Monday Morning Astros, etc Round Up
by HighLeveragePerformer on Aug 31, 2009 6:00 AM CDT
13 comments
After the New York Times levied pitch tipping allegations against Miguel Tejada, Tejada saw fit to respond yesterday:
"I've never tipped pitches," Tejada told MLB.com before he was given a rare off-day from the starting lineup on Sunday as the Astros closed their three-game series at Chase Field. "I love this game and that's not the way I play it. I'm a proud player. I would never do such a thing. It's tough to get a hit. And for me to tip pitches to anybody, that's crazy. I play for my team."
From what I can tell, it seems questionable that he was knowingly tipping other team's hitters as to what pitch was about to be thrown, despite former teammate Johnny Damon's assertions that "it seemed like all the Dominican guys were killing us." Sorry, but I don't really trust Damon's reflections on a particular nationalities' success against his team 8 years ago.
JJO raises the same point that clack did weeks ago- have Bud Norris's IP total caught up to him? Dewey Robinson seems to think that Norris is doing fine, and that skipping him in his next start will do him good. As far as September call ups are concerned, Round Rock pitcher Billy Sadler will get a call up once the RR season is through. Anyone with information on him is welcome to chime in. Wes Wright will also join the Astros in Chicago....also,
Time to welcome some vets, folks. Doug Brocail and Aaron Boone will be added to the major league roster on Tuesday. Chris Sampson, Tommy Manzella and JR Towles are other possibilities to be added to the club in September. Chris Johnson, for those who were wondering, isn't on the 40 man roster and therefore isn't eligible to be called up.
First Jeff Bagwell gets in the news after RJ touts him as next Astros' manager, then Beyond the Boxscore does a post on the top 14 first basemen of all time in terms of WAR, and Bags is #6 on the list:
He had excellent power (perhaps not completely appreciated due to his home park) and an exceptionally good batting eye (149 walks in 1999), which helped him post a career OBP of 0.408. He also had excellent speed for a second baseman, topping 30 steals twice, and was a fine defender throughout most of his career. He led the league in runs scored three times, and won the MVP in the strike-shorted 1994 season with a crazy 0.368/0.451/0.750 season (that's 39 home runs and 9 WAR in 110 games, folks)...He becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2010. I have a hard time reading the rest of the mainstream media, but I suspect that his teammate Craig Biggio will have an easier time than Bagwell despite having the weaker, albeit longer career. Lack of association with steriods may help both of them given the current backlash against suspected users.
The group of players ahead of Bagwell, Gehrig, Cap Anson, Jimmie Foxx, Roger Connor and Dan Brouthers, all had careers that were finished before WWII. Is Jeff the greatest 1B of the post WWII generation? At least by one measure, yes. (At least until Albert finishes up, that is). Frank Thomas was not a part of the list, as he was considered to be a DH. Before Bags had to exit the game, their stats were remarkably similar...as were their birthdays!
Elias released its most recent classifications of players. Astros' free agents that are either classified as A or B:
Miguel Tejada, B
Doug Brocail, B
Tim Byrdak, B
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Thomas vs. Bagwell
Here’s their links at baseball-projection:
Bagwell: http://www.baseballprojection.com/war/b/bagwj001.htm
Thomas: http://www.baseballprojection.com/war/t/thomf001.htm
Bagwell leads by 4 WAR, and he did it in 600 fewer PA’s. Thomas has a 160-run advantage in hitting. The difference is baserunning and fielding. Bagwell leads in each category: baserunning by 55 runs, fielding by ~100 runs, and then Thomas also gets hit with a 57-run larger position adjustment for playing so long as a DH.
If I classified Thomas as a 1B, he would place just ahead of Rose and behind Carew. Thomas was obviously a terrific player….but I’d rather have Bagwell on my team.
-j
My blog: Basement-Dwellers.com
Also: Beyond the Boxscore
by JinAZ on Aug 31, 2009 7:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
ahhhhh i see
thanks for the update! it’s remarkable how much turning singles into doubles, doubles into triples (to a lesser extent for bagwell) and moving up on flyballs/groundballs can help a player’s base running stats..
by HighLeveragePerformer on Aug 31, 2009 8:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Billy Sadler...
