Brett Myers has signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Astros, with a mutual option for 2011 and performance incentives.
That's not an awful lot of money.
/weeping
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
Friday, January 8, 2010
A note on Brett Myers
The question that I think we're all asking with the signing of Brett Myers is, "Just how much will the Astros pay him?"
Myers is coming off a three-year deal with the Phillies (and it was Ed Wade who drafted Myers in the 1st Round of the 1999 draft) worth $25.75 million.
But he was hurt in 09 - with a torn/frayed labrum and a strange eye injury - and pitched in only 18 games, with 10 starts, and missing time from May 27 to September 5. Upon returning from the DL, Myers pitched solely in relief.
Given the injury history, I can't imagine Myers getting more than a 2-year deal, with a lower base salary and heavy on the incentives. But the bigger question is what the Astros' rotation will look like.
Seeing as how the Astros already have Moehler locked up, this probably means Paulino is out of the rotation and back in to the bullpen, and those minor-league deals to which the Astros signed Josh Banks and Gustavo Chacin are exactly that.
SP1: Roy
SP2: Wandy
SP3: Myers
SP4: Norris
SP5: Moehler
Myers is coming off a three-year deal with the Phillies (and it was Ed Wade who drafted Myers in the 1st Round of the 1999 draft) worth $25.75 million.
But he was hurt in 09 - with a torn/frayed labrum and a strange eye injury - and pitched in only 18 games, with 10 starts, and missing time from May 27 to September 5. Upon returning from the DL, Myers pitched solely in relief.
Given the injury history, I can't imagine Myers getting more than a 2-year deal, with a lower base salary and heavy on the incentives. But the bigger question is what the Astros' rotation will look like.
Seeing as how the Astros already have Moehler locked up, this probably means Paulino is out of the rotation and back in to the bullpen, and those minor-league deals to which the Astros signed Josh Banks and Gustavo Chacin are exactly that.
SP1: Roy
SP2: Wandy
SP3: Myers
SP4: Norris
SP5: Moehler
Sifting through Myers info
Brian McTaggart is confirming the Astros are "trying to add" Brett Myers.
And we'll just go ahead and keep the updates rolling. McTaggart is now reporting that the Astros and Brett Myers are "in serious talks."
3:49pm: Fox 26 is reporting that the deal is done, pending a physical.
3:52pm: McTaggart is confirming the deal, pending a physical.
And we'll just go ahead and keep the updates rolling. McTaggart is now reporting that the Astros and Brett Myers are "in serious talks."
3:49pm: Fox 26 is reporting that the deal is done, pending a physical.
3:52pm: McTaggart is confirming the deal, pending a physical.
Astros still looking at Brett Myers
Jerry Crasnick is reporting that the Astros are still looking at pitcher Brett Myers in an effort to shore up the back of the rotation. He goes on to say that money will be an issue, but "Ed Wade likes his former Phillies."
UPDATE: But, oh snap. The Rangers are interested in Myers, as well.
UPDATE: But, oh snap. The Rangers are interested in Myers, as well.
Tejada finding that teams aren't so jazzed about paying 35-year old shortstops $8 million
Jorge Arangure Jr's new blog post discusses the plight of Miguel Tejada.
During the World Baseball Classic this year, then Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada told reporters that he was willing to play any infield position in 2010 -- including third base -- which was a surprising turn for a player who had so steadfastly clung to his beloved shortstop position.
At the all star game, Tejada, a free agent to be, reiterated that sentiment during media sessions at the All Star game. Now in the offseason, the usually reclusive Tejada, made that same declaration once again to a Spanish-speaking reporter from the Associated Press, which may signal that Tejada still hasn't found the free agent marketplace to his liking.
He'll move to 3B, but as Arangure notes, he hasn't really played it. And when the Dominican Republic got bounced out of the 1st round of the WBC last Spring, Tejada was their 3B for all of eight minutes. Now teams aren't so sure about giving $8 million (the money Tejada is rumored to be seeking) to a 3B who hasn't ever really played 3B.
During the World Baseball Classic this year, then Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada told reporters that he was willing to play any infield position in 2010 -- including third base -- which was a surprising turn for a player who had so steadfastly clung to his beloved shortstop position.
At the all star game, Tejada, a free agent to be, reiterated that sentiment during media sessions at the All Star game. Now in the offseason, the usually reclusive Tejada, made that same declaration once again to a Spanish-speaking reporter from the Associated Press, which may signal that Tejada still hasn't found the free agent marketplace to his liking.
He'll move to 3B, but as Arangure notes, he hasn't really played it. And when the Dominican Republic got bounced out of the 1st round of the WBC last Spring, Tejada was their 3B for all of eight minutes. Now teams aren't so sure about giving $8 million (the money Tejada is rumored to be seeking) to a 3B who hasn't ever really played 3B.
Olney, on Valverde
In Buster Olney's new blog post, he takes on the Valverde Situation:
Heard this: Jose Valverde, the most accomplished reliever on the market, is asking teams for an annual salary of $8 million, and he has made it clear he only wants to be a closer, so far. The Pirates and Marlins, two teams that need closers, certainly won't pay him that much; the Tigers need a closer, but in an offseason in which they've done some financial belt-tightening, it remains to be seen whether they would go that far.
It's obvious that Jose Valverde's agent crapped the bed on the decision to not accept arbitration, and the Astros will - at some point - reap the benefit of it. Valverde's asking $8 million - same as what he made in 2009 - is not likely to happen for the exact reason that Olney put forth, but you have to wonder if he's high-balling potential suitors to make a $5 million deal more attractive.
Heard this: Jose Valverde, the most accomplished reliever on the market, is asking teams for an annual salary of $8 million, and he has made it clear he only wants to be a closer, so far. The Pirates and Marlins, two teams that need closers, certainly won't pay him that much; the Tigers need a closer, but in an offseason in which they've done some financial belt-tightening, it remains to be seen whether they would go that far.
It's obvious that Jose Valverde's agent crapped the bed on the decision to not accept arbitration, and the Astros will - at some point - reap the benefit of it. Valverde's asking $8 million - same as what he made in 2009 - is not likely to happen for the exact reason that Olney put forth, but you have to wonder if he's high-balling potential suitors to make a $5 million deal more attractive.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Valverde has four offers
Yahoo's Tim Brown is reporting this:
Source: Valverde has four offers, two of more than one year, all to be a closer. Arizona and Detroit are in.
Source: Valverde has four offers, two of more than one year, all to be a closer. Arizona and Detroit are in.
Update on Dominican complex
McTaggart has an update on the new Dominican baseball complex, which is apparently six weeks ahead of schedule.
The all-inclusive academy is located in the Guerra Region of Boca Chica, D.R., and just one-half mile from the facilities of the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers and is close to the Kansas City Royals. The complex consists of two and a half playing fields, six pitching mounds, batting cages and an observation tower.
The facility also includes a two-story building with the first floor consisting of administrative offices, educational classrooms, a dining room, a full-service industrial kitchen, weight room, training room, manager and coaches offices, equipment room, clubhouse and laundry room.
The second floor features staff living accommodations, a computer lab with 15-20 work stations and a player entertainment room. Players will be given opportunity to enhance their diets and learn English so that they'll be able to function at a higher level when they move up the developmental chain and reach the United States.
Who will be using this complex?
The Astros will begin holding workouts Monday at their old academy in San Pedro de Macoris for their youngest Dominican players. These are players who will play in the Dominican Summer League in 2010, along with players who will be in Major League camp and Minor League mini camp. Bennett said the group will consist of about 40 players.
The next wave of players begins working out Feb. 2, a group that includes regular Spring Training players and those who will be in the Minor Leagues. They'll work out for a month before coming to the U.S. for the start of Spring Training.
The Dominican Summer League season begins May 30.
The all-inclusive academy is located in the Guerra Region of Boca Chica, D.R., and just one-half mile from the facilities of the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers and is close to the Kansas City Royals. The complex consists of two and a half playing fields, six pitching mounds, batting cages and an observation tower.
The facility also includes a two-story building with the first floor consisting of administrative offices, educational classrooms, a dining room, a full-service industrial kitchen, weight room, training room, manager and coaches offices, equipment room, clubhouse and laundry room.
The second floor features staff living accommodations, a computer lab with 15-20 work stations and a player entertainment room. Players will be given opportunity to enhance their diets and learn English so that they'll be able to function at a higher level when they move up the developmental chain and reach the United States.
Who will be using this complex?
The Astros will begin holding workouts Monday at their old academy in San Pedro de Macoris for their youngest Dominican players. These are players who will play in the Dominican Summer League in 2010, along with players who will be in Major League camp and Minor League mini camp. Bennett said the group will consist of about 40 players.
The next wave of players begins working out Feb. 2, a group that includes regular Spring Training players and those who will be in the Minor Leagues. They'll work out for a month before coming to the U.S. for the start of Spring Training.
The Dominican Summer League season begins May 30.
So THAT'S why Tejada is still unemployed
Grinnin' Ken Rosenthal is saying that Miggs is looking for a 2-year $16 million deal. Hm.
Neyer looks into the crystal ball
In 2011, Jeff Bagwell will be eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time. As we already know, a candidate's chances of getting in on the first ballot have much to do with the "competition" of other 1st-time eligibles. So who is up for consideration with Bagwell? John Franco, Kevin Brown, Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro, John Olerud, and Larry Walker. Now let's turn it over to Neyer:
Jeff Bagwell is the only obvious first-time candidate next year. And while he will lead the way among the first-timers, he's far from a sure thing. Bagwell's career wasn't particularly long, and he hit fewer home runs than Fred McGriff. Bagwell did have exceptional power, but a great deal of his value came from his plate discipline, his stellar defense and his canny baserunning ... all three attributes unlikely to excite any but the most sophisticated Hall of Fame voters.
Jeff Bagwell is the only obvious first-time candidate next year. And while he will lead the way among the first-timers, he's far from a sure thing. Bagwell's career wasn't particularly long, and he hit fewer home runs than Fred McGriff. Bagwell did have exceptional power, but a great deal of his value came from his plate discipline, his stellar defense and his canny baserunning ... all three attributes unlikely to excite any but the most sophisticated Hall of Fame voters.
Only in baseball can you get away with saying things like this
Brad Mills, on his playing days with new Hall of Famer Andre Dawson:
"He was so quiet. He wasn't real outspoken. He just played the game real hard on the field. Every at-bat he competed and he could beat you with so many things. He could beat you with the bat, beat you with his glove, beat you with his arm and beat you with his wheels. There was just so many ways a guy like that could beat you. You throw all that in with him being an outstanding guy, it's pretty special."
"He was so quiet. He wasn't real outspoken. He just played the game real hard on the field. Every at-bat he competed and he could beat you with so many things. He could beat you with the bat, beat you with his glove, beat you with his arm and beat you with his wheels. There was just so many ways a guy like that could beat you. You throw all that in with him being an outstanding guy, it's pretty special."
Backe's restaurant opens today!
Brandon Backe's restaurant, Backe's Bullpen, opens today at 11:30am. Someone please, please, please go, and take pictures, and send them to astroscounty@hotmail.com
Backe's Bullpen is a sports bar with plans to serve burgers and fries, though it won't serve those things yet. So it's really just a bar. It's at 2709 Dickinson Avenue, near Dickinson.
Backe's Bullpen is a sports bar with plans to serve burgers and fries, though it won't serve those things yet. So it's really just a bar. It's at 2709 Dickinson Avenue, near Dickinson.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Comings and goings. Mostly goings.
Thanks to Anonymous, who posted on the Jeff Hulett recap, we now know that Jeff Hulett has been released. Who else have I missed? (and I hereby offer apologies if you already knew about this)
Dec 11-20:
RHP Tio McLean
1B Kyle Miller
2B Jeff Hulett
SS Jan Baldee
SS Brandon Wilkerson
OF Nathan Metroka
OF Eric Suttle
OF Marques Williams
Suttle was signed as a free agent on May 16, and spent time in Lancaster and Lexington, hitting .249/.342/.312 in 94 games.
Williams spent parts of three seasons in the organization, hitting .228/.285/.293 in 86 career games.
We also see that the Astros signed three players:
RHP Matt Ginter, LHP Jon Switzer, OF David Cook
Ginter has spent parts of seven seasons in the Majors, most recently in 2008 with Cleveland, when he went 1-3 in four starts with a 5.14 ERA / 1.33 WHIP. His most productive year was in 2002 with the White Sox, when he pitched in 33 games - finishing 15 - with a 4.47 ERA. In 2004 with the Mets, he made 14 starts, going 1-3 with a 4.54 ERA / 1.47 WHIP.
Ginter spent 2009 in the Brewers organization as a reliever (though he started three games), going 3-3 with a 3.81 ERA / 1.44 WHIP, with 52K:24BB.
30-year old LHP Jon Switzer, from Clear Lake, was a 2nd-round pick by the Devil Rays in 2001. He played for the Devil Rays (minus 2004 when he was injured) until the 2008 season, when he was with Pawtucket in the Boston organization. In 2009, the Mets signed him to a minor-league deal, where he joined the Big Team for four games, and 3.1IP. In 213 minor-league geames, Switzer has posted a 3.63 ERA / 1.29 WHIP, with 466K:150BB.
28-year old OF David Cook has spent all of his seven seasons with the Chicago White Sox. In 754 games, Cook has hit .260/.373/.474, with 285 XBH-399RBI, and 650K:448BB. He also has a .971 career Fld%, with 31 errors and 32 outfield assists.
