I wonder what his era will look if you remove his 4 best starts? I think this indicates that they either won't go after another starter this offseason or will trade either Roy or wandy. With Roy wandy bud paulino and moehler the rotation seems pretty set. With 3 million to a below average stArter I just hope they don't plead poverty when drafting and signing draft picks.
I also have concerns about the same thing. Lets hope they take advantage of the picks they get and not cheap out.
Hm...not really liking the Astros wanting to pick up Moehler's option. Im a huge advocate for the youth/rebuilding movement and unless the Astros think they can contend next year (which I think they are a premier starter and atleast one other above average starter away to even sniff the playoffs, not to mention what's going to happen with out backend of our bullpen guys) then what's really the point of this?
Having just recently watched Norris, Paulino, Bazardo and Lopez, one might notice that sometimes they blowup early. If the Astros are going to keep 2/3 rookies in the back end of their starting rotation, they will need guys in bullpen to eat a lot of innings. This was a big problem this year for the Astros. Sampson, Byrdak and Gervacio all got over-pitched.
To fill out the rotation. It probably means the Astros aren't signing another starter. The truth is, the Astros don't have talent at AAA to make a total youth movement. Wilton Lopez was a bad pitcher with CC last year. Every team needs at least six starters, because someone is going to get injured during the year. I wish the option was for $1.5 million, but that wasn't what the option was for. Manzella, Johnson, & Towles are the youth movement if this team makes one. I actually hope they bring back Blum and Michaels as bench players.
Can or should the Astros sign Aroldis Chapman, the 22-year old Cuban? Who are the best free-agent starting pitchers out there?
I disagree about Paulino. When Cooper wasn't jerking him around between the bullpen and the rotation, he actually pitched very well. He had a 2.55 ERA in his first three starts, and went back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen without knowing when he would get consistent starts again until September. He had a 4.90 ERA in his last 6 starts of the season, with one bad start really skewing that number. If he's put in the rotation and allowed to settle next season, I'd bet he'd out pitch Moehler by a wide distance.
Interesting article on the Stros... http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/10/offseason-outlook-houston-astros.html Offseason Outlook: Houston Astros By Tim Dierkes [October 7, 2009 at 10:49am CST] Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Astros. Their likely commitments for 2010: C - Humberto Quintero - $610K+ C - J.R. Towles - $402K 1B - Lance Berkman - $14.5MM 2B - Kaz Matsui - $5MM SS - Tommy Manzella - $400K 3B - Chris Johnson - $400K IF - Jeff Keppinger - $428K+ IF - Edwin Maysonet - $400K LF - Carlos Lee - $18.5MM CF - Michael Bourn - $435K+ RF - Hunter Pence - $439K+ OF - ? - SP - Roy Oswalt - $15MM SP - Wandy Rodriguez - $2.6MM+ SP - Brian Moehler - $3MM SP - Bud Norris - $400K SP - Felipe Paulino - $405K RP - Tim Byrdak - $1MM+ RP - Chris Sampson - $449K+ RP - Wesley Wright - $425K RP - Jeff Fulchino - $400K RP - Alberto Arias - $402K RP - Sammy Gervacio - $400K RP - Yorman Bazardo - $400K Other commitments: Doug Brocail - $250K buyout Non-tender candidates: Geoff Geary, Chris Coste, Sampson, Paronto Assuming Brocail's option is declined, the Astros use rookies at the two open position player spots and on the left side of the infield, and Geary, Coste, and Paronto are non-tendered, they'd have $66.4MM committed before arbitration raises to Quintero, Keppinger, Bourn, Pence, Rodriguez, Byrdak, and Sampson. Bourn and Pence are first-time arbitration players and Rodriguez had a stellar year, so the raises will be significant. I'll put the Astros around $80MM committed. GM Ed Wade on how the team's 2010 payroll will compare to 2009, courtesy of MLB.com's Brian McTaggart: "Our payroll is in all likelihood going to be lower than it was this year. It could be appreciably lower, but we don't know until we sit down and get the actual numbers." If payroll is sliced to $90-95MM, Wade would have $10-15MM to spend. Talk is that the Astros could use rookies Manzella (shortstop) and Johnson (third base) as starters in 2010. Manzella hit .289/.339/.417 in 580 Triple A plate appearances after struggling at that level last year. He is a defense-first player, likely an easy out at the plate. Meanwhile Johnson hit .281/.323/.461 in 412 Triple A plate appearances at age 24. Thrusting him into a big league