Astros Sign Mike Hampton
by AstroAndy
on Dec 1, 2008 3:46 PM CST
18 comments
MyFoxHouston is reporting that the Astros have come to an agreement with free agent Mike Hampton.
UPDATE: Footer is reporting it too.
He was looking for a one-year, no option deal so he could build up his value.
It'll be tough to make a judgment on this one until we know the terms of the deal, but if he's healthy and can stay that way for a full season, he might be a bargain.
What do you guys think? Shrewd move or Woody Williams, part 2?
**********Dying Quail insert************
First, thanks to Astros Andy for being on the ball with this.
Hampton had previously let it be known that he wanted a 1 year deal, not an incentives based contract, which I guess is what we gave him. Rosenthal had this:
Not a bad deal in my eyes.
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Oh, it doesn't bother too much, given the dollars.
But it would be a mistake to pin too much hope on Hampton. And it will be very bad if Wade thinks this solves the rotation’s issues. Personally, I think they overpaid somewhat, given Hampton’s age and injury history. But, it’s in the range of Shawn Chacon’s annual salary last year (and he got a two year contract), which I thought was a decent gamble at the time. And this is a similar type of “let’s take a chance and hope it works out” signing.
by clack on
Dec 1, 2008 3:54 PM CST
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I actually have a pretty good feeling about it...oddly enough.
I think he’ll provide comparable value to Wolf, but a huge discount. Who knows though?
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
Dec 1, 2008 4:47 PM CST
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Good, not great
He’s an upgrade over Backe…but I sure hope we’re not relying on him to be anything more than a 4th or 5th starter. Still need Sheets or Peavy…if the plan is to contend.
by Aron on
Dec 1, 2008 4:23 PM CST
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You're right on about that
This has to just be the tip of the iceberg if we want to throw out words like contending and playoffs.
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
Dec 1, 2008 4:48 PM CST
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Opportunity Cost
I agree that it obviously doesn’t cost much in terms of dollars and years, and I don’t think it’s another Woody Williams because the salary-level won’t cause as much pain.
I do think, however, that the OPPORTUNITY COST here is excessive. Signing Hampton in lieu of signing Randy Wolf (we’ll know his arb call tonight) or Ben Sheets is a negative sign.
by RyanRico on
Dec 1, 2008 5:19 PM CST
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Yeah,
but signing Hampton certainly doesn’t prevent them from signing Ben Sheets. There’s an opportunity cost, but it’s not nearly so high.
by Only_A_Lad on
Dec 1, 2008 6:23 PM CST
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If we don't sign Sheets/Wolf
I think we then trade away Wigginton/Valverde and resign ourselves to having a down year with the hopes of reinvigorating the club’s future. In that light, this is a low cost/low risk signing that has positive upside, and at least, theoretically, prevents us from having to dip down into our minors to try and find a starter.
I agree with Only_A_Lad. I don’t think this has much bearing on Sheets’ or Wolf’s signing and if it does factor in, the $2 million guaranteed can’t represent too great of a shift in terms of opportunity costs one way or the other. It is good, however, to be thinking forward about opportunity costs and not just get caught up in the deal.
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
Dec 1, 2008 7:01 PM CST
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BEN SHEETS BEN SHEETS BEN SHEETS
I’ve been reduced to two chants these days. This Hot Stove is appearing to me as both unproductive and unexciting.
by jonthefon on
Dec 1, 2008 5:28 PM CST
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like the deal...now afer we sign sheets or trade for peavy we will be good
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on
Dec 1, 2008 6:14 PM CST
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I'm still skeptical
That a trade for Peavy doesn’t handicap us too much on the MLB level to automatically make us contenders. The deal will likely involve Pence and I’m just not sure we have an adequate replacement to off-set that loss. The deal also likely involves a third party and there’s no telling who gets lost in that shuffle. So in that light, I think the opportunity cost of Peavy might be a little too great….unless we free up salary that way and then sign Sheets to go back to our ’05 build.
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
Dec 1, 2008 7:04 PM CST
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This is a Billy Beane signing right there
Not a lot of risk, a chance to provide quite a bit of upside if he’s healthy. Course, pitching in Houston is quite different than pitching in Atlanta.
by Blez on
Dec 1, 2008 7:27 PM CST
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Blez
I think you just made hell freeze over by drawing a comparison between Wade and Beane.
I agree though, there’s just no reason to dislike the deal and plenty of reason to feel good about it.
Turner Field does deflate HR, but that’s about it. With the exception of 2006, Turner has out paced MMP in terms of inflating overall offense. Of course, we also saw first hand how bad historically high HR rates can make starting pitching this year, but I don’t expect that to be too big of an issue for Hamption because he has a relatively low FB%.
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
Dec 1, 2008 7:55 PM CST
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regarding peavy
There have been talks about Wigginton and Valverde going to CLE…
Y dont they do a 3 way deal sending…
HOU Gets:
Peavy
CLE Gets:
Valverde Wigginton
SD gets:
Cle players (laffey, Miller {1 of those 2}) and other prospects/players on CLE, and Wandy, Sapp
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on
Dec 1, 2008 9:09 PM CST
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For the Children
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/12/01/braves_hampton_astros.html
..agonizing since 1983...
by rockwalltx on
Dec 1, 2008 9:36 PM CST
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The deal wasn’t expected to be announced until Wednesday.
Interesting
..agonizing since 1983...
by rockwalltx on
Dec 1, 2008 9:37 PM CST
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Rememories....
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_/ai_n11733150
Hampton..what a sweet boy..Hunsicker wanted to rip his eyeballs out of his head with a cold spoon……and so did I.
..agonizing since 1983...
by rockwalltx on
Dec 1, 2008 10:05 PM CST
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The dreaded Andy Pettite ..
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/sports/baseball/02base.html?ref=sports
Now that he has been non-arb’d….( and hurt…too…)
I can almost see Astro FO trying to sneak in…they could market it…get a year out of it.
seems cynical enough.
..agonizing since 1983...
by rockwalltx on
Dec 1, 2008 10:19 PM CST
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