SB Nation - Alberto Arias

Ed Wade gets his relievers, but what did the Astros get?

DyingQuail — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:41:22 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Congrats man, you're average in every way, but you just got paid.

So an hour or so ago I said that I would have to wait until tomorrow to process the day's events, but I lied. A solid hour of tossing and turning while visions of mediocre relief pitchers parading as closers danced in my head lead me back to my laptop. Mediocre relief pitchers parading as closers, that's kind of what we got today. Not so much in Lindstrom, but definitely in Lyon. Now I can't help but think Dave Cameron is being a little hyperbolic in his assessment of Brandon Lyon, but everything he says is correct. Lyon isn't good. Period.

He's average in every respect. Compare him to anyone else already in the Astros bullpen and you'd lose him in the haze of mediocre total-skill sets. Alberto Arias and Chris Sampson have high ground ball percentages. Jeff Fulchino is just a clydesdale that is dependable. Matt Lindstrom has life his is stuff that portends to better things to come. Sammy Gervacio has an awesome delivery that gives him difficult to distinguish stuff. Brandon Lyon literally is average in every respect. Pick a stat or a trait. Look at it. It'll be average.

Lyon will definitely go down as a not good signing. Will it ever be a signing that's cited more than two years after the contract is completed? No. Carlos Lee was a bad signing, so was Barry Zito. Lyon is just a poor signing—for the Astros. If any other team inked Lyon to this deal, it probably wouldn't resonate as much as it does right now. There's the Ed Wade loves relief pitching too much factor. There's the luck inflated ERA factor (thank God they're upgrading defense a SS, we think). And there's the this team doesn't have the payroll flexibility to afford this factor. Those three factors make this signing laughable to outsiders and repugnant to Astros fans.

But I don't think it's bad because of in 2011 and 2012, just 2010. We never had enough money to start with this winter. Ed Wade had just made a pretty savvy little trade with the Florida Marlins to bring in someone who would add depth to a bullpen that didn't need a closer because the Astros won't be good enough to justify needing a true closer, much less over paying for one (which they didn't even end up doing).

Really, he could have just stopped there. I would have continued to actually be content and happy with the state of this team for at least a few hours. And then the malaise of being an Astros fan could have set back in when I realized I was happy not because my team had gotten better, but because my team didn't do anything to make themselves measurably worse off.

But now it appears as though they have.

Can we afford Miguel Tejada back? Nope. Can we—realistically—afford a worthwhile fill in at 3B? Probably not. At this point, offering LaTroy Hawkins arbitration has never looked so good to me.

Now, I'm left wondering the following questions: Why did we have to move so fast to sign a relief pitcher who could be a closer? There were still options out there; we didn't really even need someone else (i.e. another closer-esque reliever is a luxury, not a necessity). Why move so fast on Lyon and offer him everything he wanted? Why not try to whittle him down in price or years (preferably price, but only scantly)? What will Ed Wade use to justify Lyon versus someone with promise and an ability to add worthwhile value to the team...like say Mike Gonzalez?

(Please don't let it be his 2009 ERA, please, please, please, please don't. I won't be able to take it. Something of mine will break after I hurl it against something if I awake to an Ed Wade quote about Lyon's ERA.)

For a brief moment it felt like the Astros had faced the reality of their situation: they have to stop pretending they are contenders. Lindstrom was a savvy trade to provide a cost-controlled insurance for the backend of the bullpen for the next few years. It allowed us wiggle room to try and fill in other gaps that could actually have placed us in the faint pale of the glow of contenders. After that trade I smiled because I was proud of Ed Wade. He'd made a move that was exactly what this team needed.

But now, with Lyon inked for too much, we're hamstrung. It's like Ed Wade is waiving the white flag on finding help at 3B or SP and figured he'd roll the dice on Lyon and see what happened. It's ilke he's forgotten that things like signing Joel Pinero late in the game can make the a huge difference, if you have the money to do it at the time. Or he's forgotten about all the players who signed late in the ball game at just about every position last year, too.

If you haven't picked up on the meme of this post, it's that I can't figure this deal out. It's really not a terrible deal for any team that has payroll flexibility and a total dearth of options for their bull pen. But for the Astros—especially after the Lindstrom trade—Ed Wade dropped the ball in a big way. Yes, Lyon might bounce back to his 2008 control and have his 2009 strand-rate and BABIP, but why gamble one-half to one-third of your budget on it?

To answer this post's title: The Astros got nothing the needed, just something a few in the front office might have wanted. Now they're left wanting things that can't afford. So, I guess they got screwed hamstrung. There's really nothing about Lyon's signing that can bring cause to justify it. There was a lot in the Lindstrom trade, but that's been buried under the mountain of inanity that is three years and fifteen million dollars for Lyon.

Of course, we also have yet to hear the final word on Lyon's deal. So maybe myself, Dave Cameron, and just about every baseball person I follow on Twitter will be eating crow tomorrow...or so I can hope.

Astros Hot Stove Noise 12/09: Hawkins could be a Brewer? Wade talking trade for Lindstrom? and a hefty surprise, too

DyingQuail — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:02:30 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

This is not who you want to trade for to close out baseball games.

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The winter meeting this year have been phenomenal to follow via Twitter. Unfortunately, the tweeting yesterday was primarily about a lot of non-news—save the Yankees/Tigers/Dbacks blockbuster. Today, for Astros fans, things have heated up on the stove.

The first chunk of news this morning is that the Brewers are having "fast-track" talks with LaTroy Hawkins. Per our discussion about the closer situation yesterday, I'm cool with the Brewcrew over paying for Mr. Hawkins' service. The more I've thought all of our options out, the more I've fallen in love with idea of a Alberto Arias / Mike Gonzalez platoon. Whether any of the news about Hawkins and the Brewers actually means the Brewers will ink Hawkins, or if Hawkins has interest, remains to be seen. I just hope this doesn't mean we're raising our bottom line on Hawkins.

The more surprising bit of news from this morning is that the Astros are apparently in extensive talks with the Marlins for Matt Lindstrom. Yes, Matt Lindstrom of the 4.47FIP/4.65xFIP/5.04tRA in 2009. The same Lindstrom of the non-impressive 2009 and not projected to be too much improved in 2010, either (CHONE and Bill James). Say it ain't so Eddy.

