Sounds kind of negative, doesn’t it?
The Astros, I mean Tal Smith, prefers to wait to sign any long term contracts on Astros home grown players until their last arb year (see Bagwell, Berkman, Oswalt, Hidalgo, etc) and Wandy was no exception to the general rule.
Just before the deadline, he signed a 3 year contract for 34 mill (and a 4th year vesting option – don’t have details on that one) without a no-trade (VERY important, mind) for his age 32, 33 and 34 year seasons. He’ll only be paid 7 mill this year (with a 1.5 mill bonus) so he will very likely remain with the club until at least the trade deadline. He is, believe it or not, one of the best lefties in the NL – too many people still think of 2006 Wandy and refuse to look at any later stats.
I still don’t have any idea how close the club is to being sold – even in this economic climate, there are eager prospective owners, but they are not willing to pay Drayton’s price or any bonus price for a Glamour Franchise like the Cubs or Dodgers.
But this means that the new ownership may want Wandy’s salary off the books and it won’t be hard to trade him and his very reasonable contract, especially this year. If you are thinking that I’ve got a doom and gloom outlook, you are dead right. But at least it means that I can still wear my Wandy t-shirt with the Astros star on the front.
Pence, on the other hand, will be going to arb, and Tal Smith has only lost once, so he’s going to have his butt handed to him. I have a feeling that unless he has some kind of breakout year, that he isn’t going to get any sort of long term contract, as he’s a good RF, but not a STAR!!!!
Speaking of STAR!!!! RF, Berkman has been working out differently, getting used to having to do all that running in the St. Looie OF. The Cards traded Brendan Ryan, their fabulous fielding SS with the Adam Everett glove and bat, apparently because he forgets to not look as if he’s actually having fun playing baseball – he was replaced by The Riot, who is definitely inferior with glove and indifferent with bat. Berkman is going to have a tough time looking grim…
Anyway, ST starts in just a few short weeks. We’ll have 3 starters fer sher, Wandy, the ol WB and Happ. I have no idea who else out of all the rest of rejects, castoffs, relievers and Bud Norris will start. Brandon Lyon will close. So far, I haven’t heard anything about Byrdak getting an invitation to ST, so no idea who will LOOGY.
Last I heard, JR Towles has healed from his injury that kept him out most of last year and he will – get this – be competing for a spot – in ST. He has the same chance of being a catcher on the ML team as I do – if he hits well, he might could get lucky and get traded for a badly needed middle reliever.
Keppinger is on the DL after his foot surgery – he signed for 2 mill, and I know that Ed Wade wants him off the team, but I don’t think he can be released with 30 days pay in ST if he is still on the DL, but if he can, he’s gone, because he isn’t tradeable while he’s stillon the DL and recovering. IF he can’t be released, I expect him to be gone as soon as possible. Not sure why Fast Eddie and gang want him off the team, or think that Angel Sanchez/Anderson Hernandez are any better.
shrug
My Pirates fan friends are wanting me to bet with them which team ends up with more losses. I tell them it’s against my beliefs to steal candy from babies…
Tags: Houston Astros, MLB
Lisa, you *know* how critical I’ve been about Wandy in the past. BUT……I think
this was the right move for the Astros to do! Wandy has been in the Astros
organization for 12yrs!! He wears his emotions on his sleeve, and just KNOWING
he’s finally got a multi year contract, *SHOULD* see him pitch more relaxed!
At least I hope so!! I like Wandy, and it HAS been frustrating to see him have a
meltdown on the mound. Soooo I’m happy for him. Now….about Keppinger.
WHAT did he say or DO, to find himself on Ed Wade’s sh$t list???? He’s usually
so quiet, to hear him speak is odd!! Spring training should be very interesting.
The fight for the 5th. starter, could get very interesting. I just hope who EVER it
is……..they don’t fall by the wayside with Ed Wade’s “experiments”, with turning
a reliever into a starter. THAT…….blew up in his face, with Wes Wright. I wanna
see how Happ starts off. We really didn’t get a FULL picture of him last year.
I’m not to worried about Wallace, either he makes it………..or he goes to OKC.