role would be a huge gamble as well. If contending in 2010 is the plan, the Astros need to upgrade the left side of their infield. Tejada could return and play third base, but he'd presumably want at least $7-8MM a year. The third base market has other interesting names such as Adrian Beltre, Mark DeRosa, Chone Figgins, Troy Glaus, and Juan Uribe. With Moehler retained, the Astros' 2010 rotation could be set. Paulino is not guaranteed a spot, but he deserves one. Even with poor rotation depth, I think the Astros would be better-served spending most of their cash on a shortstop and/or third baseman. They probably cannot afford to allocate more than a few million toward a veteran starter, similar to last year's Mike Hampton signing for $2MM. Jose De Jesus Ortiz's latest article at the Houston Chronicle covers the Astros' unsettled bullpen situation. Closer Jose Valverde is probably gone, and I can see the Astros preferring not to risk an arbitration offer. They'd like to bring LaTroy Hawkins back, but after a 2.13 ERA season he'll want more than this year's $3.5MM base. He also may be too pricey to sign and/or risk an arbitration offer. Wade figures to sign a few free agent veteran relievers one way or another. Despite the griping about Berkman, a .399 OBP and .509 SLG is a very good year. Lee, Bourn, and Pence are solid hitters as well, but the contributions of these four could be nullified if Wade surrounds them with easy outs. The rotation has sleeper potential, though it lacks depth. The bullpen is a question mark. This is an unfortunate time for the Astros to be cutting payroll, because they could contend with the right free agent additions.
There's that name again...Chone Figgins. Astros should make him a priority and get him in uniform. Plug him in at #2 behind Bourn and that is an intriguing, exciting lineup.
I get a feeling the Angels will make him a priority this offseason for the same reasons the Stros would love to have him. I've always liked DeRosa and with the Cards makeing Carpenter and Holliday priorities over Mark he could be had at a nice economical price. My fan colored glasses wants the Stros to go out and get a #3 guy(WOLF) so that would gives us a nice 1-4 to put against any team in the NL. IF and only IF they intend to contend I would sign DeRosa or Resign Miggy and Wolf which would give us... Oswalt Wandy Wolf Norris Moles Bourn Pence Puma Lee DeRosa or Miggy Castro Manzella Kaz/Maysonet
Moehler had 11 of 29 quality starts (and his ERA was 4.86 before his last two disastrous starts). Paulino had 5 of 17 quality starts. His pitch count really limited his number of QS opportunities. Paulino should be in the starting rotation for the entire next season. We will see. I sure hope he finds a way to become a solid MLB starting pitcher. He could be part of the Astros youth movement.
Thank you!!!!! Finally somebody makes some damned sense. Anybody who thinks that Lopez or Bazardo is better than Moehler just was not paying attention.
After his first two starts, his ERA was 27.00. He went on the DL and came back a much better pitcher. He was a decent pitcher for the majority of the season.
Completely agree Moles for 3 million is ok but it is amazing to me with how many people really hate the option being picked up. I mean he is a 5th starter who could be a long man worst case but I mean its only 3 million, thats it. It appears to me, however, this signals that no youth movement is coming and they are going after a 3rd starter to complete the rotation.
It doesn't really signal that. Norris and Paulino are very likely to be in the rotation. We were always going to bring Moehler back unless he was terrible during the year. Resigning Tejada would be a sign of no youth movement.
i wouldn't assume that. i would assume it means that they simply know they don't have enough arms in the farm that they trust enough to play before paying fans at MMP next season. moehler is an inexpensive option for someone with his experience. they're not going to let this become a 100 loss team while they try to rebuild the farm. the farm isn't going to have major league ready studs anytime soon. so they'll mix pieces together for a while while they restock young talent. i don't see a youth movement and the signing of moehler as mutually exclusive.
Heh, glad I previewed my post, I just wrote pretty much this exact thing. They'll mix in some youth (maybe Manzella, maybe Towles until Castro is ready, definitely Norris/Paulino, maybe some pen guys like Gervacio) with some stop-gap veterans (which is why I mentioned DeRosa earlier, given his age and versatility, and the glaring need for *someone* to play 3B and be productive in the 2 or 5/6 spots in the order).
