Astros need to show us they are trying to improve

by AstrosBill on Nov 24, 2009 2:27 PM CST

But it doesn't have to be a #1 guy. Everyone wants the flashy guy. I want players who work hard and come to play every day. I want a pitcher who goes to the hill every 5 days and give 6+ quality innings almost every start. They don’t have to go overpay for Lackey for fans to feel like they are trying to improve. Look at the guys who have had success in the past; but possibly had off years. Erik Bedard and Rich Harden have both had injuries but one of them could be nice in the #4 spot. Jason Marquis or Joel Pinero both had good years but still shouldn't break the bank. If you want to look at 3rd; why not Melvin Mora? You have Castro almost ready to take over at catcher but Jason LaRue would be a nice filler. And don’t forget that Mark DeRosa is floating around out there. He’s a very serviceable 3rd baseman that can also play any infield position and a little outfield. He’d also be a nice bat off the bench when he doesn’t start. My point is that you don’t have to sign a top free agent to get better. Just show us that you WANT to get better.

Tweet Comment 7 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Buster Olney tweet linked at majorleaguetraderumors.com

Olney believes the Astros will reduce payroll by $17 million. It’s hard to figure out how they put together their team if the payroll cut is that large. It’s possible that Olney doesn’t really know and is just speculating. But that is a scary reduction number.

by clack on Nov 24, 2009 5:12 PM CST reply actions

That would be down to $90 million, wouldn’t it? Isn’t that about what we expected?

by OremLK on Nov 24, 2009 6:40 PM CST up reply actions

Well, no numbers have been mentioned. I assumed something like a $5 or $7 million reduction, putting the budget in the $100 million area.

by clack on Nov 24, 2009 7:20 PM CST up reply actions

I'm sticking with a guessitmate of $95 million for payroll

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 Nov 25, 2009 10:54 AM CST up reply actions

the astros can definitely put a competitive team on the field for around 90 mil, its about spending smartly, and then having roy, lee, berkman have bounce back years, while pence, wandy, and bourn keep improving

by strosfan31 on Nov 25, 2009 4:38 PM CST reply actions

I think Wandy is pretty much at his ceiling. Pence should improve, while Bourn may be due for a little bit of regression (though I hope he can improve further). Oswalt may rebound, depending entirely on the state of his back. But I think counting on Berkman and Lee to improve much (if at all) over last season’s performance may be overly optimistic, given their ages and body types.

by OremLK on Nov 26, 2009 2:33 AM CST up reply actions

Hopefully Berkman will get a dose of improvement as his BABIP regresses to mean. You just have to be thankful that Lee continues hitting well, every year that he does so. He could have a big decline at any time, but it’s hard to predict. My guess is he will be pretty much the same as 09 next season.

by clack on Nov 26, 2009 7:24 AM CST up reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

The Importance of George Springer

by ntn 12 days ago

27 comments | 2 recs

Recent FanPosts

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Current Series

3 game series vs Dodgers @ Dodger Stadium

Fri 05/25	WP: Lucas Harrell (4 - 3) SV: Brett Myers LP: Clayton Kershaw (4 - 2)	3 - 1 win
Sat 05/26	WP: Kenley Jansen (4 - 0) LP: Wesley Wright (0 - 1)	3 - 6 loss
Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes @ Los Angeles Dodgers True Blue LA Sunday, May 27, 2012, 3:10 PM CDT Dodger Stadium J.A. Happ vs Chris Capuano Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to right field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 75. Complete Coverage >

NL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Cincinnati Red Reporter	26	20	.565	0	Won 1
St. Louis Viva El Birdos	25	22	.531	1.5	Lost 3
Houston The Crawfish Boxes	22	24	.478	4	Lost 1
Pittsburgh Bucs Dugout	22	24	.478	4	Won 2
Milwaukee Brew Crew Ball	19	27	.413	7	Lost 1
Chicago Bleed Cubbie Blue	15	31	.326	11	Lost 11