That'd be a fine strategy if another team came knocking on these two player's doors, and both of these guys were truly interested in going elsewhere... but that really isn't the case. Pettite chose to come here to escape the limelight of NY, and pitch closer to his family (which he's ultra-close with). Clemens came here to pitch with Pettite, as well as pitch with the comfort of having his own schedule, staying at home, but still getting his competitive fix in with big-league pitching. You can't honestly tell me you'd be willing to say "thanks for the memories, guys... take a hike," in favor of signing a marginal bat, and giving more starts to Wandy Rodriguez, Taylor Buchholz, Ezequiel Astacio, and the injured Brandon Backe? I already said earlier... the only young pitcher of note that the Astros have in the minors is Troy Patton... and he's still probably more than a year away from being ready (Albers is closer... but still very raw). Taylor is still projected as a 4th-5th guy at best. Astacio/Wandy are on the bubble for even being big league pitchers. Brandon's career may be on hold if he needs elbow surgery. Houston fans have been spoiled by watching these two pitch the last 2-3 years. The days of Pete Munro, Chris Holt, Kent Bottenfield, Scott Elarton, and Jared Fernandez really werent' that long ago. Qualtiy starting pitching is still a premium commodity that's close to impossible to attain year after year.
not really; he’s 27, generally considered prime age for ML’ers. and it’s not like this came out of nowhere - he’s a very good ballplayer. uhm…, major? really? (sigh…) ok, how do you want it? i could go sarcastic, something like, “sure, major; great point. i’ll now pretend the 2006 season isn’t currently happening and base all of my fake planning for next year on 2005. would love to post more, but i have to go give morgan ensberg a 4-year, $48M extension"; or maybe you’d prefer i drop the sarcasm and just post facts? “major, carlos lee has bested lane’s 2005 career highs in both home runs and OPS every single other year since 2002. and barring some unforeseen malady, will do so again next year and several years beyond since lane was a one-year wonder who actually sucks.” your choice. let me know. yes, but a) lee lives in or near houston in the offseason; b) neither the dandy doodles nor the northeastern bandwagon need a LF. so who’s left to overpay a guy who lives here in the offseason? the cubs? why not just extend your deal with the richie cunninghams? equally ****ty franchise. i mean, let’s give lee a modicum of respect and assume he’d like to, at some point, play for a winner. houston qualifies and is close to home. sure, boras is a prick, but lee's not a mute puppet.
He has not been performing at this level for the past 5 seasons, nor is he 27 years old. His OPS the previous 5 seasons: 0.777, 0.762, 0.909, 0.809, 0.783 This year: 0.959 For the past 5 years, he's been *substantially* worse than the Jason Lane of last year. Reading comprehension and ability to read statistics are useful skills.
Umm - it did come out of nowhere. He's had an OPS over 0.150 points lower in 4 of the past 5 years. No one's saying 2006 didn't happen - again, reading comprehension is generally useful in a discussion. Lane had an OPS around 0.810, and nearly 0.900 after the ASB. Carlos Lee is likely to range between 0.810-0.850 in most years. So, a bit better than Lane - happy? Would you pay 8-10 million for someone a tad bit better than last year's Jason Lane? That's what you'd be buying.
i've answered a few times now, but if you dont get it this time, i give up. first of all, the astros offense is statistically better because of a world class season at the plate by lance berkman. period. ausmus, biggio, and everett's offense has worsened, as hard as that is to believe. i personally have thought ausmus and biggio have been atrocious for the last 4 years, but this year is off-the-charts sickening. i dont give a crap how many home runs biggio has check-swung into the crawford boxes the past 2 seasons. if you think that number means anything, i dont know why i'm arguing with you. these guys are both 37+. players dont become better hitters and players as they age. believe it or not, 999 times out of 1000, it's in fact the exact opposite! explain what you dont understand about this. gonna put this in children's terminology for you: if last season, all 9 players on a team combine to average .000 for the entire season, then this year, one of your players busts out to hit .500, hitting a hr every other AB, while the other 8 remain at .000, causing a drastic increase in all the major offensive statistical categories from the previous season, but all the while your team is still 50 games under .500, and STILL at the bottom of the league in offense, what needs to happen if you want to improve the team? nothing? i mean, the team improved its offense from last season, that's all you can hope for, right? how do you expect the team to improve buddy? is it not blatantly obvious that changes need to be made? how can you stand to watch ausmus strike our or hit weak dribblers and dp's every time up? i dont get it. i dont understand how there is ANYBODY left who still doesnt have a problem watching ausmus suck and loaf around. and you are the one ignoring questions. why do you want to dismiss ensberg? he was on the team last year too, and a WAY larger part of our offense than ausmus, everett, or biggio. surely you understand that, right? like the other poster said, we went to the world series in spite of our hitting, not because of it. we had lights out pitching performances from starters and pen for 3 months straight. it isnt realistic to expect that to happen again. we got swept in the world series. if we can make it back there, i want to win it. and there is no way we do either with ausmus and biggio eating up 2 of our lineup spots. man, how is it that i'm never wrong?
