To the Moon, Alice!

by Valatan on Jan 17, 2007 1:19 PM EST in News Comment 68 comments

Sorry for the late post, my internet has not been happy today. All the infrastructure in Central Texas has been utterly destroyed by a third of an inch of ice.

Today, I am going to do a roster matrix on the Houston Astros, and do a bit of a season preview on them:

2007 ROSTER MATRIX
HOUSTON ASTROS

STARTING 8	BENCH	ROTATION	PEN
Ausmus c $3.8M	Palmiero of $950K	Oswalt rhp $11M	Lidge rhp $4M
Berkman 1b $14.5M	Everett ut $1.9m	Jennings rhp $4.5M	Wheeler rhp $930K
Biggio 2b $4M	Bruntlett ut $365K	Woody rhp $5m	Qualls lhp $376K
Ensberg 3b $3.8m	House of $327K	T. Miller rhp $1.3M	F. Nieve lhp $327K
Loretta ss $3.3m	Conrad if $327K	Backe rhp DL	Sampson rhp $327K
Lee lf $8.5M	Scott of $325K	W. Rodriguez rhp $327K
Lamb cf $1.7m
Burke rf $362K
TOTAL $40.0M	TOTAL ~$4M	TOTAL $21.2M	TOTAL $6.9M
OVERALL	PAYROLL:	$92.1

Note: There appears to be a discrepancy between the total of the individual players salaries' (~$70M), and the listed overall payroll $92.5M. Is this deferred money to Clemens and Bagwell?

This team really looks kind of similar to the Cardinals. The cardinals have invested $55.5M in their five highest paid players, while the Astros have invested $47.5M in their top five earners. The main difference is that the Cardinals have invested more cash, proportionally, in their lineup and bullpen, but they also appear to have a better lineup and bullpen.

Here's the thing with the Astros. After looking through their actual roster, they don't look anywhere near as weak as I thought that they would. Adding Lee should make a pretty big difference as far as their overall team performance--it allows them to permanently move Lance Berkman over to first base, and, if Morgan Ensberg rebounds at all, it also gives them a pretty damn solid 3-4-5, or 2-3-4, depending on whether they choose to bat Lee second or fourth. Who knows whether or not Biggio will be able to perform at all, but the addition of Loretta allows them to take Adam Everett out of the lineup. Their regular eight should be a big improvement over the disaster that it was last year.

The rotation also looks pretty solid, with Oswalt-Williams-Jennings looking like a decent 1,2,3 at the top of their rotation. It doesn't look like the monster that it has been in past seasons (barring a Clemens signing), but it still looks like a relative strength.

The problem with this roster is the bullpen and the bench. There are a few decent prospects in AAA Round Rock that they could be calling up (if anyone wants to go check them out sometime this summer, they should send me an email), particularly Hirsh ([editor's note, by Valatan]: Hirsh, of course, was given up in the Jennings trade) and Samson, who may or may not be starting for the Express in April until a spot opens for them. If they call up these guys, and maybe, J.R. House can post 85% of the 1.125 OPS he hit against the PCL last year, this team could end up being pretty dangerous.

Then again, it could be a house of cards waiting for a single injury to come crumbling down.

I guess that's why they play the games.

Regardless, if Berkman, Lee, or Oswalt get hurt, this team will either be relying on very subpar talent or on rookies to earn their way into the postseason.

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Comments

Hirsch

I thought Hirsch was traded for Jennings.

by themang on Jan 17, 2007 1:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ugh. You're right

correction made.

by Valatan on Jan 17, 2007 1:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And...

Lidge makes $5.35 million now

by themang on Jan 17, 2007 1:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'll leave that as is for now

Apparently, ESPN's salary page is just a mess as far as roster completeness.

by Valatan on Jan 17, 2007 1:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No big deal

But just to let you know Ensberg, Lane and Everett are up for arbitration so all their salaries will go up. My guess is their payroll's actually closer to $95-96 million when it's all said and done.

by themang on Jan 17, 2007 1:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

hmm...