There's no word on who would be involved in this deal, but I don't think anyone here would be too pleased. We're not a team in a position to trade for big-league talent, we're a team in a position to either purchase it on the market, or unload a veteran contract for youth. That's it.

Unfortunately, it looks like Eddy is in the works on a trade. Footer tweeted that Wade's had a lot of discussion about a possible trade. Judging by the rumor mill, this trade sounds like it's either Lindstrom, or Rafael Soriano. Of course, the later is just something more speculative by JJO, who I don't even believe is at the winter meetings, but those are the only two trades that have any legitimate basis tagged to the Astros. JJO's reasoning on the trade is basically that one team has too many closers, one team has too few, and that Ed Wade likes Soriano's agent. This doesn't exactly make a ton of sense. That's not exactly why a trade would get done, seemingly—I hope.

The only way I'd like the Soriano deal, is it involved this ridiculously far fetched rumor about Carlos Lee being a trade candidate for the Braves. I would take Soriano for Lee straight up. It would make my entire life 2009-2010 winter.

Since that's not happening, I will continue to cross my fingers all day and wait for the news that the Astros have inked Mike Gonzalez and that LaTroy Hawkins got over paid by the Brewers.

[UPDATE] It's looks like Ed Wade really might being trying to trade for a closer. He indicates in this McTaggart interview that we have pieces that make sense for a trade. Hopefully Bobby Heck chokes him out before he can pick up his cell phone and tell some other GM "deal."

Some thoughts on the Astros' closer situation

DyingQuail — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:59:17 -0000

More photos » by Pablo Martinez Monsivais - AP

I'm going on record as stating I want this man to be the guy we sign as our closer...and then immediately platoon him.

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With yesterday's news that Jose Valerde would be walking away from the Houston Astros—most likely—and the news that LaTroy Hawkins is in Indy this afternoon meeting with the front office, the faint buzz surrounding the Astros is what are they going to do about closing out ballgames in 2010. Now, this would normally be the time I'd bust out a bevy of various projections about each option we have, but there are only two major projection systems that have been released: CHONE and Bill James. That didn't stop me from busting them out, however.

When we get down to brass tacks, what we look for in a closer is someone who will a) create outs and b) minimize the other team's run expectancy. I've tried to capture that in the four options I can see the Astros front office considering as closer-capable. I averaged the two projection systems' projections in an effort to curb overly negative or overly positive trends amidst the skill sets. I know that this isn't the most efficacious methodology, but these are meant to serve more as a launching pad for more nuanced discussion.

Interestingly enough, LaTroy Hawkins, Mike Gonzalez, and Alberto Arias are equally valued by CHONE's projection system (click here and here). The caveat here is that if you rank them by projected value per projected IP, then list goes Arias (44pIP), Gonzalez (51 pIP), and Hawkins (57pIP). Looking at it all, Alberto Arias becomes my favorite. Strong enough strikeout numbers, and control that will likely improve with age, could result in an extreme-ground ball pitcher who still gets the Ks; the walks are troubling, though, but I think the ground balls minimize them.

Clack threw out an idea earlier today that the Astros sign Gonzalez and platoon he and Arias in the 8th and 9th innings based on match-ups. Upon hearing the news I instantly began to wonder whether Ed Wade was savvy enough to pull of this move. It involves spinning the deal in such away that it doesn't scare off Gonzalez, but not bringing him in under so false a pretense that he shuts down mentally once he realizes his plight.

After trying to think of the appropriate spin, I realized it was just time to bust out some numbers and think of it that way. Based on their splits between LHB and RHB, we'd certainly see some upside from Mike Gonzalez, who is dramatically more effective against lefties (as measured by K:BB). Arais, too, would see a bump in his performance, but the swing isn't as dramatic as Gonzalez's.

I'm not as sure of what Gonzalez is seeking on the open market. But as a former Houstonian, you have imagine he'd take a pay cut, and at age 31, two years wouldn't be a bad call at all. That would be two years of maximizing the production of two key assets, and a relatively cheap price (when you average the two salaries).

In truth, I think that the only chance the Astros have over the next few years is going to be through outside of the box thinking and wonky solutions like this one. The good news is that there appears to be evidence that analysis plays some role in the decision making process for us. Which is good news, considering I thought we might have been one of the two teams who have yet employee anyone who specializes in baseball analysis. Then again, looking at this trade, it appears the Dbacks are probably one of those two.

The Astros and Arbitration: The annual non-sensical decision

DyingQuail — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:17:37 -0000

More photos » by Alan Diaz - AP

This man is going to get paid now. It could have been prevented.

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I don't want to come off as too persnickety, I know that Ed Wade took a bold step forward this afternoon when he sent Jose Valverde an arbitration offer. Great, grand, wonderful. But here's the thing, Valverde's not going to accept that offer. I think that's been a foregone conclusion for just about every observer of Valverde's free agency. So yes, I'm happy we'll be netting some kind of first round compensation pick, but I'm not happy that we'll now be forced to either overpay or lose out on LaTroy Hawkins.

Why will we have to do this? Because this is a team without a closer and a GM who loves relief pitching. So either Ed Wade accepts his fate and rolls the dice on in house options. I don't know which it'll be, but I'm not pleased with either end result (unless one of our in house options set's the NL on fire in 2010).

This will be the decision of this year's free agent crop I will not understand. LaTroy Hawkins is a good—not great—late inning relief pitcher who could easily slot into a closer-eque position for this team and provide serviceable work on our mediocre-to-below-mediocre team at a relatively reasonable cost. That is, if other teams don't try and overpay him for the same role or even just as their eighth-inning guy.

Prior to a few hours ago, Hawkins was a questionable free-agent to invest in because of the detrimental Type-A tag hanging off his right arm. All Ed Wade had to do was explain to Drayton McLane is that by not offering Hawkins arbitration, he'd start hearing sizable offers that the Astros, or really any rational actor, likely cannot prudently match. Or that with an arbitration offer the Astros would get one of two results: teams become gun-shy due to the draft picks if Hawkins declines it, or the Astros get Hawkins back for probably no more than $4 million for one year if they go to arbitration.

Who, upon seeing that logic, says no to that?

