File this one under Hallelujah: Jose Valverdesays he's ready to go, but he'll have to throw a simulated game before the decision to activate him is made. Who gets sent down? Fulchino? Arias? Backe or Ortiz?
Buster Olney is trying to talkRoy Oswalt into take a trade and then force an extension as a result of it. It makes a lot of sense from a dollars and cents perspective.
Craig thinks the Astros will be buyers at the trade deadline and tells us exactly why that's dumb. While I'm sure most of us agree, it's just nice to get an outsider's take—especially one so poignant.
The Unofficial Scorer piggy backs on a Fan Graphs post and shows why two Astros, objectively, should be on the All Star team.
I just can't imagine how it is that he could get so descriptive on the spot like that...
Now get back to work or whatever it is you should be doing.
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Just a Sidenote
The NBC article about the Astros being buyers at the deadline said:
Wandy Rodriguez is probably not a 2.26 ERA pitcher
Now I’ve been a big-time Wandy fan for a while, but even I almost had to agree with him there…that’s a heck of an ERA. So I looked up his Fielding Independent Pitching, and what do you know…he’s not a 2.26 pitcher…he’s a 2.58 pitcher!
That being said, luck will even out a bit over the course of the season and somebody will tag him for some serious home runs and drive up his ERA again. Historically, Wandy should be giving up about 1 HR per 9 innings. Currently, he’s giving up a microscopic 0.13 HR per 9. That’s one home run in 11 games pitched. That’s ridiculous, and I don’t expect it to hold for too much longer, but that’s the only possible luck-related aberration I’ve seen in my quick morning look.
My guess is that this low HR rate is highly correlated to his increase in the use of his curveball, which is up 3% from last year and a almost 12% more than he used it in 2006.
on whether TCB denizens think the team will be buyers or sellers. Last year, they surprised most by buying. This year the talking (or scribbling) heads say sell but the team says buy.
but if i were to put a percentage on it, that percentage might be a little higher than in years past. if there were a poll, I’d recommend rather than asking a yes or no question, give some room for middle ground uncertainty and see how many other people think that Drayton, while his history makes it hard to believe he’d ever be a seller, might actually be warming up to the idea.
I think will be totally dependent on how the team plays during the few weeks before the deadline.
Four games ago, we were on a 7-game losing streak, 8 games under .500 and the blogosphere was trying desperately to get Roy O traded. A short win-streak later, and it seems like we could easily finish at or around .500.
If I have to lock in an answer, I would say that we end up as buyers. But not big buyers. We won’t be doing a Randy Johnson rental style purchase. More along the lines of bolstering the bullpen with a LaTroy Hawkins-type move, which, considering what we gave up, would hardly be considered a purchase.
It’s tough to say we’d really be sellers in any meaningful way, since our best chips are locked in either by no trade clauses or the fact that we have no minors depth to replace anyone except possibly outfielders. It’s because of this that I roll my eyes when people say we should just have a fire sale. If the team were a car, the best we could do is sell the hood ornament and the license plate cover and the floor mats. We’d get $10 in return and still be driving a crappy car.
Berkman addresses trade rumors: From The Sports Xchange: There’s no denying the Astros first baseman Lance Berkman was intrigued this winter when his name was mentioned as a potential target of the Yankees. “Certainly (Andy Pettitte) being one of my best friends in the game, he’s up there,” Berkman told the Houston Chronicle. “Before they signed (Mark) Teixeira, they needed a first baseman. Tradition, my favorite player was Don Mattingly, all that certainly you think of it in that big stage up there and wonder how you’d hold up under that kind of scrutiny and that sort of thing. That would be a team that you would have to consider if they came calling. But at the same time it would be awful tough to leave here and to leave this organization. It’s been great to me my whole career.” Berkman talked what it would take for him to waive his no-trade clause. “You don’t want to get caught in a situation that you feel is hopeless and I’m just playing out the string of my career on a lousy team that’s not going anywhere,” he said. “If you look at it like that and it’s bleak and the organization would be better off getting prospects, then you have to think long and hard.”
(Updated 06/03/2009).
