Late Saturday night/early Sunday morning the Houston Astros announced yet another move and no this time they hadn't traded someone. Instead they fired Manager Brad Mills and two of his coaches.
It hardly seems as though Mills was at fault for the poor performance of the Astros. Their current record sits at 39-82.
Yes, that's an awful record and in most other circumstances a manager would get fired for a record that looked like that. However after the team was gutted before the trade deadline there was little talent left on the major league roster. Most fans probably mistake the 'stros for a AAA team. Only one player on their 25 man roster (Ben Francisco) is making more than $750,000. Their two highest paid players are both on the DL (Francisco Cordero and Jed Lowrie). The total payroll is a mere $21.3 million.
The fact that Cordero and Lowrie are there two highest paid players should tell you all you need to know about the state of the Astros right now.
Along with Mills hitting coach Mike Barnett and first base coach Bobby Meacham were fired.
Mills was in his third season with the team having gone 76-86 in 2010 and a franchise worst 56-106 last season.
Tough luck for Mills. When he was hired I'm sure he didn't expect the higher ups would complete gut his roster and give him no hope to succeed and subsequently fire him when he didn't work miracles.
Tis the way of the big leagues though.
Showing posts with label Astros. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Astros. Show all posts
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Pirates Acquire Wandy Rodriguez from Astros
It seems as though every day the Houston Astros are trading another piece off their Major League roster. The Majors worst team is at it once again this time trading Wandy Rodriguez to their division rival Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rodriguez was signed to a 3-year deal before the 2011 season and has a player option for the 2014 season. As a part of the deal the Pirates could recoup as much as $17.7 million from the Astros. Houston will pay half of the $3.4 million Rodriguez is owed this season and $8.5 of the $13 million he's owed in 2013. Should Rodriguez exercise his $14 million player option in 2014, something that seems highly likely at this point, the Astros would pay $7.5 million of it.
It seems like an awful lot of money to hand to the Pirates over a pitcher they could have likely dealt to another team without having to throw in so much money.
It's a very similar move to the one the Pirates made in March to acquire A.J. Burnett from the Yankees. At the time Burnett has two years remaining on his deal and was owed $33 million. The Yankees agreed to ship Burnett to the Pirates along with $20 million to help pay for his New York exit.
It seems teams are really interested in paying the Pirates to take players off their hands. The Pirates couldn't be happier. They're getting talented players at well below market value. It's helping them push the Reds in the NL Central and a host of other teams in the Wild Card as the Pirates look to make the playoffs for the first time since 1992.
In return the Astros will receive minor league pitchers Rudy Owen and Colton Cain, as well as outfielder Robbie Grossman.
It's likely the Astros were willing to send so much cash to the Pirates because of these prospects. All three rank among the Top 20 Prospects in the Pirates system, however none of them rank among the Top 100 Prospects in Baseball.
It's a good move for the Pirates simply because they did not have to part with Top Prospects Jameson Taillon or Geritt Cole. Trade rumors suggested that the Pirates would need to part with one of them in order to acquire pitching at this years deadline.
Wandy Rodriguez doesn't possess the best arm of the available pitchers however acquiring him didn't force the Pirates to mortgage their future as well. A solid move all around for both the Pirates and Astros.
Rodriguez was signed to a 3-year deal before the 2011 season and has a player option for the 2014 season. As a part of the deal the Pirates could recoup as much as $17.7 million from the Astros. Houston will pay half of the $3.4 million Rodriguez is owed this season and $8.5 of the $13 million he's owed in 2013. Should Rodriguez exercise his $14 million player option in 2014, something that seems highly likely at this point, the Astros would pay $7.5 million of it.
It seems like an awful lot of money to hand to the Pirates over a pitcher they could have likely dealt to another team without having to throw in so much money.
It's a very similar move to the one the Pirates made in March to acquire A.J. Burnett from the Yankees. At the time Burnett has two years remaining on his deal and was owed $33 million. The Yankees agreed to ship Burnett to the Pirates along with $20 million to help pay for his New York exit.
It seems teams are really interested in paying the Pirates to take players off their hands. The Pirates couldn't be happier. They're getting talented players at well below market value. It's helping them push the Reds in the NL Central and a host of other teams in the Wild Card as the Pirates look to make the playoffs for the first time since 1992.
In return the Astros will receive minor league pitchers Rudy Owen and Colton Cain, as well as outfielder Robbie Grossman.
It's likely the Astros were willing to send so much cash to the Pirates because of these prospects. All three rank among the Top 20 Prospects in the Pirates system, however none of them rank among the Top 100 Prospects in Baseball.
It's a good move for the Pirates simply because they did not have to part with Top Prospects Jameson Taillon or Geritt Cole. Trade rumors suggested that the Pirates would need to part with one of them in order to acquire pitching at this years deadline.
Wandy Rodriguez doesn't possess the best arm of the available pitchers however acquiring him didn't force the Pirates to mortgage their future as well. A solid move all around for both the Pirates and Astros.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Astros Continue Fire Sale, Myers to White Sox
The fire sale continues in Houston as the Astros have completed their second trade in as many days. After sending three players to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday the Astros traded closer Brett Myers to the White Sox on Saturday.
In return the Astros will receive two minor league players and a player to be named later.
This season Myers has pitched exclusively out of the pen after starting 33 each of the last two seasons. He has converted 19 or 23 save opportunities with a 3.52 ERA. He's struck out 20 batters while walking 6 in 30.2 IP.
It was a move the makes a lot of sense for the White Sox. Before acquiring Myers the Sox only had one veteran (Matt Thornton) in their pen. The rest of the pen consisted of extremely green rookies (all with less than 50 career IP). As a group they rank 11th in the AL in bullpen ERA.
