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Astros and Free Agency
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  1. good but slow. whats he average about 10 stolen bases a year. i always see him stealing and the opposing team is in shock.
  2. The Hack, aka, Richard Justice, has a great post on his blog from the 'Stros awards banquet. Some pretty funny stuff:

  3. I assume Troy Patton is farm raised. That bottom 2 of the rotation is scary to think about. That just isn't acceptable especially since we're really talking about spots 2 and 5, not 4 and 5. We don't have a true #2. I do like what I saw with Sampson last year. Ground ball pitcher who could do really well with Everett and Ensberg on the left side of that infield. He showed some really good composure in pressure packed situations in the last 3 weeks of the season. I like how he has already been thrown into the fire and got a taste of a playoff type atmosphere.

    If Ensberg has a big year, this offense is gonna kill.

    The back of the bullpen--Chad Qualls, Dan Wheeler and Brad Lidge--is baseball's best. In 2005, yes. In 2006, not even close. Qualls made a nice comeback the 2nd half of the season to be respectable and pretty reliable. Lidge is a coin flip this season as to whether we get 2005 Brad Lidge or 2006 Brad Lidge. It's a good thing we can switch to Wheeler if we get the 06 Lidge (altho that isn't the preferred method of closing games as Lidge would be reduced to a non-asset in that bullpen, which we can't afford).
  4. Astros signed Hidalgo?

    Damn. Maybe they plan on him playing only in September.
  5. Yea, he apparently had some good cheerleaders in the front office that want to give him a chance. Can't hurt, IMO.

    As to Troy Patton, folks that have seen him pitch in the minors are very high on this guy.

    Borkowski is one of my favorite 'Stros. That guy has pitched some great long-relief outings, including one in '05 in extra innings for about 7 innings. He's a gamer. But not a starter.
  6. We need to trade Lidge for a starter. I really have my doubts if he can return to his previously dominating form.

    Astros managment talked about having a guy who can go 2 innings constantly since we have Williams and a couple of young pitchers in the rotation, which means lots of 5 or 6 inning outings. Borkowski perfectly fits that bill. I don't see them pulling him out of that role to start games instead.

    So we have:

    Rodriguez
    Albers
    Sampson
    Patton
    Astacio

    I don't mind pulling one of these guys into the rotation, just don't like relying on 2 inexperienced guys all season long.
  7. Wandy is simply not an MLB starter. He was shaky last year (with historic run support) and got worse at AAA. I like the guy, but he's a middle reliever at best.

    Sampson was surprisingly better than Albers, and Astacio is a big question mark, dependent on his recovery from injury. If he can get his velocity back, he could be a contributor.

    Not to keep kicking this dead horse, but the most promising young pitcher on the field last year was Buccholz.
  8. Astros must know they can sign an extension to Jennings to a cheaper price than what he would otherwise demand on the FA market, otherwise I can't make heads or tails of the trade.
  9. it was nice to see mr jennings only give up 11 in 2/3rds of the first inning and appropriately booed on his exit. looks like garner was making sure jj's contract year would suffer by hanging him out to dry. never seen a manager outside of larussa leave a starter in who was getting shelled for so long. jason marquis comes to mind.

    mike cameron was easily the best athlete on either team by a long shot.

    milton bradley may have been 2nd.

    luke scott should start.

    chris burke may be a lifelong utility guy.

    doug brocail is on roids or hgh. the ex-stro is bringing it 95 consistently and much much nastier than he was 10 years ago.

    easily #1 stuff. always has. its learning how to pitch thats taking til this year. having mad dog tutor him has done wonders as predicted.
  10. And Purpura does it again. An established relief pitcher for a journeyman-level third baseman that's not as good as the current one. Wow. Hunsicker is just killing this guy.

    McLane should have told Purpura that he is not allowed, under any circumstances, to talk to the D-Rays.

    Of course, compared to the Jennings trade debacle, this is about as awesome a trade as the deal with Boston to get Bagwell.
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