So either Drayton McLane is wholly illogical, or Ed Wade did not frame this decision very well to his boss. One of the two. But now there's no going back on this one and I think we'll see an interesting race to overpay for guys on the fringe of closer (like Hawkins, Gregg, and Sherril) as the hot stove heats up.

People on the short list of being happy with this news are:

LaTroy Hawkins' agent (bigger cut)
The Boston Red Sox (my pick for who signs Hawkins)
Jeff Fulchino, Chris Sampson, Alberto Arias (all possible closers in waiting)

That's it, no one else makes out well in this transaction (that I can think of in the heat of the moment).

To sum: it's good that we'll get one compensation pick—and that the news wasn't entirely bad because it didn't cause me to throw my laptop at the wall in frustration—but the Astros managed to still botch this royally.

**UPDATE** As I watch the reports roll in and see that pretty much no one is offering arbitration, I feel better—slightly. Then I read Dave Cameron's breakdown of arbitration risk-accessment and I went back to being angry:

If a team is assessing their actual risk as the full potential salary that they would have to pay out if a player accepts, they’ll be overstating their own liability and miscalculating the costs and benefits of an arbitration offer. I would suspect we will see multiple teams do just this tomorrow, leaving value on the table by being overly risk averse. [emphasis added]

Astros Roster Breakdown: The Relievers

davoag — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

Reliever Sammy Gervacio

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Your Tuesday morning special is a look at the 2009 Astros bullpen. First, though, I thought we could consider a question:

Can a minor league reliever be considered a prospect?

Almost all the Astros homegrown bullpen additions this decade have been starters in the minors before making the major leauge club. Guys like Billy Wagner, Brad Lidge and Chris Sampson made a successful transition into relievers, but started almost all of their games on the farm. Lately, though, the Astros have been moving prospects into the bullpen earlier in their minor league career and still giving them a shot to make the club.

As a comparison, only three players in the past 13 years have made their major league debut for the Astros after not starting more than 10 games in the minors. They were:

Wayne Franklin, came over from Dodgers, but was a minor league reliever before being called up in 2000. Franklin started just seven games in the minors before coming up during the first year at Enron, which was a wasteland of relievers. Remember the best pitcher in the 2000 bullpen, Joe Slusarsky? Yeah, it was bad. Franklin was sent back to the minors in 2001 and put into the starting rotation, much like the Astros are talking about doing with Wesley Wright (more on that later).
Brandon Puffer, went through three organizations before being called up in 2002, but only started six games in minors. Puffer doesn't show this as much, because he bounced around so much early in his career. Plus, his funky sidearm delivery was probably not though of as something that would hold up in a starter's role, forcing him into the 'pen.
Alvin Morman was called up in 1996, but only started 19 games in the minors. Even then, he was only used as a starter for part of one season (1994), when he started all 19 games at Double-A Jackson. Morman was a relatively high pick (6th round, 1991), but stayed in the pen for most of his career, as some leftys do.

That all changed this season when Sammy Gervacio made his big league debut. The 24-year old never started a game in the minors before appearing in 29 games this season over two stints in Houston. Another reliever, Chia-Jen Lo, is doing well in the Arizona Fall League after signing out of Taiwan last season. Lo also has been used mainly as a reliever along with a couple other mid-level prospects, like Danny Meszaros. Still, there is not a good history of guys with this profile succeeding. It will be interesting to track whether this is a trend that is changing or if these prospects will flame out once they get to the show. With that, let's get on with a look at the bullpen...

Tim Byrdak, LHP

2009 Season Stats: 1-2, 61 1/3 IP, 3.23 ERA, 76 games, 58 strikeouts, 36 walks, 10 HR, 1.22 WHIP, 129 ERA+

FIP: 5.29

Leverage: 24 High, 13 Medium, 36 Low

BABiP: .188

GB/FB: 0.71

Pitching Runs Created: 30

Notes: For a lefty specialist, Byrdak sure developed into a solid pitcher for the Astros. It really surprised me that he pitched in so many high leverage situations. His peripheral stats are worrying, as he was EXTREMELY lucky to give up so few hits and without a good defense, Byrdak would not have done nearly this well. The two things that jump out (other than his FIP and BABiP) were his homer rate (1.5 HR/9) and his walk rate (5.3 BB/9). Both were right in line with his career numbers, but are not great, especially the walk rate. At the same time, Byrdak has put up three straight seasons with ERAs of 3.00, so he's doing something right. Hopefully, he'll still be effective in 2010.

Chris Sampson, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 4-2, 3 saves, 55 1/3 IP, 5.04 ERA, 49 games, 33 strikeouts, 21 walks, 2 HR, 1.57 WHIP, 82 ERA+

FIP: 3.24

Leverage: 25 high, 10 medium, 14 low

BABiP: .335

GB/FB:1.17

Pitching Runs Created: 15

Notes: Talk about a hard luck season. Sampson suffered muscle spasms in his shoulder and was put on the DL in July. He came back but was ineffective and was finally optioned to Round Rock on August 13. Sampson pitched in some very tough situations and was somewhat unlucky before the injury, but his shoulder may still not be right. His FIP was much lower than his ERA, but his strikeout rate plummeted. Basically, Sampson was very hittable and that needs to change if he's going to be successful in 2010.

LaTroy Hawkins, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 1-4, 11 saves, 63 1/3 IP, 65 games, 2.13 ERA, 45 strikeouts, 16 walks, 7 HR, 1.20 WHIP, 195 ERA+

FIP: 3.92

Leverage: 35 high, 10 medium, 17 low

BABiP: .283

GB/FB: 0.86

Pitching Runs Created: 39

Notes: Hawkins put up great numbers, especially considering he pitched in more high leverage situations this season than any other Astros reliever. He'll be 37 next season in his 16th big league season. Fun fact: Hawkins actually started 129 games in the minors and was used as a starter by Minnesota for three seasons in the majors before beginning his very lucrative career in the bullpen. Hawkins was probably a little lucky this past season and his strikeout rate isn't anything to write home about. Still, with the rest of the bullpen being as solid as it is, I could see Hawkins closing next season and filling in the rest of the 'pen with Arias, Fulchino and Gervacio.