Mets, Cubs (still has a house in Chicago), Dojers (if JD Drew leaves & Ethier can play RF or CF), Cards, Rangers just off the top of my head.
yes, considering lane’s contributions helped our offense improve dramatically and was a key component in our reaching the WS. didn’t morgan ensberg have a world class season last year? i don’t believe i ever argued they’d get better; did i say that somewhere? i’m arguing that, as proven in both 2004 and 2005, you can carry biggio, everett and ausmus if you surround them with enough offense. scroll up. i’d pursue lee; i’d try to resign huff; i’d give RF to luke scott; and yes, i’d like to see more of burke at 2B. i’m not dismissing him; he proves my point – get production elsewhere and you can win with the likes of biggio, everett and ausmus in your line-up. yeah, that was me. and what’s changed from last year… hmmmm… oh, that’s right, your whipping boys got minutely worse; yep, problem solved. release all three and lidge’s slider starts biting again; qualls and wheeler start throwing nails again; pettitte and oswalt start pitching like they did in 2005; backe stays healthy… if they can stabilize the pen, find two competent starters, add needed power and more consistent bats, then yes, this team is ok with ausmus, everett and biggio in the everyday line-up, just as they were in 2004 and 2005.
ON paper, this club should have done a lot better...It was a combination of Bullpen (more so this) and non existent clutch hitting...Look at Jeter on Sunday night, bottom of the ninth, 2 out single to tie it...we don't have that...
There's no way we can go through another season with Ausmus and Everett if we hope to have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. They make the bottom of the order a sure 1-2-3. Biggio has been pretty crappy also, but not on the same level as Ausmus and Everett. Unless we're able to sign two quality starters or a couple of our young guys have phenomenal seasons, our pitching is going to be much worse. Yes, we were able to make it to the NLCS and World Series the past two years, but we also had three of the best pitchers in the majors. Pitching is the key in the post season, but you can't throw your three aces every four games in the regular season. We need some freaking offense!!!
how do you not understand that this is flawed logic and a ridiculous statement? get enough production elsewhere, and you can win with me at first base too. the largerst holes in the offense that can most easily be replaced and improved are these three. no, it was "TheFreak", unless you have dual accounts. ummm, thanks for proving my point again! like i said, it isn't realistic to expect the pitching to dominate like they did last year (although by your logic, since they did last year, we may as well not change anything and just expect them all to get back to form). therefore, it is time to work on improving our pathetic offense, and replacing the losers and dead weight that it is comprised of. hmmm...add needed power and more consistent bats WITHOUT replacing any of ausmus, everett, or biggio. dont really know how to even respond to that. lol. only 5 other spots on the team kid. at this point it appears that taveras, scott, and huff/ensberg/burke will occupy 4 of those spots, and lance berkman kind of occupies the other. kind of nowhere else to "add needed power and consistent bats". take it easy i guess.