Just a Sidenote
The NBC article about the Astros being buyers at the deadline said:
Now I’ve been a big-time Wandy fan for a while, but even I almost had to agree with him there…that’s a heck of an ERA. So I looked up his Fielding Independent Pitching, and what do you know…he’s not a 2.26 pitcher…he’s a 2.58 pitcher!
That being said, luck will even out a bit over the course of the season and somebody will tag him for some serious home runs and drive up his ERA again. Historically, Wandy should be giving up about 1 HR per 9 innings. Currently, he’s giving up a microscopic 0.13 HR per 9. That’s one home run in 11 games pitched. That’s ridiculous, and I don’t expect it to hold for too much longer, but that’s the only possible luck-related aberration I’ve seen in my quick morning look.
My guess is that this low HR rate is highly correlated to his increase in the use of his curveball, which is up 3% from last year and a almost 12% more than he used it in 2006.
Go Wandy!
AstroAndy - June 4, 2009
It'd be interesting to see a poll
on whether TCB denizens think the team will be buyers or sellers. Last year, they surprised most by buying. This year the talking (or scribbling) heads say sell but the team says buy.
ol Pete - June 4, 2009
I'd say the smart move would be to sell (as painful as that would be)
but, knowing this team, they’re far more likely to go for the desperate, Banzai rush strategy again. It might not be “smart,” but it has its charms.
Only_A_Lad - June 4, 2009
i wouldn't guess we'd be sellers
but if i were to put a percentage on it, that percentage might be a little higher than in years past. if there were a poll, I’d recommend rather than asking a yes or no question, give some room for middle ground uncertainty and see how many other people think that Drayton, while his history makes it hard to believe he’d ever be a seller, might actually be warming up to the idea.
littlevisigoth - June 4, 2009
Whether the Astros are buyers or sellers
I think will be totally dependent on how the team plays during the few weeks before the deadline.
Four games ago, we were on a 7-game losing streak, 8 games under .500 and the blogosphere was trying desperately to get Roy O traded. A short win-streak later, and it seems like we could easily finish at or around .500.
If I have to lock in an answer, I would say that we end up as buyers. But not big buyers. We won’t be doing a Randy Johnson rental style purchase. More along the lines of bolstering the bullpen with a LaTroy Hawkins-type move, which, considering what we gave up, would hardly be considered a purchase.
It’s tough to say we’d really be sellers in any meaningful way, since our best chips are locked in either by no trade clauses or the fact that we have no minors depth to replace anyone except possibly outfielders. It’s because of this that I roll my eyes when people say we should just have a fire sale. If the team were a car, the best we could do is sell the hood ornament and the license plate cover and the floor mats. We’d get $10 in return and still be driving a crappy car.
AstroAndy - June 4, 2009
When there was all the chattering about selling
and Coop’s picture was on the Chron website with a gloomy forecast of his fate, I thought, here comes a strong run.
ol Pete - June 4, 2009
Where did you get the berkman quote
I couldn’t find it in the link.
joeljr - June 4, 2009
it looks like the quote was pulled. I googled the quote and it comes up shows a couple articles with ti but its not there when you read the article.
Except here: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/22419
Berkman addresses trade rumors: From The Sports Xchange: There’s no denying the Astros first baseman Lance Berkman was intrigued this winter when his name was mentioned as a potential target of the Yankees. “Certainly (Andy Pettitte) being one of my best friends in the game, he’s up there,” Berkman told the Houston Chronicle. “Before they signed (Mark) Teixeira, they needed a first baseman. Tradition, my favorite player was Don Mattingly, all that certainly you think of it in that big stage up there and wonder how you’d hold up under that kind of scrutiny and that sort of thing. That would be a team that you would have to consider if they came calling. But at the same time it would be awful tough to leave here and to leave this organization. It’s been great to me my whole career.” Berkman talked what it would take for him to waive his no-trade clause. “You don’t want to get caught in a situation that you feel is hopeless and I’m just playing out the string of my career on a lousy team that’s not going anywhere,” he said. “If you look at it like that and it’s bleak and the organization would be better off getting prospects, then you have to think long and hard.”
(Updated 06/03/2009).
joeljr - June 4, 2009
Sorry about that
I didn’t realize the link I sent you to would change for a day by day type thing. Thanks for finding a more permanent URL.
Stephen Higdon - June 4, 2009
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