Jeff Fulchino, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 6-4, 82 IP, 61 games, 3.40 ERA, 71 strikeouts, 27 walks, 7 HR, 1.18 WHIP, 122 ERA+

FIP: 3.52

Leverage: 18 high, 14 medium, 28 low

BABiP: .281

GB/FB: 0.93

Pitching Runs Created: 37

Notes: Thank you Kansas City Royals. The Astros plucked Fulchino off waivers last December and were rewarded with a great season out of the bullpen. In face, Fulchino's season almost makes up for how bad the other Royal imports (Jason Smith, Tyler Lumsden) were. While his strikeout rate doesn't strike fear in the hearts of other teams, Fulchino did avoid giving up home runs for the most part. He also wasn't used in a ton of high leverage situations, so his stats were perfect for middle relief.

Jose Valverde, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 4-2, 25 saves, 54 IP, 52 games, 2.33 ERA, 56 strikeouts, 21 walks, 5 HR, 1.13 WHIP, 178 ERA+

FIP: 3.50

Leverage: 26 high, 13 medium, 10 low

BABiP: .261

GB/FB: 0.66

Pitching Runs Created: 34

Notes: Valverde was exactly what the Astros needed. He brought a swagger to the mound that this team lacked. Injuries robbed him of time this season and the fact that the Astros weren't very good down the stretch held his save total down. You can't ask for much more out of a closer, though, as he managed to strike out one an inning and his home run rate was the lowest since 2005. He has enough concerning factors to his season that I worry about giving him a long term deal. For one, his strikeout rate was the lowest of his career and his BABiP meant his season was more lucky than you'd like. With a couple more hits landing, his numbers could easily have skewed upwards more. Since he's already suffered through an injury-riddled season, what will happen if the Astros give him a 4-to-5 year deal and he's hurt for half of it?

Alberto Arias, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 2-1, 45 2/3 innings, 3.35 ERA, 42 games, 39 strikeouts, 19 walks, 1 HR, 1.49 WHIP, 124 ERA+

FIP: 3.11

Leverage: 12 high, 8 medium, 22 low

BABiP: .340

GB/FB: 1.68

Pitching Runs Created: 18

Notes: When discussing Ed Wade's best moves, Arias has to be among them. While not a home run-type move, Arias was gotten for nothing and has turned into a very effective reliever. Arias had a higher-than-normal BABiP, meaning he was a little unlucky in posting a higher-than-league average ERA. The only thing that's a little concerning about Arias going forward is his strikeout rate is a bit low. Without missing a few more bats, Arias is going to have a hard time giving up just one home run again next season.

Wesley Wright, LHP

2009 Season Stats: 3-4, 44 2/3 IP, 5.44 ERA, 49 games, 47 strikeouts, 25 walks, 9 HR, 1.75 WHIP, 76 ERA+

FIP: 5.14

Leverage: 7 high, 18 medium, 24 low

BABiP: .358

GB/FB: 0.82

Pitching Runs Created: 14

Notes: The word is the Astros would like to make Wright into a starter. With his age (25) and relative lack of innings to this point, it may take an entire season at Triple-A for Wright to make the transition. Having more left-handed starters, though, can't be a bad thing. Wright has been effective and used in semi-big situations. While Cooper didn't have as much confidence in him as Byrdak (judging by leverage situations), Wright did an adequate job and still strikes out a ton of batters. Even if he loses 2 strikeouts per nine innings off his rate by moving into the starting rotation, he'll still be very effective.

Sammy Gervacio, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 1-1, 21 IP, 2.14 ERA, 29 games, 25 strikeouts, 8 walks, 1 HR, 1.14 WHIP, 194 ERA+

FIP: 2.25

Leverage: 7 high, 7 medium, 15 low

BABiP: .319

GB/FB: 1.24

Pitching Runs Created: 15

Notes: As I mentioned above, Gervacio was one of the few Astros prospects to make the big league without starting a game in the minors. Gervacio was the only Astro with a double-digit K/9 rate, and had a smaller walk rate than in the minors. Still, Gervacio didn't pitch many innings, but showed enough to be a big contributor next season. He was used in a few high leverage situations and didn't embarrass himself. In fact, his usage pattern was somewhat surprising for a rookie. His FIP and BABiP all showed that his performance was not a fluke, though with his innings, the sample size wasn't big enough to draw huge conclusions. I would be happy to use him in the 'pen in 2010, though, instead of a more expensive option (see: Valverde, Jose).

Geoff Geary, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 1-3, 20 IP, 8.10 ERA, 16 games, 12 strikeouts, 10 walks, 4 HR, 2.00 WHIP, 51 ERA+

FIP: 6.05

Leverage: 6 high, 4 medium, 6 low

BABiP:.382

GB/FB: 0.54

Pitching Runs Created: 3

Notes: Geary is a good example of why teams shouldn't spend a ton of money on non-closers. Relievers are so fungible, it's hard to justify spending the money for a multi-year contract when their performance can vary so greatly. Take Geary; in 2008, he was a good addition to the 'pen and one of the better throw-ins to the Brad Lidge trade. In 2009? Geary finished the season in the minors and was granted free agency. The righty never could get locked in this season, even though he was used about the same in leveraged situations. His BABiP was high, which means he was probably unlucky. I could see Geary having a productive year for someone in 2010, though it probably won't be the Astros.

Doug Brocail, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 1-0, 17 2/3 IP, 4.58 ERA, 20 games, 9 strikeouts, 13 walks, 4 HR, 1.95 WHIP, 91 ERA+

FIP: 7.28

Leverage: 4 high, 2 medium, 12 low

BABiP: .298

GB/FB: 0.94

Pitching Runs Created: 6

Notes: It's safe to say the Doug Brocail experiment didn't work out as the Astros had planned. It's not that Brocail did poorly. In fact, you could argue that he was Houston's most effective reliever in 2008. However, his age may have caught up to him this season, as Brocail only played 20 games before suffering an arm injury (?). What's interesting is looking at what leveraged situations Brocail was used in this season. For someone who was so good a season before, Cooper obviously didn't want to use him in pressure situations in 2009, as he was used in twice as many low pressure situations as anything else.

Chad Paronto, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 0-0, 6 2/3 IP, 12.15 ERA, 6 games, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, 4 HR, 2.40 WHIP, 34 ERA+

FIP: 10.50

Leverage: 0 high, 0 medium, 6 low

BABiP: .407

GB/FB: 0.50

Pitching Runs Created: 1

Notes: Paronto has been great for Round Rock the past two seasons, but battled injuries in 2009. He was called up in September and gave up a ton of home runs, but was a tad unlucky. Paronto is exactly the kind of arm the Astros have collected at Triple-A the past few years. He's serviceable but probably only needed in spot duty in the majors, if there is an injury.

