SB Nation - Chris Coste

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:30:24 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Pretty much everyone except Doug Melvin seems to think the Brewers should offer arbitration to Felipe Lopez.

Some things to read while not getting what you hoped for.

The Brewers have until 11 pm tonight to finalize their plan to offer or decline arbitration to five free agents, and while Tom H. seems to think the Brewers will extend an offer to Felipe Lopez, Adam McCalvy is reporting the team is "leaning against" making the offer to any of the five (FanShot).

All of this is another episode in the "Doug Melvin Moments" series I think most of us are getting increasingly sick of. Doug, we get it. Times are tough for the ever-so-downtrodden small-to-mid market GM with the job many of us would kill for. If the system is really so unbearable, you're welcome to quit and be replaced by someone who will spend more time working with the tools they have and less time bitching about the ones they don't.

Assuming Melvin does eventually get off his soapbox and get back to the task of improving the team, Wisconsin Sports Tap has a guide for prospective new Brewers that can help them avoid becoming the next Jeff Suppan, Bill Hall or Johnny Estrada.

With that said, it might be a while before we have news on Mark Mulder. Roguejim uncovered a story yesterday that sheds some light on Mulder's rehab and situation, and raises the possibility that Mulder will decide not to come back if he's unable to perform at a level he's accustomed to.

We're also probably just about done discussing Kevin Millwood. Rangers beat reporter T.R. Sullivan had this to say about the rumors:

The Rangers wouldn't mind adding pitching but they don't want to subtract it so they are not trying to move Kevin Millwood. Word is the Brewers were interested but Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and Doug Melvin haven't spoke in weeks, That might change at the Winter Meetings but the Rangers still need Millwood's arm far more than they need to move his salary.

Adam McCalvy opened up the mailbag yesterday and answered reader questions on the possibility of a Prince Fielder extension, Dominican prospect Santo Aybar, Lorenzo Cain and Caleb Gindl.

Elsewhere in the minors:

Lisa Winston of MiLB.com has a review of the season for the Brewer minor leagues, and a look at the attempt to build pitching depth in the system.
Project Prospect has Jonathan Lucroy ranked ninth on their list of baseball's top 15 catching prospects. Angel Salome was not ranked.
The Baseball Chronicle has Alcides Escobar as a backup infielder on their 2010 All Prospect Team. Escobar is on the bench behind Rays prospect Reid Brignac and Cubs SS prospect Starlin Castro, who is playing out of position at second base.
Rattler Radio has photos of the construction at Time Warner Field, where they're hard at work adding the new beach seats, boardwalk and bullpens.

Up for some arbitrary list-making today? Miller Park Drunk has a list of the top ten Brewers of the decade. It's worth a click for the picture, if nothing else.

John Axford might have an outside shot at winning a spot in the Brewer bullpen next spring, depending on how rest of the offseason goes. In the meantime, he spent yesterday talking to college students about life in the big leagues and the importance of education.

On the transaction log:

Cardinals: Re-signed catcher Jason LaRue and signed infielder Ruben Gotay to a minor league deal.
Mets: Signed catcher Chris Coste, and re-signed infielder Alex Cora to a one year deal worth $2 million.
Pirates: Signed reliever Wil Ledezma to a minor league deal and released catcher Robinzon Diaz.

Wondering what it might take for the Brewers to acquire Edwin Jackson? Here's a hint: The Mariners reportedly turned down an offer from the Tigers would have sent Jackson to Seattle for pitchers Brandon Morrow and Shawn Kelley. So apparently the price is pretty high.

If the Brewers are serious about making an effort to sign Justin Duchscherer, they may have competition within the division: MLB Trade Rumors says the Pirates are one of the interested teams.

The Brewers probably won't be players in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, but odds are the competition will heat up soon. Halladay has reportedly told the Blue Jays he won't accept any deal after reporting to spring training in February.

With the Winter Meetings coming up, we have more Rule 5 Draft notes: Baseball Time In Arlington has a look at the top ten unprotected pitchers, including former Brewer farmhand Will Inman.

Yesterday I mentioned the voting for the third baseman on the Timber Rattlers' 15th Anniversary team, and left a comment on Rattler Radio asking about the fate of top contender Bo Robinson, who had a few promising seasons in the Mariner organization before dropping off the map in 2002. Within 24 hours the answer was the subject of this week's Mehring Monday. Impressive turnaround time, to be sure.

I'm a few days behind on this one, but I recently discovered Cooperstown Chatter, the MLBlog run by the Baseball Hall of Fame, and this post on Rollie Fingers' 1981 MVP season. It's almost as impressive as Matt Stairs having a street named after him in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

By the way, if you've ever been to the Baseball Hall of Fame, or you haven't but would like to go someday, you can become a fan on Facebook. As an added bonus, Facebook fans get to help in the voting for this year's broadcaster induction.

On this day in 1967, Seattle was awarded an American League expansion franchise. I guess that makes today the Brewers' date of conception?

Happy birthday today to Tom Filer, who posted a 4.32 ERA in 39 appearances as a Brewer during the '88-'90 seasons and turns 53, and to Julio Machado, who spent parts of the 1990 and 1991 seasons as a Brewer before being arrested for murder in Venezuela. He turns 44.

Oh, and I haven't actually watched it yet (no sound on the computer where I write the Mug), but this video has Rammstein and Cookie Monster, so what could possibly go wrong?

Drink up.

Astros Roster Breakdown: The 2008 Offseason

davoag — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:23 -0000

by Pat Sullivan - AP

Look, waaay in the back...It's Ed Wade!