Castro, is another concern. He *HAS* to improve, to keep his spot, and you’re
100% right about Towles. He’s done with this team. PERIOD. I’m getting excited
just knowing that ST is just around the corner!! Thanks for ALL you do for this
blog!! You’re the BEST!!!! Becky
Mark my words, Hunter Pence will be a star by the end of this season.
i have NO idea what on earth keppinger did to get on ed wade’s garbage can list, except not hit home runs and not field like robby alomar 2000.
why he thinks he is going to get greater HR production from clint barmes i have no idea. why he thinks anderson worthless hernandez is a better utility guy (besides $$$) i do NOT know
sometimes managers/GMs just don’t like someone’s personality (see luke scott) for who KNOWS what reason and they are gone
so far, i haven’t seen any good evidence that castro can hit ML pitching worth spit, let alone as well as brad ausmus, and his defense is terrible, except for his arm. but he’s gonna be The Man for at least this year, unless he gets hurt.
i would guess that wallace is gonna be on an extremely short leash and get the kind of chance they gace towles – namely, not much of any – and they’ll just put clank at 1B where he can stumble around and provide even less production as a 1B than he did as a LF.
i really wish, i HOPE they keep wandy. because he’s my favorite player and because he is the ONLY guy left from the 05 pennant winning team – nostalgia, i guess. but i know better than to hold my breath…
i hope so AND i hope the new owner is in place so he will understand the importance of keeping homegrown stars.
otherwise, depending on what comes through the minors, he might could get traded. it would be stupid for marketing, but who knows what the new owner will care about.
Come on Lisa you are becoming one of the most paranoid pessimist i have ever seen. You ought to just listen to yourself.
yeah, you’re right
next entry, i’ll have guest writer Mary Sunn-Shine talkin bout how the Astros will exceed expectations!!!
Good, we need some spark of joy once in awhile on this other wise depressing and doomsday blog. Now watch, wandy will probably fall on his butt after receiving this nice new contract.
All sorts of stuff wrong here:
1. Bagwell’s 1st multi-year contract ($47M/7yr) was done at the end of the ’94 season. Tal wasn’t hired until 1995. I’m not sure but I think that bought out 2 years of arbitration for Bags, plus 4 years of FA.
2. Richard Hidalgo’s 4 year contract was signed in 2000, buying out 3 years of arbitration.
3. Lance signed a 3 year deal in 2002 when he still had 3 years of arbitration plus another under team control left.
4. Oswalt signed a similar deal, buying out his 1st two arb. years, and then signed a 5 year extension, before the prior contract ended.
What I’m saying is that this isn’t Tal Smith’s doing. When Hunsicker ran the show the Astros made a habit of never going to arbitration with players. Now that Ed Wade is in charge, they go to arbitration.
I’m not sure how much say Drayton or Tal puts in, but after being completely burned by Hidalgo’s contract, why sign a guy like Pence to a multi-year deal, when you still have him under team control for 3 years? He can’t be a free agent until after the 2013 season, so what’s the rush?
Darin….put down that stuff you’re smoking, and step away from the computer.
Tal Smith has E V E R Y T H I N G to do with it! He *OWNS* the company
that deals with arbitration.
Lisa said: “I still don’t have any idea how close the club is to being sold – even in this economic climate, there are eager prospective owners, but they are not willing to pay Drayton’s price or any bonus price for a Glamour Franchise like the Cubs or Dodgers.”
– Just out of curiosity, is the “eager prospective owners” comment based on reported facts or inside info., or is it simply based on McLane’s “we’ve gotten 20 to 25 calls” quote?
Personally, I’ve been surprised by the lack of reported interest (or at least the lack of details). Aside from Miles Prentice (who claims to have interest in every MLB team that’s put up for sale), Stan Kasten (rumor quickly shot down by McLane), and the old Jim Crane/Mark Cuban speculation, I haven’t seen or heard any other names of prospective owners. It’s hard to tell if this is because Houston is a one-paper city or because the sale is more smoke than fire at this point.
I must say that Pirates or Astros debate is a pretty good one. I like where the Pirates are heading more than the Astros right now. I think the Astros best players could be moved this year and next. I’m pretty sure the best players on the Pirates are there to stay.