Billy Sadler, RHP

2009 Season Stats: 0-0, 1 1/3 IP, 13.50 ERA, 1 game, 2 strikeouts, 1 walk, 0 HR, 2.25 WHIP, 31 ERA+

FIP: 2.40

Leverage: 0 high, 0 medium, 1 low

BABiP: .500

GB/FB: 1.00

Pitching Runs Created: 0

Notes: The only Astros pitcher to not get at least one Pitching Run Created, the story was that Wade promised Sadler he'd be added to the big league team before the end of the season. That's why he got the call-up at the end of September, though Sadler didn't pitch much at all. Fun moments in small sample size: Sadler's FIP was 11 runs lower than his ERA, but only because he struck out two in his 1 1/3 innings. Of course, now Sadler's a free agent and probably won't come back. But we'll always have that 1 1/3 innings.

Roster Breakdown: The Money

davoag — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:12:42 -0000

I mentioned there would be a more in-depth look a the Astros 2009 roster today and this is the first part of that attempt. My plan is to look at three different phases of the roster, starting with the monetary worth of all the players, followed by how the position players performed and then how the pitchers did. Hopefully, by knowing what the Astros were last year, it will help predict what they need to do in 2010 to be successful. Onward and upward after the jump...

Helped by the wonderful people over at FanGraphs, I charted the Astros entire roster on both their value in dollar amounts and their actual salaries, which I got from Cot's Baseball Contracts. I added all of them up to get the team's total value for the season and how much money they actually spent. I should also note before we dive into analysis that I adjusted the pitcher's values for their batting, which I'll talk about more in a minute.

The Astros players performed at a value worth 95.2 million this season, while the payroll came in around 106.2 million. This means the team underperformed the payroll by about 11 million dollars. I was a little surprised at this, as I mentioned yesterday in the Dave Clark story, the Astros outperformed their pythag record by six wins. I thought this might translate into value for the club. It did, but not to the extent I expected.

In fact, if we discounted the pitchers' batting, the team would have outperformed payroll by about 7 million, but some of the pitchers, like Oswalt, Wandy and especially Moehler, all were hugely affected by poor batting. Moehler went from one of the few bargains on the team to being one of the biggest detriments. Oswalt also underperformed his contract by about 3.7 million, though he was one of a handful of Astros to contribute double-figure value.

On the plus side, Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence combined to produce 33.9 million of the Astros overall 95 million value. Both are playing on pre-arbitration contracts, so were the two biggest values on the team. Wandy was also a huge value, adding 11.8 million over his 2.6 million dollar contract, but lost 3.8 million because of his hitting. That seemed a bit high to me, but as I thought about it more, the only way pitchers can't hurt their team batting-wise is to pitch in the American League, and I'm not sure Wandy would have put up the same value if he had pitched in the tougher league.

Who else were values? Jeff Fulchino came in fourth, with a 3.2 million positive difference, while Mike Hampton was fifth at 2.6 million. It also didn't hurt that Hampy added 0.8 million with his bat. Chris Sampson and Alberto Arias were the next two on the list and the last two that topped 2 million in positive difference between their contracts and their worth. Anther surprise for me was Edwin Maysonet outperforming his contract by one million.

The other side of that coin is the guys who underperform, and the worst at that was Carlos Lee. At -7.9 million, he had the biggest negative difference on the team. The only two players coming close to that were Darin Erstad and Jose Valverde, who both clocked in with negative-5 differences. Doug Brocail and Tim Byrdak were the next two on the bottom, followed by Geoff Geary and Roy Oswalt. The reason so many of these guys are relievers is that their salary greatly exceeded their worth. In fact, the only one who added positive value to the team was Valverde at 3 million. Quick shot analysis of this is that relievers really are fungible, so it's silly to pay more than a million dollars for all but the best closers. Otherwise, you're wasting monetary resources on a position you can fill many different ways.

As for Lee, that contract is an absolute albatross. His hitting is great and all, but his defense hurts the club out in left field and he won't always hit like he's doing now. On the current open market, you can definitely find a bargain that can hit 30 homers and bat .280 for left field without spending 10 million per year, much less the 18.5 Lee earned in 2009.

That's all the analysis I'm going to do now, because I'll get into more detailed looks at player performance later, but I've included the data I used for the entire team for you to peruse below. Look for more posts on the managerial hiring process too as we get more information.

	WAR	Salary	Difference
Bourn	18.700	0.435	18.265
Pence	15.200	0.439	14.761
W. Rodriguez	14.400	2.600	11.800
Fulchino	3.600	0.400	3.200
Hampton	4.600	2.000	2.600
Sampson	2.700	0.449	2.251
Arias	2.500	0.402	2.099
Quintero	2.300	0.610	1.690
Rodriguez	3.100	1.500	1.600
Gervacio	1.900	0.400	1.500
Blum	2.600	1.200	1.400
Keppinger	1.700	0.428	1.273
Maysonet	1.400	0.400	1.000
Norris	0.400	0.400	0.000
Sadler	0.000	0.402	-0.402
Towles	0.000	0.402	-0.402
Manzella	-0.200	0.400	-0.600
Kata	-0.300	0.400	-0.700
Berkman	13.600	14.500	-0.900
Tejada	11.800	13.000	-1.200
Paronto	-1.100	0.500	-1.600
Bazardo	-1.200	0.405	-1.605
Ortiz	-1.100	0.750	-1.850
Michaels	-1.200	0.750	-1.950
Boone	-1.200	0.750	-1.950
Lopez	-1.600	0.400	-2.000
Hawkins	1.500	3.500	-2.000
Johnson	-2.000	0.375	-2.375
Moehler	-0.200	2.300	-2.500
Wright	-2.100	0.425	-2.525
Matsui	2.400	5.000	-2.600
Coste	-2.500	0.460	-2.960
Backe	-1.500	1.500	-3.000
Paulino	-2.600	0.405	-3.005
Smith	-2.800	0.500	-3.300
Oswalt	10.300	14.000	-3.700
Geary	-2.000	1.700	-3.700
Byrdak	-3.200	1.000	-4.200
Brocail	-2.200	2.500	-4.700
Valverde	3.000	8.000	-5.000
Erstad	-4.100	1.750	-5.850
Lee	10.600	18.500	-7.900

Wednesday Astros, etc Round Up

HighLeveragePerformer — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:00:29 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

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If anyone has a thing for 67 year old chubby managers of one time NL championship teams, then you're in luck! The Astros' top choice for their managerial position may Jim Fregosi. Richard Justice is confident that Ed Wade, who made decisions in Philly to hire both Terry Francona and Charlie Manuel, will choose the right man to take the helm of the SS Astro.

