He was overpaid. I don't think you can really argue otherwise. I don't think the Astros got equal TALENT for him - but the issue is value. Unless you're one of about 5 teams, salary concerns are extremely important. Closers just aren't worth 9m per year. Even adjusting for them pitching in more crucial situations, generally... they don't contribute enough for that kind of money. I do wish that the astros had signed another replacement arm, though.
Todd Self may end up being the Astros' 1st basemenin a couple of years. He's a little older than what you'd ideally want, but he's doing really well at Round Rock.
I believe they're going to give Taveras more time to acclimate himself to switch-hitting in double-A before calling him up. and Todd Self is the winner of the annual - "Come to Round Rock and hit .350" award for hitters - previously won by Keith Ginter, Morgan Engsberg, Jason Lane and Jason Alfaro.
That's how i've been projecting it too. But i really think we need another power bat in that lineup. If Hidalgo would resign for around 5-7 million, it just might work. As long as he can hit 30-35 homeruns with a good average, i'd be happy. That's a nice mix of speed and power. Reminds me of the Marlins. But i'm not to sure Hidalgo has been too happy since Jimmy Williams came into the picture. Then Lane can play LF and we could keep Hidalgo at RF with his canon. That lineup would be cheap enough to resign Oswalt, Miller and possibly Dotel.
I'd like to trade Miller at some point for a good position prospect. Miller is just to hot and cold in my opinion.
It's a shame you haven't been happy since 2000. If Hidalgo would hit 30-35 HRs with a good average, 5-7 million would be a bargain. Unfortunately, unless he picks things up for the rest of the season, there is no way the Astros can risk 5-7 million on him. Considering Hidalgo has hit more than 30 HRs once, there is no reason to expect he will ever do it again.
I would say Hidalgo is worth 5-7 million. He hit 28 bombs last year. Especially with the projected lineup in this thread. You don't need alot of power if you have a good balance between speed, power, and contact hitting. But we do need a good hitter with power to bat behind Berkman. Being realistic, the Astros aren't gonna spend 10-15 million on a 40 hr guy. I would love to have a guy like Preston Wilson or Cliff Lee( i know he signed with the Cubs). I know Preston makes 9 million this year, but when he becomes a FA, we could probably get him cheaper than that. I prefer guys who can hit for power that aren't that muscular. It gives you more all around speed. If we keep our pitching staff the way it is, we should still be able to contend while practically rebuilding the whole offense. But we will need someone to replace Clemons. Wade has struggled only because he has lost velocity on his fastball. Which ironically is what we're waiting on Carlos Hernandez to get back. But the only difference is that nobody knows why Wade's velocity has dropped so significantly over the last 6 months.
this is only a good trade if you link the Pettite Clements deal to the Wagner trade, if not, we got screwed. Fortunally for us everything fell into place and Pettite decided to come to Houston, and then Clements followed. But if Pettite would have stayed in NY, and we would have gotten a mediocre starter with the money that was freed up from sending Billy to Philly, then this would have been a crappy trade. So it depends if you decide to link the trades, if you do, this was a good move. But if you're like me and don't link the two trades, then this was a crappy trade, it's just the way you look at it.
It's impossible to judge the trade now. If you mean Duckworth as the "mediocre starter", then you don't know anything about baseball trades. Duckworth was not....I repeat not....the principle player in the trade. Taylor Buckholz was. And it's too early to know how Buckholz will perform in the maojors. All indications suggest he will be a stud. Then there is Ezequiel Astacio, another fine prospect starting pitcher. So tell me, if Astacio and Buckholz become good strarting pitchers in the majors, how can you say it was a crappy trade?
Buckholz will be a great #2 starter in this league. If you haven't seen his Barry Zito curve ball yet, you don't fully understand. And to me a good starter is worth more than a 9 million per year reliever that throws only 60 innings a season. I haven't read up on Astacio at all recently. But from what i remember reading before, the very worst that could happen would him becoming a superb arm in the bullpen.
I just thought I would mention Richard Justice of the Chronicle, a nationally well-respected baseball journalist, agrees that the Wagner deal had nothing to do with Pettitte being signed. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2627966 just a tidbit . . .
i read that and figured someone would post it here, Rockets10. Let's just say I disagree with Richard Justice. I don't see anyway the Astros add the payroll of Pettitte to this team while still playing their closer upwards of $9 million.
it might not surprise you to know that i disagree with other things in justice's column, as well! i.e. i think Jeff Kent MIGHT be a better option at 2B than Chris Burke
agreed. i also think hunsicker is a pretty darn good GM and that the only thing that has ever held him back is Drayton's budget.
Thanks guys......Nick, Nikestrand....et al for all the minor league feel-good updates. In essence, it is my humble opinion that it is premature to say much about the rating of this trade when the two of the key parts of the puzzle are still in minor league ball. Let exercise patience for 1-3 more years and then look back. At least then we can have something more tangible to discuss and make comparisms. I am not talking about the "freed" money Wagner's trade presented us but rather a straight up comparism between what the Phillies get out of The Kid and what we get out of BD, EA and TB.
I'd like you or Justice or anybody else to find one single quote from 'Stros management that even remotely backs up this assertion. And that's all it is by Justice, wild-ass speculation.
Well I agree that management has said nothing explicitly, but that is kinda the point. If you read the quote above from Justice and look back at what I and others have said, you will see that we are saying that we do not believe what management has said publicly. That's the point; we are questioning the true motivations of the management team? Unless something comes out in the press to the contrary in the future, I guess we'll never know. Obviously you believe what management has had to say, and that's great. fine, so be it. It's just that there are a few of us out there, including the lead baseball sportswriter for the Chronicle, who remain skeptical. As I said to Max earlier, I think we can simply agree to disagree on this one.
