Obviously not 2005 - but that was the year that they pointlessly tossed away Kent for the futile Beltran chase, then refused to replace his bat because Drayton decided he spent enough. Never mind that he was sitting on one of the greatest pitching rotations in the history of baseball. This cost Clemens a Cy Young. 2006 - Drayton still doesn't help the anemic offense, choking the team again and finally causing Petite and Clemens to walk away. Lidge is obviously screwed up and should have been moved, but the team holds on to him with white knuckles. 2007 - Now they need to make a serious move or two to resuscitate the farm. Instead, we've got bloated contract Carlos Lee to give the kool aid drinkers false hope. 2008 - It's clear as day that they should move Berkman and/or Oswalt to get good return. Instead, we get the Tejada experience. 2009 - Berkman goes south and takes his value with him. The team is a sad joke. Still no serious move to reboot the squad. 2010 - same old BS.
I know this wasn't the point of your post, but... He had a .900 OPS, pretty much the same as every odd-numbered year for him and still elite. Also... Lidge had a clearly superior 2007 to 2006, and ended up netting Michael Bourn in the aftermath of the '07 season. Not sure what kind of superior value you think he would've gotten a year earlier, because I don't see how.
His numbers across the board took a full step back, including OPS 0.987 --> 0.908 I didn't say he was garbage that was worthless, but his stock is dropping. Lidge....they got a good return for him, but I'm forever annoyed they moved Wheeler instead of Lidge the year prior, desperately clinging to false hope that he'd put it back together as an Astro and continued to allow him to blow save opportunities.
If his performance this year continues going how it is now, yes, but Berkman has always alternated between a high .900s OPS in even-numbered years and a low .900s OPS in odd-numbered years, averaging out around .950. Last year was pretty much right in line with expectations, so I don't see that impacting his value much. This year, however... he does need to pick things up to restore his value, though the slow start was to be expected considering he missed spring training. Understood, but even with the career inconsistency of Lidge, 2006 was clearly an aberration and they would've been selling at an all-time low. I know he wasn't elite in 2007, but he was a lot better and probably had more value than he did coming after 2006. That's one of the rare situations I think they handled well.
Berkman still has 2 or 3 elite years left in him, in my opnion. To add to Cat's point, not only did he get arthro right before the season, he got a groin injury shortly after returning. A .900+ OPS ranks a player among a handful of elite players in any given season. We are spoiled by Berkman's best years to not realize how good his "bad" years are. Carlos Lee is making nearly $19 mil per and considered a very good hitter and his best season is better that only one season in Berkman's career. Berkman missed more than a third of the season and he already leads the team in walks. It's fully conceivable that he finishes the season (wherever that may be) in the mid .900s, maybe even better.
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/05/23/depleted-dodgers-just-keep-plugging/ http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/94669954.html
I'll stand by my previous post to you, because my God you made yourself look dumber with this second one. I can't help but quote it.
@fox6sports: Both @espn's Jayson Stark & @Buster_ESPN say #Twins will be major player for #Astros SP Roy Oswalt if team does indeed trade him... #MLB
The Twins would be a perfect destination from our standpoint. Don't have to face him often, and don't have to bear seeing him in a rival uniform. I've always like the Twins...for whatever reason I've always thought of them as the Astros of the north to me, even though their aren't really many similarities.
If they'll give up Kyle Gibson, then I'm all for it. Bruce Pugh is a pitcher in A+ ball that intrigues me, but he would have to be part of a much larger package. The Twins have a very weak system. They have a couple of 16 year olds in their top 10 prospect lists.
I've always been a Twins fan, too...kind of my 2nd team. Part because I was a huge Kirby Puckett fan and part because I have family that lives there. Went to a couple of games at the Metrodome years ago. Also, they've never been a team that's in the news for anything other than winning and mostly doing things the right way. Their owner was kind of a jackass for a while there (pretty much trying to get his own team contracted). But of all the places Roy could land, this would make me the happiest. I'd still be able to pull for him and not feel guilty about it in the least bit.
Twins - Kyle Gibson Rangers - Tanner Scheppers Dodgers - Aaron Miller A package around any of those guys would make me happy.
what about gibson and ramos for oswalt and something/s. we sure as hell have more use for ramos than the twins do. what do the sox have to offer? i still think that's where he's going.
Ramos & Gibson would get the deal done, but the Twins probably won't give us both. They are certainly more willing to part with Ramos then Gibson. Assuming you mean the Red Sox, I really don't know who to go after as the centerpiece of the deal. My preference is SS Jose Iglesias, but I'd want more prospects packaged with him then I would the other guys I have mentioned.
From NY Post; Andy Pettite talks about Oswalt. (few stories out there) Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/an_amazin_long_shot_AbQKi0sp1HQ5P2ToTcTBmL#ixzz0oyawo5t3 http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/local/100525-pettitte-aware-of-oswalt's-situation
i do mean the red sox. how nice does gibson and ramos + any other prospects acquired through trade this season + drafting from the 8 spot this year + drafting from the 1 spot next year (which would happen for sure with a fire sale), + drafting from somewhere between the 1 and 5 spot in 2012 look? the farm would be nicely re-stocked. then re-sign oswalt to finish his career here for a year or two, add 2 other big(ish) free agents, and some other sensible additions to round out the roster to add to whichever players in the farm are ready for the bigs, bourn and pence (only 2 possible position players currently on the big league roster who i could see still being on the team to start the 2013 season), and you have a fun team to watch/look forward to. dreaming is fun.