...

mlbtradrumors.com links to a Richard Justice article today saying that Ensberg would likely be traded for pitching. this means a few things: 1.) the Astros are idiots, because Ensberg still had a .860 OPS last season, despite being injured for most of the year and getting relegated to spot-starting (only 387 ABs); and 2.) the Rocket isn't coming back to Houston.

i think that Everett will still be in the starting 8 quite regularly. Loretta will be used to spot him, Biggio, Ensberg, and Berkman (or have Berkman move to RF for some games and sit Burke or Lamb).

also, i believe you have forgotten Luke Scott from the matrix, which makes the bench look much better if he doesn't start, and makes the starting 8 AND the bench look better if he does (moving Lamb to the bench). that would also seem to take care of your payroll discrepancy.

by kindred on Jan 17, 2007 1:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

er,

and if Justice is right and Ensberg does get moved, that likely means that Loretta will start at 3rd and Everett will be back in there everyday.

by kindred on Jan 17, 2007 1:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Tranding Ensberg would be transcendently stupid

they are desperate for offense.

by Valatan on Jan 17, 2007 1:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And they're PRAYING

Ensberg provides more offense this year. Heh.

by sdrone on Jan 17, 2007 1:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ensberg

Ensberg was AWSOME in 2005. I remember fearing him when he played against the Cards in the 05 NLCS.

They should not trade him, but if they do they should at least get a Jon Lieber type pitcher for him.

If they trade him Mike Lamb will play at 3B.

I doubt Loretta will surpass Everett at SS. Loretta figures to be more of a utility guy than an everyday SS.

2006 Cardinals- An underdog story

by Born in 82 on Jan 17, 2007 2:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ensberg

it would be stupid to trade a healthy ensberg. however, the stros may believe that his shoulder ailment is pretty serious. his slugging dropped to david eckstein levels in the second half.

by dmb60614 on Jan 17, 2007 3:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

it was a bruised shoulder...

... i can't imagine that a few months rest wouldn't do wonders. unless the bruise story is a cover-up.

by kindred on Jan 17, 2007 6:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

the injury

i dont know if it was a cover up...a misdiagnoses is a possibility. he got 20 days or so of rest, rehab and medication during the season and reported no change. thats one hell of a bruised shoulder. there has been a lot of speculation that something else was bothering him, kind of like we all speculated mulder was hurting a little bit more than he let on.

by dmb60614 on Jan 17, 2007 11:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Astrofan here

don't believe what you hear when the source is Richard Justice. Lance Berkman refers to him as the writer of wrongs. he has very little credibility when it comes to the Astros and often it seems like he is pushing his own hairbrained ideas and passing them off as legitimate rumors. Purpura seems intent on giving Ensberg every chance to regain his 2005 club MVP form, and i for one think that's the best thing to do.

also, there are loads of errors in your matrix. House is no longer in the system. you don't have a backup catcher shown (probably will be Quintero). Burke is the starting CF, with Scott probably in right. Lamb is not an OF by any stretch of the imagination, but rather a backup 3b/1b. Conrad probably doesn't figure to start the season in Houston, unless there's a roster move, since we've got adequate backup infielders, and it looks like Everett is still going to start at SS with Loretta being relieving all infield spots and getting in on double switches and pinch hits. Garner tends to prefer a 12-man pitching staff, but if he goes with 11, the 14th position player will probably be Lane (yikes), Hidalgo (don't see it), or somebody else that can play some OF, particularly CF in case Burke is a bust there.

Trevor Miller is our lefty specialist, not a starter. the 4&5 spots will probably go to two of Sampson, Nieve, Wandy, and Albers. the bullpen will likely go (in reverse order) Lidge, Wheeler, Qualls (rhp), Miller (lhp), and some combination of Sampson, Albers, Borkowski, Nieve, the other guy we got from Colorado, the guy we picked up in the rule 5, and possibly a surpriser fmom ST invites. most in Houston are hoping that Wandy never dons an Astro uni again.

by the way, love the site. wish we had this much great participation at the crawfish boxes. congrats yet again on the WS. hopefully the central will be a bit more competetive this year. we've got a lot of "ifs" in our lineup, but hopefully we'll be much better offensively and not lose TOO much with defense and pitching. cheers.

by littlevisigoth on Jan 17, 2007 2:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Are the numbers close to right?

