Was Woody healthy all last year? Pitchers at that age generally do NOT get better...... Obviously. DD
Right. But his ERA was 3.65; it didn't need to get better. Even if his ERA jumped a full point - a pretty huge increase by baseball standards - he'd still be worth his contract if he pitched 150 innings at a 4.65 ERA. Can you explain what Purpura should've seen in Woody to indicate his ERA would jump from 3.65 to almost 6?
I disagreed entirely with your post but didn't feel the need to respond because I would just be parroting Major and Cat. But I have to say, your post above is remarkable. Kudos to you for crediting folks with whom you don't necessarily agree. I should do that more often. I agree! Now, here's a trivia question for you, for extra credit: Who was Gerry Hunsicker's chief talent evaluate during his tenure as GM?
And Rick White this time (up until his last 2 appearances, at least); and Luke Scott & Willy Taveras.... RIET: the minors aren't as barren as some people say, it's more of a mixed bag. The '00-'03 drafts were pretty bad, and that's left an almost complete dearth of position players at the AA/AAA level. There's actually quite a few guys with very good big league talent/potential, who are a couple of years away, at the lower levels: A Lex: Chris Johnson SS/3B; Max Sapp C/1B; Jordan Parraz CF/RF; James Van Ostrand LF/1B & Cesar Quintero LF/CF are untested but deserve watching. On the pitching front, RRP Santo Luis, RSP Bud Norris, LSP David Qualben & RSP Polin Trinidad are the top talent. A+ Salem: Josh Flores CF; Eli Iorg CF/RF; JR Towles C (promoted to CC due to injury, not sure if he'll stay there or if it's temporary); Ole Sheldon 1B/3B (if he can continue to develop some pop); Tommy Manzella SS. There's about 6 pitchers on the staff with legit big league aspirations; RSP Brad James has been far & away the most impressive. Will be interesting to see who gets promoted to CC in-season, because that club is really hurting for talent. AA CC: Nothing at all amonst the position players. If Towles sticks, he's one (best catching prospect in the org). Johnny Ash is maybe, maybe a future utility guy. Maybe. Who knows what will happen with Santangello when he gets back from his suspension. Troy Patton on the starting staff; Ryan Thompson out of the pen. Tip Fairchild is had Tommy John surgery, so check back on him next August. Felipe Paulino is sick, sick, sick, but has had trouble staying healthy. Since he came back, results have been excellent. Jimmy Barthmaier has all the talent in the world, but has had trouble staying healthy as well. AAA RR: A bunch of retreads and AAAA guys. Bruntlett & Munson you know about, and could help on the bench. Ransom is very good with the glove at 3rd, but doesn't do much with the bat. Mark Saccomanno is having a good year (his first above average one), but can only play 1B competently. Shame he can't play 3rd. Danny Klassen's picture is next to AAAA player in the dictionary; 2 other orgs have taken a look & given up on him. Mike Rodriguez & Josh Anderson are clones...would be nice if one of them could step up and do Palmeiro's job (LH contact pinch hitter, defensive replacement at all 3 spots), but they've disappointed. And there's that Chris Burke guy. Gutierrez, Estrada, Randolph, Albers, Reineke all have big league stuff and could help this year or next. There's a handful of other pitchers throughout the system that have big league arms, but haven't put it together yet. The short-season clubs begin play in a few weeks; will be especially interesting to see the guys coming over from the DR & Venezuela. Off the top of my head, I don't know anybody in Extended Spring Training that's of major interest, but I'm sure I'm forgetting someone.
Yep. Tim Purpura. When the Astros were winning "organization of the year" awards and being touted for having the best player development programs and an incredibly deep farm system, Purpura was at the helm of it as the director of scouting and player development and later the assistant GM. This wasn't his first GM interview, either. Not saying he's the next Gerry Hunsicker or trying to sway anyone's opinion of his as a GM--just pointing out that he's far from green in this field and player evaluation is a strength of his, not a weakness.
we're now judging lead off hittes by their ops. some of you guys will say anything to criticize Taveras.
It may not be as relevant as it is for the 3 or 4 spot, but extra-base potential is still a very relevant and useful skill for the top of the order. Here's the bottom line. Pence looks like an above average defensive CF. Alongside him for the long term, for the Astros, would this team be better off with the offensive production of Willy Taveras or the offensive production of a mid-level starting RF (.800 ish OPS range)? I'll take the latter, and I'm betting 99 percent of people in the league would do so as well.
actually I haven't been on the Taveras defense recently because of Pence. But given Scott's dropoff there is room in the outfield and there's definitely room in the lineup for Taveras. I don't know if Pence could move over and play right, not familar with his arm strength but I agree, as far as center is concerned, Taveras became expendable.
So, you think he'll be the one left-handed hitter that hits better against lefties than righties? Because he hasn't looked all that hot against the guys he's supposed to be doing good against. Scott is better than Lane, but still unproven over an entire season. People who were expecting him to keep up his hot streak during the second half of last season over this entire season are short sighted. Obviously, the league makes adjustments... just like they will eventually with Pence. Luke still can't hit off-speed stuff with much authority.
Tim is no Gerry and that is problem. The Hun would always get guys like Everett, lamb, wheeler, blum, alou etc that could plug key gaps. Other than the RJ trade Gerry which we all agree was a great trade at the time time gerry would usually just pillage the other team. I think it is a bit unfair to compare Tim to Gerry.
You forgot Mike Hampton (peak value) and enigmatic Derek Bell to NY Mets for Octavio Dotel. And then Octavio Dotel for Carlos Beltran which gave us a shot in the post season. That was the quintesential Gerry Hunsicker move.
The Preston Wilson signing was regarded as a good move when it happened. Nobody knew how poorly he was going to perform. It was a solid baseball move at the time.
but they didn't "trade" taveras for pence; they dealt taveras to make room for chris burke. still plenty of time, but the early return on the trade favors colorado significantly. and even if jennings does stablize the rotation, purpura may very well have traded the team's best young talent (pence aside) away, while tying his cart to burke, ensberg, lane and scott - for a former minor league director who drafted and developed those guys... it looks REALLY bad. since the ASB last year, willy is hitting .310 with a .368 OB%. and he's a very good defensive CF'er. a line-up with taveras leading off and loretta/lamb/biggio hitting 2nd with berkman, lee and pence (in RF) following is inifinitely better than any line-up they've trotted out this year. this jennings trade may very well be purpura's undoing; it was done because the team thought it was a solid #2 starter (and carlos lee) away from being contenders, and that meant purpura invested in HIS guys. and they have utterly failed him. it speaks poorly of him on every level.
I wouldn't say that Lee has utterly failed Pupura. Jury's not even close to reaching a verdict on Jennings yet.
sorry; that may have been unclear: purpura invested in HIS guys (burke, ensberg, lane and scott). and they have utterly failed him.
Unfortunately, even if Jennings does well, this trade will look even worse if Jennings doesn't re-sign with us. Good summary of the Willy T situation. This team would be better right now with him at the top of the lineup and Pence in RF. That may change if Scott gets on track, but right now, nothing has really worked like hoped for.