Dec 11-20:
RHP Tio McLean
1B Kyle Miller
2B Jeff Hulett
SS Jan Baldee
SS Brandon Wilkerson
OF Nathan Metroka
OF Eric Suttle
OF Marques Williams
Suttle was signed as a free agent on May 16, and spent time in Lancaster and Lexington, hitting .249/.342/.312 in 94 games.
Williams spent parts of three seasons in the organization, hitting .228/.285/.293 in 86 career games.
We also see that the Astros signed three players:
RHP Matt Ginter, LHP Jon Switzer, OF David Cook
Ginter has spent parts of seven seasons in the Majors, most recently in 2008 with Cleveland, when he went 1-3 in four starts with a 5.14 ERA / 1.33 WHIP. His most productive year was in 2002 with the White Sox, when he pitched in 33 games - finishing 15 - with a 4.47 ERA. In 2004 with the Mets, he made 14 starts, going 1-3 with a 4.54 ERA / 1.47 WHIP.
Ginter spent 2009 in the Brewers organization as a reliever (though he started three games), going 3-3 with a 3.81 ERA / 1.44 WHIP, with 52K:24BB.
30-year old LHP Jon Switzer, from Clear Lake, was a 2nd-round pick by the Devil Rays in 2001. He played for the Devil Rays (minus 2004 when he was injured) until the 2008 season, when he was with Pawtucket in the Boston organization. In 2009, the Mets signed him to a minor-league deal, where he joined the Big Team for four games, and 3.1IP. In 213 minor-league geames, Switzer has posted a 3.63 ERA / 1.29 WHIP, with 466K:150BB.
28-year old OF David Cook has spent all of his seven seasons with the Chicago White Sox. In 754 games, Cook has hit .260/.373/.474, with 285 XBH-399RBI, and 650K:448BB. He also has a .971 career Fld%, with 31 errors and 32 outfield assists.
Sporting News' NL Central Outlook
The Sporting News' Stan McNeal broke off his NL Central Outlook with a bold proclamation that the Cardinals still remain the favorites with the re-signing of Matt Holliday. What does he say about the Astros?
Pedro Feliz will fit in at third base, and the bullpen shouldn't miss Jose Valverde after adding Matt Lindstrom and Brandon Lyon. Houston also has given former Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills his first managing job. But all the Astros have done to address their biggest need -- starting pitching -- is sign Gustavo Chacin to a minor league deal. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007.
And what to do?
With Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez and a strong outfield, the Astros have a chance to be good. Don't count on improvement, though, unless they pick up a couple of starting pitchers. Plenty of veterans remain and the prices should not go up as the offseason continues. The Astros also need a shortstop to replace Miguel Tejada.
Hey McNeal, wipe the Hollidrool off your mouth. And it's Tommy Manzella.
Pedro Feliz will fit in at third base, and the bullpen shouldn't miss Jose Valverde after adding Matt Lindstrom and Brandon Lyon. Houston also has given former Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills his first managing job. But all the Astros have done to address their biggest need -- starting pitching -- is sign Gustavo Chacin to a minor league deal. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007.
And what to do?
With Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez and a strong outfield, the Astros have a chance to be good. Don't count on improvement, though, unless they pick up a couple of starting pitchers. Plenty of veterans remain and the prices should not go up as the offseason continues. The Astros also need a shortstop to replace Miguel Tejada.
Hey McNeal, wipe the Hollidrool off your mouth. And it's Tommy Manzella.
And now for some breaking, though not surprising, news
The Astros won't be making a play for Aroldis Chapman.
Ed Wade:
"In all candor, I don't see us a player in that market at this point. The economics are going to run away from us, only from the standpoint that if we're going to make significant investments in the development system we would like to sign [multiple players]...
...If there was an assurance that Chapman was going to be a top-of-the-rotation starter almost immediately, we would take a different approach. The kid has a great arm and stuff, but we'd rather have the flexibility to sign multiples. That's the approach I've taken since I've gotten this opportunity to be here and gotten our international and Latin American programs to the point they're at now.
"I'd prefer to give Felix Francisco and his guys the ability to go out there and sign multiple good, young arms versus putting the lion's share of our money on one particular guy. We took that approach this past year and lo and behold in December we were able to scrape together money already in the budget to sign Ferreira. Those are the types of things we want to continue to try to do. I'm a little leery committing our [international] resources to one particular guy."
It's not surprising, because it's going to take between $10-15 million to sign Chapman. As OremLK astutely pointed out in the post with the Signing Bonuses, the Astros signed their top 10 picks from 2008 and 2009 for less money than the Nationals gave Strasburg. Combined.
Ed Wade:
"In all candor, I don't see us a player in that market at this point. The economics are going to run away from us, only from the standpoint that if we're going to make significant investments in the development system we would like to sign [multiple players]...
...If there was an assurance that Chapman was going to be a top-of-the-rotation starter almost immediately, we would take a different approach. The kid has a great arm and stuff, but we'd rather have the flexibility to sign multiples. That's the approach I've taken since I've gotten this opportunity to be here and gotten our international and Latin American programs to the point they're at now.
"I'd prefer to give Felix Francisco and his guys the ability to go out there and sign multiple good, young arms versus putting the lion's share of our money on one particular guy. We took that approach this past year and lo and behold in December we were able to scrape together money already in the budget to sign Ferreira. Those are the types of things we want to continue to try to do. I'm a little leery committing our [international] resources to one particular guy."
It's not surprising, because it's going to take between $10-15 million to sign Chapman. As OremLK astutely pointed out in the post with the Signing Bonuses, the Astros signed their top 10 picks from 2008 and 2009 for less money than the Nationals gave Strasburg. Combined.
Astros Caravan to Corpus Christi
The Hooks are announcing the Corpus stop on the Astros caravan at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center on January 28, featuring Hunter Pence, Jason Castro, Larry Dierker, and Milo Hamilton. Tickets are $25 and doors open at 11:30am.
In addition to this, Easy Eddie will be the keynote speaker at the 6th South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet on February 4 at the Corpus Omni Bayfront Hotel, at 6:30pm. Tickets are $75, and proceeds from this and the Caravan benefit the Hooks Field of Dreams Program.
In addition to this, Easy Eddie will be the keynote speaker at the 6th South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet on February 4 at the Corpus Omni Bayfront Hotel, at 6:30pm. Tickets are $75, and proceeds from this and the Caravan benefit the Hooks Field of Dreams Program.
Tejada #2 on Heyman's best remaining free agents list; Valverde #5
Jon Heyman's new column has to do with the remaining free agents, now that Bay and Holliday have signed. Johnny Damon is #1, but here comes Miggs next...
Even after a terrific offensive season, his market appears surprisingly thin. The Giants and Phillies signed their third basemen, leaving the Cardinals as the most logical landing spot. St. Louis is believed to want to keep it to a one-year deal, perhaps for $8 million, but eventually the sides should be able to work it out. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested the Holliday might diminish the Cardinals' chances for Tejada. But this is probably his best option. Tejada is a solid choice to play third base and replace Mark DeRosa, who went to the Giants without a fight. If Tejada can't work it out with the Cardinals, he might have to turn to one of the two Texas teams, the Rangers or Astros.
With Feliz in the fold, I don't see a return to Houston as an option for Miggs.
And on Valverde:
The terrific closer apparently didn't want to accept arbitration with the Astros, and now may wind up regretting that call. He probably could have earned at least $10 million via arbitration, but it appears now that the teams looking for closers aren't going to be willing to go there. The Tigers and his former Diamondbacks team look like they may be looking for a fire sale on one of the game's more productive relievers.
We should hope it's the Tigers who come calling, as that will result in an extra first-round pick for the Astros. The Diamondbacks 1st-Rounder is protected, which would give us their 2nd-round pick.
Even after a terrific offensive season, his market appears surprisingly thin. The Giants and Phillies signed their third basemen, leaving the Cardinals as the most logical landing spot. St. Louis is believed to want to keep it to a one-year deal, perhaps for $8 million, but eventually the sides should be able to work it out. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested the Holliday might diminish the Cardinals' chances for Tejada. But this is probably his best option. Tejada is a solid choice to play third base and replace Mark DeRosa, who went to the Giants without a fight. If Tejada can't work it out with the Cardinals, he might have to turn to one of the two Texas teams, the Rangers or Astros.
With Feliz in the fold, I don't see a return to Houston as an option for Miggs.
And on Valverde:
The terrific closer apparently didn't want to accept arbitration with the Astros, and now may wind up regretting that call. He probably could have earned at least $10 million via arbitration, but it appears now that the teams looking for closers aren't going to be willing to go there. The Tigers and his former Diamondbacks team look like they may be looking for a fire sale on one of the game's more productive relievers.
We should hope it's the Tigers who come calling, as that will result in an extra first-round pick for the Astros. The Diamondbacks 1st-Rounder is protected, which would give us their 2nd-round pick.
Might this be a clue as to where Lyles will start 2010?
Sometime in the next week or so (I hope), we'll get to Jordan Lyles' season/career recap, and we'll see that he took it to the next level at Lexington in 2009. Travis Driskill was his pitching coach, and can take some credit for that.
So to see McTaggart's report that Driskill will be the pitching coach at Corpus, and former Greeneville pitching coach Rick Aponte will replace him at Lexington, certainly is interesting. Especially when Driskill said Lyles may find himself at Corpus in 2010.
Aponte has been with the Astros in some capacity for 34 years. He was the bullpen coach in Washington in 2007-08, and spent last season as the pitching coach with the GCL Astros.
Dust off your resume, because the Astros still need pitching coaches at Greeneville and the GCL.
So to see McTaggart's report that Driskill will be the pitching coach at Corpus, and former Greeneville pitching coach Rick Aponte will replace him at Lexington, certainly is interesting. Especially when Driskill said Lyles may find himself at Corpus in 2010.
Aponte has been with the Astros in some capacity for 34 years. He was the bullpen coach in Washington in 2007-08, and spent last season as the pitching coach with the GCL Astros.
Dust off your resume, because the Astros still need pitching coaches at Greeneville and the GCL.
Cardinals still interested in Tejada
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold addresses the "What Now?" for the Cardinals, now that they've spent $17 million a year until 2017. Seeing as how they still need an SP5, 3B, and another reliever.
The club has been intrigued with free-agent infielder Miguel Tejada, a former MVP and a shortstop who had 199 hits last season for the Houston Astros. The Cardinals' interest is predicated on Tejada's willingness to move to third base and the possibility of fitting him in on a short-term deal. Members of the Cardinals' leadership have eyed Tejada as a trade target in recent seasons, and manager Tony La Russa recently stated publicly that the club has "talked about Miguel."
The club has been intrigued with free-agent infielder Miguel Tejada, a former MVP and a shortstop who had 199 hits last season for the Houston Astros. The Cardinals' interest is predicated on Tejada's willingness to move to third base and the possibility of fitting him in on a short-term deal. Members of the Cardinals' leadership have eyed Tejada as a trade target in recent seasons, and manager Tony La Russa recently stated publicly that the club has "talked about Miguel."
Lexington Legends: Jeff Hulett
Jeff HulettHow did he get here?: Drafted, 12th Round (2008)
Stats: 6'0", 185 lbs, Bats/Throws: R/R
Age as of April 1, 2010: 22
Splits (with Lexington, following the season totals)!
| Split | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Season | 161 | .236/.302/.280 | 54:12 | 5-16 |
| w/TRI | 53 | .189/.246/.208 | 23:3 | 1-1 |
| w/LEX | 108 | .259/.328/.315 | 31:9 | 4-15 |
| vs LHP | 29 | .310/.394/.448 | 6:3 | 3-5 |
| vs RHP | 79 | .241/.303/.266 | 25:6 | 1-10 |
| Home | 51 | .216/.298/.255 | 17:5 | 2-4 |
| Away | 57 | .298/.354/.368 | 14:4 | 2-11 |
| Bases Empty | 58 | .207/.292/.259 | 18:6 | 2-0 |
| Runners On | 50 | .320/.368/.380 | 13:3 | 2-15 |
| w/RISP | 29 | .310/.333/.414 | 8:2 | 2-15 |
| July | 20 | .250/.286/.350 | 5:1 | 2-3 |
| August | 72 | .236/.313/.264 | 20:7 | 1-12 |
| September | 16 | .375/.444/.500 | 6:1 | 1-0 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2008 | 3.55 | 33.1% | 39:11 | 20% |
| 2009 | 4.50 | 30.2% | 54:12 | 13.2% |
Hulett spent 27 of his 28 games in the field for Lexington at 3B, committing 11 errors for an .863 Fld%. He also spent time at 1B, 2B, C, and DH between Lexington and Tri-City.
Hulett was hitting .189/.246/.208 in 19 games at Tri-City when, naturally, he got promoted to Lexington (I think it was a playing time issue, and I'm not being snarky). And he fared much, better, hitting .259/.328/.315 for the Legends over the remaining 32 games of the season. Still, Hulett has only put together 297 plate appearances, so there's not much to base any judgments on - but I do like those Runners On/RISP splits. And I also like the away splits over the home splits. Let's see what a full season in Lexington can bring.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Now that the turkey has worn off, baseball apparently will wake up
From McTaggart's new blog post:
Ed Wade:
"It's pretty quiet, even from an industry standpoint. I talked to some other clubs and talked a few agents over the holidays and things seem to be very quiet on just about every front. That will change now that everybody is back from the holidays and we've still got a rather large list of free agents out there. By virtue of the fact you have a lot of players on the free agent market, that could have an impact on trade discussions as well. It's not a great trade environment at this point in time because teams will wait to see if they can satisfy their needs through free agency rather than giving up players in return."