Has ownership said they're willing to go to $100m? $95m?

by sdrone on Jan 17, 2007 3:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

check Cot's

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/houston-astros.html

he does a great job of updating contracts. i see Biggio's is low. Lamb just got a raise. Same with Lidge. Not sure what Bruntlett's 2007 salary is. A few others should be released soon, unless they go to arbitration, which Houston hasn't done in 10 years.

Cot's should straighten you out, though.

as for the total, i though it was going to be something in the low 90's. Bagwell is getting $7 mil still this year. not sure if that figures into the "payroll" or not. also be aware that supposedly Clemens money has nothing to do with their desired payroll. he'll get paid no matter what it does to the bottom line. at least that's what MLB.com's beat writer always says.

by littlevisigoth on Jan 17, 2007 3:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cot's

has Carlos Lee at $11 M this year rather than 7. Good luck trading an $18.5 M DH who's never had an OPS over .900.

by chuckb on Jan 17, 2007 5:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

my .02...

I think that's entirely dependent on the circumstances. If something falls in their laps that they can't ignore or if Clemens decides to come back for a fourth season w/ the 'Stros, they'll act on it.

But I don't think they're seeking anything out at this point, either.

But once the season starts, I have no doubt that they would add to payroll if they need to.

by StrosDux on Jan 17, 2007 3:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Matt Albers

He looks like an interesting pitcher, if he can find the strike zone. It looks like when he does, he gets a K or a grounder. Is the Corpus Christi infield defense that bad that they gave up 12 unearned runs in his 116 IP?

I think it's great that they've got a guy named "Bob" Saccamanno on third.

by liam on Jan 17, 2007 3:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I must echo the Justice comments...

He's pretty much a joke. Besides, if you read through his comments on that "blog" post of his (it's NOT an article) you'll noticed he's basically claiming all that on a "feeling".

And that's not good enough.

Writer of Wrongs, indeed!

If the 'Stros beat writers (of which he's not one) start echoing him, that's an altogether different story.

But Alyson Footer (Astros.com beat writer), for example, has said as recently as a week ago that the job is pretty much Ensberg's to lose in ST.

So I don't buy it for a moment.

by StrosDux on Jan 17, 2007 3:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

But

He's been on "Around the Horn!" That makes him credible, right?

Cheers

by Alxfritz on Jan 18, 2007 4:32 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It's always interesting

to compare the way teams do payroll. The Astros essentiall have 1 highly paid guy, having just dumped 2. But they seem to have more guys making multiple millions.

The Card have 3 guys making a ton of cash and a lot more low paid guys (under $1m).

by sdrone on Jan 17, 2007 1:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Backe

You have him slotted as the #5 starter, but he had Tommy J. surgery late last year and will be lucky to make it back for the last month of '07. It's likely he won't be back until '08.

by Baseball addict on Jan 17, 2007 1:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

J.R. House

House was a free agent and was signed
by the Orioles Jan. 5.

by ArRedbird on Jan 17, 2007 1:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

They don't look so good.

Their offense is basically ours with a downgrade at all but two positions.

Molina = marginally better than Ausmus + a whole lot better on defense (due to running game defense) despite the GG voting.

Pujols > Berkman

Kennedy = better with the stick and a lot better with the glove. PECOTA has him a win and half better.

Eckstein > Everett

Rolen > Ensberg

Duncan/Speizer/Tags < Lee. PECOTA has the most generous projection for Lee I've seen. I think it overrates him by quite a bit. Still, he plays everyday. If Duncan could hit lefties I'd call it a toss-up.

Edmonds > Lamb. PECOTA has the most pessimistic Jimmy Ballgame projection I've seen and he's still quite a bit better than Lamb. How far offensively Edmonds is above the average centerfielder gets lost sometimes.

JEnc < Burke. Burke is projected .050 higher in OPS and even with defense factored is still a win above Juan.