I don’t know much about him. But apparently, in order to sign him up after he was released by Fresno, the Astros had to agree to a contract provision which guaranteed that he would be part of the Sept. call ups. He had one stint in the big leagues with SF last year and posted decent results. His numbers at Fresno this year weren’t very good, but apparently he was injured. I figured he was an old career minor leaguer, but he is only 27; granted, 27 years old is too old to be a prospect.
by clack on Aug 31, 2009 8:32 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Sadler
I can’t add much to what clack says here other than that he had a rehab with the GCL Astros before he came back to RR. Also, I assume he is no relation to Ray Sadler, the Hooks OF even though both were signed by Houston within a week of each other. The Astros definitely have a monopoly on Sadlers!
by farm_stros on Aug 31, 2009 10:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
This may be taboo for me to bring up
But my dad and I always come back to this discussion of Bagweel and steroids:
Prior to his shoulder surgery, rehab, etc., Bagwell was a hulk of a ball player (huge forearms, specifically). When he returns to the Astros for the post-season run and ‘05 post-season, all of the sudden he looks like he’s drowning in his uniform for the first time since the early 90’s when he was first called up. Now this could simply be a case of me subjectively inflating and deflating Bagwell’s muscle mass and certainly one would expect it to atrophy with time off, but in our heads, my dad and I, always have this lingering concern that it seems like too much—you know?
I’m not trying to be incendiary, but it’s always amazed me how Bagwell has never really been attached to this discussion whatsoever (he was the first name I ran a full text search of the Mitchell Report on and I almost teared up with the sheer relief of not finding his name in it).
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 Aug 31, 2009 9:10 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I wouldnt really chalk that up to steroid use. Being it was 2005, research regarding post-cycle therapy had already been known. Giving that he is an athlete and would have more than likely have done a lot research regarding the implications of steroid use, i’m sure he would have came across something mentioning it. PCT would have allowed him to maintain his muscle mass. Without PCT, he would have minimal testosterone production and consequently a higher concentration of estrogen in his body making his body and making him produce fat and making him look flabby not deflated.
by Subber10 on Aug 31, 2009 9:34 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Concerning Manzella
I am glad to see that Manzella is under consideration. McTaggart previously reported he was doubtful for September. It is interesting to me that Wade references not wanting to accrue big league service time with a September call-up. I won’t be surprised if that aspect of the game affects the ascent of Jason Castro, even if it is just a few months to delay his arbitration eligibility by a season.
One clarification about the possibiltiy of Chris Johnson being called-up. The team would have to remove a player from the 40-man roster to make room for him. If they are going to remove players, my guess is it would be to bring up another pitcher like Benitez, Corcoran or Paronto.
Johnson is Rule 5 eligible after this season, so he will be on 40-man roster come 2010.
by farm_stros on Aug 31, 2009 10:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wade says he doesn't like calling up very many players for Sept.
I think Chris Johnson would be doubtful. Castro…not a chance, IMO. He is gong to be on the USA team.
by clack on Aug 31, 2009 10:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
definitely not a chance
he’ll be in the Czech Republic, I believe
by HighLeveragePerformer on Aug 31, 2009 10:59 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just to clarify
My reference to Castro was for next season. He’s leaving the Hooks for Europe after today
by farm_stros on Aug 31, 2009 11:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
2005....first full year of steroid testing.
by clack on Aug 31, 2009 10:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
he still wouldn’t have just deflated from discontinued steroid use. discontinued steroid use doesn’t just wash away muscle gains from steroid use. muscle gain from steroid is real muscle, you don’t lose muscle from stoping steroids, you lose muscle from stopping a weight lifting program or any type of program. Going through a shoulder rehabillitation program does make you lose muscle mass. Rehabing a shoulder prevents you from doing the normal program that got you to where you were.
by Subber10 on Aug 31, 2009 3:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
exactly
look at any athlete who has stopped training, even briefly. Muscle mass can decrease rather quickly, simply because they’ve ceased training so vigorously.
Tracy McGrady in May 2008 vs. May 2009 is a great example.
Your friendly neighborhood Dream Shake mod.
by Only_A_Lad on Aug 31, 2009 7:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis
|
91 | 71 | .561 | 0 | Lost 6 |
|
Chicago
|
83 | 78 | .515 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
80 | 82 | .493 | 11 | Won 3 |
|
Cincinnati
|
78 | 84 | .481 | 13 | Won 2 |
|
Houston
|
74 | 88 | .456 | 17 | Lost 3 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
62 | 99 | .385 | 28.5 | Lost 2 |
(updated 2.10.2010 at 5:43 AM CST)
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