Brandon Backe Involved in Wedding Brawl; Early Off-Season Sadness?

by HighLeveragePerformer on Oct 7, 2008 10:17 AM CDT

Well, at least he didn't go after Ed Wade....Backe was a member of a Galveston wedding party, and was arrested over the weekend after a fight broke out. Minor injuries were sustained by the hometown boy. Specifically, he was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with a police officer. These are only misdemeanor charges which is too bad, since Backe won't have to miss any future games for court appearances or proceedings of that nature. If I was Backe, and I just came off one of the worst seasons of any pitcher this year, I'd spend less time tusslin' and more time clearing my mind of any memories of his 2008 season.

The Chronicle had an article today about Ed Wade's initial thoughts on the free agent market/trade possibilities. Here it is, for your reading pleasure. Basically, Drayton and Ed know the Yankees are going after some top notch free agent starters, which will probably place the Astros far below the bidding war which will occur for the Sabathias, Garlands and Dempsters of the world. Randy Wolf will be given every opportunity to return to the Astros next year, which, depending on your viewpoint could either be a good or bad thing. It seems like he had a relatively lucky 2008 season. Wolf was in a situation where the Astros defense was superb, and his FIP, as a result, was .33 runs higher than his ERA as an Astro (3.90 to 3.57). Much of this had to do with a more than three percent decrease in his LD% from when he was a Padre, which tells me that since he (like most pitchers) can't control their LD% at all, he is prone to the effects of the luck-pendulum and its swings back and forth. A really high LOB% of .754 makes me hope that Drayton and Ed think twice about bringing Wolf back. Remember there is a compensation pick hanging in the balance if Wolf is offered arbitration and decides to sign elsewhere. We have all winter to discuss this, but I just wanted to get the ball rolling a little.

A list of free agents can be found here.

All statistics used are courtesy of harballtimes.com

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That is literally the most ridiculous article I've read

Lowe, Sheets, Lackey, Dempster, and who ever I’m missing will not command $100 million, not even close. Sabathia will be the only to trod in that territory and maybe Lackey. If we’re not considering Sheets or Lowe to add to this rotation next year, I really my quit on this team until Drayton sells the damn thing — cheap f-ing d-bag. This club locked up a $100 million in a fat LF, why the hell would it not want to invest in a blue-chip starting pitcher to send this team to the post-season while it’s core group of talent is still productive?!?!?!?!

They better just be posturing. If they truly believe that Randy Wolf is the FA starter they need to sign to make it to the post-season next year, all of them deserve to be out of a job. I just don’t know if I can take another year of this shit show that everyone pretends is orchestrated well.

The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.

by DyingQuail on Oct 7, 2008 11:29 AM CDT 0 recs

Bullshit.

They need to sign Sheets (or someone his equal).. the Yankees aren’t going to get ALL the top free agent starting pitchers.

by entropic soul on Oct 7, 2008 11:34 AM CDT 0 recs

Pick a strategy, Drayton

Either blow up the roster or purchase FA’s. If we keep doing this in-between crap, we’re going to field a losing team for the next decade.

The days when an NL Central club could field a mediocre team and make the postseason with a bit of luck are over. The Cubs are good. The Brewers are good. The only way for the Astros to make it is to either make the best farm system possible or to go the Yankees route.

How did this man lead the 1994-2005 Astros to greatness?

by Only_A_Lad on Oct 7, 2008 1:53 PM CDT 0 recs

Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio

and a string of great closers

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on Oct 7, 2008 4:57 PM CDT up 0 recs

So true.

by DyingQuail on Oct 7, 2008 5:00 PM CDT up 0 recs

Actually,

maybe this isn’t so bad. Maybe he’s decided to reinvest the money he’s saving on payroll into the draft. Maybe he’s just waiting for Carlos’ no-trade clause to expire. Maybe everything will be okay in a few seasons.

God, we’re so screwed.

by Only_A_Lad on Oct 7, 2008 2:56 PM CDT 0 recs

Astrosdaily backs McLane

Says high priced free agency pitchers usually do not benefit the team enough to offset the harm done by having the high priced contract and no money for other players. They aren’t worth risk

See their five suggestions including a suggested firing . . .. .

http://www.astrosdaily.com/

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on Oct 7, 2008 7:54 PM CDT 0 recs

Having Peavy would be cool,

but the Astros have almost nothing to trade for him. We’ve got Bogusevic in the system, and Pence, Wiggy, and Valverde in the majors. Everyone else is either not under club control or awful.

I think getting something for Valverde would be worth it, as would Wigginton. Good closers are overpriced, so somebody is probably willing to part with good prospects for him.

I don’t know. If they trade well and draft smartly, then everything should be great. I just really wish that Wade and Drayton made their plan a little clearer. As it is, it just seems like they’re half-assing it.

by Only_A_Lad on Oct 7, 2008 8:05 PM CDT up 0 recs

Isn't anyone going to say the Astros

were one hurricane away from making the playoffs this year?