FWIW, Woody isn't projected very well. ERA 4.78 with a EqERA 4.98. Jennings 4.23. Wandy 5.49. Miller projects nicely, but not for very many innings so it might be a little skewed.

Their rotation has doesn't have much upside.

by RedbirdRay on Jan 17, 2007 2:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Eck is more valuable than Everett?

I thought Everett was the best glove man in the majors. If than is true and can hit his weight, he's gotta be at least as good as Eck.

by Zubin on Jan 17, 2007 2:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Was basing off the PECOTA

projections...which have Eck .3 Wins better than Everett. Last year (per Dial) Everett was 12 runs better than Eck with the glove. Everett's projected to have an OBP of .302, which is right about his career average. Eck is projected much lower than his career average, I assume due to his injuries last year and playing injured instead of just sitting. I think Eck is at least 12 runs better than Everett offensively.

by RedbirdRay on Jan 17, 2007 3:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Where do you think

the Cards/Astros rivalry is? I know it's not the Cards/Cubs rivalry, but right now and these past few seasons have been great for it. I enjoyed when they locked up more than the Cubs, since even if the Cubs won, they weren't in the hunt. Killer Bees...seriously...

Jimscobert Purolmonds - MV3

by OKCardsfan on Jan 17, 2007 2:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I wish to

crush them. To see them driven before me. To hear the lamentations of their women.

by sdrone on Jan 17, 2007 2:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Greatest.

Post. Ever.

by Jhusk on Jan 17, 2007 2:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Greatest post ever.

Agreed.

Spantalones

by spants on Jan 17, 2007 7:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A line-up with as few letters as possible

I guess the killer B's are a bit less lethal these days. Burke's no Bagwell, and, these days, Biggio may not even be much of a Biggio.

I don't know what to do with all those L's. No quick nicknames come to mind, but they sure do have a lot of 'em!

So says, The Dude

by Titus Pullo on Jan 17, 2007 2:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

That's easy

They're the "4 L-amas"

Remember, every time Lidge pitches to Albert, there's a chance of a major conflagration, and he could hit the ball to Peru, too.

The cat is fine, thank you.

by Intheway on Jan 17, 2007 3:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And Peru...

is famous for the Alpaca, a variation of the llama.

by Big Rev on Jan 17, 2007 9:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

There's no doubt

that they'll come up w/ some annoying sound to pipe into their putt-putt baseball park at about 1000 decibels everytime Lamb or Lane comes to the plate!

by chuckb on Jan 17, 2007 5:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

probably...

lol

by youngunn on Jan 20, 2007 12:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Afraid of the big, bad Astros?

Despite their weak offense, they always scared me the last three years. Who wants to face Oswalt/Clemens/Pettite in a short series? While this year's team may put up similar results (should be better offensively assuming they don't trade Ensberg) they don't scare me near as much. Oswalt/Williams/Jennings doesn't have much of an intimidation factor.

FWIW I don't think they'd put Lamb in CF. That's a lot of ground to cover and defense/speed is not in the cards for him - especially in Minute Maid with that crazy hill in CF. I would expect to see Burke and/or Luke Scott in CF, maybe a Lamb/Burke platoon in RF? Lorretta figures to play a lot at second, some at SS and a little at 3B unless they trade Ensberg. They are planning on "trying to use Biggio wisely" accoring their website today:

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070116&content_id=1779818&vk ey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou

I know we shouldn't discount them, but I just don't fear them like I did in the past.

by wildman on Jan 17, 2007 2:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

As I have said before

The Brew Crew is the class of the NL Cental. But I think The Astros are about as good as the Cardinals

by Zubin on Jan 17, 2007 2:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Explain further

I'm not convinced that they are the class of the Central. What do the Brewers have that the Cardinals or Stros for that matter don't? Jeff Suppan? Please defend your statement.

Jimscobert Purolmonds - MV3

by OKCardsfan on Jan 17, 2007 3:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Class?

