My old friend Austin, who has commented on my blog for years, is back in journalism school at UT and is writing a blog, which will be part of Rob Neyer’s blog links.
And speaking of Austin and Houston, Ed Maysonet got sent down. And Matt Kata didn’t. Gee, what a surprise. I wish some reporter would come right out and ask Ed Wade why he thinks Kata is better than Maysonet.
Also, Chris Shelton got sent down, which makes me think that there is a very VERY good probability that Lance Berkman will not start the season on the DL and even if he misses the Opening Day series with the Giants, he won’t miss more than a few games. The Astros don’t want to have to pay Shelton any Major League pay, if they can help it. So Blum will most likely start at first, and if not him, then some great player like Kata.
J.R. Towles made the ML roster and Castro, as I thought, was sent down. Much better to keep him down for a few weeks, screw him out of a year of FA. Besides, he has got to show he can hit even AAA pitching, as he wasn’t all that against AA. Towles is going to have to come out showing something good, and he’s gonna start the year facing Lincecum and Cain, no easy task. And if he looks good, then at least he can hope to be traded to a team that wants him.
Looks as if the rotation is gonna be the 5 we thought – Oswalt, Wandy, Wifebeater, Norris (who FINALLY had a decent game - NO walks, 6 hits, 7 K, 2 R/5 IP today) and Paulino. Lindstrom is going to close, unless he fails and Lyon takes the job. However, we DO know that Lyon has been an excellent 8th innin guy, like La Troy was for us, so maybe this will work out.
Oh yeah. Remember Benny Zobrist? Yeah, the almost MVP for the Rays who was traded a couple years back for 2 worthless months of Aubrey Huff. Well, a RH pitcher named Mitch Talbot was traded with him, and this year, Mitch, age 26, who was traded again in December for Kelly Shoppach, is starting for the Indians – beat out Aaron Laffey, a much more highly touted guy, for the rotation. If he turns out to be a good starter, well, whoever told poor ol Timmy Poo-pura to do that crappy trade (go and get Huff) should have a thorough butt kicking.
Am hoping to take Lil Miss (my niece) to the Friday game vs the Jays – should be pretty easy to pick up some cheap tix from scalpers and will take the kids to fan fest/”Opening Day” on Saturday. Then my Mama and I will do our annual pilgrimage on Monday. She always gets, uh, “sick” with, uh, baseball fever. Yeah, we know the team won’t be good. But the ballpark always looks like a cathedran and that green green grass always holds its lure for us. A thrill that never grows old, even though we do…
Tags: Houston Astros, MLB
Can’t some old rich oil magnate just give Drayton the Godfather offer??
That’s what I need to get me to have some hope in this team.
i just new that when pencilneck wade signed matt kata a couple of weeks or so ago that he would be on the roster. what a travesty. maysonet is heads over fist better all around player than both kata and keppinger who both suck.
I was glad to see norris have a pretty fine outing yesterday and what made it even more impressive was he did it against all of the regulars of the Phillies. also the fact that he didn’t walk a batter and struck out 7 was big.
the thing that bothers me is if they do choose Paulino which i hope they do to be the 5th man in the rotation that over the hill moehler is going to the pen and will squeaze out a better and more deserving young pitcher like arias or gervacio. why we have to keep players like kata, keppinger, moehler, and michaels just irks the heck out of me. to bad for our new manager mills that he has no say on who makes the team.
Good lord, why didn’t we just sign David Newhan while we’re at it? I can’t for the life of me, or anyone on this planet, understand how Matt Krapa got a spot on this team. Is he married to Ed Wade’s daughter? Does Krapa have some dirt on Wade that lets him stay on a ML roster for longer than 5 minutes? There has got to be something, SOMETHING. I wouldn’t trust Krapa to hold a shoeshine box, let alone a baseball bat.
Kata isn’t going to make the 25-man roster either, except MAYBE if Berkman goes on the DL, but even then I’d be shocked to see that happen. There’s just not room for him. The only spot left for a position player is fifth outfielder, and that’s going to either Bourgeois or Sullivan (hint: Eddie is going to pick Sullivan).
But yeah, Kata is terrible, I don’t understand why they even bothered to invite him to camp.
Of course! Matt Kata was a Philly for 10 games in Wade’s last year as their GM in 2005. It all makes sense now! He crushed ONE HR for an unconquerable .167 BA in those 10 games. That’s at least 15 HRs if he would’ve played an entire season. Awesome! That would’ve been Miggy’s HR total, and we paid him $14 mil. How did we not sign Krapa to a 3 yr extension? He’s the prototypical veteran presence that Wade loves. Nothing helps youngsters out more than a guy who never batted worth a lick, can’t ever stick to any ML club longer than a full season, has less talent than they do, and can’t field questions let alone a baseball. Its perfect. This only means that as long you play for Ed Wade, if even for one game, and he’s still a GM somewhere, YOU are guaranteed a spot on his roster. Oh yeah, you also have to be at least 30 years old, white, have zero personality, and um, well thats about it.
I don’t understand the Kata thing either, except that he’s a former Phillie.
At this point, it is obvious that Mills has no input whatsoever into who plays and who doesn’t play, so unless Mills makes assinine mistakes which are directly at his own door (such as getting every reliever loose every day and exhausting them) I am going to slam Wade.
Of course, I agree that it is possible that Ed is taking marching orders from Drayton/Tal who have specifically instructed him not to play wet behind the ears 28 year old guys. But I doubt it at this point.
I keep hearing that other teams scouts/people think that Ed’s disdain for Romero/Maysonet/other minor leaguers is, uh, not smart.
Christian,
i KNEW that Fast Eddie was gonna pick Sullivan because that is what he told media at the very beginning of ST. And his name is on the Vegas sheets, and the bookies know what they are doing. The only way anyone else had a chance is if Sullivan broke a bone.
As for someone offering Drayton what he wants to get out – well, not with THIS economy. NOT happening. And as I keep saying, it most certainly COULD be worse – we COULD be as bad as Pittsburgh or KC…
And it was just announced that Berkman will be on the DL retro to March 26. I wish I were in Kata’s shoes. Everything is going his way! LOL!
It was also announced that Chris Johnson made the team, which means no Kata. Thank god!
What is wrong with wandy? 9 more earned runs today in 2.1 innings. I know its only ST, but he has been by far our very worst starter and i am beginning to get a bit nervous and worried. i hope he is not reverting back to the old wandy i knew so well back about 3 years and further ago. We desperately need wandy of last year back very soon.
miggy – that was DRAYTON’S pick, let’s give credit/debit where it is due.
and i got like NO idea why ed wade is obsessed with kata. sigh.
and the Old Guy thing? It must come from Drayton/Tal, because it pre-dates Fast Eddie