Astros aiming for Chris Gomez?
by DyingQuail
on Dec 16, 2008 11:11 AM CST
14 comments
Apparently tight economic times are leading to terse negotiating tactics for a third baseman to platoon with Blum:
The article, per Astros.com, discusses each of the remaining free agent third base man, but devotes a significant amount of ink for Chris Gomez, and just small snippets for the rest. Gomez apparently can play both 3B and SS and posted this line last year:
Crede is apparently way out of our price range and we won't contact Morgan Ensberg (which, I don't understand...he's worth a minor league deal just to see). Pablo Ozuna also gets a nod in the article.
This is just depressing.
0 recs |
14 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
Why do I get the feeling
that this is going to be the most hellishly awful season the Astros have had in decades?
But keep hope alive, Astros fans. At least there’s a good chance that we’ll see some new (non-veteran) players soon. Bogusevic and Sutton are likely to come up. There’s that off-chance of Castro making the MLB within the season.
So maybe it won’t all be awful.
by Only_A_Lad on
Dec 16, 2008 1:09 PM CST
reply
actions
0 recs
Great a 37 year old ith power Great !!!( Wait 1 hr last year?)
by wadero on
Dec 16, 2008 2:18 PM CST
reply
actions
0 recs
Why waste time on Gomez?
Do the Astros have some kind of fetish for picking up infielders who have been rejected by the Pirates? Gomez isn’t a good hitter, and the defensive metrics indicate he isn’t a good fielder. Yes, he can play a lot of positions, but apparently none of them very well. At 3d base, he was significantly worse than Wigginton defensively (RZR: Wigginton, .737; Gomez, .667)…and fielding wasn’t Wiggy’s strong suit at third base.
by clack on
Dec 16, 2008 2:21 PM CST
reply
actions
0 recs
Yes they do have a fetish for that.
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 16, 2008 2:44 PM CST
up
reply
actions
0 recs
Hey this is my first post on here but i’ve been following the blog for awhile…but i agree with most of ya’ll on this sucks about wiggy but i think morgan ensberg is the last thing we need, his last days are behind him, he couldn’t even bat over .200 in AAA…i’d take saccomanno’s bat anyday over ensberg
by Subber10 on
Dec 16, 2008 6:34 PM CST
reply
actions
0 recs
Glad you're jumping into the fray
It’s is a sad state of affairs when are forgetting how bad Moberg was because we’re just so desperate to find a solution. Saccomanno has an MLE (according to minorleaguesplits) of .256/.300/.444 against RHP, and much worse in the other platoon; so I’m not sure how much he even helps us. This is just going to be awful.
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 16, 2008 7:09 PM CST
up
reply
actions
0 recs
anyone but...
gomez…moensberg…chris johnson….almost anyone (NOT OZUNA)…y do we need a 35+ yr old 3b to fill in…id rather have a 24 year old (dunno if CJ is 24) youngster get PT…if he does well great, if not then oh well, at least we know what we got with him
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on
Dec 16, 2008 8:07 PM CST
reply
actions
0 recs
I echo your thoughts exactly
Let’s just take stock of where we’re at in terms of player development and stop buying aged, useless veterans to do things we don’t really need/they can’t do very well to begin with.
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 16, 2008 9:59 PM CST
up
reply
actions
0 recs
There’s more than a little risk involved in bringing people up to the bigs too soon (exhibit A: JR Towles) because it can mess with their confidence levels. Johnson isn’t ready to play at the major league level yet. The value of having an aged, somewhat useless vet at 3B is that we only have to pay him one year’s salary, and if C. Johnson is looking ready halfway through the AAA season, I (and probably the front office) have no problem benching that vet and giving our homegrown a chance. We can stop and take stock all we want, but on opening day, you’ve got to put nine bodies on the field, and if our player development system doesn’t have anyone that’s ready for the job, you pick up someone who is “disposable”, but who will be the best fit for your team.
Its not like the free agent market is teeming with 3B who are good at their job and can come in at bargain bin prices. All of them are over 30, Wiggy included, and all of them have deficiencies, whether it be that they cost too much (Wiggy, Crede, Garciaparra), have lead gloves (Chris Gomez), or just don’t have a major league bat (Ensberg, sad to say, makes this list).