The Brewers are a good team and in some opinions are the early favorites to win the Central, but to be the class of a division, you need to win a division crown or two. Or win 6 in the last 7 years, like some team has.

by Baseball addict on Jan 17, 2007 5:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ok class might be the wrong word

my opinion simply was they project to be the best team in the division right now.

by Zubin on Jan 17, 2007 8:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

I think they will improve. Last year seemed to be a consolidation period. I also think the surplus of outfielders might result in a trade to further strengthen their holes.

But, they have a pretty rough bullpen. They also have a pretty rough defense, yet contracted a groundball pitcher.

Their offense is average at best.

http://yankeefan.blogspot.com/2006/12/extremely-early-projections.html

RG at Replacement Level Yankees Blog ran some early (100 season) projections based on Chone which has them finishing 10 games below us in 4th. I think their are differences in PECOTA and ZiPS...but not 10 games worth. RG usually runs DiamondMind simulations from ZiPS also and posts them.

I'm very curious to see your projections.

by RedbirdRay on Jan 18, 2007 12:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NL Central

Not that we have to fear the Pirates by any means, but they just traded for Adam LaRoche, he of the 32 HRs last year for the Braves. Another lefty to worry about in the division.

Cards fan in Denver

by Futility Infielder on Jan 17, 2007 5:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Consistency

A little OT but as it concerns the Astros and then indirectly the Cardinals I thought I'd bring it up...

I was reading this article at Hardball times:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/did-the-rocket-win-st-louis-the-world-series/

and was struck by the comment in the article about the lack of close games in which Nieve pitched for the Astros. The article uses this premise to show that statistically, all other things being equal, having Roger Clemens the whole season probably wouldn't have changed matters.

It led me to think about where the Cardinals rank in a study of consistency based on last years results. We can easily determine the runs/game they Cards created and gave up, along with the averages of the players involved. But how often did they perform to those averages? Were they a model of consistency? Or a team of feast and famine?

Now I have neither the knowledge of where to look, nor the time to do so, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case there was someone who has already done so, or would be willing to.

by realbrit70 on Jan 17, 2007 3:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Game contributions

I did a study of Win Probability Added, using the daily game values to determine how each starting pitcher contributed to his team's performance. (I've completed the NL values and will eventually have the AL totals to post.)

If the starting pitcher posted a WPA score of +.100 or better, I credited him with a win.
If the starting pitcher posted a WPA score of -.100 or worse, I credited him with a loss.
If the starting pitcher posted a WPA score between +.100 & -.100, I credited him with a no-decision.

(This systems fairly well approximates real-life records. It rewards good performances (i.e., losing a 2-1 ballgame) & ignores or downgrades "run-support" wins.)

As for how this applies to this situation: Clemens was unbelievable last year according to this system, posting an 11-2 mark with 6 ND's (bested in the NL only by Anibal Sanchez: 11-1, 5 ND). Also, his first 5 starts notched only one win and four no-decisions, meaning he was probably still getting into Rocket-level game shape.
Nieve was basically the space-filler for Roger the first 2.5 months (Bucholz, Oswalt, Pettitte, & Rodriguez started games before & after Clemens' return). For his 11 starts, Nieve posted a 3-2 record with 6 ND's.

Using end-of-season values as a guide, a league-average pitcher would post a WPA value of 0.000 - the very definition of average - and a Cy Young-caliber pitcher would post a WPA value of probably 3.500 over 35 starts. Using that logic, a pitcher like Clemens should average +.100 more points per game than a pitcher like Nieve (generously listed here as league-average).

As a rough guide, let's add +.100 to each of Nieve's game values.

4/16 @ ARI (-.054 becomes +.046 - no change)
4/25 v LAD (+.116 => +.216 - no change)
5/2 @ MIL (+.097 => +.197 - now a win)
5/7 @ COL (-.200 => -.100 - no change)
5/12 v COL (+.214 => +.314 - no change)
5/17 v SF (-.378 => -.278 - no change)
5/23 @ WAS (+.077 => +.177 - now a win)
5/28 @ PIT (+.014 => +.114 - now a win)
6/4 v CIN (+.047 => +.147 - now a win)
6/9 v ATL (+.134 => +.234 - no change)
6/15 @ CHC (+.045 => +.145 - now a win)

That changes the record to 8-2 with one no-decision - five more wins! And I feel this is a really conservative estimate of the impact that Roger Clemens would have had if he had started out of Spring Training.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Oh, the burden of stupid people.

by Solanus on Jan 17, 2007 6:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I can answer the question:

What do the Brewers have that the Cardinals or Stros for that matter don't?

