The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009
by Alex Brandon - AP The market for Tejada will be tough to ascertain. View full size photo » Lets to talk about since the last time we looked at the free agency market. In this profile of what kind of deal Miguel Tejada may get, I thought it prudent to look at two important facts. First, how much will the Astros have available to spend? If, as Wade said, the Astros will reduce payroll in 2010,...
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
One thing you couldn't have accused the Astros of just before the 2009 season was having a great deal of pitching depth. Wandy Rodriguez had improved in 2008, but it was unknown whether he could continue the trend after just one really good year. The bullpen had been (in part) anchored by such luminous names as Doug Brocail and later the previously-mediocre LaTroy Hawkins . Randy Wolf had been let...
SportsJustice (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
Are you ready to be a champion? You are? I hope you know that championships are expensive, and, uh, well, the local baseball team is in kind of a bind. Drayton McLane's net worth is still above $1 billion, but it'll go down fast if he starts throwing sawbucks at these ballplayers. Oh sure, he could raise the payroll a bit and considering it an investment in the future. If the Astros got back to respectable,...
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP Former Houston Astros' pitcher Shawn Chacon Browse more photos » HLP or DQ may be planning a more comprehensive preview of the Bill James Astros ' player projections for next year. But I will make a quick hit here on some Astros' pitcher projections. And let me preface this with my own personal reservation: I am skeptical of projection systems' forecasts...
Fake Teams (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
by Gregory Smith - AP Will Ricky Nolasco be undervalued in 2010? View full size photo uploaded October 21, 2009 I know what you are asking-what the heck is FIP? According to The Hardball Times site, FIP is Fielding Independent Pitching, a measure of all those things for which a pitcher is specifically responsible. The formula is (HR*13+(BB+HBP-IBB)*3-K*2)/IP, plus a league-specific factor (usually...
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
Assorted rumblings from around the majors... Former MLB manager Ned Yost tells MLB.com's Alyson Footer that he thinks the Astros are just one starter away from having a quite a good rotation. (Footer agrees.) At the moment, the Astros have Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez, Brian Moehler, Bud Norris and Felipe Paulino. As Howard noted earlier, Yost is a candidate to manage the Astros next year. Former Nats...
Purple Row (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP 2 days ago: Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy, left, talks to second base umpire Tim Timmons about a call at second base, during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies of Game 4 in a National League baseball division series in Denver on Monday, Oct. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) Browse more photos » The Washington Post's Dave Sheinin wrote...
Walkoff Walk (Free subscription) | 10/14/2009
As the playoffs and award season gets underway, we want to take a gander at some players who had outstanding seasons in 2009 but whose teams ended up just shy of making the postseason and who will (most likely)...
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice has a five-point plan to solve the Houston Astros' problems -- or at least to point the team in the right direction. Here are some of his ideas: Bring Jose Valverde and LaTroy Hawkins back to the bullpen. Focus on pitching and defense, which would mean installing players like shortstop Tommy Manzella, second baseman Edwin Maysonet, and catcher Jason Castro (a...
SportsJustice (Free subscription) | 10/09/2009
Drayton McLane has said the Astros won't trade Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman unless they ask to be traded. His thinking is to keep adding, to reshape the club and to hope for improvement and maybe even respectability in 2010. Defensively, the Astros could be dramatically better in 2010. Tommy Manzella will make plays Miguel Tejada can't even think of making. He's not going to provide the same offense,...
The Hardball Times (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
Just a reminder, it's important. A significant amount of a pitcher's value is tied to his ability to hit, which we have a pretty good idea how to measure. Yet for some reason we leave hitting production out of our pitcher valuations. So I'll add StatCorner's pitching runs above average, hitting runs above average using a wOBA around .180 as average, and I might as well include the +/- fielding runs...
SportsJustice (Free subscription) | 10/07/2009
Brian Moehler began the season pitching on a bum knee and ended it on a bum knee. As Brian McTaggart pointed out, those four bad starts inflated his ERA. The Astros picked up his $3-million option for 2010 on Tuesday, and it's the right thing to do. In 2007-2008, he was healthy and a very decent back-of-the-rotation starter, going 12-12 with a 4.42 ERA in 26 starts. He didn't get deep enough into...
SportsJustice (Free subscription) | 10/06/2009
If I had a guess, I'd guess that Dave Clark isn't going to be the manager when the Astros go to Kississimmee in February. Nor will Tim Bogar be the man. Or Ted Simmons or Jeff Bagwell or Craig Biggio. I'm guessing the Astros are going to hire someone with big league managerial experience. If the Marlins fire Fredi Gonzalez, he probably becomes the frontrunner for the job. Bob Melvin would be an excellent...
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
by Henny Ray Abrams - AP Let this photo define the Astros 2009 season. View full size photo uploaded October 4, 2009 Current Series Mets lead the series 2-0 Fri 10/02 WP: John Maine (7 - 6) LP: Wandy Rodriguez (14 - 12) 1 - 7 loss Sat 10/03 WP: Pat Misch (3 - 4) SV: Francisco Rodriguez LP: Yorman Bazardo (1 - 3) 1 - 5 loss Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes @ New York Mets Amazin' Avenue Sunday, Oct...
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 10/03/2009
Current Series Mets lead the series 1-0 Fri 10/02 WP: John Maine (7 - 6) LP: Wandy Rodriguez (14 - 12) 1 - 7 loss Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes @ New York Mets Amazin' Avenue Sunday, Oct 4, 2009, 12:10 PM CDT Citi Field Wilton Lopez vs Nelson Figueroa Complete Coverage > Sun 10/04 12:10 PM CDT Sorry for the delay on this. This is our third attempt at getting this up today.
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