Lest a pity party inadvertently break out for Cecil Cooper, injury news concerning Roy Oswalt and Alberto Arias should remind us of one reason why Coop was fired. Oswalt will head to Dallas to seek a second opinion from a specialist in bulging disks, while Alberto Arias will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Arias, thankfully, should be ready to pitch in the Dominican Winter League, while Oswalt hopes to avoid surgery at all costs. A quote of Oswalt's I've read before strikes me as sorta scary:

...I don’t want to lose feeling in my leg

Yikes. Why he was asked to continue pitching even after he left a start early in August against Chicago, I do not know. As for Alberto, Coop made mince meat out of him after Chris Sampson was rendered useless after overuse. It's a downright irresponsible legacy he left, these injuries. True, he wasn't given the best starters in baseball, but when in doubt, he would more often than not make the walk from the dugout to the mound to pull a guy, rather than leave him in to take one for the team. I do not know if Alberto Arias' injuries are a direct result of his usage this season, but it certainly could not have helped. He is an ex-starter, and he actually pitched more innings in 2008 than in 2009. Cooper using him too frequently in back to back games is one area that may have hurt Alberto in the long run.

Beyond the Boxscore has a nice article on managerial longevity and similar subjects. Quality stuff as usual.

For those who like to play Monday Morning Quarterback...the Astros (like clack noted last week) could have drafted Derek Jeter in 1992 instead of Phil Nevin. A late 1990s double play combination of Derek Jeter and Craig Biggio probably would have made my 13 year old head explode with excitement, so maybe it's a good thing we used the likes of Ricky Gutierrez and Tim Bogar...

Speaking of Bogar, we've had a few nights to sleep on the firing of Cecil Cooper, and more importantly, to ponder the options to replace Coop. In light of that, after weighing the facts, pros and cons of the names thrown out there, who would you like to be the next manager of the Houston Astros?

Poll

Who should be the next manager of the Astros?

Jim Fregosi

5 votes

Tim Bogar

15 votes

Al Pedrique

4 votes

Jeff Bagwell

17 votes

Manny Acta

32 votes

Craig Biggio

8 votes

Brad Ausmus

39 votes

Bobby Cox

14 votes

Dave Clark

4 votes

Someone Else

33 votes

171 votes | Poll has closed

Can the 2010 Astros be competitive?

DyingQuail — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:00:29 -0000

More photos » by Dave Einsel - AP

My opinion: 2010 hinges on this man's performance.

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I'll admit from the outset that this depressing for me to write for two reasons. One, of course, being that it's depressing that I can't find anything worth writing about the 2009 Astros and two being that I am left wondering how the 2010 Astros can do better than their 2009 version. This ominous thought has been lurking in the back of my mind since I did an interview with Fred Fauor a few weeks ago in which the topic of how the 2010 Astros should assemble themselves left me clawing for any semblance of hope (which is a sports fan's best friend in times like these).

The logical place to start this conversation is payroll. A team can't build something if it can't afford to buy the requisite building materials. Everytime I have tried to account for the dollars and cents of the core of the Astros roster for next year I've totaled $75 to $82 million. This roster includes (with best guess efforts for arbitration bonuses and salary escalation):

Lance Berkman
Carlos Lee
Roy Oswalt
Wandy Rodriguez
Hunter Pence
Michael Bourn
Jeff Keppinger
Kazuo Matsui
Tommy Manzella
Miguel Tejada (anywhere from $6 million to $11 million. The latter would actually be his fair market value at 3B if he replicated 90% of his offensive production from this year, assuming a cost of $4.5 million per WAR)
LaTroy Hawkins (anywhere from $4.5 million to $7 million to be our closer)
Bud Norris
Felipe Paulino
Brian Moehler
Yorman Bazardo
Sammy Gervacio
Alberto Arias
Chris Sampson
Wesley Wright
Tim Byrdak or some a near equivalent LOOGY
Humerto Quintero
Jason Castro
JR Towles or Brian Bogusevic
Rounding out the roster with relief pitchers that will have an average price tag of $1.25 million

This would be a young Astros team compared to their previous few versions, so there is of course the ability to infer hope from it because the projections for many of these players has a wide range of variance. But is that the kind of hope that we as Astros fans—especially most of the regulars here, who all have a far more sharply objective view of baseball—want claim? Can we even claim that as hope? I guess the answers to that are personal and subject to one's own preferences.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for you, the readers, I get to work out my thought process in front of you. For those who just want to move past this discussion, I'll do this after the jump.

If we have learned anything from the 2009 version of the Astros it is this: A seemingly stacked offense is not a good way to build a baseball team. The fact of the matter is, and will continue to be, that the core of our line up has skill set that is high slugging percentage relative to on-base percentage. This, as we now are so painfully aware of, does not an offense make. There's just no consistency in such a skill set and that fact was exacerbated by poor managerial strategy by the man at the helm of the offense, Cecil Cooper.

Even if the Astros front office decides to spare us the indignity of having Cecil Cooper continue to pull all the levers of the 2010 Astros, offense will not be our strong suit. This leaves us to the lesson we all learned in 2005: If you've got pitchers who pitch well, the team will perform well. As of right now, the only starting pitcher I put on the list above who I have confidence in is Wandy Rodriguez. I hope that Roy Oswalt will pitch well on a consistent basis in 2010, but his continued climb into his thirties, combined with his worrisome back issues, don't fill me with the confidence that the Wizard once inspired.

Dratyon McLane has already announced that payroll in 2010 will be lower than payroll in 2009, and has cited attendance this year as the motivation for this reduction. If payroll is scaled down to match in the loss in attendance revenues this year, than would place the Astros at somewhere within a million or two dollars of $90 million. That doesn't leave a lot of dough to fill out the bench and bullpen, while also buying the services of another top-tier pitcher to complement Roy and Wandy.