The White Sox currently lead the AL Central by a half game over the surging Detroit Tigers.
In return the Astros will receive two minor league players and a player to be named later.
This season Myers has pitched exclusively out of the pen after starting 33 each of the last two seasons. He has converted 19 or 23 save opportunities with a 3.52 ERA. He's struck out 20 batters while walking 6 in 30.2 IP.
It was a move the makes a lot of sense for the White Sox. Before acquiring Myers the Sox only had one veteran (Matt Thornton) in their pen. The rest of the pen consisted of extremely green rookies (all with less than 50 career IP). As a group they rank 11th in the AL in bullpen ERA.
The White Sox currently lead the AL Central by a half game over the surging Detroit Tigers.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Blue Jays, Astros Open Trading Season with 10 Player Deal
On Friday the Toronto Blue Jays acquired J.A. Happ, Brandon Lyon and David Carpenter. In return the Astros received Francisco Cordero, Ben Fransisco, 4 Minor Leaguers (3 pitchers and a catcher), and a player to be named later.
While it's nice to see teams making moves this particular trade, although large in the number of players, lacks any big names or star power.
Many expected the Astros to clean house as they own the worst record in the Majors and are looking to rebuild.
On the other side of the trade the Jays have been forced to endure numerous injuries to their pitching staff, both in the rotation and in the bullpen.
The interest piece of the deal is J.A. Happ. The Blue Jays originally inquired about his services when they were trying to trade Roy Halladay to the Phillies when former GM J.P. Riccardi was in charge. At the time the Phillies did not want to include Happ. I believe that was back in 2009 when Happ had a 2.93 ERA over 166 IP. Happ was subsequently traded in 2010 in the Roy Oswalt deal.
In parts of three seasons with the Astros Happ has made 59 starts, pitched 332.2 innings and holds a 4.84 ERA.
It's probably a good thing the Blue Jays acquired him now and not as a part of the Halladay deal.
While it's nice to see teams making moves this particular trade, although large in the number of players, lacks any big names or star power.
Many expected the Astros to clean house as they own the worst record in the Majors and are looking to rebuild.
On the other side of the trade the Jays have been forced to endure numerous injuries to their pitching staff, both in the rotation and in the bullpen.
The interest piece of the deal is J.A. Happ. The Blue Jays originally inquired about his services when they were trying to trade Roy Halladay to the Phillies when former GM J.P. Riccardi was in charge. At the time the Phillies did not want to include Happ. I believe that was back in 2009 when Happ had a 2.93 ERA over 166 IP. Happ was subsequently traded in 2010 in the Roy Oswalt deal.
In parts of three seasons with the Astros Happ has made 59 starts, pitched 332.2 innings and holds a 4.84 ERA.
It's probably a good thing the Blue Jays acquired him now and not as a part of the Halladay deal.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Carlos Lee is on the Move ... Finally
Over the weekend the struggling L.A. Dodgers had a deal in place to acquire 1B Carlos Lee from the Houston Astros. Instead, on Wednesday night, Lee was dealt to the Miami Marlins.
Lee nixed the deal to the Dodgers as he had a partial no-trade clause written into his Astros contract.
In Miami Lee will be reunited with his former manager Ozzie Guillen. The two spent a season (2004) together for the Chicago White Sox.
It's a curious decision to choose the Marlins over the Dodgers as Miami is mired in 4th place in the NL East, 9 games back. The Dodgers on the other hand have a 0.5 game lead over the Giants in the West. He must have chose Miami for reasons other than baseball.
The 36 year old Lee will be a free agent at the end of the season.
Lee nixed the deal to the Dodgers as he had a partial no-trade clause written into his Astros contract.
In Miami Lee will be reunited with his former manager Ozzie Guillen. The two spent a season (2004) together for the Chicago White Sox.
It's a curious decision to choose the Marlins over the Dodgers as Miami is mired in 4th place in the NL East, 9 games back. The Dodgers on the other hand have a 0.5 game lead over the Giants in the West. He must have chose Miami for reasons other than baseball.
The 36 year old Lee will be a free agent at the end of the season.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Astros on the Verge of Trading Carlos Lee
Carlos Lee could soon be a Los Angeles Dodger. According to reports the Astros have agreed to trade Lee they are simply waiting on his stamp of approval on the deal.
Lee has a partial no-trade clause and must accept the trade before he can be dealt.
The Dodgers desperately need the offensive help. They're 15th in the NL in runs scored and have been shutout in 4 of their last 5 games. All-star slugger Matt Kemp has only appeared in two games since May 13th and is still on the DL with hamstring issues.
It seems like a pretty simple decision to me. Lee can move from the 32-45 Astros (who are 10.5 back in the NL Central) to the 43-35 Dodgers (who are 1.0 game back in the NL West).
Unless of course there's something more important than winning ...
UPDATE (3:50 PM): According to ESPN Carlos Lee is likely to veto the deal to the Dodgers.
Lee has a partial no-trade clause and must accept the trade before he can be dealt.
The Dodgers desperately need the offensive help. They're 15th in the NL in runs scored and have been shutout in 4 of their last 5 games. All-star slugger Matt Kemp has only appeared in two games since May 13th and is still on the DL with hamstring issues.
It seems like a pretty simple decision to me. Lee can move from the 32-45 Astros (who are 10.5 back in the NL Central) to the 43-35 Dodgers (who are 1.0 game back in the NL West).
Unless of course there's something more important than winning ...
UPDATE (3:50 PM): According to ESPN Carlos Lee is likely to veto the deal to the Dodgers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)