Astros Hot Stove 11/13/08: Randy Wolf Decides to Test Free Agency; Brocail has 12 Team's interest, but does Gregg to the Cubs affect him?
REJOICE!!!
As a college student, I'm just now waking up. I was a little panicked that I had managed to sleep this late, but all that anxiety dissipated when I read this quote:
Yes, that is Randy Wolf explaining why it is that he's going to cruise the waters of free agency and hope to get that 3 year/$30 million-ish dollar deal. This is going to be a great day.
May we also pause this morning a remember that Ben Sheets had the equivalent of a pulled hamstring in his arm. after being the 8th most abused pitcher in baseball (behind the links of Lincecum, Sabathia, and Halladay), and that Randy Wolf is a year removed from shoulder surgery!!!
The question becomes, what does Ed Wade do? He had this to say (apologies to clack who already posted this on yesterday's thread...I should have set an alarm):
Good, let's not a wait on Wolf. The only thing that scares me, is that he doesn't mean Ben Sheets, or Lowe, or somebody decent. Either way, at this point, we have hope that Ed Wade will not commit stupid years and stupid money to Randy "the fluke" Wolf.
entropic soul...take it away.
Also, the Chronicle is quoting Brocail's agent as saying that 12 teams have expressed interest in Brocail.
**UPDATE 2:17PM**
MLBTradeRumors is reporting that the Cubs acquired Kevin Gregg and that Kerry Wood won't be back in Chi-town. Does this affect the market for Doug Brocail at all? I think it does, big time.
Comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhmjDKHqR-s
by HighLeveragePerformer on
Nov 13, 2008 11:02 AM CST
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can't click a link when it's in a subject line....
It helps if the hitter thinks you're a little crazy. - Nolan
by clockwerks on
Nov 13, 2008 12:50 PM CST
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thank you, sir
my ignorance of all things computer related precedes me
by HighLeveragePerformer on
Nov 13, 2008 1:13 PM CST
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I'm still waiting for entropic soul and his Ben Sheets chant
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
Nov 13, 2008 1:03 PM CST
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Essshhh
I hope I don’t have to come off as the idiotic chauvinist…my apologies if I do.
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
Nov 13, 2008 2:43 PM CST
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YESSSSSS
Now I feel free to finish this paper.
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
Nov 13, 2008 1:44 PM CST
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Jason Stark is also reporting
the Astros are trying to move money and speculates it might be Tejada or Valverde. He sees it more as a move to lower payroll and not to make room for another big contract.
by mokulen on
Nov 13, 2008 2:37 PM CST
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I keep hearing that
But it’s never in conjunction with a credible source, just people speculating.
If we’re going to go that route, I’m fine with it, but we need to unload everyone or no one and make a push at the playoffs. There’s no reason for any kind of middle ground.
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
Nov 13, 2008 2:45 PM CST
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Agreed
moderation is for suckers.
That’s why, when I play poker, I either fold or go all in. Gotta live on the edge, baby. Same with baseball. Either trade away all the players or start bidding for free agents.
Really though, Drayton and Wade have to see that, with Oswalt, Lee, and Berkman all tied up in no-trades, they need to decide whether to compete or not. I think Houstonians will figure it out fairly quickly if either of them is half-assing it.
by Only_A_Lad on
Nov 13, 2008 2:52 PM CST
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Hopefully
Maybe then Drayton realize he can only beat around the bush for so long before people stop caring. Maybe the Rockets will win a championship and everyone realize the “win now, while you have the talent” makes more sense than the “hope for the best, but don’t rock the boat” philosophy."
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
Nov 13, 2008 3:43 PM CST
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Too many closers?
If we had any hope of unloading Valverde to get younger players or to get a Starting Pitcher it doesn’t look good. There are sooooo many closers available now. You have K-Rod, Fuentes, Hoffman, & Wood on the open market and Jenks, Street & Putz via trade. If we decide to put Valverde out there … there’s too many other good closers and we wouldn’t be able to get the best value.
Who’s going to give us top talent for a 1 year rental closer when they have so many other options. I think our best bet is to sign him to a long term deal now. Then we should sign Sheets (lose our 1st round draft choice) but gain other draft choices by offering arbitration to Brocail, Wolf & Loretta. We might not have a 1st round pick if Brocail doesn’t get picked up but we should be able to gain a supplemental or 2.
We can still try to dump Tejada or Wigginton’s contract to have more payroll flexibility and give the young guys a shot (Johnson & Sutton)
by Rhombus67 on
Nov 13, 2008 4:09 PM CST
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K-Rod is a long expensive contract, Fuentes is good but sort of not a closer, Hoffman has about a million miles on him and doesn’t throw that hard any more, Wood makes Sheets look like Jack Lalanne. Street may very well stay in Colorado and be flipped at the trading deadline. I’m not as familiar with Jenks and Putz, but there is a lot of quantity, but not necessarily quality or a good fit.
How long is Valverde signed for?
by ol Pete on
Nov 13, 2008 6:03 PM CST
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Valverde is arb eligible...and has been going on 1 year arbitration awards.
He has stated that he would like to stay in Houston long term, so he probably would consider a long term contract offer. Valverde wasn’t necessarily a happy camper in Arizona, but I think he truly likes playing for the Astros. I’m not certain that Wade wants to go that route, though. My guess is that Wade will give Valverde another 1 year contract, whether by arbitration or agreement, and then would look to let him go in 2010 and take the 1st round pick. I can’t say that I agree or disagree with offering Valverde a longer contract…it all depends on how much he would demand.
by clack on
Nov 13, 2008 6:45 PM CST
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I'm with you on that
And I get the feeling he’ll demand quite a bit — he’s the NL saves leader two years running. I think we can find someone serviceable enough for much less of a price tag by 2010.
I think it will be in the best interest of the Astros to try to reach an agreement with him rather than go through arbitration with him this year too. He could see a steep increase in arbitration and if we really are trying to clamp down on payroll, we could probably shave a million or two off his price that way.
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
Nov 13, 2008 7:33 PM CST
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If the price is right
Though there seems to be concern that if he tallies 300 wins, he’ll pretty much just throw in the towl. So that issue needs to be resolved if it truly exists.
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
Nov 13, 2008 9:08 PM CST
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Oh hells yeah,
Drayton could sell those two-feet-long hot dogs again.
And the plan to make the 2008 Astros a remake of the 1998 Astros comes together. Sign Hampton to a contract, fish Lima out of the Korean league and Hidalgo out of the independents, sign Johnson, and I’m pretty sure that the Mets will let us have Wagner…. Now all we need is for Berkman to grow a sweet Bagwell-esque goatee and we’re set. Someone find out what Tony Eusebio is doing.
by Only_A_Lad on
Nov 13, 2008 11:05 PM CST
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Tony Eusebio
I have his signed rookie card.
I also spent a solid 20 minutes trying to find a video of Jose Lima’s Casa Ole theme song on the internet — oddly enough.
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
Nov 13, 2008 11:39 PM CST
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Randy Johnson Interets
I heard that the Cubs are prepared to try and go after Johnson. He might end up in Long Releif with the Cubs Rotation. I think that Boston, Toronto, or The Astros are a right fit for him. a 1 year 6.5 million dollar contract sounds good to me.
The Trade-Maker
by dasox313 on
Nov 15, 2008 11:12 AM CST
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Randy Wolf
He shouldn’t test free agency. He is pretty much gaurunteed a spot in the rotation here in Houston, but he might get something like a 2 year 20 million dollar contract from the Red Sox, Braves, Maybe St. Louis?
The Trade-Maker
by dasox313 on
Nov 15, 2008 11:10 AM CST
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