John Buck

What if the Astros make the playoffs but lose in the 1st round? Or NLCS? Or World Series? Was it worth it if the Astros don't resign Beltran? I guess time will tell...

 

But, if we end up making the playoffs... and then some... is it really that much of a loss??

Buck has still been inconsistent with the bat this year (.230 BA... which was .209 a week ago), but he has been putting it together as of late...

I still say that this team was owed a shot to make it to the post-season, and they WOULD NOT be in contention for that right now had they not pulled off this deal.

I'd much rather see meaningful games in September, then watching Burke, Buck, and Bruntlett get most of the playing time in games that are essentially meaningless.

EDIT: and even if Buck does pan out, the team that most likely deserves some criticism is the freaking NY Mets, who traded Scott Kazmir for a guy who ended up with arm troubles. They thought that Kaz wouldn't be ready soon enough to contribute to this nucleus, so they trade him.... and he promptly outduels Pedro in Fenway tonight.

 

i don't really find his numbers all that impressive. certainly not enough to make me think damn we gave him up? right now i'm loving beltran and this wildcard race, i don't really want to worry about the offseason.

 

His numbers look better when you remember that he's a catcher with a bullet arm in his first pro season. Yeah, the deal will look bad next year if Beltran doens't resign, and we have to drag the corpse of Brad Ausmus out for another go-round - but Giminez was the superior catching prospect anyways, so despite his ability - Buck was probably not in the organizations long term plans for anything except trade bait.

And you gotta admit, we made out pretty nicely on trading him for something.

Assuming we resign Beltran. Which is probably 30/70 - 50/50 at this point.

I can't pass up an opportunity to slam the mets, may their stadium burn to ashes. The litany of mistakes they've made are remarkable. Let us start with Zambrano for Kazmir - the Mets proudly claimed that they'd put on over on the D-Rays, because all they needed to do was fix a slight hitch in his delivery, and he'd be a superstar pitcher. oops. Kazmir will pitch better down the stretch than Zambrano will, and he's younger and cheaper and has a higher ceiling.

Then Benson. Benson doesn't have the stuff he used to, the Pirates slagged his arm but good, but he's still got the ability to be a good No. 2 guy - and the Mets have dicked around with getting him resigned to an extension. They'll sign him in the next few weeks - but they'll most likely end up overpaying him to avoid the embarassment of letting him go to free agency after stalling for nigh on six weeks.

Kazou Matsui and Jose Reyes have wasted a year of development - as Matsui has been playing short and Reyes second - until the Mets decided that Matsui was their future second baseman, and Reyes their future shortstop. I don't think it will really impact their careers too much, but it's one more silly thing they've done.

Mike Piazza - will they move him to first base for good already? He should've been moved out from the plate thirty seconds after his first inning at catcher concluded - he's a very bad defensive catcher - so much so that he undoes most of the good work with his bat with his work in the field. But the Mets have kept him at catcher as his form at the bat and in the field has slowly deteriorated, because they're afraid to upset him.

Meanwhile, the Mets team that made it to the World Series a few years ago, has transformed from an old, veteran, quality side - to an old, veteran, bloated, overpaid side. Glavine and Leiter are still decent, but their duration is spotty, and they're sneaking up on 40.

 

kaz won't last long, kid has drug problems

 

Although I liked Buck as a prospect, those numbers don't look that good to me.

 

Bullet arm? He has thrown out less than 30% (11 for 37). Buck will stick around in the majors, but it's not like we gave up Pudge.

 

Agreed.... Buck showed huge potential after his year at Round Rock, and many expected him to be in the big leagues within the next year...

But, he struggled tremendously in his first year at AAA, and then he got hurt. He bounced back somewhat this year at New Orleans... but by that time, the club had already seen what Hector Gimenez was doing and promptly re-signed Ausmus for another 2 years.

If they were as high on this guy as say Meluskey, he would have already been up here by now. As it was, they let him build up his stats at AAA... and when a trade opp. came up, he was the first one to go.

Let's just be thankful that we actually have some decent prospects to work trades like this out... had the Yankees or Red Sox not depleted their farm systems, they might have been enjoying Beltran's services right now.

 

What makes you think that?

 

It doesn't matter. Whenever you have the opportunity to win now, you have to take it, even at the expense of the future because you never know what will happen.

 

Went to school same time as he was going. When a big name like that is into stuff, word gets around. Apparently it didn't affect him too much in HS, they said he'd pitch F'd up and still dominate, but I imagine it will catch up sooner or later

 

if he can pitch liike that f'd up, imagine him normal.

I thnk hes got quite teh skillset.

 

Just because somebody did drugs in the past doesn't mean he is still doing them. I tried a bunch of stuff in late high school / early college and I don't do them now.

That kid has superstar written all over him. Mets fan must be pissed.

 

It wasn't more of a "I didn't inhale problem." The kid was ON them while he pitched a few games. He came back the summer after the draft with a new.. cadillac truck maybe? Can't remember ... point is the kid has loads of money and loads of talent, I just hope he doesn't blow it on stupid crap

 

even if Buck ends up bein any good, we have a better prospect in Gimenez in AA.....and if u have the chance to acquire a player like Calros Beltran u do it.....5 tool players dont come around very often.....if all we have to give up is a catcher that we most likely wont use and a decent closer.......u do it in a heartbeat.......