But like the worst kind of test, we can pick a “best” answer, even if it isn’t a good one. I don’t think C. Gomez is the “best answer”. As clack says, he’s not a good fielder and he’s not a good hitter. Since Blum does pretty well against RHP, we could look for someone who’s good at hitting LHP. Or we could look for some solid defense to pick up the pitching staff, at the expense of hitting.
Good price, good hitting, good fielding. Pick two. Just please, Ed Wade, don’t pick just based on “good price”, which is what a Gomez signing would be.
by AstroAndy on
Dec 16, 2008 10:48 PM CST
up
reply
actions
0 recs
I think there are two kinds of Minor League call-ups
Towles was called up and excepted to be a starting catcher with an amazing bat and stellar defense (from Brad Ausmus’ Gold-Glove tutelage) at the snap of Ed Wade’s fingers.
Johnson, Sutton, et al., are going to be called up in a season in which not even the Astros front office is drinking their own kool-aid. If these guys struggle, it’s not going to be as under the micro-scope like it was for Towles. They’re going to be given the opportunity to learn on the fly — unlike Towles was.
I don’t think there is a good solution for anyone this. For the amount of money we didn’t want to spend over whatever Wiggy’s value was to the organization, I’m pretty sure we’re going to spend it plugging in holes with inadequate FA who cost about a $1 million a pop. This whole process is just maddeningly stupid. Justice Holmes’ presumed anti-trust exemption has no basis in reality anymore and this shit has to stop. I want some proof that this club is in the red and we can’t afford to anything but sign the Chris Gomez’ of the world.
I have to stop there before the dam bursts.
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 17, 2008 12:05 AM CST
up
reply
actions
0 recs
On a tangent: my self-imposed winter break reading list includes some stuff about baseball and anti-trust law. Fun times!
by AstroAndy on
Dec 17, 2008 12:20 AM CST
up
reply
actions
0 recs
I presume that Zimbaltist is on that list?
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 17, 2008 11:08 AM CST
up
reply
actions
0 recs
I don't like the Chris Gomez option, but agree with AstroAndy...
about Chris Johnson. I do fear that relying upon him in the majors next year could have bad consequences for his future. I have seen how Astros’ fans dump on young players who come up and strike out a lot. I would hate to see that affect his confidence or the Astros’ view of his future. OTOH, if he comes to spring training and hits .500, I’m sure that everyone will demand that he get his shot, and you would have to do it.
My preference is to pick up a good defensive infielder who hits LHP well and can platoon with Blum. It will probably cost a couple of million, though. If you can’t afford that, then you probably are better off with a AAAA infielder like Saccomano to try in a platoon.
Ensberg would normally fit the profile for a platoon, but he hit poorly when the Yankees tried to use him in a platoon type role. So, I tend to think he is done. But I wouldn’t object to inviting him as a a NRI for old times sake.
by clack on
Dec 17, 2008 8:29 AM CST
reply
actions
0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
Related FanPosts on The Crawfish Boxes
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
New FanPost
THE CRAWFISH BOXES GETS SOCIAL
Current Series
3 game series vs Pirates @ Minute Maid Park
|
Pittsburgh Pirates
Monday, Jul 6, 2009, 7:05 PM CDT Virgil Vasquez vs Mike Hampton Partly cloudy,rain. Game time temperature around 90. |
||
| Tue 07/07 | 7:05 PM CDT | |
| Wed 07/08 | 1:05 PM CDT | |
NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis
|
45 | 39 | .535 | 0 | Won 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
43 | 39 | .524 | 1 | Lost 1 |
|
Chicago
|
40 | 39 | .506 | 2.5 | Won 1 |
|
Cincinnati
|
40 | 40 | .500 | 3 | Lost 1 |
|
Houston
|
39 | 41 | .487 | 4 | Won 1 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
37 | 45 | .451 | 7 | Lost 2 |
(updated 7.5.2009 at 5:31 PM CDT)
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
