figured we could consolidate. Valverde has control problems but put it all together last year. He still could implode at any time but this is a nice upgrade over qualls. Astros finally made a good move. Burke could come around but is likely a backup. With Kaz-mat they had no use for him or no room. Regarding Haren, the dbacks let go 5 of their top prospects. thats not some garbage like the astros traded for tejada. But haren will dominate in the NL. Astros should have been on that train instead. they gave up a pretty decent prospect in gutierrez. their farm numbers have taken a serious hit even though there was no projected ace. patton was the closest. brett anderson's a lefty top of the rotation guy while carlos gonzalez has + power. both are projected to be studs. and greg smith is the lefty from LSU if Im not mistaken who dominated his senior season when mestepey sucked. twins picked up adam everett last night and mike lamb just now.
Yeah, and the A's know good youngsters when they see them. I was just excited about the possibility of the D Backs not scoring 10 runs in a game all year while posting 85 wins, somehow. I would be happy if I were an A's fan as they were going to lose Haren anyways.
Haren is legit. besides santana and bedard, he would have been tops on my pitching christmas list. i agreed with getting rid of hudson, mulder and zito. harden and haren are dominant while blanton is fat and pretty awesome. however, it doesnt look like harden will ever be healthy. It just aint happenin. And blanton is a #3. so basically they have blanton and a 50 innings a year pitcher. i dont think any of the prospects will be able to make their rotation this year so I dunno what they are going to do. billy beane is overrated anyhow but since he's gay we must pretend he invented moneyball.
I think the approach the Astros should take is that of San Diego. Just load up your bullpen with guys that can come in from the 6th inning on and slam the door. I just don't know if we have enough in the way of guys who can help set up Valverde at this point, however. I like Brocail, he was solid last year for San Diego (3.05 ERA). I hope he can stay healthy, would be a good option for setup man. Geoff Geary has been great in the past for the Phillies, although his ERA suffered tremendously at that small Phillies ballpark with a 6.06 ERA but road ERA was 2.86. Villareal could be a decent 6th inning guy. Borkowski in long relief. We now need a very good left handed specialist. Hopefully they sure that part of the team up, especially with what looks like a comeback ability in this hitting lineup. Good solid middle relief can set the stage for exciting late game heroics. That is all.
this should put the astros over the top if they can seal the deal: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7812638/RHP-Chacon-could-join-Astros-rotation
Troy Patton... garbage? I know the DisAstros don't have a great farm system, but it ain't "that" bad... or is it :lol:. At least the O's were able to dump Tejada's 13 million dollar contract and pick up a great pitching prospect, stop-gap left fielder (which enables us to either trade or release Jay Gibbons), a probable bullpen arm, and a decent 3rd base prospect. How do you feel about the Erik Bedard for Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Tony Butler, and Kam Mickolio? Although the Orioles will be horrid this year, I see this as a good move by McPhail to essentially "Start over". Also, I have seen possible trades involving Brian Roberts for Felix Pie which I think could be very interesting... opinions?
Astros 40-Man Roster | Non-Roster Invitees | Depth Chart Active Roster Pitchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 41 Brandon Backe R/R 6-0 195 04/05/78 58 Dave Borkowski R/R 6-1 230 02/07/77 26 Doug Brocail L/R 6-5 250 05/16/67 65 Jack Cassel R/R 6-2 190 08/08/80 1 Shawn Chacon R/R 6-3 220 12/23/77 68 Paul Estrada R/R 6-1 220 09/10/82 29 Geoff Geary R/R 6-0 180 08/26/76 63 Samuel Gervacio R/R 6-0 170 01/10/85 35 Ryan Houston R/R 6-4 230 09/22/79 37 Brad James R/R 6-2 200 06/19/84 62 Mark McLemore L/L 6-2 220 10/09/80 64 Fernando Nieve R/R 6-0 195 07/15/82 44 Roy Oswalt R/R 6-0 185 08/29/77 54 Chad Paronto R/R 6-5 250 07/28/75 52 Felipe Paulino R/R 6-2 180 10/05/83 39 Chad Reineke R/R 6-6 210 04/09/82 51 Wandy Rodriguez S/L 5-11 160 01/18/79 43 Chris Sampson R/R 6-1 190 05/23/78 47 Jose Valverde R/R 6-4 255 07/24/79 56 Oscar Villarreal L/R 6-0 215 11/22/81 19 Woody Williams R/R 6-0 200 08/19/66 53 Wesley Wright R/L 5-11 160 01/28/85 This is brutal. Oswalt, Rodriguez, Williams, Shacon, Sampson/Nieve/Backe Oh the humanity.
Red Sox agree to Minor League deal with fat@$$ Colon. If he pitches in the bigs, this gives them a lil more depth now that Schilling is phucked.
read that ojiama has developed a new pitch in the offseason...whats the over/under on what weight lardass colon will report at?
