Posted this in the generic offseason thread ... Well, I don't know who posted first, but Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Stros are behind the Rockies and Cubs in the "race" for Matsui: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7467176 The Astros, seeking to add depth to their infield, are close to signing free agent Geoff Blum, according to major-league sources. Blum, 34, likely will fill a utility role, and his playing time could hinge on whether the Astros sign a full-time second baseman. Tadahito Iguchi, a free agent, is on the Astros' wish list. Kaz Matsui, another free agent, is more likely to stay with the Rockies or sign with the Cubs than join the Astros. Another possibility for the Astros is to use Blum, a switch-hitter, in tandem with second baseman Chris Burke, who bats right-handed. We'll see who's right soon, I guess. (Hopefully it's Rosenthal and we get Iguchi...) Man, a Blum/Burke platoon be a letdown after all this!
Rosenthal is muuuuuch more reliable than Ringolsby (who's morphed into a high altitude version of Justice). bobrek: yeah, that's been reported before. rocketfat: a alot of the direction you're attributing to Wade is coming straight from Tal Smith oski: his splits may be a bit deceiving; had a big chunk of horrible ABs in SD & LA. Was it the parks, the staffs, luck? I dunno. He hit about .280 everywhere else in the NL.
that is the only fair thing to do, I really did not like the hire but so far I have been ok with both moves but I'm not thrilled with this signing if it happens
Matsui is not a bad signing if the price is right. He has the ability to play SS as well as 2B, and he can steal bases. It remains to be seen how well he will hit, but I'm confident to say he's an improvement over Burke.
He played pretty well last year, but we really don't know how that would translate outside of Colorado.
unless you think his game didn't translate from japan and he's made some amazing strides, it's hard to see why he'd be a diff player now than he was in NY. (well, i guess he was under high pressure with a lot of expectations there..)
he stole that many, and he was really on pace for a lot more. His AB's are low because of injury...but he also stopped running while he was playing for a while because of the injury. If he was healthy all year, he would have stolen at least 50. Of course, his health is always a huge question as has been noted, so I don't think we should assume that'll ever be the case. But that's the kinda speed he still has..
We know what it would translate to, because he's played in other parks. And outside Coors, his OPS is consistantly sub-.700. And he's often injured. These aren't unknowns, the statistics are out there. Even last year, he stunk away from home.
Coors is Coors, but I can't use that to fully explain a jump between .630 and .860 (or whatever it is). Some players are naturally better at home, such as Wandy Rodriguez, even when "home" doesn't give them a competitive advantage in terms of dimensions. That's not to say Coors didn't have an effect, but I don't think Coors alone can make for that kind of incredible jump. Seems more likely that part of it is just random fluctuation toward the low .700s OPS hitter he projects to be at this point in his career.
Why? Due to the speed? Matsui's speed only helps if he gets on base. I don't know about whom to be excited; it seems none of these guys (Iguchi, Matsui, etc.) has ever really lit the world on fire. I guess whoever ends up donning the brick and sand will become my favorite second baseman. Hope he doesn't suck.
Interesting that now with Purp gone & Ricciarini reassigned, just about every member of the Stros organization (with the possible exeption of Ricky Bennett) who championed Chris Burke - from him being scouted before the draft to the 2007 season - has lost his job.
The Astros have been spoiled with Biggio for too long. Once we see another starter at 2nd base we're gonna realize pretty quickly how much we miss Bidge, even when he was less than his best. Like I said earlier I vote no to Matsui. Sign Iguchi, or give the job to Burke.
chris burke career OPS+ (1020 AB): 80 kaz matsui career OPS+ (1380 AB): 82 tadahito iguchi career OPS+ (1531 AB): 98 burke/matsui are below-average ML hitters. iguchi is just about average. if the stros are gonna spend money on a 2B, they should spend it on iguchi
