True, I phrased that poorly. He's focusing his attention on the farm system. He's dealing any and all assets to refill the farm. He's not dealing to fill the Astros roster with cheap alternatives. The priority isn't to save money, it's to fill the farm with talent. So if you look at the MLB roster, it looks like they're an absolute shambles...dig deeper. The talent infusion they've taken on in the past year and a half is quite impressive.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/ey...r-brad-peacock
Turns out that Brad Peacock had already started his 32 hour drive to Arizona for ST when he got the call that he had been traded to Houston. Who has their ST in Florida. Fortunately, he was only about 8 hours into his drive and was able to turn around to drive to Florida..... only about 2.5 hours from where he lives, for Astros ST.
traderumor (02-05-2013)
I dunno.
Carter could well hit 30 dingers playing in Minute Maid. Plus, if Carlos Pena rebounds with a big year - a big if, I know - Pena could be then dealt for more assets, while Carter and Wallace - alternating as DH -keep first base warm for Singleton and Freiman, though Singleton could move to the OF.
Peacock, even though he didn't have a good 2012 season, was still the top ranked A's pitching prospect, and should at least pan out as a solid pen arm.
Stassi was the top rated A's catching prospect.
That sounds like a good haul to me.
The wild card in this deal is Rodriguez, who stands to benefit greatly from a move to a pitcher's park.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
...the 2-2 to Woodsen and here it comes...and it is swung on and missed! And Tom Browning has pitched a perfect game! Twenty-seven outs in a row, and he is being mobbed by his teammates, just to the thirdbase side of the mound.
Seriously?
Here are the payrolls for the franchises that play in other similarly-sized markets to Houston (from 2012):
1. New York (Yankees: 198 / Mets: 93)
2. Los Angeles (Angels: 154 / Dodgers: 95)
3. Chicago (White Sox: 96 / Cubs 88)
4. Texas Rangers: 120
5. Houston: Projected 2013 25 million
6. Philadelphia: 174
7. Washington DC: 81
You're seriously suggesting that Houston is going to dump ~$60-$70m (the amount it would take to bring them into the same universe as their fellow large-market mates) into PLAYER DEVELOPMENT?
To do what? Train all their A prospects on solid gold weight benches?
Every other team on that list is running minor league systems, drafting players, making international signings, paying coaches/instructors, etc. in addition to paying out their ML payroll. To suggest that the Astros can't afford to sign enough players to field a competitive, non-100 loss team while building a farm system is ludicrous.
This is exactly why other sports have salary floors or a relegation/promotion system -- because the Astros are jobbing their fans and upsetting the competitive balance of the league (think the AL West won't be a heavy favorite to send 3 teams to the post-season with this whipping boy in their back pocket all year?) by just being cheap.
And, to make it more insulting, they're doing it in a market that should afford them the resources to be competitive AND building for the future at the same time.
Last edited by Caveat Emperor; 02-05-2013 at 03:02 PM.
Cincinnati Reds: Farm System Champions 2022
REDREAD (02-06-2013),traderumor (02-05-2013)
So you're thinking they should dive into the FA market to make the MLB team competitive right now, correct?
Bobby Abreu
Rod Barajas
Jason Bartlett
Michael Bourn
Dallas Braden
Miguel Cairo
Jose Contreras
Todd Coffey
Francisco Cordero
Johnny Damon
Chone Figgins
Jason Giambi
Kevin Gregg
Willie Harris
Livan Hernandez
Orlando Hudson
Aubrey Huff
Brandon Inge
Jason Isringhausen
Bobby Jenks
Adam Kennedy
Casey Kotchman
Carlos Lee
Kyle Loshe
Derek Lowe
Mark Lowe
Brandon Lyon
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Dustin Mosely
Guillermo Mota
Jaime Moyer
Will Ohman
Roy Oswalt
Carl Pavano
Brad Penny
Rafael Perez
Scott Podsednik
Jon Rauch
Francisco Rodriguez
Scott Rolen
J.C. Romero
Freddy Sanchez
Jonathan Sanchez
Joe Saunders
Grady Sizemore
Brandon Snyder
Ryan Theriot
Jim Thome
Matt Treanor
Jose Valverde
Chien-Ming Wang
Kip Wells
Brian Wilson
Randy Wolf
Chris Young
Carlos Zambrano
That's who's left. Outside of Michael Bourn and maybe Kyle Loshe, where are the impact players who make that team even remotely respectable? Most of the guys on that list are 1 step away from retirement, injured/coming off injuries, or just plain BAD. There's VERY little talent in the FA market IMO. IMHO, the Astros are better off letting their young players sink or swim at this point.
I certainly don't think they should be dealing the newly acquired talent in the farm to get MLB players so they can tread water.
I'm sure CE is with me in seeing the Astros deconstruct the entire organization to "restock" is being overplayed, especially in year 2. Right now, all they look like is the fantasy team owner in your league that acts like he knows what he's doing but that everyone else in the league jobs on trades. It also assumes that they are smarter than everyone else to be right on their prospect picks. By the time they start to see fruit, they may be 2 more GMs down the road.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
No, I am more so saying that by buying mid-level free agents, and as far as they've fallen they would have had to get a lot of them, they wouldn't have been contenders anyway. So instead of essentially wasting the resources, use them instead to build up your farm system and once those players prove themselves at the big league level, then use the cash to sign them.
...the 2-2 to Woodsen and here it comes...and it is swung on and missed! And Tom Browning has pitched a perfect game! Twenty-seven outs in a row, and he is being mobbed by his teammates, just to the thirdbase side of the mound.
Revering4Blue (02-05-2013)
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
Lohse, Oswalt and Bourne. 1 year for Oswalt, Lohse 4 and Bourne 4.
That'd up the payroll to about 48 mil. It'd solidify two rotaion spots for a year, allowing the farm to mature and gives the Astros a legit CF and leadoff hitter.
Carter will make a good DH. give him 400+ AB's he'll hit 30+ HR's in that bandbox.
It wouldn't make them contenders. It will bridge the gap to when their farm is ready to produce major league talent.
Dubito Ergo Cogito Ergo Sum.
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