I just don’t understand where everyone thinks the Astros are going to move out all their good players this year and next. Do you really believe that they want to be the very worst team they possibly can be; if this is true why do we bother being fans any longer of such a dysfuntional organization that will never see the light of day and bring this town some good baseball in the next 10 to 20 years. It would just be a complete waste of time and effort.
I for one don’t believe all this garbage and will continue rooting for the Astros, but not from this very depressing and negative blog, where everyone seems to enjoy being martyers and doomsdayers.
So i bid everybody farewell.
Becky,
Really? Tal Smith’s company handles arbitration for almost all the teams, not just the Astros. So does he have say so in those clubs as well?
Gerry Hunsicker and Tim Purpura refused to go to arbitration, Ed Wade does not refuse to go to arbitration. Tal Smith is not part of the equation as far as I know. Anyone saying they do is most likely full of themselves…..
“Tal Smith is not part of the equation as far as I know” Just goes to show how
little you know, Darin. AND…..I’m NOT full of myself.:)
joe,
i don’t know how serious the “eager prospective owners” actually are, or how solid their money is, but i heard tell that there are 4 interested parties – not mark cuban, that i know of. i have heard from several, uh, sources, that drayton is asking too much, especially for a club which has no name cachet and no marquee players.
sceptor,
sorry, don’t mean to be so negative, but i’ve heard too many, uh, things about how drayton wants to reduce the payroll even further to sell the team.
Lisa — Thanks. I haven’t seen anything about “four interested parties” being reported in the media (aside from the initial burst of coverage in November), so that’s interesting. It seems odd that the media has been so quiet on this. Other recent MLB sales have had almost daily coverage, rumors, etc. I wonder if things are just real quiet or if it’s just a different media atmosphere in Houston.
I’m guessing those “four interested parties” are:
1. Miles Prentice
2. Stan Kasten
3. Jim Crane
4. ???
Are those the names you’re hearing?
joe,
i’ve tried to find out some names, but everyone is denying everything. i just heard “groups” and that both kasten and crane denied having any interest so i would guess that they very well COULD be 2 of the groups
Becky,
Can you at least appreciate that “Before Wade” = no arbitration and “With Wade” = arbitration. Tal Smith was there in both instances, so he is not likely the influencing factor, coupled with the knowledge that Ed Wade would go to arbitration while he was GM of the Phillies. So, knowing those simple, accurate, factual tidbits, how is it that the Astros taking Pence to arbitration is Tal Smith’s fault? Guilty by association, or for some reason you just are bitter and need somebody to blame?
This stance on arbitration is 100% Ed Wade’s doing, and not Tal Smith. That’s fact. Now again, I don’t know if Tal Smith is just there for input or if he has a deciding vote. You don’t either, but the methodology used by the Astros is orchestrated by Ed Wade. If you don’t like it, take it out on him….
All that said, what they are doing with Pence isn’t all that uncommon in the landscape of baseball.
Darin…..I’m done with fighting with you about this.
You and I will have to agree, to disagree.
Lisa — Thanks for the reply. It’s kind of interesting that there hasn’t been more coverage or that there aren’t more names being thrown around, especially since this is essentially Year 3 of the sale watch/process. (First Crane, then the Schiller group last year, and now the official “for sale” sign.)
My Pirates fan friends are wanting me to bet with them which team ends up with more losses. I tell them it’s against my beliefs to steal candy from babies…
It’s morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money.
–W. C. Fields
Mary S. S.
So, if were were to have a miracle Mets type of year, who might be the ones to step up?
Abad, Melancon, Wallace, The Lee-juvinator, Night of the Living Towles?
Lisa – Here are a few more questions for you:
I always thought Drayton owned 100% of the team, but I recently read that Minute Maid and possibly others also own shares of the team. Is this true? If so, any idea what percentage Drayton owns? And if others own shares, is all 100% of the team for sale, or is Drayton’s (very high) asking price not even for all 100% of the team?
Thanks very much.
Here ya go Ed Wade, the Tigers are N O T going to resign Bonderman.
Get off your sweet a$$ and call Drayton, to get this deal DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He certianly can’t be any worse than any of those guys we’ve NEVER heard of.
Becky