I guess we can cross Carlos Lee off the list... Scott Boras' offseason free-agent class is getting stronger by the month. Texas outfielder Carlos Lee, who will join Alfonso Soriano as one of the top offensive players on the market this winter, has told the Rangers that he is leaving agent Adam Katz and will now be represented by Boras, two baseball sources told ESPN.com. Boras didn't immediately return calls or an e-mail seeking comment. Katz was traveling and couldn't be reached. Lee, 30, is batting .297 with 30 homers and 90 RBI with Milwaukee and Texas this season. He has 214 home runs and a .493 slugging percentage in eight big-league seasons. The Brewers sent Lee to the Rangers as part of a six-player trade on July 28 after he turned down a reported four-year, $48 million offer to stay in Milwaukee. Oakland's Barry Zito, the top free-agent pitcher on this winter's market, left agent Arn Tellem in July to sign on with Boras' group. Boras also represents star Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is not eligible for free agency until 2008, but could come to the majors if the Seibu Lions decide to "post" him this winter. That's the same route that Ichiro Suzuki took to sign with the Seattle Mariners in 2000. ***not sure if this was posted already
Thank you, MADMAX. ¡VIVA la alianza IRLANDA-MEXICANA! I think bandwagoners are a reality. If that is true, so be it. You'll NEVER see me bad mouth the team. I just hate freakers who come out here saying "we're done" and "boo-hoo, it's painful, I quit" and blah blah, and then, just when the race heats up and we're like on a four-game winning streak, they all come back. Those are the b*tches I hate. I am trying to see what you mean by REALITY, but I don't want "reality" fakers as Astros fans. I want to see FANS, not bandwagoners. How can you say "I'll stick with them" and then say "they're done"??? This is confusing. Either you're IN and say they're still IN IT, or you're OUT and say they're OUT. Don't come back when the race gets heated and you're all "I THOUGHT I was green, but now I can see I am purple." Bullsh*t. Triple on all your *sses. BELIEVE, b*tches. ¡VAMOS, ASTROS!
Not that I want to deal with Boras again anyway, but did McClane say he'd never try and sign a player Boras reps or something?
no one - not a single soul - would hesitate to upgrade any or all three of those positions if given the opportunity. in fact, i think most of us would upgrade every position on this roster, save for berkman and oswalt. the problem is that your initial statement, quoted above, is patently false. they haven't sucked with those 3 in their line-up the past two years. i can't be any more direct. it’s irrefutable. unless you consider an NLCS game 7 and WS appearance in back-to-back years sucking. and had the pitching, defense and fundamentals been better this year – and those are the foundation of this team – then once again, they would have proven you wrong and won with those three in the line-up. they’ve blown, iirc, 11 saves this year. convert half of those (and they actually converted close to 90% last year) and they’re leading the WC race... with biggio, everett and ausmus in the line-up. last night was a prime example. the trio goes 0-9 with 3 Ks… and they still should have won. now, had you not been so consumed with being such a douche bag, you could have acted like an adult and amended your asinine statement, saying something to the effect of, "what I mean is, we can get better by upgrading those positions." and doing so would have been met with a "no ****" response and everyone could have gotten on with the process of once again paying your inane posts no attention. but you didn't. you elected instead to remain a stubborn ass sack, hoping your little childish tantrums and flaccid insults would distract everyone from the fact that you have no idea what you’re talking about. unfortunately, that, too, has failed. so, yes, those three have had bad years. and yes, they would be a better team if they could upgrade 1 or all of those spots. but they do not suck because those three are in the line-up and that will remain an irrefutable fact until you somehow make the 2004 and 2005 seasons disappear.
you realize all you did just now was completely manipulate your entire argument and agree with every word i said, but in your own juvenille, slanderous way? no worries though....as long as you admit you're wrong, and i'm right, which you just did....it's cool with me. no matter how you do it! man i'm good. it feels almost evil being this good and being able to force you to change your mind and stance like you just did. now, about those magic beans i was telling you about.....
This is hilarious. It all boils down to this...irrefutable, you cannot argue against this. Poster A says this team can never be successful with a certain three players in the lineup. The only way this poster can be right if he argues that a game 7 in the NLCS in 2004 or a World Series appearance in 2005 is not successful. If Poster A is arguing that, then he's a moron. We can all argue and debate on whether or not we'd like to upgrade those positions, but that has no bearing on whether or not we can be successful with those players. We have been.
poster A wonders why you keep up bringing up the past. poster A wonders if any of you understand that it is 2006. poster A wants to know if we suck this year. poster A is wondering how many years have to pass of us sucking with the same roster before we can stop referring to the miracle season that was 2005 as an excuse not to attempt to improve our pathetic lineup, and poster A wonders when it's time to acknowledge that our 40 year olds can't play baseball at a professional level/. poster A, although may be a bit brash at times, is undoubtedly smarter and has infinitely more common sense than posters B-Z.
