Nice ridiculous comment. How do you compare Wade Miller to Redding and Elarton? I mean cmon. Get real, moron. Of course the Astros need some bats, but do you think not signing Miller cost the Astros bats this season? News flash for you guys...we didn't sign any bats AT ALL this offseason. So, why were we so unwilling to throw what 4 mil his way? It's unbelievable to me how you guys can dismiss that move as being anything but what it was. It was a cost cutting move that you'd expect a team like the Royals to do. This is the 4th largest city in the US, is it too much to expect we start spending like one?
We're about the 11th or so biggest market in MLB. We have about the 11th or so payroll in MLB. Sounds about right. Had we spent $4 million on Miller and he had just pitched his first game, everyone here would be b****ing that McLane overpaid for some oft-injured pitcher. What's unbelievable to me is that people don't understand that Wade Miller is going to almost certainly need surgery on his shoulder and the Astros weren't willing to pay him $4 million, rightfully so.
And why are we even having this conversation? Wade has pitched a grand total of ONE game! We knew he could pitch some--our consensus was that he couldn't last an entire year and wouldn't stay in the rotation all year.
I like Miller and he is a great competitor. His lifetime record with the Astros was 58-39 with a 3.87 ERA which is not too shabby. However, if you take the Brewers and the Reds (pretty crummy teams from 2000-2004) out of the equation, he becomes a bit more than a .500 pitcher (40-36) with a 4.07 ERA. That's a solid 4th/5th guy, but is that worth 4.1 million a year for a shoulder than needs fixing? The Astros need to spend their money in other places. Starting pitching is the least of their concerns.
That "take out the Reds and the Brewers" argument is crap. Take out the bad teams from most pitchers' stats and you'll see their W/L records diminish. Wade Miller was a young guy with a ++ arm, velocity and movement, who as a prospect was considered a possible #1, and did in fact pitch as well as a good #2 guy. He's still a reasonably young guy with great stuff and bad mechanics. Why is he able to revamp those mechanics with Boston, when he couldn't with Houston? I think you have to put at least some blame on our pitching coaches at both the major and minor league levels for letting them slide. Our young pitchers as a whole seem injury prone and often poor in their mechanics or mental approach to the game. But back to Miller, the argument is ridiculous if you just say we couldn't afford to pay the guy, or he wasn't worth it based on production. The only even arguable case is that he was never going to fully recover from that injury, or that his mechanics were never going to be corrected such that he'd avoid future injury.
The shoulder is why I could understand axing WM. In the l-o-n-g run it will be a bad move, but perhaps not until '07.
I watched all 9 innings of that oriole game last night. wow. I think they have cy young candidate. Good movement and velocity.
Garner has put the Astros fate on the wide shoulders of Orlando Palmeiro. Let the Palmeiro Era begin.
While true, most pitcher's stats would diminish, Miller's diminished pretty dramatically. Perhaps the Red Sox pitching coach found the hitch in his delivery, like the Mets hitting coach who worked with Hidalgo. The argument for not resigning Miller had everything to do with questions about his health and the cost the Astros would have to incur to keep him.
Actually if Miller eventually bows to injury, a comparison can be made to Elarton who was basically damaged goods when jettisoned by the Astros. Redding was just another arm let go because the Astros gave up on him ever maturing to the major league level. Miller was a good pitcher who I hated to see leave, but face the facts, the guy hasn't been the picture of health lately. Sorry if you had to take the Wade Miller fan club to Boston, but the Astros letting Miller go was a good business move. If Miller finishes a successful season without going on the DL, then you can come back and I'll call myself a moron. Until then, one game does not mean Miller isn't an injury waiting to happen. Take a look at the box score from yesterdays game. 2-1 victory and Palmeiro is not the Astros go to RBI guy. Whoohoo, the offense is back. It has been years since I can remember the Astros offense being so pathetic. They should bust out the rainbow uniforms to honor the lack of offensive production.
I have read several articles on the Boston Globe site that said he had done this in conjunction with Dave Wallace and Terry Francona.
In Cabreras case, he lowered his shoulder and started to swing/lead with his glove out 2 weeks ago, and now he looks unhittable.
Paying Biggio and Bagwell a gizillion dollars is a bigger mistake. I like both palyers attitude and work ethics but i have to admit it, we're paying them too much.