View full size photo »

Let's start the week off by looking at what the Astros did before and during the 2009 season. No major trades went down, nor were there any major signings. In fact, it sounds much like I'm sure this offseason will. Please give me your own take on the moves in the comments and what grade you'd give to Ed Wade for last season.

Move One: Signed Mike Hampton - The lefty Rob Lowe came at a bargain, earning 2 million dollars with 2 million in performance bonuses. I'm not sure if he met those, though. Hampton proved to be just what we thought he'd be: a little below league average and not very durable. For the money, though? You're not going to get much more.

Move Two: Signed Ivan Rodriguez - As a catcher with the Astros, it's fair to say Pudge failed. He started enough to break the record, but was pretty terrible when he did play. His OPS+ of 75 seemed to belie what fans saw on the field. It appeared that Pudge was having a meaningful impact on games, though his stat showed differently. Look at his splits in close and late situations, though: .359/.388/.406. Go even deeper, and you can see his numbers in high leverage situations: .280/.313/.320. Of course, this was offset by the fact that Rodriguez struck out all three times before getting to the late innings. He was a frustrating player, but his signing wasn't terrible, just ill-conceived.

Move Three: Signed Jason Michaels - Another guy who should have been better than he was. His career average of .269 should have made the Astros bench stronger, but Michaels couldn't put it together and struggled for much of the season. It also didn't help that he wasn't the best defensive replacement as a fourth outfielder. Still, who else were you going to get for 750K?

Move Four: Signed Russ Ortiz - With Hampton, he formed the "Let's Hope the Old Pitchers Can Revive With Us...Oh, Wait, HGH and Steroids are Banned...We're Screwed" duo. It's not the catchiest of names, but it is effective.

Move Five: Re-signed Doug Brocail - Doug was a pleasant surprise in 2008, but injuries derailed him last season. Who'd have predicted that the 42-year old reliever would have injury trouble? They're usually so reliable...Considering Brocail had injury trouble two years before, the Astros did well by stocking up on relievers with minor league deals, just in case. Was it 2.75 million well spent? Probably not.

Move Six: Re-signed LaTroy Hawkins - As I mentioned in my reliever rundown, Hawkins proved to be a reliable reliever for a second straight year. Whether this was due to the league he was in or to some sort of mechanical adjustment, the Astros have more than reaped the reward for a 3.5 million dollar contract.

Move Seven: Claimed Jeff Fulchino - Waiver claims like this show just good your advance scouts and major league scouts have to be. Fulchino provided a nice addition to the bullpen when Backe and Brocail both got hurt. Plus, Fulchino came much, much cheaper than either Hawkins, Valverde or Brocail. Oh, by the way, according to FanGraphs, he was also worth 3.4 million, which is more than all three of those relievers combined.

Move Eight: Signed Aaron Boone - I won't be glib here, since Boone had to go through too much this season. I respect the hell out of him for coming back and playing late in the season, but the Astros had to have wanted more out of him on the left side of the infield than they got. Still, here's hoping Boone continues to be in good health and can be a productive player, if he so chooses.

Midseason moves

Move Nine: Claimed Chris Coste - The former Phillie probably wishes he were in the World Series right now instead of the unemployment line. He should have been a lefty specialist off the bench, but hit worse against lefties than righties. Coste also didn't provide the pop the Astros needed when Berkman went down with an injury. Would they have been better served calling up Mark Saccomanno?

Move Ten: Traded away Ivan Rodriguez for Jose Vallejo and Matt Nevarez - This trade would have looked even better if the Rangers had made the playoffs and had to throw in another player. Still, the Astros basically paid 1.5 million for these two prospects. Not too shabby...

Move Eleven: Traded Drew Sutton for Jeff Keppinger - Boone's heart condition probably necessitated this trade to shore up the left side of the infield. As one of the commenters pointed out in the Mackanin post last week, Keppinger was only played at short after Mackanin put him there. Kepp did an okay job filling in for both Tejada and Blum. This trade happened before Chris Johnson broke his hand, but was certainly fortuitous. The Astros really didn't have anyone who could fill in for Blum on a regular basis.

Move Twelve: Claimed German Duran - This was a move for next season. We'll have to wait to see if Duran can contribute before passing judgement on it.

Overall, it was a mixed bag for GM Ed Wade. He made all the moves he could with no budget, tinkering around the margins and getting somewhat solid players. In both trades, it appears he got value, as Kepp is a good bench player and Drew Sutton didn't make much of an impact in Cincy, getting 66 big-league at-bats with an OPS+ of 68.

The Pudge signing was mandated by Drayton (I think), but give Wade credit for standing up to his owner enough to flip Rodriguez for some value. As disappointing as 2009 was in so many ways, Wade hasn't been among them. He's proven he can let Bobby Heck work his magic in the draft and can make those little moves that Gerry Hunsicker used to make so well.

Overall grade: B

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:22:47 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Jarrod Washburn: 2010 Brewer?

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Some things to read while testing the healing powers of bacon.

Jon Heyman is the latest to bring up the possibility that Jarrod Washburn could become a 2010 Brewer (as noted in Rumorville). Al says "he's been solid for far too many seasons to pretend he's not a good pitcher." With that said, he's also 35 years old and coming off surgery.

I'm having a hard time getting off the fence on this possibility. Obviously, Washburn's age and injury status would create the possibility that signing him could turn into a major mistake. With that said, his ERA in Seattle was never over 4.69, and when you adjust that for the NL he could very well be expected to post something in the 4.20-4.40 range next season. Giving him anything more than a two year deal would be a mistake, but to me he's worth considering in the short term.

