valuable than hitting but right now this guy is looking like a fourth starter at best. His ERA after Sat is up to 5.31 and the numbers are getting worse. The price for pitching may be high but mentioning Dunn is outlandish. Backe's not that good and the major leaguers are figuring him out.
I'm not expecting to by any means... it would have to be Backe with many, many of our better prospects and even that probably isn't enough. All I'm saying is that if White/Monroe are available without dealing Backe (which Rosenthal implies), it wouldn't be worth it to do any Backe deal unless we're talking a landmark move like Dunn. While he's very inconsistent, he's still worlds better than any SP in our organization right now outside of our top 3... I don't want to have a situation like the end of last year where we have two complete scrubs rounding out the rotation. We don't have the offense to compensate this time around.
i think the Reds would jump on getting Brandon Backe. if it's pitching they seek, they're not getting an ace by trading Dunn.
They can get more than a fourth starter. Dunn hit 46 hrs last season and he already has 20. That'll get you more than a fourth starter. Okay, Cat I understand what you mean, Backe in a package to get the most out of his trade potential. That's reasonable, but the Astros better do it quick.
pgabs- Backe is young. His ERA is almost exactly 1 run higher than it was last season. Darryl Kile did that kind of crap for about 5 years before "finding" himself. Backe's experience in the playoffs at such a young age assures him of some value for the Astros...more than his current ERA tells. For the Reds, Backe is hella-better than a 4th starter. He'd likely be the 2 man behind Harang, and he may even be the #1 starter. Their beloved Eric Milton is sporting a 7.70 ERA right about now. We're spoiled in Houston with good pitching. Our #4 is #2 for MOST teams. i think it's a non-issue, though, because if i'm the reds i'm not trading dunn to a division rival.
It doesn't matter what Backe would be to the Reds right now, he's not the only guy on the trading block. Just because he'd be their second best pitcher doesn't mean they can someone else better to be the second best pitcher. As far as the Darly Kile comparison, Backe isn't the prospect that Kle was. The guy is a converted position player. He had a nice playoff run but now we are getting to see a complete sample. I mean I could find any pitcher who struggled then exceled and write, "see what this guy did". You have to keep things in context, given Backe's history, this is more like the player he's going to be, an average pitcher.
