HOUSTON - Jose Vizcaino, a versatile veteran infielder, Monday re-signed with the Houston Astros, Financial terms of the one-year contract were not disclosed. Since the free agent signing period began on November 10, Houston has re-signed two of its seven free agents. On Tuesday, the Astros agreed to terms with righthander Dan Miceli on a one-year contract. Vizcaino has spent the last three seasons with Houston and has hit .283 with nine homers and 77 RBIs over that span. Limited to 91 games due to a broken left wrist in 2003, the 35-year-old Vizcaino hit .249 with three homers and 26 RBIs. In 1504 career games with Los Angeles, the Chicago Cubs, the New York Mets, Cleveland, San Francisco, the New York Yankees and Houston, Vizcaino owns a .272 batting average with 30 homers and 416 RBIs.
1.2?? the team has to cut payroll and they're giving 1.2 million to someone whose production can be replaced and probably exceeded by a player making the minimium
Blum is a very valuable bench player for the Astros or any team (as long as he is put into left hand hitting situations). He provides adequate defense at all four infield positions as well as LF and RF. There aren't many players who can do that. He's the type of guy who allows teams to carry an extra pitcher. If he reverts to his 2002 offensive form, he will be quite a bargain.
Spending $1.2 mil on an old, weak-hitting backup middle infielder is not my idea of "payroll flexibility". That's wasted money, imo, that could be used to help sign a starter at another position.
Unless the Astros make a blockbuster trade, their starters are settled. Even if they trade Hidalgo for prospects, their lineup is set (assuming they sign Ausmus). They are not looking for free agents to sign as starters unless it's a pitcher. Vizcaino had a poor offensive year for the most part, however he was good in 2002. Signing Vizcaino will not be the reason they fail to sign a high priced free agent pitcher. Keep in mind that they signed him for $800,000 less than he made in 2003. Look at it optimistically, they cut $800,000 from the payroll AND signed Vizcaino.
Two questions: 1. Where could we get a starter for any position at $1.2 mil besides catcher? 2. Where do we really need another starter besides pitcher, where I really doubt we could get one that's better than our current crop for $1.2 mil?
It's not about spending $1.2 mil on a starter. If you're balancing your budget, you look at the big picture. You cut back some on eating out, if that saves you $75 per month, and then buy fewer clothes, saving another $50, etc. Before you know it, you're looking at real savings for stuff that you want. A team should be managed the same way. In 2003 the Astros frivolously spent $1 mil on a Shane Reynolds, just to cut him, $1.7 mil on Orlando Merced, who's no better a backup outfielder than the guys in your farm system, and $2 mil on Viscaino, a very replaceable backup. Moehler was a dud at SP, and cost $500k. That's a total of 5.2 million wasted for very little production. Take that money and invest it into the farm system, or use it to help bid for a free agent who can make a difference. If the bidding on Pettite (or another, better SP) is close, you think that 5.2 mil might make the difference? Brad Ausmus made 5.5 mil this season, 3.8 less than Pudge Rodriguez. Save money on some needless backup players and you could have a hard-hitting, strong-armed catcher instead of a .230 hitting defensive specialist.
And this year, they're saving 800K on Viz, 1.7 on Merced, and there's no way we'll be giving Ausmus 5.2. That, plus getting rid of Wagner's salary, not to mention Reynolds, the Astros have done a great job so far this offseason in possibly opening up some money for another starting pitcher.
You can't base what the Astros paid a player last year on their production last year. It has to be based on the year before with the expectation of how they will do over the length of the contract. There was nothing evident that those salaries were a gamble. Merced was a valuable player to the team in 2002 who had a horrible year last year. The same with Vizcaino, although his year wasn't as bad as Merced's. The Astros took a flyer on Reynolds and decided to eat the million rather than eat all of his incentives (which were to simply be on the roster at certain points of the season). The Astros also signed Merced and Vizcaino during the 2002 season so they would not have to worry about their status as free agents after that year. Hindsight is 20/20. Based on the 2002 stats, Vizcaino, Merced and Ausmus earned their 2003 contracts based on their 2002 performance and the expectation that 2003 would be the same. Reynolds was a different story due to his return from back surgery. He had been a solid player and solid citizen for the team. Imagine the outcry if the Astros let him walk rather than taking the time to evaluate him. Spending $500,000 on Moehler was a reasonable risk for a pitcher with a lifetime ERA around 4.50 who was projected as a 3rd-5th starter at the time of his signing. Arguing for Rodriguez is a moot point. He wasn't coming here anyway unless he was offered huge money for a multi-year deal.
I'm not talking hindsight, I'm talking foresight. Based on their 2002 performances or not, there's no way that I would have paid a backup (Merced) $1.7m to fill a roster spot that we had plenty of available options at. Same for the $1m or whatever we gave Brian Hunter. Jason Lane was more than capable of filling the backup-OF spot. Vizcaino was overpaid at $2m to fill in as a backup SS when we had 2 capable younger SSs at the time in Everett and Lugo. He's a better value this season at $1.2m, although I still think we could match his production for a million less by getting someone from AAA.
With respect to Merced, name one (of the plenty you say the Astros have) left-handed hitting minor leaguer the Astros had in their farm system that could have been expected to hit .275+, OBP of .350+ and slugging of .420+ in the majors, based on their minor league credentials prior to 2003. Those are Merced's career numbers and were similar numbers he had in 2002.