Meanwhile, Jorge Says No! is still listing the Brewers as one of six teams that could trade for Gary Matthews Jr., but only if the Angels eat most of his salary. Every GM starts the offseason looking for players who are cheap and good: Trading for GMJ with the intent of playing him in center field would mean sacrificing the "good" part to get the "cheap."

Here's an unsubstantiated possibility I'll throw out there: The Mets are reportedly looking for a right-handed platoon partner for Daniel Murphy at first base next season. At first glance, Casey McGehee would make sense, as his versatility would allow him to fill in at other positions when he's not starting at first. Just a thought.

And while I'm out here on the rampant speculation train, View From Bernie's Chalet has a look at one potential Opening Day lineup for the 2011 Brewers. He presents a pretty encouraging possibility: A productive Brewer lineup with all eight position players under 30.

Earlier this week, the Milwaukee chapter of the BBWAA announced their postseason awards, but it's possible they didn't tell the whole story. Miller Park Drunk has the full list of awards presented.

By the way, to answer MPD's question: No, the Milwaukee BBWAA chapter isn't just the three writers from the Journal Sentinel. Six ballots were cast when voting on the awards: One of them was likely AP reporter Colin Fly, and I'm pretty sure the Madison Capital-Times and Racine Journal-Times also have active BBWAA members.

In the minors:

Bernie's Crew has short videos of the deliveries of three of the Brewers' top pitching prospects: Cody Scarpetta, Jake Odorizzi and Wily Peralta, if you haven't seen them before.
Baseball Intellect, at least partially spurred by this Battlekow interview, discusses Evan Anundsen's drop in velocity and the possibility that his high pitch counts in high school are to blame.
Baseball America has a report card for the Brewers' 2009 Draft. It's behind their pay wall, but Rattler Radio has several of the salient points.

Around baseball:

Astros: Outrighted catcher Chris Coste to AAA. Coste will be a minor league free agent.
Braves: Are expected to sign Tim Hudson to a three year contract extension worth $27 million.
Dodgers: Manny Ramirez exercised his $20 million player option to remain with the team next season.
Rays: Outrighted first baseman Chris Richard to AAA, making him a minor league free agent.
Rockies: Reliever Joel Peralta rejected an outright assignment to the minor leagues and will become a free agent.

Yesterday, Roguejim noted MLB Trade Rumors' Bad Contract Swap Meet. That's a good idea, but this one would be better TV: Dave Cameron of FanGraphs proposes the Bad Contract White Elephant. Clearly it's intended to be tongue in cheek, but I'd watch it.

Earlier this week, BCB endorsed the Phillies in the World Series, and we're off to a pretty good start. It appears not everyone got the memo, though: Ryan Grant is rooting for the Yankees.

I don't buy a lot of baseball books, but I gladly shell out the money for John Sickels' Baseball Prospect Book every year. It's easily my top resource for scouting reports on over a thousand prospects and it's great to have on hand when attending spring training or minor league games. I've probably consulted it 30-40 times in my work here during the 2009 season. Sickels is currently accepting pre-orders for the 2010 book, which help pay for its publication. If you're a minor league buff or just want to be one step closer to knowing what you're talking about when discussing prospects, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy.

Speaking of the minors, the Reds' decision to move spring training from Sarasota to Goodyear, Arizona has sent a ripple into the minor leagues: The Reds, who also own their Florida State League affiliate in Sarasota, are selling it to the Pirates, who intend to move it to their spring training facility in Bradenton. So, in one year's time the city of Sarasota may lose both their spring training presence and their FSL team.

On this day in 2002, Ned Yost was hired to manage the Brewers, and Ken Macha was named manager of the A's. We'll have more on Brewer managers later today.

Happy birthday to Dana Eveland, who pitched in 36 games as a Brewer in 2005 and 2006 and turns 26, knuckleballer and 2007 Nashville Sound R.A. Dickey,, who turns 35, and Narciso Elvira, who appeared in four games for the 1990 Brewers and turns 42.

Oh, and if you're feeling nostalgic, this description of Gabe Kapler's play should bring back some memories.

Drink up.

Roster Breakdown: The Infield

davoag — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:40:35 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

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This process took a little longer than I expected. In part two of my review of the roster, I looked at every infielders' (including catchers) statistics and make some notes about last season and their future. Not necessarily scientific, but there is some interesting information in here. Friday should see part three, a look at the outfield. Till then, let's see what happened with the first half of the roster...

Lance Berkman, 1B

2009 Season Stats: 562 PA, .274/.399/.509, 31 doubles, 1 triple, 25 HR, 73 runs, 80 RBIs, 7 of 11 stolen bases, 98 strikeouts, 140 OPS+

WAR: 3.0

UZR: -4.5

VORP: 34.9

Notes: Two points to consider about Berkman's season. First, his April and August splits were horrible. His slow start and power vacuum in August led to the perception that his season was a disappointment. Still, though he managed just 12 hits in April, he also walked 17 times and hit five home runs. In August, he hit zero home runs but had an OBP over .400. This also leads into the second point: Berkman is aging, but his power drop over the past three seasons is in part due to an overall power outage in the National League. The Big Puma saw his home run total fall 26 percent over the past three seasons while his extra-base hits have fallen 5 percent. That's almost exactly the same percentage that the NL extra-base hit total dropped over the same time period (5.6%). The NL home run total dropped 8.2 percent, but I'm guessing Berkman's drop in homers is beginning to be due to age. Still, if he hits 30 home runs in the next year or two with 50+ XBH, I'm guessing the Astros will be happy.

