they should have waited until Thurs to make this deal when they knew he was clean in the ole Mitchell report, b/c yes, I agree 100%, TigerBait.
the astros had no soul left to sell after dumping willy, jason hirsh and bucholz. why not get erik bedard or brian roberts (instead of kaz). they already had weak pitching to begin with before trading mediocre prospects. I guess adam everett's gold glove (eventually) will likely be traded since kaz is at 2nd. the astros take a huge hit up the middle on defense. There are ss's out there who can field and hit and arent lying about their b-12 shots. CF bourn-L 2b kaz-mat-R RF pence-R 1B berkman-S LF carlos lee-R SS tejada-R 3B wigginton-R C superstar brad ausmus-R (who cares) either way, the dis-astros pitching is awful. rocket better be a great tutor. oswalt woodrow wilson wandy (way-rod) backe oh and no closer. good thing they added that much needed defensive liability at SS. 3 basically unproven guys in the top 3 spots could be bad or great but more than likely just average. Id say Pence is the real deal even after just 1 year from everything Ive seen. He was a career .930+ in the minors. Burke was under .800 so he cannot play in the outfield with that bat. Looks like he's a backup @ 2b wherever he goes. the deal looks fair since the astros gave up no one with star potential but I really did like Luke Scott who can mash righties. The astros are heavily right-handed and could have used his lefty bat almost daily. the other guy lost who had decent potential is troy patton but he had elbow problems last year so maybe he's damaged goods. seemed to have good stuff in the minors.
Astros are reportedly going to release Adam Everett....his days as an Astro are over The stadium suits Tejada, and he may be able to smack 30 homers pretty easily (Biggio was clubbing 20-25 on a consistent basis) The key to the deal is Patten. If he becomes the next Eric Bedard, this trade is crap. If he bombs, this trade is actually in the Astros favor. Albers is never going to make it in the bigs. Scott is never going to amount to anything either. Tejada's only making 12 mil per year. That's not a lot given today's salaries, and he signed up for 2 years. But you gotta wonder what this team is thinking giving up more pitching prospects. Patten was considered the gem of the farm system. We shall see. I like the lineup. You can scratch Ausmus, I think he is retiring and becoming some kind of coach/tutor for the Astros. The duties should be split between Towles/Munson. Much better hitting. Hunter Pence is the key to the offense, batting in the all important 3 hole. If he has a sophomore slump, this offense won't be any better than last season, which was characterized as "inconsistent". This lineup is formidable. Should be able to put up 5 to 5 1/2 runs per game pretty easily. I gotta think we are getting a #2 and #3 pitcher in free agency. Wandy and Backe/Sampson would be good 4th and 5th starters. Qualls will be fine as the closer. Woody Williams should be retiring hopefully.
Of the prospects they traded away... probably had a total payroll of around $4-5M. They inherited $26M over two years. How do they expect to win more than 70 games next year with only ONE pitcher, and little to no more financial fliexibility? Could be a long season for the Stros...
I don't watch the Stros a lot, but am I the only one here who liked that Matt Albers kid? I know his record didn't look so hot this year, but I thought he could be good down the road.
yeah well the Cardinals have a drunk for a manager who hates his 3rd baseman and is holding him hostage.....you guys are definitely bound to win another world series
reports are that eckstein will actually play first base in an attempt to shorten the length of throws to....um....first base.
Looks like a lineup that could/should score some runs. If free-agent Santa brings some pitching, this might work out and prove to be a good deal. On the other hand, Houston keeps trading away the future. I expect another disastrous year in the Astros' minor league system, top to bottom, Lexington to Round Rock. Am wondering how well Jennings is recovering and if Houston could get him cheap. Also wondering if it would be worth the trouble. The guy was sometimes pretty decent pre-Houston but forgot to bring anything to the party last year. Finally, in trading all the white boys, the Astros seem to be striving to be a more culturally diverse team. Watch for me sitting next to Jesse Jackson.:hihi:
