As in... The "Rocket" having several pitches returned past him to the home of the "Rockets" on the other end of downtown. Did anyone ever get a picture of Pettitte in that Texans jersey? Or see one online? I've looked and can't find one. Thanks...
As late as I am to this thread... relatively good signing. I think he might be a little overpaid, but not so much as to bother me all that much. Especially after dumping Wagner's outrageous salary. Good length on the contract, too. Houston will have a great 1-2-3 next year.
This is not true, as McClane has stated repeatedly that the raises due to Astros already under contract ate up all of the savings the team got by trading Wagner. Pettitte's contract should be in addition to last year's payroll.
Pretty sure he's not including the rest of the 40 man roster, only the projected big league club as it stands. Also, I'm having a brain cramp here...who is eligible for arbitration?
I'd look for some small deals, i.e. Blum, but nothing major. "We are ready to go forward with the team that we have right now." -- Drayton, 12/11/03
For the apologists: The fact that Uncle Drayton is "projecting" a $75 million dollar budget is irrelevant to him being dedicated to winning a championship and owning a sports team for the right reasons. I'm not going to bash him, others have already done that satisfactorily, but unless one of ya'll can attest to looking at the books the fact that the man spent "X" amount of money doesn't mean a thing when he makes "X+" in revenues. Sure, I hear he lost "X" money this past year and this much more as long as he has owned the team, but how is anyone to know this isn't due to creative bookkeeping (your head is in the sand if you can deny this occurs in major professional sports). Furthermore, all these "losses" have coincided with a stadium built primarily from taxpayers money, an entity with far greater revenue streams than the Dome ever had. Additionally, Uncle Drayton, should recognize, as a successful businessman, that sports franchises aren't a profit generating tool. They are a toy for old rich men to display they wealth and power. Good owners buy a team knowing full well they may lose money, and are often willing do so in order to quench their desire (and thus their ego) for championships. He came into the situation not knowing how the game is played, got burned on Drabek and Swindell, and played it conservatively since (i.e. I realize there were the Johnson trades, and the Kent signing, but these were short term fixes, not long-term commitments to the players or the city.) He is willing to do what it takes as long as he can use a coupon, i.e. buy a rent-a-player or get someone to buy into a hometown discount. Further, the Pettitte signing is a great shot in the arm, but he was brought in for "PR" as much as his talent. There were other pitchers out there that could be had for the same or less with just as much talent, i.e. Colon, Vasquez, etc. Yes, the overall deal is fair and Pettitte is standup guy for following his heart, but on the other side of the coin this is strictly a business deal for McLane to make one last attempt to recoup his "losses" and head off into the sunset a hero while he leaves the new owner with the baggage of numerous backloaded contracts. In the end the money he is committing will likely be coming from somebody else's pockets. This deal along with Kent's and Bagwell's will hamstring the team for years to come. Sure we won't mind if we get the big payoff this year or next, but what happens three years from now. The farm system is dry with our best prospects already at the major league level, Bagwell and Biggio will be retired, and they'll be paying enormous amounts of guaranteed money from badly structured contracts for Kent and Pettitte. What happens if its the Rockets of the days of Pippen and Barkley all over again. They went for it all, fell short, and sent the team into rebuilding mode for almost 4 years. In sum, whether Drayton is cheap, a liar, or a stand-up guy is irrelevant to me, but I want others to see the situation for what it is, beyond the feel good story and the new #2 hometown pitcher, this was the last gasp of man to make money (since Pettitte will correct me if I'm wrong only make $5 million this year) from any windfall of a last playoff run before leaving the team in economic chaos to a new owner who will have to deal with the mess for years to come.