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on Oct 7, 2008 7:56 PM CDT 0 recs

Not a doubt in my mind

That they would have, if not for the storm.

But: the Cubs and Brewers are definitely on the upswing these days. We’re going to have to do better to make it in the future.

by Xan on Oct 8, 2008 1:06 AM CDT up 0 recs

Catcher

Isn’t it obvious that we have a crying need for a big league catcher? Any trade has got to be to fill that gaping void. None of the available free agents will do it. This means trading a player who can be replaced by a free agent, and that probably lets out Wigginton, since nothing we can afford on the list would be as good. Best to keep Pence in case he comes back strong. So that leaves Valverde to be traded. To replace him, I’d go out and get two or three young guys who have a chance to become a quality closer and then hope for the best.

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on Oct 7, 2008 10:50 PM CDT 0 recs

Catching is down the list for me

I’m not going all out to find a catcher… I’m happy with what Q does on defense, and as long as the rest of the lineup is pretty solid, I think we can afford to have a weak hitting catcher.

Go 'Stros!

by Stros Bro on Oct 8, 2008 6:26 AM CDT up 0 recs

I also feel like

Everyone has just completely written of Towles. He’s not going to the .300/15/70 guy we hoped he would be this year, but I get the feeling he’s going to perform a lot better than Q.

by DyingQuail on Oct 8, 2008 8:49 AM CDT up 0 recs

I'm not saying I feel good about our catching situation

but I don’t think we should create any holes to fill the one we have at catcher. A lot of people overrate closers, but Valverde is one of the best in the business. I don’t think he’s as replaceable as you might think. We were spoiled to go through the Lidge/Dotel/Wagner, Qualls/Wheeler/Lidge stretches of having an embarassment of riches at the back end. It’s just not that easy.

And commenting on the AstrosDaily post, I just don’t think we should be working the trade market for top talent. It’d be foolish to deal the Pences, Chris Johnsons, or Brian Bogesevics. We need to horde these guys and hope that we can develop a few more promising prospects. We can’t limit ourselves to JUST what we have at the major league level. You need to have guys waiting in the wings. I LOVE Peavy, but I think the package it would take to get him would be a HUGE mistake for the Astros.

by littlevisigoth on Oct 8, 2008 9:21 AM CDT up 0 recs

in the astrosdaily forum, some have proposed...

Pence and Wandy for Peavy. I would probably make that trade from the Astros’ side, but I don’t think it is enough to get him. From what I’ve read, the Padres would want a a bounty of prospects, like the A’s got in the Haren trade. And the Astros just don’t have the top prospects to package in a trade. Pence, himself, isn’t as young as the typical prospect, and there are probably a variety of opinions around the league as to what his upside might be. And Wandy isn’t young anymore, period. Teams with rich farm systems (say, like the Red Sox or even Brewers) might be in a better position to trade for Peavy.

by clack on Oct 8, 2008 10:24 PM CDT up 0 recs

There's no way we have what it takes to get Peavy

There’s no way we have what it takes to win without a Top Tier FA Pitcher.

The Astros Daily article and forum are just deluded.

by DyingQuail on Oct 8, 2008 10:41 PM CDT up 0 recs

I wouldn't say no way

If we could get another solid 3ish pitcher, resign Wolf and he’s as good as he was with the Astros(or close to it), then there’s a chance we could at least contend…

I’m not saying I would be happy with that.. but saying no way it happens is an overstatement

Go 'Stros!

by Stros Bro on Oct 8, 2008 11:09 PM CDT up 0 recs

Same Old Story Just Different Faces

The Astros get what they pay for a mediocre team. Their pitching and hitting has never been exceptional. Just the last couple years has it been exciting to see the Astros go up and bat. The Astros are handicapped when it come to playing teams with good pitching. The last two seasons the hitting has improved, but the pitching has been on the decline. The Astros have always picked up aging players who are on the decline and at the end of their careers. Where are the young rookies they have in Double A, Triple A? Nothing is coming out of the farm system maybe it time to bring in someone with skills at identifying talent.

by atomic_sage on Oct 8, 2008 10:01 AM CDT 0 recs

You mean somebody like Bobby Heck?

Oh wait, we already did that last offseason. Just because we sucked at identifying talent 4-5 years ago doesn’t mean our ameteur scouting still sucks. By most accounts we’re improving in that department. Of course, only time will tell.

by littlevisigoth on Oct 9, 2008 10:18 AM CDT up 0 recs

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	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Chicago Bleed Cubbie Blue	97	64	.602	0	Lost 4
Milwaukee Brew Crew Ball	90	72	.555	7.5	Lost 1
Houston The Crawfish Boxes	86	75	.534	11	Won 1
St. Louis Viva El Birdos	86	76	.530	11.5	Won 6
Cincinnati Red Reporter	74	88	.456	23.5	Lost 5
Pittsburgh Bucs Dugout	67	95	.413	30.5	Won 1