That leaves the likely candidates as Bud Norris, Feliepe Paulino, Yorman Bazardo, and Brian Moehler. However, it's hard to say that all aren't question marks in my mind. I doubt that our starting rotation will include more than two of the above to start the season, as I am sure there will be some manner of reclamation project scooped up by Ed Wade this winter. I also doubt that this unnamed pitcher will be more than a giant question mark in my mind as well. How can I be so confident that whatever Ed Wade pulls off the scrap heap will be a question mark? Just take a look at the options.

Bud Norris has flashed brilliance this season, but Wandy Rodriguez had a long and torturous journey to consistently being brilliant, so it's hard for me to place too much hope in Bud. Were Bud Norris to speed up his learning curve and provide legitimate number three services, then the Astros would have a strong rotation. Not 2005 strong, but strong enough to inspire confidence, and dare I say it, hope. Were Bazardo, Moehler, Wright (who'll be auditioned as a starter this spring, allegedly), and whoever is Ed Wade's reclamation project, to be relegated to the four and five slots, then they're imperfections and questions marks wouldn't matter as much. 2009 has been dismal mainly because 3/5 of the time there's no reason to expect good things from the guy taking the mound. At times, when injury has felled Wandy and Roy, there's almost no reason to hope for anything other than an offensive explosion to mask the deficiency in pitching.

So I've talked myself to this point: Should Bud Norris be an effective starting pitcher next year, I think that the 2010 Astros can be competitive. Do I have hope? There's a glimmer of it. Am I being unduly pessimistic? I'll leave that for you to decide. Have I missed/glossed over something? Probably. Again, tell me where I went wrong.

Friday Morning Astros, etc Round Up

HighLeveragePerformer — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:00:27 -0000

by David J. Phillip - AP

That oughta lift your spirits, Lance.

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In case y'all haven't noticed, Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt haven't exactly been themselves in 2009. I mean, they haven't been terrible, but each has left a little to be desired. Zach Levine gives us the optimist and pessimist perspective on each in his blog post yesterday. More than their diminished performance this year, I'm worried about their attitudes towards their futures in baseball and the Astros in the immediate future. Maybe it's just that I'm used to Astro players keeping quiet for the most part, but Lance nor Roy have come out sounding excited about playing baseball. It's a grind when you're out of the race, and it's natural to let down when you have "nothing" to play for. Perhaps a free agent signing or strong performance by a youngster (or five) will lift the spirits of our longest tenured Astros?

Our minor league affiliates named their team MVPs, and I can't argue with the selections from AAA, AA or A. Round Rock chose Tommy Manzella, Drew Locke earned the honor in Corpus, and Koby Clemens was rewarded in Lancaster. The Lexington Legends' team MVP is Brian Pelligrini, but it's more than likely that a pitcher (Jordan Lyles) was truly the most valuable member of that squad.

RJ's twitter feed informs us that five Astros have made their major league debut this season: Bud Norris, Wilton Lopez, Sammy Gervacio, Tommy Manzella and Chris Johnson. This type of factoid is common for most teams, but for the Astros it's downright nutty! Taking these five, plus Felipe Paulino, Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Wes Wright, Alberto Arias, and Yorman Bazardo into account, 2010 could be an extremely telling season in terms of whether or not this team is going to be competitive in 2011 and beyond.

The Astros may have lost last night, but Chris Johnson will always look back fondly on the game as the night he notched his first big league hit. Congratulations to Chris. Now Tommy Manzella needs to get his chance to do the same. Perhaps a Miggy at third base, Tommy at shortstop starting lineup is in order?

It's always fun when the big baseball websites take note of the successes of our minor leaguers, and Baseball Prospectus did just that on Wednesday in an article which analyzed the minor league leaders in various categories. Jon Gaston led the minors in HRs, and was given the usual assessment of being fortunate to play in a bandbox, and striking out too much. Koby Clemens apparently led the minor leagues in RBI with 123:

One of the bigger surprises of the year, Clemens hit .345/.419/.636 for the JetHawks, and while the ballpark and the top of the Lancaster lineup did wonders for his RBI total, this is at least some kind of step forward. He'll need to prove it's for real next year at Double-A, and his catching still needs a load of work, as in 66 games behind the plate he was charged with 18 passed balls while throwing out less than 30 percent of opposing basestealers.

Maybe he and Jason Castro can get together, and Koby can pick Jason's brain?

In their first World Cup game, the U.S. team lost to Venezuela in a slugfest, 13-9. Jason Castro managed to go hitless in five at bats, but was probably worn out from crouching so much. He looks swell in his Team USA uniform though:

Team USA faces host nation Germany tomorrow. Other high draft choices from 2008 playing on Team USA include Justin Smoak and Pedro Alvarez.

Remember when Dice K mattered? I barely do. He's coming back for the stretch run though...so take heart, Boston?

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:39:22 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Ryan Braun, Jody Gerut and Frank Catalanotto celebrate after completing a sweep of the Pirates Sunday.

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Some things to read while waiting for a bartender.

The Brewers have a day off today to prepare for what might be their last opportunity to prove themselves relevant in the NL Central in 2009: A nine game stretch against the Cardinals, Giants and Cardinals again. Ken Macha says the Brewers have to be realistic about their position in the standings (which is why he's passing on the opportunity to skip a spot in the rotation this week), but also acknowledges that things could change if the Brewers can get hot this week and next. The Brewers are 23-24 this season against teams they'll see in September.

With roster expansion on the horizon, J.J. Hardy is expected to rejoin the team tomorrow, and we'll see if the issue with him blows over or boils over. Mike Seal, Hardy's agent, obviously appears to disagree with the decision to demote Hardy, but also called it "a shrewd move" by the Crew to send Hardy down and delay his free agency. J.J. Hardy's Nashville bio picture says a lot about his thoughts on the situation.

As you may have noticed, Hardy is swinging and missing a lot this season. In fact, he's also consistently failing to make weak contact: Plunk Everyone noticed that Hardy has the eighth lowest foul ball percentage in baseball. Jody Gerut, by the way, was tenth.