Maybe you've thought that it would be smart to lock up Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn to long-term deals, and that this might even save The Apparatus some money, provided that there's no real reason to think that Wandy and Pence can't repeat their 2009 performances (Bourn...there's a possibility he won't repeat 2009) and avoid what could possibly be contentious arbitration negotiations. You would be wrong.
"At this point, our focus is going to be a year at a time. That could change, but at this point we think it's proven to stay short versus long. Our goal and our expectation is to get all of our eligible players signed and not have to go through the process itself."
How do you feel about this?
Ed Wade:
"It's pretty quiet, even from an industry standpoint. I talked to some other clubs and talked a few agents over the holidays and things seem to be very quiet on just about every front. That will change now that everybody is back from the holidays and we've still got a rather large list of free agents out there. By virtue of the fact you have a lot of players on the free agent market, that could have an impact on trade discussions as well. It's not a great trade environment at this point in time because teams will wait to see if they can satisfy their needs through free agency rather than giving up players in return."
Maybe you've thought that it would be smart to lock up Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn to long-term deals, and that this might even save The Apparatus some money, provided that there's no real reason to think that Wandy and Pence can't repeat their 2009 performances (Bourn...there's a possibility he won't repeat 2009) and avoid what could possibly be contentious arbitration negotiations. You would be wrong.
"At this point, our focus is going to be a year at a time. That could change, but at this point we think it's proven to stay short versus long. Our goal and our expectation is to get all of our eligible players signed and not have to go through the process itself."
How do you feel about this?
Josh Banks signs with Astros
I'd been hearing rumors about this, but didn't have the stones (that's funny, because I'm listening to Sticky Fingers right now. But you're not in the same room as I, so this part is just a waste of your time) to write anything about it.
The Astros have signed Padres pitcher Josh Banks to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.
Banks, a RHP who will be 28 in July, was a 2003 2nd-round pick by the Blue Jays, where he spent part of the 2007 season (another Arnsberg arm). He was released in April 2008 and picked up off waivers by the Padres, where he spent parts of two seasons, compiling a 4-7 record with a 5.25 ERA / 1.48 WHIP in 23 games (17 starts).
Banks was 1-5 last season in six starts for the Padres with his one win coming against, of course, the Astros.
In Triple-A Portland last year, Banks was 7-7 with a 3.46 ERA / 1.25 WHIP.
And now we have some reaction. Take it away, Ricky Bennett:
He had pretty good numbers last year in Triple-A Portland and is another quality arm we feel we can add to our depth. He will be in big league camp and will be competing for a spot in the rotation, and we'll try to get him innings out of the bullpen as the long guy. Once we get to camp and he has a couple of innings under his belt, we'll try to stretch him out and see how he fits...
..."We were having conversations with Banks all along knowing in the back of our minds that Sadowski may choose to go to Japan, and that's actually what happened. We knew going into it that it was a possibility. We went ahead and signed him in the event that it worked itself out, but it wasn't a surprise for us."
Ryan Sadowski, as you may recall, was reported to have signed with a team in Korea. Now I guess it's Japan.
The Astros have signed Padres pitcher Josh Banks to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.
Banks, a RHP who will be 28 in July, was a 2003 2nd-round pick by the Blue Jays, where he spent part of the 2007 season (another Arnsberg arm). He was released in April 2008 and picked up off waivers by the Padres, where he spent parts of two seasons, compiling a 4-7 record with a 5.25 ERA / 1.48 WHIP in 23 games (17 starts).
Banks was 1-5 last season in six starts for the Padres with his one win coming against, of course, the Astros.
In Triple-A Portland last year, Banks was 7-7 with a 3.46 ERA / 1.25 WHIP.
And now we have some reaction. Take it away, Ricky Bennett:
He had pretty good numbers last year in Triple-A Portland and is another quality arm we feel we can add to our depth. He will be in big league camp and will be competing for a spot in the rotation, and we'll try to get him innings out of the bullpen as the long guy. Once we get to camp and he has a couple of innings under his belt, we'll try to stretch him out and see how he fits...
..."We were having conversations with Banks all along knowing in the back of our minds that Sadowski may choose to go to Japan, and that's actually what happened. We knew going into it that it was a possibility. We went ahead and signed him in the event that it worked itself out, but it wasn't a surprise for us."
Ryan Sadowski, as you may recall, was reported to have signed with a team in Korea. Now I guess it's Japan.
Arbitration Filing begins today!
Today is the day players can file for arbitration, and players and teams can exchange numbers on January 19. If there hasn't been an agreement made by February 1, the case goes before a panel of arbiters (arbitrators?)
Here'san excellent explanation of arbitration from MLB.com.
One interesting stat from the article:
What few envisioned was what happened last year, when the 111 players eligible for salary arbitration (eligibility now begins after three years of service) set a new record by receiving an average pay increase of 172 percent.
Here'san excellent explanation of arbitration from MLB.com.
One interesting stat from the article:
What few envisioned was what happened last year, when the 111 players eligible for salary arbitration (eligibility now begins after three years of service) set a new record by receiving an average pay increase of 172 percent.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Want to see some signing bonuses?
In a post that makes me question my very existence and reason for pursuing what I feel to be a meaningful existence, I decided to do some looking on signing bonuses for draft picks. Let's organize this based on signing bonus:
| Name | Year | Round-Pick | Bonus |
| Castro | 2008 | 1-10 | $2.07m |
| Bogusevic | 2005 | 1-24 | $1.375m |
| Mier | 2009 | 1-21 | $1.358m |
| Berkman | 1997 | 1-16 | $1m |
| Lyles | 2008 | 1-38 | $930K |
| Austin | 2008 | 2-56 | $715K |
| Seaton | 2008 | 3-109 | $700K |
| Pence | 2004 | 2-64 | $575K |
| Bushue | 2009 | 2-69 | $530K |
| Dydalewicz | 2008 | 8-242 | $425K |
| Nash | 2009 | 3-100 | $330,300 |
| Bourn | 2003 | 4-115 | $299K |
| Manzella | 2005 | 3-89 | $289K |
| Meyer | 2009 | 3-111 | $274,500 |
| Steele | 2008 | 4-122 | $267K |
| Johnson | 2006 | 4-129 | $242,500 |
| J. Flores | 2005 | 4-134 | $217,500 |
| Hyatt | 2009 | 4-131 | $200K |
| Duncan | 2008 | 5-152 | $185K |
| Wikoff | 2009 | 5-161 | $154K |
| E. Hernandez | 2009 | 6-191 | $150K |
| Keuchel | 2009 | 7-221 | $150K |
| Walker | 2009 | 8-251 | $150K |
| Shuck | 2008 | 6-182 | $150K |
| Gaston | 2008 | 7-212 | $150K |
| Cruz | 2008 | 9-272 | $150K |
| Holloway | 2008 | 10-302 | $150K |
| Norris | 2006 | 6-189 | $140K |
| Wright | 2003 | 7-211 | $120K |
| E. Castro | 2009 | 10-311 | $105K |
| Englebrook | 2004 | 8-244 | $35K |
| Orloff | 2009 | 9-281 | $25K |
Caravan time
It's January, and that means it's time for some caravans. While the Astros Caravan itinerary will be announced in the next few days, Round Rock has gotten the jump on it.
The 2010 Astros Caravan Luncheon will be held at Dell Diamond on Tuesday, Jan 26 at 11am.
Along with Astros’ front office representatives, former Astros greats Jeff Bagwell and Jim Deshaies will be featured guests along with current Astros Matt Lindstrom and Bud Norris. Baseball Hall of Famer and 1992 Ford Frick Award recipient Milo Hamilton, the radio voice of the Astros since 1987, also is scheduled to be in attendance.
Tickets are $40 per person, or $300 for a table of eight.
The 2010 Astros Caravan Luncheon will be held at Dell Diamond on Tuesday, Jan 26 at 11am.
Along with Astros’ front office representatives, former Astros greats Jeff Bagwell and Jim Deshaies will be featured guests along with current Astros Matt Lindstrom and Bud Norris. Baseball Hall of Famer and 1992 Ford Frick Award recipient Milo Hamilton, the radio voice of the Astros since 1987, also is scheduled to be in attendance.
Tickets are $40 per person, or $300 for a table of eight.
Notes from McTaggart's inbox
McTaggart has a new inbox up. What can we learn?
Berkman probably isn't going anywhere, but Oswalt...?
But I'm sure if the Astros are struggling in July, there will be a few suitors calling general manager Ed Wade to ask about Oswalt. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Oswalt ask for a trade at some point if he feels the window on winning is closing and he could go to another team with a better chance at a ring. Astros owner Drayton McLane wants Oswalt and Berkman to finish their careers in Houston, but I'm sure he's sensitive to both men's desire to get a ring, too.
There may be something to this "Round Rock to the Rangers" thing:
Texas' Triple-A club is in Oklahoma and the Double-A club is in Frisco, just outside Dallas, so those make better sense geographically for the Rangers than Round Rock and Corpus Christi. But I wouldn't be surprised to see some affiliate changes next offseason.
Paulino could be the next Wandy:
I'm excited to see what Arnsberg and a new set of eyes and beliefs can do with some of these young pitchers, and Paulino is at the top of that list. If he stays healthy and can turn it around, the Astros could have themselves another Rodriguez.
Berkman probably isn't going anywhere, but Oswalt...?
But I'm sure if the Astros are struggling in July, there will be a few suitors calling general manager Ed Wade to ask about Oswalt. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Oswalt ask for a trade at some point if he feels the window on winning is closing and he could go to another team with a better chance at a ring. Astros owner Drayton McLane wants Oswalt and Berkman to finish their careers in Houston, but I'm sure he's sensitive to both men's desire to get a ring, too.
There may be something to this "Round Rock to the Rangers" thing:
Texas' Triple-A club is in Oklahoma and the Double-A club is in Frisco, just outside Dallas, so those make better sense geographically for the Rangers than Round Rock and Corpus Christi. But I wouldn't be surprised to see some affiliate changes next offseason.
Paulino could be the next Wandy:
I'm excited to see what Arnsberg and a new set of eyes and beliefs can do with some of these young pitchers, and Paulino is at the top of that list. If he stays healthy and can turn it around, the Astros could have themselves another Rodriguez.
How does #19 sound?
Because that's the pick the Tigers have in the 2010 draft. And it makes sense for the Tigers to sign Jose Valverde, according to Smilin' Ken Rosenthal.
In theory, Valverde could increase his possibilities by considering offers to set up – the Cubs, for example, could sign him as protection for Carlos Marmol.
Valverde, however, probably will not want to settle for a reduced role. He led the National League in saves in 2007 and ’08, and converted all 17 of his chances with a 1.64 ERA after the All-Star break last season. His best outcome would be to close for one year, then re-enter the market.
The Tigers would forfeit a first-round pick for signing him – a significant obstacle. A team that finished with one of the 15 worst overall records last season would lose, at worst, a second rounder.
Prediction: Tigers
In theory, Valverde could increase his possibilities by considering offers to set up – the Cubs, for example, could sign him as protection for Carlos Marmol.
Valverde, however, probably will not want to settle for a reduced role. He led the National League in saves in 2007 and ’08, and converted all 17 of his chances with a 1.64 ERA after the All-Star break last season. His best outcome would be to close for one year, then re-enter the market.
The Tigers would forfeit a first-round pick for signing him – a significant obstacle. A team that finished with one of the 15 worst overall records last season would lose, at worst, a second rounder.
Prediction: Tigers
Lexington Legends: Federico Hernandez
Federico HernandezHow did he get here?: Signed contract, March 2006
Stats: 6'0", 170 lbs, Bats/Throws: R/R
Age as of April 1, 2010: 22
Splits!
| Split | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Season | 347 | .231/.268/.329 | 65:17 | 21-35 |
| vs LHP | 89 | .258/.267/.404 | 17:1 | 7-12 |
| vs RHP | 258 | .221/.269/.302 | 48:16 | 14-23 |
| Home | 173 | .231/.264/.364 | 34:8 | 15-24 |
| Away | 174 | .230/.273/.293 | 31:9 | 6-11 |
| Bases Empty | 185 | .238/.269/.335 | 36:7 | 11-3 |
| Runners On | 162 | .222/.267/.321 | 29:10 | 10-32 |
| w/RISP | 96 | .250/.286/.406 | 18:6 | 9-32 |
| April | 53 | .264/.278/.509 | 8:1 | 7-13 |
| May | 90 | .244/.281/.333 | 18:5 | 4-7 |
| June | 68 | .191/.247/.221 | 17:3 | 2-3 |
| July | 64 | .172/.217/.234 | 11:4 | 3-5 |
| August | 49 | .306/.327/.455 | 5:2 | 4-5 |
| September | 23 | .217/.280/.261 | 6:2 | 1-2 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2006 | 1.83 | 16.4% | 22:12 | 12.5% |
| 2007 | 1.82 | 10.9% | 20:11 | 26% |
| 2008 | 2.38 | 15.2% | 19:8 | 32.3% |
| 2009 | 3.82 | 17.5% | 65:17 | 26.3% |
Hernandez spent 95 games behind the plate for the Legends in 2009, committing eight errors, with 14 passed balls, for a .989 Fld%. He allowed 57 stolen bases, catching 25 batters, for a 30% caught-stealing rate.