Kazuo Matsui, 2B

2009 Season Stats: 533 PA, .250/.302/.357, 20 doubles, 2 triples, 9 HR, 56 runs, 46 RBIs, 19 of 22 stolen bases, 85 strikeouts, 75 OPS+

WAR: 0.5

UZR: -1.0

VORP: 0.4

Notes: I'll be up front: I don't care for Matsui. He's overpaid, he's injured too often and he doesn't get on base enough to bat high in the order. That's just my personal preference, but I wanted to get that out in the open in the interests of being objective. Matsui's line is down quite a bit from 2008 but combine the past two seasons and its almost exactly in line with his career line of .271/.325/.387. His Runs Created totals of 64 in 2007, 61 in 2008 and 56 in 2009 have been very consistent, but his BABiP was 40 points lower in 2009 at .285 than the previous season. Add to that a good stolen base rate of 85% over his career and Matsui does have his uses. The problem is, he's a No. 7 hitter, not a leadoff guy. Matsui's numbers should bounce back some in 2010, but don't bet on another .350 OBP.

Miguel Tejada, SS

2009 Season Stats: 673 PA, .313/.340/.455, 46 doubles, 1 triple, 14 HR, 83 runs, 86 RBIs, 5 of 7 stolen bases, 48 strikeouts, 110 OPS+

WAR: 2.6

UZR: -8.3

VORP: 43.7

Notes: Tejada had the highest VORP of any player on the Astros roster last season, for good reason. Though his OBP wasn't terribly high, he did hit a ton of doubles and actually had more extra-base hits than Berkman. In fact, Tejada led the National League in doubles in 2009. Tejada also struck out just 48 times, which was his lowest total since his 104 plate appearances in 1997. Of course, the flip side of that is it was also his lowest walk total since 1997, too. Tejada's high batting average was due in part because he had his highest BABiP since 2006, 20 points higher than his career BABiP of .298. Tejada once again led the National League in grounding into double plays and put up his highest season totals since 2006 in plate appearances, RBIs, hits and sacrifice flies. I'm not sure if this was the most successful contract push for a 35-year old in the post-steroids era, but it's got to be up there on the list, right?

Geoff Blum, 3B/Util

2009 Season Stats: 427 PA, .247/.314/.367, 14 doubles, 1 triple, 10 HR, 34 runs, 49 RBIs, 0 for 1 stolen bases, 61 strikeouts, 81 OPS+

WAR: 0.6

UZR: 0.3

VORP: -0.5

Notes: Blum was the only regular Astros infielder (besides the catchers) who posted a negative VORP. His crazy hair styles and home runs off the bench were fun and zany in 2004 when the Astros were making their run to the postseason. Now? Blum's a steady defender but doesn't have great range and is aging quickly. His OPS+ of 81 is not good for any position, much less a corner infield spot. Surprisingly, Blum's numbers last season were right in line with his career line of .250/.310/.367, but moving into his age 37 season, he's probably not going to equal those numbers in 2010. Blum started 94 games at third and seven at first, but is probably better suited as being the Astros number one pinch hitter next year.

Ivan Rodriguez, C

2009 Season Stats: 344 PA, .251/.280/.382, 15 doubles, 2 triples, 8 HR, 41 runs, 34 RBIs, 0 for 2 stolen bases, 74 strikeouts, 75 OPS+

WAR:0.7

VORP: -1.1

Notes: Ahh, Pudge. Has there been a more controversial free agent signing by the Astros in recent memory? Can someone split a room between stat guys and traditional scouting guys more than Pudge? The 37-year old couldn't walk if he were given two balls at the beginning of every at-bat. He would sometimes throw out baserunners, but was never talked about as a good handler of the pitching staff. Where do we go from there? Pudge started out strong for the Astros but faded late, and did the same thing after being traded to the Rangers. Starting him and Matsui together proved dangerous for the Astros offense, as they both posted sub-80 OPS+. When 1/4 of the starting lineup can't get on base or hit for power, something's not right.

Humberto Quintero, C

2009 Season Stats: 168 PA, .236/.286/.376, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 HR, 11 runs, 14 RBIs, 0 of 0 stolen bases, 41 strikeouts, 75 OPS+

WAR: 0.5

VORP: -0.4

Notes: Q suffered through a bad concussion this season, but still managed to get into 60 games this season. He started some after Pudge was traded away, but didn't impress offensively. In fact, he's never hit much in the majors, with a career line of .232/.275/.325. Quintero has a strong arm and handles the pitching staff well, but will be 30 next season in his last non-arbitration year. He makes sense as a backup to someone like Towles or Jason Castro, but putting him in the starting lineup is a stretch.

J.R. Towles, C

2009 Season Stats (Houston): 53 PA, .188/.250/.354, 2 doubles, 0 triples, 2 HR, 7 runs, 3 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 16 strikeouts, 59 OPS+

WAR: 0.0

VORP: -1.7

Notes: What to do with Towles? The 25-year old couldn't stay healthy at Round Rock this season, getting only 56 games with the Express. When he did play, Towles hit the ball well and got on base at a good clip, sporting an OPS of .842 in Triple-A. That didn't translate to the pros in either of his two stints with the team, but it should. All Towles needs is a little time and opportunity.