The Brewers are only expected to call a handful of players up from AAA, and they're expected to stagger the callups over the next few days. With that said, the Brewers also have three players getting ready to return from injury, as Corey Hart is getting ready to go out on a rehab assignment and Seth McClung and Jesus Colome both threw off a mound this weekend. If the Brewers call up six players from the minors and these three all return, they'll have 34 players on the active roster.

The Cardinals have opened up a ten game lead on the Cubs, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where they don't win the NL Central at this point. Murray Chass has a look at what happened to what was one of baseball's closest divisions a few months ago.

This race might be closer: With one month left to play, the Brewers rank 24th in wins in the 2000's. They're four games behind the Reds for 23rd, and 13 games ahead of the 25th place Tigers.

As hopes of contending in 2009 drift away, Doug Melvin is continuing to take a fair amount of heat for not assembling his roster differently, fair or unfair. Melvin responded to critics over the weekend, asking what they would have done differently. He's right, to a point: There weren't really any quick fixes available to the Brewers this offseason that would have dramatically improved this team. With that said, as many commenters have previously noted, Melvin was also responsible for the drafting and developmental strategies that left the Brewers with this hole in the first place.

Felipe Lopez had a rough weekend at the plate (2-for-17) but is continuing to try to play through a sore tendon in his foot. The most recent Elias rankings are out, and they have Lopez as a Type A free agent for the first time. If Lopez continues to struggle and the Brewers aren't careful with him, they could cost themselves a compensation pick next year by allowing him to play his way back down to Type B status.

The Brewers got a pretty good outing out of Jeff Suppan yesterday, as he gave up just one earned run in six innings and lowered his 2009 ERA to 5.20. In a world where we make near daily jokes about Sidney Ponson and Livan Hernandez, mgl wonders if Jeff Suppan is the worst veteran pitcher you never hear about. Meanwhile, Rob Iracane of Walkoff Walk says the Pirates, who couldn't beat Jeff Suppan, Manny Parra or Braden Looper over the weekend, will win the NL Central in 2011.

How much impact will Chris Bosio have on the Brewer pitching staff? Casa de Machado was at Thursday's game and saw Bosio doing some things with pitchers he never saw Billy Castro doing. The results haven't necessarily shown up yet, but that doesn't mean they won't.

Coaches are also working with Manny Parra to develop a cut fastball. As TheJay noted in this Fanshot, that's a bit of a philosophical switch from the past coaching direction.

In the minors:

Chris Capuano is taking one small step back up the ladder to the major leagues. Now that the season has concluded for the Arizona League Brewers, Capuano is moving up to Helena to get a few more innings in before the minor league season concludes.
Several Brewer farmhands are getting ready for the Arizona Fall League. Prospects Paradise has an AFL preview, and lists Zach Braddock, Lorenzo Cain and Jonathan Lucroy among the top prospects on the Peoria Javelinas.

I mentioned The Book Blog's Fan Scouting Report once before as an opportunity for you to weigh in on the defensive abilities of individual Brewers. I'll mention it again, because so far only 35 Brewer fans have added their opinions. Take a moment to do so today, if you're so inclined.

On Power Rankings, playoff odds and miscellany:

Baseball Digest Daily ranked the Brewers #17 in their ASTRO Rankings.
CoolStandings has the Brewers' playoff chances holding steady at .3%.
Justin Inaz of Beyond the Box Score ranked Jason Kendall as the 22nd best catcher of all time.

Last week I mentioned Trent Durrington's 34th birthday, but forgot to acknowledge that he was the last Brewer position player to pitch in a game, back in 2004. Recondite Baseball has updated the full list of the last position players to pitch for each team.

Around Baseball:

Angels: Acquired Scott Kazmir from the Rays for two minor leaguers and a PTBNL that could be Brandon Wood.
Astros: Placed reliever Alberto Arias on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Dodgers: Acquired Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals for a minor league reliever.
Indians: Acquired minor league pitcher Johan Pino as the PTBNL in the trade that sent Carl Pavano to the Twins.
Mariners: Placed Russell Branyan on the DL with a herniated disc.
Pirates: Signed Jorge Julio to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed Ryan Freel to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Acquired Joey Gathright from the Orioles for a PTBNL or cash.
Twins: Claimed Ron Mahay off waivers from the Royals, acquired Jon Rauch from the D-Backs for a PTBNL and designated R.A. Dickey for assignment.

Today, they're reserved for making up rainouts, but at one point doubleheaders were a key part of the baseball schedule. Seamheads has a look back at September 7, 1903, when all 16 major league teams were scheduled to play two.

If you watched the Cubs play over the weekend, you might have seen Ryan Dempster trying on the new helmet MLB is promoting to help decrease head injuries suffered via HBP. Player reviews of the new helmets have been almost universally negative, but baseball is going to require all minor leaguers to wear them next season.

The Brewers had pretty good luck convincing draft picks to sign this season, including one player, fifth rounder D'Vontrey Richardson, who had to be convinced to give up football at Florida State. Jonathan Mayo has a look at the decision two sport athletes face.

Ever wonder what broadcasters do to prepare for games? Alyson Footer has the details and pictures.

Before you go any farther, take a moment today to be happy for what you have and to remember how quickly it can all go away: Jonah Keri has the story of a rollover car accident he somehow survived over the weekend. Keri is due to become the father of twins sometime in the coming weeks.

Apparently it's been a good week for harrowing experiences: Hal McCoy has the story of Aaron Harang and a Reds' equipment manager's drive from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati prior to Harang's appendectomy.

Hall of Very Good recently interviewed Jeff Cirillo, who spent many years as a Brewer position player and one day as an opposing pitcher. It's a good read.

Speaking of Jeffs, if you need a Jeff Sackmann fix, he's got three posts up on his personal blog previewing the US Open, which begins today.

On this day in 1996 the Brewers made a pretty good trade, sending Kevin Seitzer to the Indians for Jeromy Burnitz, who hit 165 home runs over six season as a Brewer. On this day in 2002, though, they made a pretty bad trade, sending Mark Loretta (who would go one to become a two time All Star) to the Astros for Wayne Franklin and Keith Ginter.

Happy birthday today to former Brewers Gabe Kapler (34), Hideo Nomo (41) and Tom Candiotti (52).

Oh, and with summer coming to a close, you're running out of opportunities to use your car as a dehyrdrator.

Drink up.