Hernandez did a pretty good job for the Gastros in Greeneville in 2008, hitting .298/.347/.447, so to see him slide back like this offensively - while the SAL isn't exactly known for being a hitter's league - is somewhat surprising. His K/PA rate has stayed pretty much the same throughout his four years in the Astros organization, so we'll just have to see what 2010 brings...and where. Hernandez started off strong, hitting three homers in April, before floundering until August, when he won a Trainee of the Month award from AC. Will he get another shot at Lexington, or move to Lancaster?
A rumor ain't a rumor that won't die
In T.R. Sullivan's mailbag today, there's a question about the Rangers shuffling their minor league affiliations. T.R.:
Nolan Ryan is the Rangers president and he owns Astros affiliates in Corpus Christi and Round Rock. Myrtle Beach, which operates in the Class A Carolina League, might end up being a Rangers affiliate instead of Bakersfield, which has an antiquated stadium. There are also hints that Round Rock could replace Oklahoma City as the Rangers Triple-A affiliate. My vote would be to stay in Oklahoma City.
Nolan Ryan is the Rangers president and he owns Astros affiliates in Corpus Christi and Round Rock. Myrtle Beach, which operates in the Class A Carolina League, might end up being a Rangers affiliate instead of Bakersfield, which has an antiquated stadium. There are also hints that Round Rock could replace Oklahoma City as the Rangers Triple-A affiliate. My vote would be to stay in Oklahoma City.
Lexington Legends: Russell Dixon
Russell DixonHow did he get here?: Drafted, 7th Round (2007)
Stats: 6'2", 205 lbs, Bats/Throws: L/R
Age as of April 1, 2010: 24
Splits (further breakdown with Lexington)!
| Split | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Season | 288 | .226/.288/.295 | 51:23 | 15-24 |
| vs LHP | 23 | .261/.292/.391 | 5:0 | 1-4 |
| vs RHP | 139 | .151/.232/.209 | 24:13 | 8-9 |
| Home | 100 | .160/.243/.200 | 18:8 | 4-6 |
| Away | 62 | .177/.235/.290 | 11:5 | 5-7 |
| Bases Empty | 83 | .145/.228/.169 | 16:7 | 2-0 |
| Runners On | 79 | .190/.253/.304 | 13:6 | 7-13 |
| w/RISP | 44 | .136/.220/.227 | 8:4 | 4-11 |
| April | 51 | .196/.328/.294 | 5:7 | 3-4 |
| May | 46 | .065/.065/.065 | 12:0 | 0-2 |
| August | 54 | .259/.305/.370 | 11:4 | 6-7 |
| September | 11 | .000/.154/.000 | 1:2 | 0-0 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2007 | 3.71 | 21.7% | 52:14 | 29.8% |
| 2008 | 2.50 | 25.7% | 120:48 | 27.1% |
| 2009 | 2.22 | 16.0% | 51:23 | 23.1% |
Dixon spent most of his time defensively in 2009 in RF, committing four errors for a .975 Fld%.
Dixon bounced around between Lexington and Tri-City in 2009, beginning the season in Lexington, and getting sent down after a disastrous May. He was brought back up on August 11 after hitting .302/.350/.373 for Tri-City in 38 games, where he put together a strong-ish August. Dixon doesn't strike out a lot, but his low average indicates something else at work. Whether it's bad luck or just hitting the ball where those pesky defenders are all the time, I'm not sure.
Bray Day! Episode 13
Aaron Bray was the 27th round draft pick for the Astros in last June's amateur draft. He was also the winner of the Astros County Adopt-a-Player contest. Each week, Aaron will write a column for Astros County detailing his off-season. Check the sidebar for archives.
Hello Astro Fans,
It has been a while since I have posted. I hope all of you had a great Christmas and New Years. I know I did and I can't wait to head to Florida to get away from this cold weather. I was in Pennsylvania for Christmas and came back right before New Year's.
So you've graduated and are done with school. How did finals go and what happens now?
My question will be answered now due to the fact that school is over now and exams went well. Now all I have to do is concentrate on baseball. I have been working out hard and getting into shape. My days freed up with no class and go to the gym and the field to work out. Then to an indoor facility to work out at as well. Things have been going well. I have made some changes, talked to some guys that have played pro ball before and got some input. I found out how to take Spring Training. It is long and hard. Being in shape is my number one priority. I am looking forward to going to Florida, it is only a few months away. I hope all of you have a great week.
Thanks, Aaron
Got a question for Aaron? Send it to astroscounty@hotmail.com
Hello Astro Fans,
It has been a while since I have posted. I hope all of you had a great Christmas and New Years. I know I did and I can't wait to head to Florida to get away from this cold weather. I was in Pennsylvania for Christmas and came back right before New Year's.
So you've graduated and are done with school. How did finals go and what happens now?
My question will be answered now due to the fact that school is over now and exams went well. Now all I have to do is concentrate on baseball. I have been working out hard and getting into shape. My days freed up with no class and go to the gym and the field to work out. Then to an indoor facility to work out at as well. Things have been going well. I have made some changes, talked to some guys that have played pro ball before and got some input. I found out how to take Spring Training. It is long and hard. Being in shape is my number one priority. I am looking forward to going to Florida, it is only a few months away. I hope all of you have a great week.
Thanks, Aaron
Got a question for Aaron? Send it to astroscounty@hotmail.com
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Lexington Legends: Phil Disher
Phil DisherHow did he get here?: Drafted, 15th Round (2008)
Stats: 6'2", 215 lbs, Bats/Throws: R/R
Age as of April 1, 2010: 24
Splits!
| Split | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Season | 128 | .156/.264/.266 | 51:18 | 6-17 |
| vs LHP | 27 | .185/.353/.444 | 5:7 | 3-6 |
| vs RHP | 101 | .149/.237/.218 | 46:11 | 3-11 |
| Home | 65 | .138/.263/.200 | 29:11 | 2-5 |
| Away | 63 | .175/.264/.333 | 22:7 | 4-12 |
| Bases Empty | 74 | .122/.235/.216 | 29:11 | 3-2 |
| Runners On | 54 | .204/.302/.333 | 22:7 | 3-15 |
| w/RISP | 36 | .250/.364/.361 | 16:6 | 2-13 |
| April | 59 | .153/.271/.271 | 23:10 | 3-8 |
| May | 69 | .159/.256/.261 | 28:8 | 3-9 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2008 | 2.15 | 22.3% | 71:33 | 42.4% |
| 2009 | 2.83 | 34.4% | 51:18 | 30% |
Disher spent most of his time in 2009 at 1B, where he committed five errors for a .984 Fld%.
If you followed Tri-City in 2008, this probably wasn't the Phil Disher you were expecting to see. Disher enjoyed a first-year pro campaign in which he posted a .916 OPS, with 13 HR and 56 RBI in 71 games at Tri-City. So for this to happen, there has to be something else going on, right? Well, yep. Disher had surgery on bad hip, and didn't play after May 25. He was playing the instructional league back in October, so we'll hold off judgment.
Lexington Legends: Michael Diaz
Michael DiazHow did he get here?: Drafted, 37th Round (2007)
Stats: 5'10", 160 lbs, Bats/Throws: L/R
Age as of April 1, 2010: 22
Splits!
| Split | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Season | 321 | .240/.286/.308 | 47:15 | 15-31 |
| vs LHP | 50 | .160/.263/.180 | 8:3 | 1-4 |
| vs RHP | 270 | .256/.291/.333 | 38:12 | 14-27 |
| Home | 148 | .189/.259/.230 | 23:9 | 5-11 |
| Away | 172 | .285/.311/.378 | 23:6 | 10-20 |
| Bases Empty | 189 | .212/.247/.286 | 29:6 | 8-3 |
| Runners On | 131 | .282/.340/.344 | 17:9 | 7-28 |
| w/RISP | 86 | .326/.379/.372 | 14:7 | 4-26 |
| May | 59 | .288/.354/.305 | 3:5 | 1-3 |
| June | 70 | .243/.293/.386 | 11:3 | 4-7 |
| July | 86 | .209/.236/.244 | 17:2 | 3-13 |
| August | 85 | .247/.293/.341 | 11:4 | 7-8 |
| September | 20 | .200/.238/.200 | 4:1 | 0-0 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2008 | 3.09 | 17.8% | 34:11 | 34% |
| 2009 | 3.13 | 13.7% | 47:15 | 19.5% |
Diaz was all over the place for the Legends, getting at least one game at CF, SS, 1B, 2B, 3B, and DH. He spent most of his time as a DH, but defensively spent most of his time at 2B, where he posted a .981 Fld%.
If you noticed something off about the season totals, you were correct. Diaz got one AB with Corpus, and struck out. But I digress. If Diaz is going to be a DH, he'll need to hit the ball a little bit better. He doesn't strike out much, and his Away splits are more fun to look at than his Home splits, but still. However, his improving slash lines from bases empty to runners on to RISP are impressive.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Lexington Legends: Albert Cartwright
Albert CartwrightHow did he get here?: Drafted, 37th Round (2007)
Stats: 5'10", 180 lbs, Bats/Throws: L/L
Age as of April 1, 2010: 22
Splits!
| Split | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Season | 348 | .236/.330/.368 | 92:36 | 28-34 |
| vs LHP | 94 | .202/.262/.309 | 24:6 | 7-7 |
| vs RHP | 254 | .248/.354/.390 | 68:30 | 21-27 |
| Home | 158 | .203/.335/.354 | 41:23 | 14-18 |
| Away | 190 | .263/.325/.379 | 51:13 | 14-16 |
| Bases Empty | 218 | .234/.324/.344 | 58:23 | 17-2 |
| Runners On | 130 | .238/.340/.408 | 34:13 | 11-32 |
| w/RISP | 92 | .228/.330/.457 | 27:10 | 10-32 |
| April | 67 | .328/.400/.552 | 16:7 | 10-10 |
| May | 12 | .250/.308/.500 | 6:0 | 1-3 |
| June | 42 | .119/.260/.190 | 12:7 | 5-9 |
| July | 107 | .290/.339/.430 | 25:9 | 9-10 |
| August | 113 | .221/.326/.301 | 28:11 | 7-8 |
| September | 29 | .448/.469/.655 | 5:2 | 3-3 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2007 | 1.5 | 20% | 12:8 | 18.2% |
| 2008 | 2.13 | 22.2% | 32:15 | 18.9% |
| 2009 | 2.55 | 22.7% | 92:36 | 34.1% |
Cartwright spent most of 2009 at 2B, DHing in eight games. In 89 games at 2B, Cartwright committed 16 errors for a .963 Fld% (up from .936 at Greeneville in 2008). He also stole 23 bases in 31 attempts (74.2%).
Cartwright had a very promising season that was cut short by an injury. He was hitting .316 when he broke a bone in his arm in May, and his average tanked when he came back six weeks later. In his last ten games of the season, Cartwright hit .359/.409/.513, and had 2+ hits in five of his last seven games.
Lexington Legends: Steve Brown
Steve BrownHow did he get here?: Signed contract prior to 2005 season
Stats: 6'0", 180 lbs, Bats/Throws: R/R
Age as of April 1, 2010: 23
No splits. Brown spent the last seven games of the season with Lancaster, so the 30 ABs won't prove a whole lot for us. On to the career totals.
Slash Lines and Whatnot
| Year | Team | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| 2005 | VSL | 225 | .298/.368/.418 | 31:17 | 16-35 |
| 2006 | GRN | 193 | .306/.344/.358 | 35:9 | 6-12 |
| 2007 | TRI | 181 | .276/.321/.331 | 36:7 | 8-21 |
| 2008 | LEX | 340 | .212/.277/.356 | 98:22 | 26-31 |
| 2009 | LEX/LAN | 352 | .242/.289/.410 | 90:17 | 31-49 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2005 | 1.82 | 12.1% | 31:17 | 23.9% |
| 2006 | 3.89 | 16.6% | 35:9 | 10.2% |
| 2007 | 5.14 | 18.6% | 36:7 | 16% |
| 2008 | 4.45 | 24% | 98:22 | 36.1% |
| 2009 | 5.29 | 25.6% | 90:17 | 39.7% |
Brown has played every outfield position, spending most of 2009 in LF, and committing only one error. In four seasons, Brown has only committed eight errors in 397 chances for a .980 Fld%. Brown also stole eight bases in 13 tries in 2009 (61.5%), a season after stealing a career-high 15 bases for Lexington in 2008.
Brown does have power - he's hit 19 home runs over the last two seasons, mainly in a stadium that doesn't give up too many homers. So he swings hard, and when he connects, look out. Problem is, he's not much with the walks. And until he can harness that power, he's going to have a hard time.
Clemens given award
Koby Clemens was named Class A-Advanced's best hitter for 2009.
Clemens:
"One of the bigger things was that I started getting more consistent playing time. At the time, Castro was there, I was the backup to begin with. I was getting pinch-hit stuff, then I started to DH every day. When Castro moved up, I started to catch and mixed in a little left field. Got more comfortable when I started getting more playing time. That made all the difference in the world.
"It's almost a perfect storm hitting scenario, especially with the team we had. The lineup we had every day made it much more fun. We were putting up eight to 10 runs a game. It's a higher elevation and on some nights, the wind was blowing out. It is a big field, but when the wind is blowing out, it plays similar to a Rockies kind of stadium. You still have to hit the ball, have good at-bats. You can't change anything with your swing because of the park."