Jeff Keppinger, Util

2009 Season Stats: 344 PA, .256/.320/.387, 13 doubles, 3 triples, 7 HR, 35 runs, 29 RBIs, 0 for 2 stolen bases, 33 strikeouts, 88 OPS+

WAR: 0.4

UZR: 5.7

VORP: 2.8

Notes: Keppinger was a late-spring addition, something former GM Gerry Hunsicker made into somewhat of an art form. Unfortunately, Keppinger didn't work out quite as well as guys like Mike Lamb and Billy Spiers did. That's not to say Keppinger was bad, as his batting was okay for a shortstop. Again, unfortunately, Keppinger played 59 games at third base. His range and glove made him an asset defensively there, but his bat is not good enough to hold up there for long periods of time. Still, Keppinger is a useful player who makes more sense on the bench than most of the Astros' reserves.

Darin Erstad, 1B

2009 Season Stats: 150 PA, .194/.268/.328, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 2 HR, 13 runs, 11 RBIs, 0 for 2 stolen bases, 31 strikeouts, 58 OPS+

WAR: -0.9

UZR: 7.9

VORP: -8.2

Notes: Erstad was a surpringly resurgent part of the 2008 team. Of course, in that campaign, Erstad played 40 games in center field. This season? Just one appearance in center field. Erstad could be a useful player, but he doesn't have the bat to be a first baseman, even as a backup, and doesn't have the arm to play in right field. That leaves him as the caddy for Carlos Lee. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the next manager should not view Erstad as the first bat off the bench to pinch hit.

Edwin Maysonet, 2B

2009 Season Stats: 79 PA, .290/.333/.362, 2 doubles, 0 triples, 1 HR, 9 runs, 7 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 19 strikeouts, 86 OPS+

WAR: 0.3

UZR: 8.3

VORP: 1.1

Notes: Maysonet wasn't one of the best prospects in the Astros system, but made the best debut of any Astros rookie position player in 2009. His average was high, but his OBP was not impressive. Add to that his complete lack of power and it's not like we have the next Chase Utley here. Still, Maysonet probably deserved more playing time than he got. He'd been known in the minors as a great defensive player and flashed good range in his time with the big league club. The only downside is his minor league track batting record was not very good. Maysonet had a decent season in 2008 at Corpus Christi, but was pretty terrible at Round Rock last season. That could be him reacting to shuttling back and forth from Triple-A to the majors. That could be because he's not ready to hit high-level pitching. Only time will tell.

Tommy Manzella, SS

2009 Season Stats: 5 PA, .200/.200/.200, 0 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 0 runs, 0 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 4 strikeouts, 7 OPS+

WAR: 0.0

UZR: -11.6

VORP: -0.5

Notes: The Great Shortstop Hope will be 27 next season and hasn't made a dent in the big leagues yet. There were a couple stories in September about how Manzella was learning from Tejada and soaking it all in, but he still needs to play. Manzella was a very consistent hitter for Round Rock in 2009, batting .289/.339/.417 in 133 games. The one good thing? Manzella is a horse, playing 521 games over the past five seasons in the minors. His defense is good, but it's hard to quantify how good it will be in the majors. In all likelihood, Manzella will be given every chance to be the everyday shortstop next season.

Chris Johnson, 3B

2009 Season Stats: 23 PA, .091/.130/.091, 0 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 1 run, 1 RBI, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 6 strikeouts, -39 OPS+

WAR:-0.4

UZR: -34.9

VORP: -4.2

Notes: Johnson is one of the few Astros prospects I'm not that high on. He gets a lot of credit for being a power hitter, but only hit 13 home runs last season and averaged 10 homers per year in his minor league career. His defense at third is just passable, but probably could be as good as Blum, given time. The question is: is this Astros team ready to take a chance on a young player going through growing pains at the big league level? It's going to take an adjustment for Johnson to be a productive big league hitter, and I'm not sure the Astros can be patient enough for that to happen.

Chris Coste, Util

2009 Season Stats: 112 PA, .204/.259/.252, 5 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 3 runs, 10 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 28 strikeouts, 37 OPS+

WAR: -0.5

UZR: -10.9

VORP: -8.1

Notes: After being picked up off waivers on July 10, Coste started a bunch of games when Lance Berkman was injured and then Ivan Rodriguez was traded to the Rangers. The problem is Coste just wasn't that good, either offensively or defensively. Coste didn't hit for much power in his brief stint with the team, but did manage to strike out a ton. So he's got that going for him, which is nice. Seriously, though, by whichever metric you look at, Coste is the prototypical replacement-level player. He's only on the roster because there aren't better options. Hopefully that will change in the off-season.

Matt Kata, Util

2009 Season Stats: 52 PA, .200/.212/.220, 1 double, 0 triple, 0 HR, 2 runs, 5 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 5 strikeouts, 16 OPS+

WAR: -0.1

UZR: 8.7

VORP: -4.8

Notes: Kata was more useful for his versatility off the bench than his play. As I mentioned at the top, I don't account much for UZR as the ONLY defensive metric to analyze things, especially when we have to extrapolate it out based on small sample sizes. Still, it appears Kata was at least a decent defensive asset on the bench this season. He's now a free agent.

Jason Smith, Util

2009 Season Stats: 27 PA, .000/.000/.000, 0 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 1 run, 1 RBI, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 9 strikeouts, -100 OPS+

WAR: -0.6

UZR: 21.6

VORP: -7.4

Notes: Smith didn't get much of a chance to show anything at the big league level. What he did show wasn't good. Smith did better with Round Rock, but is probably best suited as a utility guy on the end of a bench. Smith is a free agent and probably won't be back with Round Rock.

