Stop the Presses: Astros sign Aaron Boone!!!
by Stephen Higdon on Dec 18, 2008 2:11 PM CST
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PrintThe parade of grizzled veterans, with an extra helping of grit, continued today when the Astros reached an agreement with Aaron Boone, pending a physical, for a one year contract. Let me be the first to say: hip-hip-hoor-ray....
Boone is slated to be Blum's mainstay platoon-mate and we should rejoice with the .311/.314 wOBA that Bill James and Marcels, respectively, predict.
At this point, with all the veterans we've signed for 1/1 deals, whatever money we were hoping to save on axing Wigginton has to have evaporated as the ink on these useless contracts dries. Was the $2-3 million we got rid of in Wigginton's arbitration bonus worth this?
I just can't write anymore.
That's so bad. SOOOOOOO bad.
On the plus side, however, he was awful with his glove last year: -5.8 UZR/150*
*UZR: The number of runs above or below average a fielder is in both range runs and error runs combined. In this instance, per 150 games.
The cherry on top of this signing is that Boone, for his career, actually OPSes worse against LHP than he does against RHP: .747 to .755
No bat, no glove: Good choice, Ed.
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My favorite part of the announcement
“General manager Ed Wade declined to comment on the deal.”
Probably a wise move, since there’s not much that could justify it. The guy made $1 million last year. I hope we’re paying much less than that.
I gotta wonder what Ed Wade is doing…picking up 3 former KC Royals in the last couple of months, a Pirate yesterday, and a National today…it’s like he’s trying to assemble a Cellar-Dweller Reject All-Stars team.
I think it’s very possible that Ed Wade is done with signings for the year. Maybe if some money is available and the price is right, he’ll pick up a back-of-the-rotation SP toward the end of January, just to compete with Backe. But the outfield spots are filled, and my guess is that he’ll let our AAA-ers fight it out for the utility IF spot (Maysonet, Manzella, Sutton, Johnson), and let Towles, Palmisano, and Quintero tussle over who is the odd one out. My guesses are that Sutton, Q, and Palmisano make the big club, and as soon as Towles looks like he might be heating up in AAA, they’ll either send Q down or they’ll negotiate with the Brewers to keep Palmisano and send him down.
by AstroAndy on Dec 18, 2008 2:31 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
My days are all running together
Jason Michaels, the Pirate, was not picked up yesterday, but on Monday.
You get a Rec
For the “Cellar-Dweller Reject All-Stars” team.
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 Stephen Higdon on Dec 18, 2008 3:18 PM CST up reply actions
has any other player made more money off of one memorable play??
lest we forget he OPS’es .498 in the playoffs…so there’s that.
@ Minute Maid
G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
27 22 99 91 11 27 8 0 6 14 .297 .354 .582 .936
I hope that 100 PA sample holds
But I’m not holding my breath.
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 Stephen Higdon on Dec 18, 2008 3:17 PM CST up reply actions
No doubt we are
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 Stephen Higdon on Dec 18, 2008 4:16 PM CST up reply actions
Are you saying
some of these guys are furniture movers?
by littlevisigoth on Dec 19, 2008 1:14 PM CST up reply actions
great signing
if we are trying to get the oldest bench players in the history of the game…earlier i said anyone except for ozuna and gomez…ill change that to anyone except ozuna gomez and boone
i think hes here for the veteran presence?
by EveryHoustonTeamRox! on Dec 18, 2008 4:33 PM CST reply actions
I don't know...
Myabe this isn’t that bad IF:
1) we’re just filling roster spots so we can rebuild AND
2) rebuilding consists of trading Valverde, maybe Tejada (if we can), and Oswalt or Berkman
But if this is the Stros just trying to contend on a budget, it’s sad. All or nothing. Please.
I think contention went out the window
I think at this point, Ed Wade is spending as little money as he can until some of the big contracts start coming off the books and he can build the major league club the way he wants to. In the meantime, I guess he’s just angling for as a good position in the draft as he can get, but without having a worse record than the Pirates. Because however bad it seems now, being worse than the Pirates is even worse.
Party Like It's 1999!!!
Hey, this would be a great signing if it was 1999. If you want a glimmer of hope, his offense was decent with the Marlins in 2007. Truthfully, though, the odds of that repeating are very slim.
Some thoughts:
**Chris Gomez must have asked for more than $750 K, so Wade went to Plan B.
**Drayton McLane told Wade: “I want a big name player. And you can’t pay him more than $750,000. Wade: "That’s pretty tough, Drayton….hmm..well, the only player I can think of who might play for that is Aaron Boone.” McLane: “There you go! Make us a champion. I’ve heard of Aaron Boone. He will bring fans in by the droves.”
**Aaron Boone said he wanted to play for the Astros because he knows some of the players here. Unfortunately, he thinks Biggio and Bagwell are still playing for the Astros.
Meanwhile this article suggests that Ben Sheets...
is having trouble getting any offers for his services.
Perhaps that will perk up Entropic…
He's just there
Waiting for an offer from a place he wants to play (Houston). Two years and $30 million dollars and we have one of the biggest steals of the offseason…this is ridiculous. The 2008-2009 offseason will forever make me want to simultaneously puke and cry.
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 Stephen Higdon on Dec 19, 2008 1:48 AM CST up reply actions
Effing Arbitration
We might sacrifice 15/yr but my guess is that it’s those draft picks. And, even with Sheets, are we really contending with Boone/Blum? We can’t keep alternating between firesale and contending.
FYI
Randy Wolf is reportedly seeking 30mm/3 yrs. Astros were 22-24 over 3 yrs before pulling the offer off the table. We really want to contend? Sign Sheets and Wolf.
Why waste the money on Sheets...
… if the team around him is gonna suck? He alone is not going to make that much of a difference and any investment in him is a big risk given his health history. I agree with those saying either decide to rebuild or decide to contend, but this contending on a budget idea is a joke.
Hi, my name is Rich and I'm an Astroholic.
by Austin Astroholic on Dec 19, 2008 8:22 PM CST reply actions
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