"My first two years were pretty average years. I made some strides, but had some downfalls. This is by far the best year I've had. It puts me on the radar, I think. I always knew I was capable of doing something like this, I guess it took me a few years to figure things out and get confident with it."
Good for Clemens. Writer Jonathan Mayo makes a pretty good point in response to critics who say that he - and Gaston - may as well have been playing on the moon:
Critics will say that Clemens is a product of his environment. Not only is the California League friendly for hitters, but his home park in Lancaster is one of the best hitting parks in all of Minor League Baseball. Clemens doesn't deny this, but there are two things that should be pointed out. While Clemens excelled at home, he wasn't exactly a slouch on the road (.338/.412/.610). Secondly, everyone else in the Cal League had the same advantage and none of them drove in over 120 runs or slugged over .600.
Clemens:
"One of the bigger things was that I started getting more consistent playing time. At the time, Castro was there, I was the backup to begin with. I was getting pinch-hit stuff, then I started to DH every day. When Castro moved up, I started to catch and mixed in a little left field. Got more comfortable when I started getting more playing time. That made all the difference in the world.
"It's almost a perfect storm hitting scenario, especially with the team we had. The lineup we had every day made it much more fun. We were putting up eight to 10 runs a game. It's a higher elevation and on some nights, the wind was blowing out. It is a big field, but when the wind is blowing out, it plays similar to a Rockies kind of stadium. You still have to hit the ball, have good at-bats. You can't change anything with your swing because of the park."
"My first two years were pretty average years. I made some strides, but had some downfalls. This is by far the best year I've had. It puts me on the radar, I think. I always knew I was capable of doing something like this, I guess it took me a few years to figure things out and get confident with it."
Good for Clemens. Writer Jonathan Mayo makes a pretty good point in response to critics who say that he - and Gaston - may as well have been playing on the moon:
Critics will say that Clemens is a product of his environment. Not only is the California League friendly for hitters, but his home park in Lancaster is one of the best hitting parks in all of Minor League Baseball. Clemens doesn't deny this, but there are two things that should be pointed out. While Clemens excelled at home, he wasn't exactly a slouch on the road (.338/.412/.610). Secondly, everyone else in the Cal League had the same advantage and none of them drove in over 120 runs or slugged over .600.
It was Stan Benjamin who got us Bagwell
In a nice reflection piece on scout Stan Benjamin, who recently passed away, Gerry Brown had this:
In 1990, when the Red Sox sought Houston reliever Larry Andersen for their stretch drive, Benjamin and scouting colleague Tom Mooney of Pittsfield recommended that the Astros ask for outfielder Jeff Bagwell in return.
They hesitated, because Bagwell had only four homers in 136 games for the Double A New Britain Red Sox “Babe Ruth couldn’t hit home runs in that ballpark,” Benjamin said of New Britain’s Beehive Field.
The Astros listened, took Bagwell and installed him as their regular first baseman. He played 15 years for them and hit 449 homers.
In 1990, when the Red Sox sought Houston reliever Larry Andersen for their stretch drive, Benjamin and scouting colleague Tom Mooney of Pittsfield recommended that the Astros ask for outfielder Jeff Bagwell in return.
They hesitated, because Bagwell had only four homers in 136 games for the Double A New Britain Red Sox “Babe Ruth couldn’t hit home runs in that ballpark,” Benjamin said of New Britain’s Beehive Field.
The Astros listened, took Bagwell and installed him as their regular first baseman. He played 15 years for them and hit 449 homers.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Ten questions from McTaggart
Brian McTaggart has a new article up with ten key questions for the Astros in 2010. What can we learn?
What about Brad Mills?
What's for certain is Mills' new, fresh approach can't be any worse than the toxic clubhouse atmosphere that was created for former Astros manager Cecil Cooper.
Can Roy stay healthy?
When Oswalt is healthy and throwing as he's capable, he's still one of the best pitchers in the game. The Astros' rotation isn't deep, and they can't afford to lose Oswalt. Considering Oswalt hasn't had surgery to repair the problem, the Astros can only hope his back problems don't return.
Can Berkman rebound?
How valuable is Berkman? Consider this: The Astros were one game out of first place when Berkman went on the disabled on July 23. When Berkman came back nearly three weeks later, the team was 7 1/2 games behind the Cardinals.
Who will close?
Both Lindstrom and Lyon have experience closing, but Lyon is the more experienced of the two. He saved 26 games for Arizona in 2008 and even allowed one hit in six innings in the playoffs that year. That could give him the nod over Lindstrom, whose stuff can be erratic at times.
Is Manzella ready?
No one wants to prove he's ready to hit at the Major League level more than Manzella, who has great character and makeup. He's not going to approach the 199 hits Miguel Tejada gave the Astros last year at the position, but his defense could make up for plenty of his offensive shortcomings.
Can Wandy keep it up?
Because Rodriguez, who will be 31 on Opening Day, is a little bit older and has more mediocrity under his belt than success, he's not as much of a given to improve. But he has slowly matured into what he did last season, going 14-12 with a 3.02 ERA. He finally learned to keep his emotions in check and trusted his pitches, which made him the Astros' best pitcher.
Is Bud Norris for real?
Norris appears to have the stuff and mental makeup to stick around for a while.
Who's SP4/SP5?
While it looks like Moehler is SP5...After Oswalt, Rodriguez and Norris, the fourth spot in the rotation is up for grabs from a handful of candidates: Felipe Paulino, Wesley Wright, Wilton Lopez and Yorman Bazardo...
...The Astros have also invited Gustavo Chacin and Ryan Sadowski to Spring Training and could add another name to the mix before pitchers and catchers report to Kissimmee, Fla.
(Note: Of course we know Sadowski is on his way to Korea.
When will Castro be C1?
There are some in the organization that believe the former first-round pick will be ready on Opening Day, and others who believe it may be a few months later. No matter who you talk to, everyone believes Castro will be a franchise catcher for the Astros sooner rather than later.
What will Carlos Lee provide?
He's entering the fourth year of a six-year, $100 million deal and makes more money than Albert Pujols. And he is a defensive liability in left field. Lee remains a good run-producer and solid clutch hitter, but when you consider his contract and his inability to cover ground in left field, his impact on the club is diminished.
What about Brad Mills?
What's for certain is Mills' new, fresh approach can't be any worse than the toxic clubhouse atmosphere that was created for former Astros manager Cecil Cooper.
Can Roy stay healthy?
When Oswalt is healthy and throwing as he's capable, he's still one of the best pitchers in the game. The Astros' rotation isn't deep, and they can't afford to lose Oswalt. Considering Oswalt hasn't had surgery to repair the problem, the Astros can only hope his back problems don't return.
Can Berkman rebound?
How valuable is Berkman? Consider this: The Astros were one game out of first place when Berkman went on the disabled on July 23. When Berkman came back nearly three weeks later, the team was 7 1/2 games behind the Cardinals.
Who will close?
Both Lindstrom and Lyon have experience closing, but Lyon is the more experienced of the two. He saved 26 games for Arizona in 2008 and even allowed one hit in six innings in the playoffs that year. That could give him the nod over Lindstrom, whose stuff can be erratic at times.
Is Manzella ready?
No one wants to prove he's ready to hit at the Major League level more than Manzella, who has great character and makeup. He's not going to approach the 199 hits Miguel Tejada gave the Astros last year at the position, but his defense could make up for plenty of his offensive shortcomings.
Can Wandy keep it up?
Because Rodriguez, who will be 31 on Opening Day, is a little bit older and has more mediocrity under his belt than success, he's not as much of a given to improve. But he has slowly matured into what he did last season, going 14-12 with a 3.02 ERA. He finally learned to keep his emotions in check and trusted his pitches, which made him the Astros' best pitcher.
Is Bud Norris for real?
Norris appears to have the stuff and mental makeup to stick around for a while.
Who's SP4/SP5?
While it looks like Moehler is SP5...After Oswalt, Rodriguez and Norris, the fourth spot in the rotation is up for grabs from a handful of candidates: Felipe Paulino, Wesley Wright, Wilton Lopez and Yorman Bazardo...
...The Astros have also invited Gustavo Chacin and Ryan Sadowski to Spring Training and could add another name to the mix before pitchers and catchers report to Kissimmee, Fla.
(Note: Of course we know Sadowski is on his way to Korea.
When will Castro be C1?
There are some in the organization that believe the former first-round pick will be ready on Opening Day, and others who believe it may be a few months later. No matter who you talk to, everyone believes Castro will be a franchise catcher for the Astros sooner rather than later.
What will Carlos Lee provide?
He's entering the fourth year of a six-year, $100 million deal and makes more money than Albert Pujols. And he is a defensive liability in left field. Lee remains a good run-producer and solid clutch hitter, but when you consider his contract and his inability to cover ground in left field, his impact on the club is diminished.
Lexington Legends: Ricardo Bonfante
Ricardo BonfanteHow did he get here?: Signed contract prior to 2006 season
Stats: 5'9", 145 lbs, Bats/Throws: R/R
Age as of April 1, 2010: 21
No splits. Since Minor League Baseball only keeps the splits of your most recent team, and Bonfante was sent to the GCL Astros on July 15, with whom he only played two games, the splits are pretty worthless. On to the career season totals.
Slash Lines and Whatnot
| Year | Team | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| 2006 | VSL | 268 | .291/.368/.347 | 19:30 | 13-41 |
| 2007 | VSL | 226 | .314/.378/.385 | 12:21 | 14-23 |
| 2008 | GRN | 147 | .261/.295/.333 | 14:6 | 8-12 |
| 2009 | LEX/GCL | 72 | .167/.282/.208 | 10:10 | 2-7 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2006 | 0.63 | 6.1% | 19:30 | 16.7% |
| 2007 | 0.57 | 4.8% | 12:21 | 19.7% |
| 2008 | 2.33 | 9.5% | 14:6 | 22.2% |
| 2009 | 1.00 | 11.4% | 10:10 | 16.7% |
Bonfante has spent his entire career in the Organization as a shortstop, posting a career .940 Fld%. In 2009 he made seven errors in 110 chances for a .936 Fld%, down from .951 in Greeneville in 2008. Bonfante also was a basestealer in Venezuela, stealing 48 bases in 58 tries (82.8%) in two seasons, but has stolen 16 bases in the two seasons since.
The decline in his numbers align with his arrival to the US. He did spend part of 2009 on the DL, so that had something to do with his playing time and subsequent demotion to the GCL, but he didn't play after July 17. In 24 games at Lexington (69 ABs), Bonfante hit .145/.241/.188 with two extra-base hits. Still, the guy just doesn't strike out, but could someone get him a glass of milk to bulk him up a little?
Lexington Legends: Jay Austin
Jay AustinHow did he get here?: Drafted, 2nd Round (2008)
Stats: 5'11", 175 lbs, Bats/Throws: L/L
Age as of April 1, 2010: 19
Splits!
| Split | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Season | 397 | .267/.320/.360 | 78:31 | 29-33 |
| vs LHP | 99 | .212/.278/.253 | 29:9 | 2-4 |
| vs RHP | 298 | .285/.334/.396 | 49:22 | 27-29 |
| Home | 182 | .225/.291/.319 | 38:17 | 14-16 |
| Away | 215 | .302/.345/.395 | 40:14 | 15-17 |
| Bases Empty | 243 | .284/.328/.387 | 49:16 | 16-1 |
| Runners On | 154 | .240/.308/.318 | 29:15 | 10-32 |
| w/RISP | 104 | .221/.308/.308 | 20:13 | 7-31 |
| April | 68 | .191/.267/.250 | 12:7 | 4-5 |
| May | 97 | .247/.291/.299 | 22:6 | 5-5 |
| June | 61 | .311/.364/.426 | 13:5 | 6-7 |
| July | 107 | .290/.339/.430 | 20:8 | 9-10 |
| August | 33 | .273/.351/.364 | 5:4 | 2-4 |
| September | 31 | .323/.344/.419 | 6:1 | 3-2 |
Season Totals
| Year | K:BB Ratio | K/PA % | K:BB | XBH/H % |
| 2008 | 3.68 | 29.8% | 70:19 | 14.3% |
| 2009 | 2.52 | 17.9% | 78:31 | 27.3% |
Austin spent his 99 defensive games in CF, and posted a .980 Fld% (four errors), but got himself 10 assists, and took part in three double plays. He also stole 23 bases in 36 attempts (63.9%), but you'll see below, there might have been another factor at work.
It's a shame that Austin got hurt during the season and battled hamstring problems, because he was starting to put it all together. After a rough start to the year, Austin was putting up solid numbers in June and July (OPS' of .790 and .769, respectively) when he went on the DL, twice: once on June 1 and on August 12. Austin was named the Astros 8th-best prospect by Baseball America back in November, and is considered Eddie's Farm's fastest baserunner.
He improved in every way from 2008's Greeneville season to 2009 in Lexington, raising his OPS from .512 to .680. .680 isn't great, but the away splits are more encouraging than the home splits, and may be a better indication of the type of hitter he can become. Had the hamstring issues not occurred, and with an off-season to recover, it will be exciting to see what he can do in 2010. Let's not forget, he won't turn 20 until August 2010, either.