SAUSAGE RACES!

by Red in Chicago on Jan 17, 2007 3:24 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Snausages

But Milwaukee also has far more tragic sausage attacks per capita than St. Louis or Houston.

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

by Mr Clean on Jan 17, 2007 3:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A couple things...

Backe was tendered at 500k... they paid a large buyout to Bagwell. Lidge and Biggio agreed to contracts in the mid-$5mill range - not $4m as listed - and Carlos Lee had a signing bonus of around $4m I think. Dunno how you want to account for that.

Wheeler is over $2million for 2007 and Qualls is eligible for arbitration, which will push him up past Randy Flores territory...

Acquire any Established Major League Starter!

by guayzimi on Jan 17, 2007 3:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Sorry...

most of this was already covered previously in the comments. Cot's is the best contract site imo. That guy pretty much gets the salary info up the instant a signing is made...

Seems like the Stros are getting killed by guys in their arbitration years... Specifically Lidge, Ensberg, Wheeler, Qualls. Then they've made it worse by rewarding Biggio for time served and paying Ausmus $4mm.

Ensberg's salary hasn't been determined yet, but it's likely to be around $5mm in '07. That means him, Lidge, Ausmus, and Biggio are going to rake in almost $20mill next year, and all of them have significant issues.

Acquire any Established Major League Starter!

by guayzimi on Jan 17, 2007 3:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

More praise for Cot's

He's got a page with all the important transaction dates for 2007.

Also one listing all arbitration-eligible players.

I'm mildly curious to find out who it is that's compiling all that excellent information.

by liam on Jan 17, 2007 4:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Qualls is NOT arb eligible yet.

by StrosDux on Jan 17, 2007 3:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Whoops...

Cot must've just updated the service times. I've been adding a year for the last six months...

Acquire any Established Major League Starter!

by guayzimi on Jan 17, 2007 4:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They updated service times?

Sweet. I was getting tired of adding the year or figuring out the days if a player wasn't up the whole year.

by Baseball addict on Jan 17, 2007 5:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Tragic sausage attacks

That's great. Only in Milwaukee would they replay the video of a Racing Sausage getting whacked over the head. I bet the crescendo of boos was louder each time they showed it.

Then there's the idiot Simon. Apparently his talents with the bat do not extend to his time in the batter's box.

And I love this comment by Reggie Sanders, ""It's very strange. Live and learn - unfortunately, that's what life is all about," said Pirates outfielder Reggie Sanders. "It was an unfortunate situation.""

"Live and learn"? Yes. A major league baseball player should never pop a 23-year-old female groundskeeper over the head with a wooden bat. Great lesson there, Reggie. Share it with your grandkids.

by Red in Chicago on Jan 17, 2007 4:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It all worked out OK

She got to swim with dolphins.

Good sport, that Mandy Block.

Knucklehead, that Randall Simon.

by liam on Jan 17, 2007 4:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

For those interested...

sportsillusted.cnn has started their list of the top 75 prospects in baseball. So far Jaime Garcia is at #74.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/01/17/prospects.partone/index.html

by AirForceCardsFan on Jan 17, 2007 4:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Barton...

Got to love the Barton comments. If he doesn't develop any power at first base, the trade just looks bad instead of horrific....