Aaron Boone, 3B

2009 Season Stats: 14 PA, .000/.071/.000, 0 doubles, 0 triples, 0 HR, 0 runs, 0 RBIs, 0 for 0 stolen bases, 2 strikeouts, -79 OPS+

WAR: -0.3

UZR: 15.9

VORP: -3.4

Notes: Not much to say here, other than for a guy to go through what Boone did in spring training and still get 14 plate appearances in the same season...well, that's just impressive.

Thursday Morning Astros, etc Round Up

HighLeveragePerformer — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:00:12 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

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Mike Hamtpon has a tear in his rotator cuff. The guy is resilient to say nothing else, as he has

...opted for rehab instead of surgery with hopes of returning this season.

A signficant tear to me means that he can rehab all he wants, but with a little over five weeks remaining on the season, it'd be difficult to imagine Hampton returning. Danyah, if you have any insight into the injury, we'd be happy to hear it! DQ pegged Hampy at 110 IP in 2009. Right on the head, good sir. It looks like Felipe Paulino/Yorman Bazardo are going to get their shot, albeit on less than desireable terms. So it goes with veteran pitchers with a history of injury...

Good 'ol Dickie J plays the blame game in his recent blog post. After writing some rosy posts the past few weeks, Richard spares no punches in casting his net of blame across all of Astro-Land. Can't say I blame him, but his bi-polar attitude towards the team continues to puzzle me to no end.

Baseball America gives a pretty evenhanded synopsis of the Ivan Rodriguez trade. Their quick take on the deal from the Astros' perpsective:

As Houston fell 10 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central, the Rodriguez deal indicated that the Astros might be looking toward next season. Without Rodriguez, Chris Coste and Humberto Quintero will split time behind the dish. For giving up Rodriguez, Houston received at least two mid-level prospects and helped pave the way for catcher Jason Castro, the team's 2008 first-round pick.

Their take on Matt Nevarez:

With 90-95 mph velocity and a hard slider, Nevarez's game is geared toward power. His physicality helps his stuff play up in the bullpen, and he could move quickly in that role if he tightens his control. Nevarez had walked 15 batters—or 3.9 per nine innings—this season in the Rangers system.

FanGraphs, as well sees this as a positive move for a beleaguered Astros' club:

Neither player is going to turn around the Astros, but credit Ed Wade for getting something out of nothing.

Our last bit of quoteage comes from none other than Jeff Francouer, who described a four base hit thusly:

That was a lot of fun, Jeff Francoeur said. You just keep pounding balls into the gap. The one thing you don't want to do is hit a home run. That's a rally-killer.

Hat tip to Driveline Mechanics for that one. The former writers at FJM are smiling somewhere.

***DQ Insert***

Here's a link (click link to listen) to the ESPN 97.5 The Ticket interview I fielded yesterday. Remember that we do these every Sunday morning at 9:45 AM (CDT).

Rangers acquiring Pudge from the Astros: Why?

DyingQuail — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:39:41 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Pudge is allegedly going back home to Dallas.

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Reports are varying on this one. LoneStartBall has the deal as all but complete and TR Sullivan has it as near complete. There will apparently be two mid-tier prospects swapped for Ivan Rodriguez, who will serve as Taylor Teagarden's back up.

I'm not sure why this deal is being made from the Ranger's perspective, and equally confused by this deal from our perspective. Pudge isn't hitting, but with the rumors swirling that he might be kept on in 2010 to help mentor Jason Castro, I don't know why the Astroswould let him go. Because Pudge isn't hitting, I don't know why the Rangers wanted to acquire him for the last six weeks of the season?

Perhaps once the prospects are named and the GM's speak this one will make more sense.

This now opens up the question of whether or not JR Towles will get another crack at the bigs? Or whether Humberto Quintero and Chris Coste will be share catching duties until the season's end?

**UPDATE**

MLBFanHouse is reporting, via twitter, that one of the PTBNL is relief pitcher Matt Nevarez.

**UPDATE**

Jeff Wilson of the Dallas Morning News has the contract information:

The Rangers are responsible for a prorated portion of the contract, which includes $1.5 million in incentives.

***HLP Update***

Jamey Newberg, blogger extraordinnaire and Ranger aficionado, recently ranked the top Rangers prospects and as expected Matt Nevarez isn't in the top 20. However, he is listed as a "pitcher to watch". Given the strength of the Rangers' farm system this isn't necessarily an indictment of Nevarez, but more of a testament to the Rangers' depth.

Here are Nevarez' stats from 2009. Obviously, he has pitched extremely well, but he has a long ways to go before he will be on the Astros' radar screen.

As far as the PTBNL could be, Newberg speclulates that it could be any of a number of minor league players on the Rangers 40 man roster or a minor leaguer that the Astros would have a set time period from which to choose from. If it is a player on the 40 man roster, expect it to be one these guys:

[C]andidates for the second player would conceivably include Thomas Diamond, Luis Mendoza, Joaquin Arias, Jose Vallejo, or Greg Golson. I leave players like Guillermo Moscoso, Warner Madrigal, Omar Poveda, Max Ramirez, and Brandon Boggs off because I don’t think Texas would include them in a deal like this.

Their 40 man roster in its entirety can be found here. None of those players Newberg lists as likely candidates are all that enticing in my opinion, so hopefully Wade can choose from more than just those five. However, considering that he's only giving up a 37 year old backup catcher whose mired in 1.5 season+ hitting slump, don't get overly optimistic on that front.

**UPDATE**

Richard Justice likes this trade because and thinks the Astros should continue to blow up their roster so that we can give younger players looks. There's overly insightful in his piece, except for this:

My guess is that Drayton will fire Cecil Cooper and most of the coaching staff. This is a smart move only if he hires first-rate people to replace them, and his recent history indicates he may not do this.