In Review, continued
The Citizens have spoken, and thus we shall continue our look at Eddie's Farm, player-by-player. It's my goal to get through Round Rock by the start of Spring Training, meaning I need to step it up. Once Spring Training begins, we'll begin our look at the 2010 Major-Leaguers, including those signed to minor-league contracts and invited to Spring Training.
One item of note: As we advance through the ranks, we'll be adding the career numbers to the season totals. In the instance in which the 2009 splits aren't available, we'll do what we can.
One item of note: As we advance through the ranks, we'll be adding the career numbers to the season totals. In the instance in which the 2009 splits aren't available, we'll do what we can.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Updated Winter Ball stats - 12/31
Let's check back in with the WinterStros:
Dominican Winter League (hitters)
Dominican Winter League (pitchers)
Puerto Rican Winter League (hitters)
Puerto Rican Winter League (pitcher)
Venezuelan Winter League (hitters)
Venezuelan Winter League (pitcher)
Dominican Winter League (hitters)
| Player | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Cabral | 12 | .167/.167/.250 | 2:0 | 1-2 |
| Florentino | 4 | .250/.250/.250 | 1:0 | 0-0 |
| Yordany | 86 | .256/.281/.372 | 12:3 | 6-8 |
Dominican Winter League (pitchers)
| Player | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Abad | 47.1 | 3.42/1.20 | 32:15 | .240 |
| Abreu | 9.2 | 2.79/1.55 | 9:4 | .306 |
| Capellan | 25.1 | 3.55/1.93 | 11:28 | .239 |
| Gervacio | 6.2 | 2.70/1.35 | 7:5 | .174 |
| Trinidad | 7.1 | 1.23/0.95 | 7:1 | .231 |
| Valdez | 22 | 1.64/0.73 | 21:2 | .171 |
| Wright | 35.2 | 4.29/1.57 | 40:22 | .256 |
Puerto Rican Winter League (hitters)
| Player | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Bogusevic | 52 | .231/.322/.250 | 17:6 | 1-3 |
| Johnson | 67 | .313/.378/.478 | 17:5 | 7-17 |
| Maysonet | 56 | .339/.373/.411 | 5:3 | 3-7 |
Puerto Rican Winter League (pitcher)
| Player | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Cruz | 2 | 0.00/1.00 | 1:1 | .143 |
Venezuelan Winter League (hitters)
| Player | ABs | BA/OBP/SLG | K:BB | XBH-RBI |
| Locke | 184 | .266/.345/.391 | 46:22 | 12-25 |
| Navarro | 40 | .350/.426/.500 | 10:4 | 4-9 |
| Romero | 171 | .345/.423/.415 | 19:14 | 12-14 |
| Sutil | 114 | .298/.357/.351 | 7:9 | 6-9 |
Venezuelan Winter League (pitcher)
| Player | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Arugello | 6.2 | 0.00/1.05 | 5:0 | .250 |
| Bazardo | 8.2 | 5.19/1.85 | 1:4 | .353 |
| Chacin | 36 | 4.25/1.50 | 21:12 | .302 |
| Garcia | 1.1 | 13.50/3.75 | 3:2 | .429 |
| Quevedo | 6.1 | 9.95/1.74 | 3:2 | .360 |
Some feedback, if you please
Okay, so it's taken almost three months to get through the recaps of the GCL Astros, Greeneville Astros, and Tri-City ValleyCats. Do you find these recaps valid? Shall we continue with Lexington, or shall we call it a day?
Bidding farewell to a terrible year
The ringing in of the new year is a time to reflect and ask the outgoing year to kiss your ruby red ratleg. The new year is a time of hope and promise, however fleeting for us Astros fans. So let's take a look back at 2009 and reflect on the ways in which The Apparatus (which is how the front office will, from now on, be known) tried to eat our souls.
1. Exercising Coop's option (April)
Because of the dreaded, and formal, vote of confidence, the Astros will pay Cooper $850,000 in 2010 to not manage the team. After a mediocre start, The Apparatus killed the clubhouse, effectively allowing Berkman and Lee to loaf all season long.
2. Signing Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz (offseason)
It was a low-risk, high-reward couple of moves that just didn't pay off. Hampton predictably got hurt during the season and Ortiz was flat-out released mid-season.
3. Not offering arbitration to Randy Wolf
#2 was precipitated by this one. Wolf was coming off a strong 2nd-half with the Astros, and were in negotiations to re-sign him to a 3-year deal. The Apparatus had an offer on the table, and pulled it before Wolf could respond. Then they didn't offer him arbitration, and the Dodgers picked him up for $5 million. We have the benefit of hindsight, and Wolf had a great year. Now he's with the Brewers, who will likely finish higher in the standings than the Astros.
4. Not playing Tommy Manzella
I think everyone knew the Astros wouldn't be offering arbitration to Tejada, because he would have taken it and cost The Apparatus a whole lot of money. So to leave Tejada in, and let him chase 200 hits - which of course just fell short - instead of giving 2010's SS1 Tommy Manzella some playing time was completely short-sighted. Now the Astros have a rookie shortstop coming in with FIVE career plate appearances. Would playing Manzella for 20 games have prepared him for his first major league season? Not totally, but it would give him a taste of a job that will hopefully be his for a few years.
I'm sure there are others. But I just had to pick myself up off the floor and take a Zoloft. So what did I miss?
1. Exercising Coop's option (April)
Because of the dreaded, and formal, vote of confidence, the Astros will pay Cooper $850,000 in 2010 to not manage the team. After a mediocre start, The Apparatus killed the clubhouse, effectively allowing Berkman and Lee to loaf all season long.
2. Signing Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz (offseason)
It was a low-risk, high-reward couple of moves that just didn't pay off. Hampton predictably got hurt during the season and Ortiz was flat-out released mid-season.
3. Not offering arbitration to Randy Wolf
#2 was precipitated by this one. Wolf was coming off a strong 2nd-half with the Astros, and were in negotiations to re-sign him to a 3-year deal. The Apparatus had an offer on the table, and pulled it before Wolf could respond. Then they didn't offer him arbitration, and the Dodgers picked him up for $5 million. We have the benefit of hindsight, and Wolf had a great year. Now he's with the Brewers, who will likely finish higher in the standings than the Astros.
4. Not playing Tommy Manzella
I think everyone knew the Astros wouldn't be offering arbitration to Tejada, because he would have taken it and cost The Apparatus a whole lot of money. So to leave Tejada in, and let him chase 200 hits - which of course just fell short - instead of giving 2010's SS1 Tommy Manzella some playing time was completely short-sighted. Now the Astros have a rookie shortstop coming in with FIVE career plate appearances. Would playing Manzella for 20 games have prepared him for his first major league season? Not totally, but it would give him a taste of a job that will hopefully be his for a few years.
I'm sure there are others. But I just had to pick myself up off the floor and take a Zoloft. So what did I miss?
Lyon signing ranks among worst of off-season
Dayn Perry's five worst off-season deals makes room for the Astros, with the signing of Brandon Lyon.
To justify giving Lyon three years and $15 million requires a grave misunderstanding of, well, the game of baseball. Lyon, like most unspectacular relievers, has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career. But the Astros, who work daily to distinguish themselves as the worst organization in baseball, seemingly believed in the 2009 version of Lyon. Indeed, last season Lyon posted a 2.86 ERA, but he did so despite some of the weakest peripheral numbers of his career. In other words, he was lucky. The Astros, despite all evidence to the contrary, are gambling that Lyon will continue to be lucky for the next three years. If they're going to throw that much at Lyon, then why wouldn't Ed Wade have just given Jose Valverde, a much better reliever than Lyon, the multi-year deal he sought?
Ouch.
To justify giving Lyon three years and $15 million requires a grave misunderstanding of, well, the game of baseball. Lyon, like most unspectacular relievers, has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career. But the Astros, who work daily to distinguish themselves as the worst organization in baseball, seemingly believed in the 2009 version of Lyon. Indeed, last season Lyon posted a 2.86 ERA, but he did so despite some of the weakest peripheral numbers of his career. In other words, he was lucky. The Astros, despite all evidence to the contrary, are gambling that Lyon will continue to be lucky for the next three years. If they're going to throw that much at Lyon, then why wouldn't Ed Wade have just given Jose Valverde, a much better reliever than Lyon, the multi-year deal he sought?
Ouch.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tri-City ValleyCats: Brandt Walker
Brandt Walker
How did he get here?: Drafted, 8th Round (2009)
Stats: 6'1", 165 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 22
Splits!
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 7.0
BB/9 Rate: 6.5
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.21
K:BB Ratio: 1.08
Walker was one of four ValleyCat pitchers to throw 50IP, but the problem - as you may have guessed - was with those walks. The 36 walks led the team (and were the second highest in the NYPL). We can see all of Walker's starts, as they were in his last ten games, and it's not pretty: 37.1IP, 54H/40ER, 33K:24BB, .344 BAA, and an upside-down groundout/flyout ratio. Walker got out of the 5th inning once, and gave up 5HR in his last 9.1IP (3 games). Now, he also posted 9K in his last 7.1IP. So there's that. But until those walks come down, and the ball stays on the ground...
Walker played for Stanford last season, so like Stines, let's see what he can do with an off-season of rest.
And thus concludes our look at the Tri-City ValleyCats.
How did he get here?: Drafted, 8th Round (2009)
Stats: 6'1", 165 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 22
Splits!
| Split | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Season | 50 | 7.92/1.90 | 39:36 | .296 |
| as Starter | 37.1 | 9.64/2.09 | 33:24 | .344 |
| as Reliever | 12.2 | 2.84/1.34 | 6:12 | .119 |
| vs LHB | 24.1 | 9.25/2.05 | 18:19 | .326 |
| vs RHB | 25.2 | 6.66/1.75 | 21:17 | .269 |
| Home | 36 | 8.00/1.89 | 27:20 | .327 |
| Away | 14 | 7.71/1.93 | 12:16 | .212 |
| Bases Empty | 20.1 | x/2.36 | 18:15 | .347 |
| Runners On | 29.2 | x/1.58 | 21:21 | .250 |
| w/RISP | 17 | x/2.06 | 17:16 | .250 |
| June | 7.2 | 2.35/1.30 | 2:7 | .115 |
| July | 19.2 | 9.61/1.88 | 27:25 | .282 |
| August | 15.1 | 8.82/2.15 | 10:9 | .381 |
| September | 7.1 | 8.59/2.05 | 9:5 | .313 |
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 7.0
BB/9 Rate: 6.5
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.21
K:BB Ratio: 1.08
Walker was one of four ValleyCat pitchers to throw 50IP, but the problem - as you may have guessed - was with those walks. The 36 walks led the team (and were the second highest in the NYPL). We can see all of Walker's starts, as they were in his last ten games, and it's not pretty: 37.1IP, 54H/40ER, 33K:24BB, .344 BAA, and an upside-down groundout/flyout ratio. Walker got out of the 5th inning once, and gave up 5HR in his last 9.1IP (3 games). Now, he also posted 9K in his last 7.1IP. So there's that. But until those walks come down, and the ball stays on the ground...
Walker played for Stanford last season, so like Stines, let's see what he can do with an off-season of rest.
And thus concludes our look at the Tri-City ValleyCats.
Tri-City ValleyCats: Brenden Stines
Brendan Stines
How did he get here?: Drafted, 33rd Round (2009)
Stats: 6'2", 190 lbs, Throws: Right (of course)
Age as of April 1, 2010: 23
Splits!
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 5.4
BB/9 Rate: 4.0
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 2.42
K:BB Ratio: 1.35
Okay, so there's quite a bit to see from Stines' first year in professional baseball. If he wasn't getting hammered by batters (June, July), he was busy putting them on base for free (August). Over two appearances in August (23 & 27), Stines walked eight batters in five innings. Now, he could very well have just been tired, but the BAA should come down some next year if he can keep up the 2.42 GO/AO rate he posted. But those walks need to come down. Stines also gave up two homers, both of them to LHBs, but look at the RHB splits: 40 base-runners, and 10 of them scored (6ER). That means either someone else came in and cleaned it up, or he got it together (and the RISP splits seem to indicate that could very well be the case). Let's see what he can do without playing a collegiate season first.
How did he get here?: Drafted, 33rd Round (2009)
Stats: 6'2", 190 lbs, Throws: Right (of course)
Age as of April 1, 2010: 23
Splits!
| Split | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Season | 38.1 | 4.93/1.59 | 23:17 | .286 |
| vs LHB | 16 | 8.44/1.31 | 6:7 | .250 |
| vs RHB | 22.1 | 2.42/1.79 | 17:10 | .306 |
| Home | 20.2 | 4.35/1.79 | 14:12 | .301 |
| Away | 17.2 | 5.60/1.36 | 9:5 | .268 |
| Bases Empty | 15 | x/1.93 | 12:9 | .294 |
| Runners On | 23.1 | x/1.37 | 11:8 | .279 |
| w/RISP | 15.2 | x/1.21 | 8:6 | .224 |
| June | 4.1 | 2.08/1.62 | 0:1 | .333 |
| July | 18 | 4.50/1.67 | 9:5 | .325 |
| August | 15 | 6.60/1.60 | 13:11 | .232 |
| September | 1 | 0.00/0.00 | 1:0 | .000 |
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 5.4
BB/9 Rate: 4.0
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 2.42
K:BB Ratio: 1.35
Okay, so there's quite a bit to see from Stines' first year in professional baseball. If he wasn't getting hammered by batters (June, July), he was busy putting them on base for free (August). Over two appearances in August (23 & 27), Stines walked eight batters in five innings. Now, he could very well have just been tired, but the BAA should come down some next year if he can keep up the 2.42 GO/AO rate he posted. But those walks need to come down. Stines also gave up two homers, both of them to LHBs, but look at the RHB splits: 40 base-runners, and 10 of them scored (6ER). That means either someone else came in and cleaned it up, or he got it together (and the RISP splits seem to indicate that could very well be the case). Let's see what he can do without playing a collegiate season first.