"It takes pitching, hitting and defense. Any two can win. All three make you unbeatable". Joe Garagiola

by MRCARD on Jan 17, 2007 5:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The Astros are not as tough as they've been

I'd say by several games. In their starting rotation, previously their strength, they've traded Pettitte, Clemens, Hirsh, and Buchholz for Jason Jennings and Woody Williams. Yuck! Throw in Carlos Lee and it's still a net loss for them. Their pitching will be worse, quite substantially I'd think. Carlos Lee, one of the worst LF's in baseball will be covering ground out there -- granted it's the same amount as most girls' softball fields have but CF is one of the biggest in baseball. They got rid of Willy Taveras, someone who covered that ground quite well and had a plus arm, for Burke, a 2B playing CF b/c they've decided to keep Biggio on to get his 3000th hit. This, despite the fact that Burke is clearly a better player now than Biggio, both offensively and defensively.

They'll supplement their OF defense w/ Luke Scott, who is also awful. Unfortunately for them, Jennings is a below average ground ball pitcher http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2007/01/categorizing_pi.php and Woody Williams is a flyball pitcher. Their pitching and defense should take a big step backward this year. Lee and maybe Loretta and Ensberg will provide some more offense than they're used to but it won't make up for the hard times their pitching staff will endure this year.

by chuckb on Jan 17, 2007 5:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Pirates finally trade Mike Gonzalez

along w/ another, unknown player to the Braves for Adam LaRoche. I really didn't think Dave Littlefield would ever make a decent trade. Maybe this one will be it.

by chuckb on Jan 17, 2007 5:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

by chuckb on Jan 17, 2007 5:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

cards stros rivarly

I for one think the last few yrs the rivarly has grown..It started for me going to college an hr away from h-town...most fans not as knowlegable but act like it and my roomate ahhh...then married 3 yrs later a houstonian..heres my thing

Houston is fair weather and easily bales on there teams. My bro in law as some of you may know are battling on myspace after he said i was reading my daughter the stros history..we went back and forth to see what the stros had on the cards I said games played in a dome..he responded after another comment of mine lack of tru fans housotn 99% cards 0 funny but so true.

at least some cubs fans know the game and are die hards. But as far as fearing goes the last 3-5 for me its been houston, yet i still want to beat the cubs, but id rather kill the stros in houston than win a season series with the cubs

Kenny is a "dirt" bag?

by punchinjudy on Jan 17, 2007 7:22 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

That's it

"rather kill the stros in houston than win a season series with the cubs"

Get out of here, you communist!

by sdrone on Jan 17, 2007 9:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Astros...Who Cares????

I agree with everyone who says that the astros cardinals rivalry has intensified, however i gotta say that nothing (including boston and new york) can compare to the cardinals cubs rivalry. The red sox yankees rivalry is all over espn and totally blown out of proportion arguably the worst thing that has happened in that rivalry is that pedro martinez threw don zimmerman and it was totally blown out of proportion, Ill put it this way if carlos zambrano (with a hot head reputation like pedro) got angry during a bench clearing and decided to throw joe petini there would not be as much coverage on that. But that is the yanks and red sox for ya. GO CARDS CUBS SUCK

by Tegan on Jan 17, 2007 7:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Off subject

Hey are we getting new uniforms next year? Ive heard several things but havent seen them? anyone got a link?

by paulob4 on Jan 17, 2007 10:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

NOO!!!

There is nothing more beautiful than those clean white uniforms with the simple birds on the bat. Unless they are going back to powder blue I pray they don't change the uni's!

by CardinalsfanIraq on Jan 17, 2007 11:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i dont remember where

but i do remember somewhere reading this rumor about new uniforms coming up last offseason too and nothing came out of it...i would be surprised if they did come out with new uni's tho

i wouldnt mind seeing them wear the batting practice unis on some games, maybe sunday games with the alternate caps or something

by MarcGldstn on Jan 18, 2007 7:31 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

ASTROS AND INJURIES

HELLO, MY NAME IS TOLAXOR!!!

YOU SAID:

"Regardless, if Berkman, Lee, or Oswalt get hurt, this team will either be relying on very subpar talent or on rookies to earn their way into the postseason."

AND IF PUJOLS, ROLEN OR CARPENTER GET HURT, WHAT WILL OUR TEAM BE RELYING TO EARN OUR WAY INTO THE POST-SEASON???!!!

by TOLAXOR on Jan 18, 2007 7:59 AM EST reply actions 0 recs