Yes, but they needed a lot more than him. I wonder how man RBIs he would have on a good offensive team? They need to trade him and get some young guys.
I might be a little jet lagged from coming back from New York, but where in the world do you even come up with this stuff? lol
Dude, why don't they find extra offense to build around Lee? Berkman will get into the groove, but that's it... Pence is a rookie - he gets a pass.
You don't attempt to simply "rebuild" when you have Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman in their primes... those are pretty good foundation players to load your team up around. You rebuild when you don't have that type of player... and you have some older guys who are past their prime, but could still help a contending team.
Horrible signing. If they signed him for 3 years fewer or $30 million less, then yeah, good signing. But we aren't going anywhere this year, I doubt we're going anywhere next year because things are going to get shaken up, and we'll regret his contract down the road for sure, a la Bagwell.
Every team will "regret" the end of a contract of a player in their mid 30's. Berkman's deal will look bad when he's 35, Oswalt will likely have a hiccup before his deal is done, and Lee may explode to 900 lbs. The key is that this was the MARKET RATE for Lee... just like it was Soriano. After all the whining about how the Astros don't sign anybody, and then you have a guy who's having a GREAT season such as Lee is having right now, you guys will seriously whine NO MATTER WHAT. Watching Lee bat this season has been refreshing... I forgot what it was like to have elite hitters who execute a gameplan every time they get up there.
Wait a minute - every contract is market rate. Zito's $18MM/yr was market rate - that doesn't make it a good contract. Who's the "you guys" you're referring to? I'm not sure the same people are complaining. I was totally on board with not signing the overpaid free agents. The only guy I was from the "expensive list" is Beltran - precisely because he was young and you wouldn't necessarily regret his contract at the end of it. It seems like people who defended the Astros for the last decade for not overpaying for players have suddenly switched their tunes too. I find it odd how many people yelled about how Beltran's contract was too much and they were glad we didn't sign him, he wouldn't be good by the end of it, etc that are now defending Lee's contract. Never mind that Beltran makes similar money, but was 3 years younger, better, and plays a much tougher position. Lee should be a good signing for the next 3 years (assuming no fluky injuries). After that is a crapshoot. That's definitely been fun. He has a knack for finding ways to get RBIs. His situational Runners on Base numbers (0.813 OPS) are actually worse than his nobody on numbers (0.958 OPS) but he does seem to do whatever it takes to get the run in. And it's a nice change, frankly, from the Astros of the last 5 or 6 years. They had good and bad offenses, but not since Alou did they seem to have a "smart" offensive player (not sure smart is the right word, but you get the idea).
I also wanted Beltran.... and I'm not one of the people who defended the Astros for the last decade for not overpaying for players (I'd rather them sign the "right" players, or players of need... not just overpay irresponsibly). I'm also not likely referring to you, but you know there are still people clamoring for Drayton not having a bigger payroll. With this current team, I thought they needed offense. Now, would I have been complaining if they paid Pettite most of his money, and not gotten Lee... probably not (since I value big-time pitching). But, they needed the offenese, and right now Lee is rolling, while the only other guy they were considering (Soriano) looks lost out the plate. And not every contract is market rate. A-Rod's contract was not market rate. Hampton's contract with Colorado had zero precedence. Clemens doesn't get a comparable contract to the other free agents. Granted, this off-season's spending was out of control... it will be interesting to see when the "correction" takes place (or if there will even be one). As for Lee not being worth the deal in 3 years... its a pretty safe bet, but still not justification for not signing anybody. Beltran wasn't worth his deal in the first year, but rebounded last year. Now that the market has exploded, he looks like a bargain... but he still will lose some of his "valuable" skills before his deal is said and done (as will Lance, Roy, and any free agent in their 30's).
Just about every Astro fan on this forum was pulling for one of two players this past offseason- Lee and Soriano. So far I'm liking the deal we pulled. A lot.
I've never understood this logic. The reason the Astros regretted the Bagwell signing was that he took up all that salary room without actually playing. It would've been different had he been able to play and contribute pretty good starting numbers, even had it not been at peak performance (think 2004 levels). Assuming Lee has no health problems — and he's been very durable — it should work out. But for the sake of argument, let's do as you said and give him $30 million less. That's $70 million over 6 years, approximately $12 million, as opposed to the $16 million average he's getting in the current contract. Is an extra $4 million in free agency per year — essentially, enough to get a Preston Wilson-type — enough to change it from a "good signing" to a "horrible signing"? That doesn't sound right to me. Also, revenues and player salaries are escalating by the year, after halting temporarily earlier this decade. It's a reasonable assumption that Lee's contract won't be nearly as large in those later years (relative to contracts) as it is today.