Tri-City ValleyCats: Mike Schurz
Mike Schurz
How did he get here?: Drafted, 44th Round (2009)
Stats: 6'2", 205 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 23
Splits (w/Tri-City)!
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 11.2
BB/9 Rate: 3.9
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.58
K:BB Ratio: 2.85
It's hard to get jazzed up about splits with a 13.2IP sample - Coop had Wesley Wright throw that many innings at Wrigley in one night. Still, Schurz showed enough in the GCL that he jumped to the more age-appropriate NYPL, where he flat-out dominated. The only thing to get too concerned about from these splits are the six walks with the bases empty, but he hammered down once the runners were on. A 0.64 WHIP with a .133 BAA with RISP? Nice.
How did he get here?: Drafted, 44th Round (2009)
Stats: 6'2", 205 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 23
Splits (w/Tri-City)!
| Split | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Season | 29.2 | 1.52/1.08 | 37:13 | .188 |
| w/GCL | 16 | 2.25/1.00 | 22:6 | .185 |
| w/TRI | 13.2 | 0.66/1.17 | 15:7 | .191 |
| vs LHB | 7 | 0.00/0.86 | 5:3 | .143 |
| vs RHB | 6.2 | 1.35/1.50 | 10:4 | .231 |
| Home | 6 | 0.00/1.00 | 7:3 | .158 |
| Away | 7.2 | 1.17/1.30 | 8:4 | .214 |
| Bases Empty | 4.2 | x/2.14 | 6:6 | .211 |
| Runners On | 9 | x/0.67 | 9:1 | .179 |
| w/RISP | 4.2 | x/0.64 | 4:1 | .133 |
| August | 11.2 | 0.00/0.86 | 13:6 | .108 |
| September | 2 | 4.50/3.00 | 2:1 | .500 |
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 11.2
BB/9 Rate: 3.9
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.58
K:BB Ratio: 2.85
It's hard to get jazzed up about splits with a 13.2IP sample - Coop had Wesley Wright throw that many innings at Wrigley in one night. Still, Schurz showed enough in the GCL that he jumped to the more age-appropriate NYPL, where he flat-out dominated. The only thing to get too concerned about from these splits are the six walks with the bases empty, but he hammered down once the runners were on. A 0.64 WHIP with a .133 BAA with RISP? Nice.
Tri-City ValleyCats: Dan Sarisky
Dan SariskyHow did he get here?: Drafted, 40th Round (2009)
Stats: 6'1", 175 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 21
Splits (w/Tri-City)!
| Split | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Season | 35.1 | 3.82/1.44 | 41:13 | .271 |
| w/GRN | 13.1 | 4.72/1.35 | 17:4 | .259 |
| w/TRI | 22 | 3.27/1.50 | 24:9 | .279 |
| vs LHB | 10.1 | 2.61/1.84 | 13:4 | .349 |
| vs RHB | 11.2 | 3.86/1.20 | 11:5 | .209 |
| Home | 11.1 | 1.59/1.59 | 14:5 | .289 |
| Away | 10.2 | 5.06/1.41 | 10:4 | .268 |
| Bases Empty | 9.2 | x/1.76 | 12:6 | .275 |
| Runners On | 12.1 | x/1.30 | 12:3 | .283 |
| w/RISP | 8.2 | x/1.38 | 8:3 | .273 |
| August | 16 | 4.50/1.81 | 14:8 | .313 |
| September | 6 | 0.00/0.67 | 10:1 | .158 |
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 10.4
BB/9 Rate: 3.3
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.35
K:BB Ratio: 3.15
After ten appearances in Greeneville, Sariskly was brought up to Tri-City for 12 appearances. At Greeneville, Sarisky was striking out 11.5 batters per nine innings. That strikeout rate dropped (to 9.8 K/9) and his BB/9 rate went up a walk per nine innings, but he did finish strong, striking out ten batters in his last three appearances (6IP). Sarisky tends to keep the ball on the ground, and he only allowed one homer - in Greeneville - all season long.
Johnson signs with Diamondbacks
Want further proof that the Kaz Matsui deal sucks? 2B Kelly Johnson will sign a deal with Arizona for $2 million.
I know Johnson had a down year, last year, hitting .224/.303/.389 for the Braves.
Kaz Matsui hit .250/.302/.357 for the Astros last year, and after the All-Star Break Matsui hit .248/.292/.374. In the second half of 09, Johnson hit .261/.358/.493.
Furthermore, Johnson will be 28 in February. Matsui's 34. And Matsui will make about $3.5 million more than Johnson.
I'm not happy about this, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that Matsui was the worst signing of Ed Wade's Houston tenure. This only amplifies it.
I know Johnson had a down year, last year, hitting .224/.303/.389 for the Braves.
Kaz Matsui hit .250/.302/.357 for the Astros last year, and after the All-Star Break Matsui hit .248/.292/.374. In the second half of 09, Johnson hit .261/.358/.493.
Furthermore, Johnson will be 28 in February. Matsui's 34. And Matsui will make about $3.5 million more than Johnson.
I'm not happy about this, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that Matsui was the worst signing of Ed Wade's Houston tenure. This only amplifies it.
Go ask Drayton some questions
Hey, the Greater Hewitt Chamber of Commerce will host its annual banquet at the First Baptist Church of Woodway on February 4 at 6:30pm. What say that I, and seven of you, get together and buy ourselves a table for $280?
Why would we do this? Drayton will be the keynote speaker. Not enough for you? The Greg Bashara Jazz Trio will be providing entertainment! And George's Restaurant is catering! What else could you ask for!?
Why would we do this? Drayton will be the keynote speaker. Not enough for you? The Greg Bashara Jazz Trio will be providing entertainment! And George's Restaurant is catering! What else could you ask for!?
Valverde back to Arizona?
The Associated Press is reporting that Valverde "appears" to be heading back to Arizona.
This means that, because the Diamondbacks were 70-92 and finished in the bottom half of the overall standings, their 1st Round draft pick is protected - so should Valverde sign with the Diamon'backs, the Astros would receive Arizona's 2nd Round pick.
This means that, because the Diamondbacks were 70-92 and finished in the bottom half of the overall standings, their 1st Round draft pick is protected - so should Valverde sign with the Diamon'backs, the Astros would receive Arizona's 2nd Round pick.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Astros County's Hall of Fame ballot
I love the Baseball Hall of Fame. There are a lot of reasons, but it's mainly because it's perhaps the only HOF that is totally relevant. And the deadline for voting is right in the middle of the off-season, when there's screw-all going on (see this morning's post on Garrett Bullock helping out with a youth camp). So, in the tradition of many a national columnist, let's waste some time filling out a Hall of Fame ballot.
And we may as well follow the BBHOF's rules, so that means that no more than 10 players can receive votes, and that voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.
With that, here are the ten players who would get Astros County's vote, in alphabetical order:
Roberto Alomar
12-time All-Star. 5-time Top-10 in MVP voting. Lifetime .984 Fld%. 10 Gold Gloves (if that award means anything to you.) Four-time Silver Slugger. Career .300/.371/.443; top-10 in batting average five times. Stole 30 bases eight times. Alomar was a complete player.
Bert Blyleven
There is one constant throughout baseball's history: batters swing as hard as they can. ERAs change, as do home run totals, but strikeouts still mean something, because it tells you how pitchers were able to fool hitters. Blyleven's 3701 strikeouts are still the 5th-best of all-time. His K:BB ratio (2.80) is 50th-best of all-time. His ten closest Similarity Scores link him to eight Hall of Famers, and two who have a case (Kaat and Tommy John). He consistently played on what we would now consider small-market teams, and if he had played in New York or Boston, there would already be a movie about him.
The thing about Blyleven, as my cousin (who will remained unnamed. I'm no Bill Simmons.) pointed out, is his complaining about not getting in has kept him out. In one of the great paradoxes of life, to get something, you can't appear as if you really want it. Blyleven really wants it.
Another paradox I want to bring up: if you play in a small market, then you won't get a whole lot of national exposure. If you played in a small market in the 70s and 80s, you did not get a lot of exposure. But if you eschew the small market for a large market, the media crucifies you for selling out. Blyleven has two World Series rings, a career 3.31 ERA/1.20 WHIP. And only four pitchers have more strikeouts. Ever.
I looked through his game logs, and found that he lost/NDed 177 games in which he threw a quality start (and 9 games where he threw 7IP+, allowed 0 runs, and NDed)
So obviously you don’t win every game that you throw a quality start, but if we just give Blyleven a third of those games as a win (a third to win, a third to lose, and a third to get no decision), that’s adding 59 wins to his total, which puts him at 346 wins. Blyleven also had nine seasons in which his ERA was under 2.90 – and he lost a total of 113 games in those seasons.
And let’s not forget that he pitched his entire career (save three seasons with the Pirates) in the American League, with the DH. So he was facing nine hitters. It’s not like he was playing the Astros and Giants. He did have to play against the Yankees, Red Sox, and A’s.
Andre Dawson
I'm an Astros fan and even I loved The Hawk. You know a lot of the story: 1977 Rookie of the Year. MVP on a last-place team (1987). Two-time MVP runner-up. A power-hitter who didn't strike out all that often (in only three seasons did Dawson strike out 100+ times, and two of those were in his 2nd and 3rd seasons). Eight-time All-Star. Top-ten in SLG eight times. 1,039 extra-base hits. While he didn't enjoy a whole lot of team success - he only went to the playoffs twice in 21 seasons - Dawson was the face of the Cubs, and was a great player.
Edgar Martinez
This is the first test of the DH the HOF has had to deal with. Paul Molitor spent 1174 of his 2683 games as a DH, and he is quite obviously a Hall of Famer. But Edgar Martinez only played 591 of his 2055 career games in the field. How do the voters deal with that? But Martinez, according to the (inferior) DH rule, is as valuable as the next guy. So with his career 147 OPS+, with 13 seasons with an OPS+ over 125, that's incredible. This also coincided with a 7-season run, from 1995-2002, in which Martinez had an OPS+ over 150. This also coincided with the most successful seasons in the Mariners' history. It should also be noted that Martinez ranks in the top 100 in all of the slash line numbers: .312 (91st)/.418 (22nd)/.515 (69th).
Lee Smith
He never won a Cy Young award, but he did finish in the Top 10 four times. Oh yeah, and there's the 478 saves. Smith could almost go in to the HOF as a pioneer, paving the way for the Trevor Hoffmans and Mariano Riveras. Smith struck out almost a batter an inning, and he also threw 100+ IP three times, and posted a career 1.04 WHIP.
I feel for Mattingly and Murphy, because for all intents and purposes, if I'm including Dawson, then a case can be made for Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy. But those two were excellent players for a shorter amount of time. But there's one guy I would not vote for, and it might not be for the reason you think.
Mark McGwire
I get it. He saved baseball with Sammy Sosa, and he's got an awkward press conference coming when he's unveiled as the new hitting coach for the Cardinals. He hit a lot of home runs. His OPS was over 1.000 seven times. That's amazing. But let's look at this further, because he only had 1626 hits. 583 of those hits were home runs (35.9%). 252 were doubles (15.5%) and 6 were triples. So 841 of his 1626 hits were for extra-bases (51.7%). Again, this is amazing. But if you look at the five tools, McGwire only had one - power. He got on base because he would hit the ball really hard, and pitchers wouldn't just pipe one down the plate. He wasn't particularly fast, he didn't play great defense, and he sure didn't hit for average. In only three seasons that McGwire played 100+ games did he hit over .280. And let's talk about strikeouts. McGwire struck out 1596 times. If your head doesn't hurt from statistics yet, then you might notice that he struck out almost as many times as he got a hit.
Now, McGwire's OPS+ is 12th-best of all-time. That's hard to overlook, especially considering that OPS+ was a major part of why I would elect Edgar Martinez to the Hall of Fame. But it's the strikeouts that kill me. 1596 in 7660 PAs. Dave Winfield struck out more, but in 12,358 PAs. Harmon Killebrew struck out more than McGwire, but in 9831 PAs. Mickey Mantle struck out more, but did so in 9909 PAs (and also hit .300 in nine seasons of over 100 games). Same with Tony Perez, Mike Schmidt, Willie Stargell, and Reggie Jackson (although Jackson, the all-time strikeout king, struck out 22.7% of his PAs - McGwire's K/PA rate was 20.8%). But Reggie Jackson also had almost 1000 more hits than McGwire. So McGwire would swing really hard, and connect a lot, and miss almost as much as he hit. He was a one-tool player in a time when that one tool was valued higher than any other tool. So what say you?
And we may as well follow the BBHOF's rules, so that means that no more than 10 players can receive votes, and that voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.
With that, here are the ten players who would get Astros County's vote, in alphabetical order:
Roberto Alomar
12-time All-Star. 5-time Top-10 in MVP voting. Lifetime .984 Fld%. 10 Gold Gloves (if that award means anything to you.) Four-time Silver Slugger. Career .300/.371/.443; top-10 in batting average five times. Stole 30 bases eight times. Alomar was a complete player.