Chrisjent, I have a couple contentions with your viewpoint. 1) Bartolo Colon is not better than Andy Pettitte and will make more money than pettitte and demanded a dreaded 4th year. Vasquez would have required a prospect deal, which you mentioned and I know, the Astros are short on. Plus, he is a free agent next year so who knows if he would want to spend his prime years an Astro. The yankees made the move without getting him a contract extension first. 2. The astros have the ability to lose a lot of payroll by 2006. Kent will be gone, so will biggio, and 2006 is bagwell's swan song. Pettitte's contract makes sense with the financial makeup of the current team. It will not hamstring anyone, new owners or drayton. 3. It doesn't matter how much the stadium generates, the Astros will top out at about 80 mil in revenues under baseball's economic system. The reason is they have a crappy television deal. The new park is why the astros are at 75 mil and not at the 50 mil they started at a few years ago in the dome. So he is using the new park to improve the roster. Look at the big market teams like NY, Boston, the Cubs, the Dodgers, the Braves. They all have great fan bases and excellent television deals. The astros only have half of that equation. The reason the braves have cut payroll significantly the last few years is because their fans aren't showing up to their games. 4. Drayton doesn't just bring in hometown guys. I guess trading for Moises Alou is forgotten by you. The same goes for extending Richard Hidalgo(not bagwell or biggio, two local icons). What about trading for Randy Johnson, then offering him an equal deal to the one he signed in Arizona to stay. The same thing with Darryl Kile, another astro not bagwell or biggio. I guess he didn't sign Wagner to a very favorable contract for a closer either. Then you have him paying millions of dollars for role players like vizcaino, and merced, and even geoff blum. He resigned brad ausmus to a multi million deal, another astro not biggio or bagwell. Then you have trades for mike williams and pedro astacio a couple years ago. I want the Drayton bashers to own up to all the evidence I stick in front of your very faces every time we have this debate. I don't claim drayton is the best owner in baseball, but god damn listening to you people would make someone think he is the worst. But somehow, I guess by dumb luck, Drayton's team has had one of the best runs in baseball the last 10 years, even though he had nothing to do with it. I'm a studying journalist and I keep harping on easy statistics to find and understand, but you people don't listen. Baseball revenues are driven by fan base and television deals. The highest money making clubs have both, the next highest have decent of one, great of the other, and so on. The astros have a great fan base but a mediocre at best cable deal. That is why they can't spend 100 million a year, and I demand outside of George Steinbrenner that you name an owner that was willing to take a 30 million dollar hit a year. The answer is there isn't one. All the owners who did that even for one year had firesale the next offseason, just like the Huizenga Marlins, and more recently the Colangelo DBacks, who I might add couldn't even pay their players reportedly last year. But obviously Drayton should, because he is a forbes 500 billionaire. Nevermind that the Orioles and Dodgers have proven that spending more doesn't necessarily guarantee more wins. He should do it anyway. Even though the Houston market can't support it, he should do it because some spoiled Houston fans want it. If he did then you would really get to see that firesale that you talk about. It's not his fault the players haven't performed in the postseason. That's their job not his. b**** at them if you want. But stop b****ing at the best owner the Houston Astros have ever had, because he isn't the problem. And finally, let me get this straight, the same Houston fans that are b****ing about signing hometown stars(which are logical guys to go after) hate the fact les alexander doesn't have Houston on the team's jersey and seems to disrespect the city. Seems odd, doesn't it?
DV: I understand the economics of a sports franchise, including television revenues and their interaction with the fan base and new revenue streams created through newly constructed stadiums as I've worked in both collegiate and professional sports. I certainly don't want to talk about particular tranactions, anyone can construe the moves to fit their argument (i.e. I could bring up moving/or not signing Johnson, Kile, Hampton, Alou, Wagner, etc.) Point is Drayton has a hand in negotiating his TV rights, whether they are favorable or not. I can't help it if came out badly for him. I also don't blame him if he doesn't want to "lose" money. But, conversely, I don't want to be told about it at every turn. Admittedly, its not just him as other owners are guilty of the same tactics, but if the business is so bad, pack your bags and leave the supposed headache to somebody else. My point of the post above is that he has done just that (after years of belly-aching), only to make sure he won't have to pay the contracts he's recently given out since they're all back loaded.
Uprising, Arbitration is a process similar to the NFL's restricted tag. If a team offers a player arbitration, that player's case goes to a neutral judge(the arbitrater) to determine a one year contract for that player. If the player accepts arbitration, his team can try to sign him to a long term deal, along with that one year contract. If he decides to go elsewhere, because the team exercised their right to keep him, the team gets a draft pick from the team that signs him. The type of pick depends on the class of free agent signed. Pettitte is in the top group of free agents so since the Yankees offered him arbritration, they get first rounders from houston. If the Astros were to sign another top free agent, whichever free agent was considered higher class gets the better of the picks. For example the Mariners signed Raul Ibanez and Eddie Guardado. Guardado was the higher free agent, so the Twins get the first rounder, the royals a 2nd. Also on Ibanez, Seattle signed him before he was offered arbitration. That still costs them a pick because who knows if the Royals would have offered him it. Finally, if a team doesn't offer a player arbitration, essentially he is gone from the club for next year as he can't sign with them before may 1st. But he can sign with anyone else without losing picks as his former team made the choice not to try and keep him. Hope that clears it up.
THanks DVauthrin, it does clear it up. I found an entertaining read (the original post and reactions) on the Yankee BBS. Check this out. Yankee BBS
Roc Paint - you deserve some sort of prize. First bbs 'Stros viewing next season, you drink for free. Thanks Buck, Now I feel like a real ass for my comments about not getting props. I should have read the whole thread before spouting off like that. I say lets get ready for a Clemen's signing. What do ya'll say?