Bazardo's debut, auspicious: Brewers 12 — Astros 5

DyingQuail — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:31:04 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

I wonder if after 300 times it gets boring?

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On a night that saw Mike Hampton make an early exit from the game and head for an MRI machine, Astros fans got a chance to see Yorman Bazardo's debut in an Astros uniform go...not well. Cecil Cooper's quote pretty much sums it up (and apparently takes the heat off Bazardo, but if I'm Bazardo, I'm not too comforted):

I talked to the young man, Bazardo, about not pitching today and we got into a situation where we needed him. He sucked it up.

The positives from tonight are Ivan Rodriguez, Chris Coste, Jason Michaels, Kaz Matsui, and Carlo Lee, who finally collected career home run number three hundred (congrats big guy), having multi-hit games, and Wesley Wright going three innings and only giving up one run. The picture will fill in the rest of the story that isn't so cheery:

via www.fangraphs.com

Brewers vs Astros coverage ; Brewers vs Astros recap ; Brewers vs Astros boxscore ; Brew Crew Ball

Big Boggs Man

chuckb — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:03:46 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Mitchell Boggs cleverly tries to sneak a look at his crib notes on Astros' hitters between innings. If only he knew that Dave Duncan had a 4000 page book just a few feet away! (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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In many respects, last night’s game was an important one for Mitch Boggs and the Cardinals. Though we’re only going to need a fifth starter 5 or 6 times the rest of the season, the team needs to feel comfortable that they can run someone out there and that that pitcher can keep them in the game while he’s in there. We don’t need our 5th starter to be as good as Carp or Wainwright but we do need him to get 5-6 innings and be able to give the team a chance to win the game. Boggs did that last night despite being somewhat wild. Even Tony had nice things to say about Boggs after the game:

"I thought he was a game-saver," La Russa said. "He didn't cave in at any time. I thought he was outstanding."

The other reason that Boggs’s starts will be important from here on is that this is somewhat of an audition for next year’s rotation as well. If he performs well here, the team ought to feel comfortable w/ him having the leg up on a rotation spot next year. If Boggs is able to handle it, then w/ Carp, Wainwright, and Lohse returning we have just one spot unspoken for. Needless to say, signing 1 free agent starter is much cheaper than signing 2. If Boggs is able to ascend to the 5th starter position for 2010, it allows the team to spend more money to acquire a better starter for the 4th spot rather than paying for 2 lesser starters on the free agent market.

While I won’t be as gushing as Tony in my praise for Boggs, he did a lot of nice things last night. He’s not the most consistent strike thrower on the staff and that was evident last night as well. For the season – as a major leaguer – only 57% of his pitches have been strikes and last night, in 5 innings, 55 of his 99 pitches were strikes. It’s not a horrible percentage, but neither does it provide a lot of optimism that he’s going to be able to get us 6 innings once in a while. He walked 5, though the walks to Chris Coste in the 4th and Hunter Pence in the 5th were unintentional intentional walks that he got away with. For the season, he’s walking 5.27 batters per 9 innings – a fair amount higher than the 3.79 BB/9 he’s averaging at Memphis.

There was a lot of good in his start as well. One of the things that should allow him to be successful in the big leagues is his ability to get ground balls, to which his career 49.5% GB% attests. (I realize that his major league numbers include some fairly small samples but his minor league GB% is 48.5%.) Last night, 7 of the 16 balls put in play against Boggs were ground balls (43.8%) and he was able to get out of 2 predicaments by getting double plays. He also struck out 5 batters in 5 innings and, for the season, has recorded 8.23 K/9. That’s higher than his minor league numbers but, importantly, it’s also higher than his K/9 last year at the major league level when he appeared to be severely overmatched. That seems no longer true.

Thursday, I made note of Boggs’s ability to get batters to swing and miss noting that his 19% swing and miss rate was tied for the highest on the roster. And while that, too, was a fairly small sample, he had faced more batters on the season than had many of our relievers. Last night he was able to get batters to swing and miss 10 times in 5 innings (18% of total strikes). Getting the ball past the batter is a key indicator of a pitcher’s ability to stick at the major league level so we have to be happy w/ 10 swing-and-misses. Wellemeyer has only had 4 starts out of 20 where he’s recorded as many as 10 swing-and-misses in 2009. Boggs has already done it 3 times out of 5 starts in ’09.

He had very good stuff, too, according to brooks baseball . His 4-seamer averaged 94.62 mph and he topped out at 97.1. His 2-seamer averaged 93.41 mph and topped out at 94.9. Those 2 pitches accounted for 52 of the 91 pitches the pitch f/x site was able to record. 31 of those 52 fastballs were thrown for strikes (59.6%). According to the site, he only threw 5 changeups and 3 curve balls but 6 of those 8 pitches were thrown for strikes, indicating probably that he was able to use them on occasion to keep hitters off balance. The changeup averaged 80.92 mph – more than 13 mph less than his average fastball. The mph difference is indicative of a pretty good changeup.

He also threw a lot of sliders last night – 31 – but was only able to get strikes on them 38.71 % of the time. Still, this was probably a pitch that he wasn’t intending to throw strikes with but, more frequently, was trying to get Astros’ hitters to chase when he was ahead in the count. His slider averaged 84.51 mph.