Bert Blyleven
There is one constant throughout baseball's history: batters swing as hard as they can. ERAs change, as do home run totals, but strikeouts still mean something, because it tells you how pitchers were able to fool hitters. Blyleven's 3701 strikeouts are still the 5th-best of all-time. His K:BB ratio (2.80) is 50th-best of all-time. His ten closest Similarity Scores link him to eight Hall of Famers, and two who have a case (Kaat and Tommy John). He consistently played on what we would now consider small-market teams, and if he had played in New York or Boston, there would already be a movie about him.
The thing about Blyleven, as my cousin (who will remained unnamed. I'm no Bill Simmons.) pointed out, is his complaining about not getting in has kept him out. In one of the great paradoxes of life, to get something, you can't appear as if you really want it. Blyleven really wants it.
Another paradox I want to bring up: if you play in a small market, then you won't get a whole lot of national exposure. If you played in a small market in the 70s and 80s, you did not get a lot of exposure. But if you eschew the small market for a large market, the media crucifies you for selling out. Blyleven has two World Series rings, a career 3.31 ERA/1.20 WHIP. And only four pitchers have more strikeouts. Ever.
I looked through his game logs, and found that he lost/NDed 177 games in which he threw a quality start (and 9 games where he threw 7IP+, allowed 0 runs, and NDed)
So obviously you don’t win every game that you throw a quality start, but if we just give Blyleven a third of those games as a win (a third to win, a third to lose, and a third to get no decision), that’s adding 59 wins to his total, which puts him at 346 wins. Blyleven also had nine seasons in which his ERA was under 2.90 – and he lost a total of 113 games in those seasons.
And let’s not forget that he pitched his entire career (save three seasons with the Pirates) in the American League, with the DH. So he was facing nine hitters. It’s not like he was playing the Astros and Giants. He did have to play against the Yankees, Red Sox, and A’s.
Andre Dawson
I'm an Astros fan and even I loved The Hawk. You know a lot of the story: 1977 Rookie of the Year. MVP on a last-place team (1987). Two-time MVP runner-up. A power-hitter who didn't strike out all that often (in only three seasons did Dawson strike out 100+ times, and two of those were in his 2nd and 3rd seasons). Eight-time All-Star. Top-ten in SLG eight times. 1,039 extra-base hits. While he didn't enjoy a whole lot of team success - he only went to the playoffs twice in 21 seasons - Dawson was the face of the Cubs, and was a great player.
Edgar Martinez
This is the first test of the DH the HOF has had to deal with. Paul Molitor spent 1174 of his 2683 games as a DH, and he is quite obviously a Hall of Famer. But Edgar Martinez only played 591 of his 2055 career games in the field. How do the voters deal with that? But Martinez, according to the (inferior) DH rule, is as valuable as the next guy. So with his career 147 OPS+, with 13 seasons with an OPS+ over 125, that's incredible. This also coincided with a 7-season run, from 1995-2002, in which Martinez had an OPS+ over 150. This also coincided with the most successful seasons in the Mariners' history. It should also be noted that Martinez ranks in the top 100 in all of the slash line numbers: .312 (91st)/.418 (22nd)/.515 (69th).
Lee Smith
He never won a Cy Young award, but he did finish in the Top 10 four times. Oh yeah, and there's the 478 saves. Smith could almost go in to the HOF as a pioneer, paving the way for the Trevor Hoffmans and Mariano Riveras. Smith struck out almost a batter an inning, and he also threw 100+ IP three times, and posted a career 1.04 WHIP.
I feel for Mattingly and Murphy, because for all intents and purposes, if I'm including Dawson, then a case can be made for Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy. But those two were excellent players for a shorter amount of time. But there's one guy I would not vote for, and it might not be for the reason you think.
Mark McGwire
I get it. He saved baseball with Sammy Sosa, and he's got an awkward press conference coming when he's unveiled as the new hitting coach for the Cardinals. He hit a lot of home runs. His OPS was over 1.000 seven times. That's amazing. But let's look at this further, because he only had 1626 hits. 583 of those hits were home runs (35.9%). 252 were doubles (15.5%) and 6 were triples. So 841 of his 1626 hits were for extra-bases (51.7%). Again, this is amazing. But if you look at the five tools, McGwire only had one - power. He got on base because he would hit the ball really hard, and pitchers wouldn't just pipe one down the plate. He wasn't particularly fast, he didn't play great defense, and he sure didn't hit for average. In only three seasons that McGwire played 100+ games did he hit over .280. And let's talk about strikeouts. McGwire struck out 1596 times. If your head doesn't hurt from statistics yet, then you might notice that he struck out almost as many times as he got a hit.
Now, McGwire's OPS+ is 12th-best of all-time. That's hard to overlook, especially considering that OPS+ was a major part of why I would elect Edgar Martinez to the Hall of Fame. But it's the strikeouts that kill me. 1596 in 7660 PAs. Dave Winfield struck out more, but in 12,358 PAs. Harmon Killebrew struck out more than McGwire, but in 9831 PAs. Mickey Mantle struck out more, but did so in 9909 PAs (and also hit .300 in nine seasons of over 100 games). Same with Tony Perez, Mike Schmidt, Willie Stargell, and Reggie Jackson (although Jackson, the all-time strikeout king, struck out 22.7% of his PAs - McGwire's K/PA rate was 20.8%). But Reggie Jackson also had almost 1000 more hits than McGwire. So McGwire would swing really hard, and connect a lot, and miss almost as much as he hit. He was a one-tool player in a time when that one tool was valued higher than any other tool. So what say you?
Good for Garrett Bullock
Minor-leaguer Garrett Bullock took part in a baseball camp for 9- to 13-year olds yesterday.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tri-City ValleyCats: Colton Pitkin
Colton PitkinHow did he get here?: Drafted, 41st Round (2007)
Stats: 6'3", 210 lbs, Throws: Left
Age as of April 1, 2010: 20
Splits!
| Split | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Season | 68.1 | 4.21/1.58 | 49:32 | .285 |
| vs LHB | 20 | 4.50/1.05 | 21:7 | .200 |
| vs RHB | 48.1 | 4.10/1.80 | 28:25 | .315 |
| Home | 28 | 3.54/1.43 | 13:11 | .269 |
| Away | 40.1 | 4.69/1.69 | 36:21 | .296 |
| Bases Empty | 33 | x/1.73 | 33:18 | .277 |
| Runners On | 35.1 | x/1.44 | 16:14 | .294 |
| w/RISP | 20.1 | x/1.72 | 11:9 | .294 |
| June | 11 | 1.64/1.00 | 10:5 | .158 |
| July | 29 | 4.34/1.79 | 12:14 | .325 |
| August | 26 | 4.15/1.38 | 23:11 | .255 |
| September | 2.1 | 15.43/3.86 | 4:2 | .500 |
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 6.5
BB/9 Rate: 4.2
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 0.73
K:BB Ratio: 1.53
2009 was Pitkin's third season in the organization, and his first in Tri-City, having spent the previous two seasons in Greeneville (though pitching in only seven games in 2007). This year saw a 24.1IP jump over 2008, and with it, a 1.14 jump in ERA, and 0.22 in WHIP. His Ks were down almost 3K/9, while his relatively high walk rate stayed about the same (4.2BB/9 in 2009, as opposed to 4.1 BB/9 in 2008). Still, the increase in IPs could account for some damage, seeing as how Pitkin was 2-6 with a 5.44 ERA and a .315 BAA in his last ten games. He encountered a rough patch from July 25-Aug 5, giving up 14ER in 13IP, but those walks need to come down, and his upside-down groundout:flyout ratio needs to get on the plus side of 1:1.
Bruntlett signs minor-league deal with Nationals
According to the Houston Chronicle, the Nationals have signed Eric Bruntlett to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Major-League Spring Training.
Tri-City ValleyCats: Nathan Pettus
Nathan PettusHow did he get here?: Drafted, 27th Round (2008)
Stats: 6'1", 200 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 21
Splits (with Tri-City)!
| Split | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Season | 38.1 | 2.11/1.20 | 35:14 | .229 |
| w/GRN | 17.1 | 2.60/1.10 | 18:5 | .226 |
| w/TRI | 21 | 1.71/1.29 | 17:9 | .231 |
| vs LHB | 9 | 2.00/1.44 | 8:3 | .286 |
| vs RHB | 12 | 1.50/1.17 | 9:6 | .186 |
| Home | 6.2 | 2.70/1.35 | 3:2 | .269 |
| Away | 14.1 | 1.26/1.26 | 14:7 | .212 |
| Bases Empty | 11.2 | x/1.46 | 9:6 | .239 |
| Runners On | 9.1 | x/1.07 | 8:3 | .219 |
| w/RISP | 6.2 | x/1.05 | 6:2 | .208 |
| July | 0.2 | 13.50/4.50 | 1:0 | .500 |
| August | 14.2 | 1.84/1.43 | 14:7 | .255 |
| September | 5.2 | 0.00/0.53 | 2:2 | .059 |
Season Total (both GRN/TRI)
K/9 Rate: 8.2
BB/9 Rate: 3.3
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.91
K:BB Ratio: 2.08
This was Pettus' second year in the organization, with Pettus spending all of 2008 in Greeneville, posting a 4.91 ERA/1.68 WHIP in 22IP. He began the season back in Greeneville, and was promoted to Tri-City on July 26. There's a lot to like about Pettus so far, such as his improving his K/9 rate (7.4 to 8.2), BB/9 rate (4.5 to 3.3), his Hits/9 (10.6 to 7.5), and WHIP (1.68 to 1.20), from 2008 to 2009. He keeps the ball on the ground, doesn't give up a lot of home runs (4 in 60.1IP), and hammers down as the situation becomes more precarious.
Tri-City ValleyCats: Mike Modica
Mike Modica
How did he get here?: Drafted, 24th Round (2009)
Stats: 6'0", 175 lbs, Throws: Left
Age as of April 1, 2010: 23
Splits!
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 5.5
BB/9 Rate: 3.8
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.91
K:BB Ratio: 1.46
2009 was actually the second year in which the Astros drafted Modica, selecting him in the 46th round of the 2008 draft. And, as you can see from the above splits, the only real damage done to his stats were in August. And, you might be interested to know, most of that came on August 15, when Modica allowed 6H/4ER and 3BB in 2IP. So, removing that game dramatically improves his numbers. The strikeouts are a tad low, but the groundout/flyout ratio is pretty good.
How did he get here?: Drafted, 24th Round (2009)
Stats: 6'0", 175 lbs, Throws: Left
Age as of April 1, 2010: 23
Splits!
| Split | IP | ERA/WHIP | K:BB | BAA |
| Season | 31 | 2.61/1.42 | 19:13 | .279 |
| vs LHB | 11.1 | 2.38/1.76 | 6:6 | .341 |
| vs RHB | 19.2 | 2.75/1.22 | 13:7 | .243 |
| Home | 13.1 | 2.03/1.20 | 8:6 | .222 |
| Away | 17.2 | 3.06/1.58 | 11:7 | .318 |
| Bases Empty | 13.2 | x/1.76 | 8:4 | .323 |
| Runners On | 17.1 | x/1.15 | 11:9 | .224 |
| w/RISP | 8.2 | x/1.73 | 6:6 | .360 |
| June | 5.1 | 0.00/0.38 | 5:1 | .059 |
| July | 12.2 | 1.42/1.34 | 6:3 | .280 |
| August | 9.1 | 6.75/2.25 | 5:8 | .394 |
| September | 3.2 | 0.00/1.09 | 3:1 | .273 |
Season Total
K/9 Rate: 5.5
BB/9 Rate: 3.8
Groundout/Flyout Rate: 1.91
K:BB Ratio: 1.46
2009 was actually the second year in which the Astros drafted Modica, selecting him in the 46th round of the 2008 draft. And, as you can see from the above splits, the only real damage done to his stats were in August. And, you might be interested to know, most of that came on August 15, when Modica allowed 6H/4ER and 3BB in 2IP. So, removing that game dramatically improves his numbers. The strikeouts are a tad low, but the groundout/flyout ratio is pretty good.
Valverde could end up in Arizona
Sure, the Diamondbacks have signed Bob Howry, but Nick Piecoro tells us that they're also still keeping tabs on Jose Valverde (which shouldn't be that hard of a task):
The club had been monitoring closer Jose Valverde's availability, and though Howry's signing makes a Valverde reunion somewhat less likely, team sources say they will continue to track Valverde and theoretically could stretch their budget for him if the cost makes sense.
The Diamondbacks would have to give up a second-round draft pick to sign him, but the savings on signing the pick (about $750,000) could help off-set the cost of Valverde.
Do you think Valverde got his agent a Christmas present, other than a flaming bag of crap?
The club had been monitoring closer Jose Valverde's availability, and though Howry's signing makes a Valverde reunion somewhat less likely, team sources say they will continue to track Valverde and theoretically could stretch their budget for him if the cost makes sense.
The Diamondbacks would have to give up a second-round draft pick to sign him, but the savings on signing the pick (about $750,000) could help off-set the cost of Valverde.
Do you think Valverde got his agent a Christmas present, other than a flaming bag of crap?
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Scratch Sadowski off the list
NPB Tracker is saying that the Astros have apparently let Ryan Sadowski out of his contract, as he is heading to Korea to pitch.
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