Boggs, therefore, was able to keep the team close and we were able to pull it out late. The Cards were still behind in the 7th inning when Mark DeRosa’s homer tied the game and then were down again in the bottom of the 8th when Pujols’s HBP, Holliday’s double, and Ankiel’s single allowed the team to win the game. Just as Boggs’s solid start shouldn’t go unnoticed, neither should the team’s 2 comebacks last night. Coming into last night’s game, the team was 7-38 when behind beginning the 7th inning and 3-40 when behind to start the 8th. It wasn’t that long ago when any deficit after the 5th inning seemed like the death knell but the team’s offense is stronger today than it was a month ago, thereby giving Cards’ fans hope if the team is within a run or 2 late in the game.

The best thing, though, about last night’s game is that we won the first game of the series against the dreaded, and always overrated, Astros and that we have Carpenter and Wainwright on the mound for games 2 and 3. Let’s get us some sweep!

Jose Valverde and his red glove don't falter, Astros extend winning streak to four

HighLeveragePerformer — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:23:03 -0000

As Jose Valverde took the mound to begin the ninth inning, the Mets' offense hadn't gone down in order since the fourth. A shaky effort by starter Mike Hampton was followed by Jeff Fulchino, Alberto Arias and LaTroy Hawkins walking the tightrope as well. Luckily for all involved, sixteen Mets were left stranded on base, while just four crossed homeplate. Oh yea- Valverde ceased all the drama, retired the Mets easily, and preserved a 5-4 victory.

Mike Hampton may have struggled at times on the mound, but in the batter's box he more than made up for it. With the score tied at one run apiece in the fourth inning, Hampy stepped to the plate and drove a Johan Santana offering into the Crawford Boxes, pushing the Astros ahead for the first time all game. Jeff Keppinger continued his strong recent play, knocking a two out double immediately before Hampton's long ball.

The lead wouldn't last long, as the Mets stormed back with a two spot of their own in the fifth, keyed by a Jeff Francouer bloop RBI single that fell just in front of a diving Michael Bourn. Chris Coste picked up the two out baton from the newly acquried Met and ran with it, to the tune of a RBI double which scored Hunter Pence and Pudge Rodriguez..

An Omir Santos solo shot in the sixth inning closed the book on Hampton's day. He wasn't great, but he kept the Astros in the game. The bullpen made it interesting; fortunately, between two good defensive plays by Hunter Pence and Carlos Lee, as well as the stellar ninth from Valverde, the Mets were not able to cash in their opportunities. Alls well that ends well.

Lance Berkman lands on the DL; Where do the Astros go from here?

HighLeveragePerformer — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:51:29 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

See ya in a fortnight, Big Puma.

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First of all, thanks to Joe and Timmy for breaking this story.

This is not the kind of news you want to hear heading into another tremendously important week-one that sees the Astros head on a two series road trip against both the Cubs and the Cards.

Richard Justice's take on the situation can be found here.

Of course we're bummed, but this is the hand that fate has dealt us. Where do the Astros go from here?

Edwin Maysonet has been called up to join fellow Round Rock staple Matt Kata on the big league roster. Maysonet did fairly well in his 19 games as an Astro earlier this season, totaling a .315/.356/.763 line in just 54 ABs. He can play all over the infield, and is a plus defender at second at third. He won't come close to replacing Lance Berkman, but nobody can. In terms of wOBA, Lance's fifteen day departure leaves a gaping hole in the infield:

Miguel Tejada, wOBA= .356

Jeff Keppinger, wOBA= .323

Kaz Matsui, wOBA= .289

Geoff Blum, wOBA= .316

Matt Kata, wOBA=.179

Edwin Maysonet, wOBA= .337

Chris Coste, wOBA= .319

Lance Berkman, wOBA= .397

Considering how .340 is roughly average for a major leaguer, this is not a pretty picture. We know that Kepp and Blum get on base at a nice clip, but wOBA tells us that they do so with mostly singles. Kaz is just now creeping out a season long slump, so expect his numbers to rise in the coming weeks. Matt Kata does not need to be on a major league roster, especially one missing their best offensive player. Berkman's replacement, Maysonet, is a league average player right now, but he probably can't sustain that kind of production this season given the amount of at bat's he's almost sure to amass during Berkman's time on the pine.

What could make these next few weeks a bit more bearable? Well for one thing, substituting John Gall or Mark Saccomano for Matt Kata would help. Yes, I realize that Cecil Cooper loves him some Kata because he's got "experience" and "versatility", but he won't be helping at all offensively. As I was reminded, neither Gall nor Saccomano are on the 40 man roster which means they are not eligible to play for the Astros as of now. With the glove, he is adequate at second base. However, the Astros already struggle mightily with hitting for extra bases, and Saccomano and Gall would both offer better options than Kata in that regard. What's more- Maysonet offers a similar skill package as Kata, but is better in most every aspect of the game- getting on base, hitting for power, defene and baserunning. Matt Kata is a superflous player on this roster. Jason Michaels inexplicably takes up a roster spot, and now so does Kata.

I don't want to lay all of the Astros' problems at Matt Kata's feet, but in a time as important as this, he just doesn't stand to help the cause. Perhaps it was fortuitous, a GM's intuition, or both that led Ed Wade to sign Chris Coste. He was a nice story for the Phillies, but now he has to be more than that for the Astros. Expect him to face left handers with regularity, as his career numbers indicate he produces well against them. Jeff Keppinger should remain the designated third basemen when facing lefties, while Geoff Blum can fill in at first sparingly.

Reality has hit Astros' fans square in the face today. If nothing else, these next few weeks are going to be interesting, if not season defining. Mr. Santana will greet them on the other side..