Astros make huge splash in free agency

AJ_II

AJ_II

Well-Known Member
mike_hampton_autograph.jpg



Forget C.C. Forget Jake Peavy. Not interested in Ben Sheets. We don't even care about Randy Johnson or Andy Pettite. The Astros have brought Mike Hampton back to town!!! Yeah, the same guy who completely sat out the '06 and '07 seasons due to injury, and pitched a whopping 78 innings last year.

If this is Drayton McClane and Ed Wade's big move this offseason, I'm not looking forward to 2009.
 
Mike Hampton

Avuncular_Jew II said:
mike_hampton_autograph.jpg



Forget C.C. Forget Jake Peavy. Not interested in Ben Sheets. We don't even care about Randy Johnson or Andy Pettite. The Astros have brought Mike Hampton back to town!!! Yeah, the same guy who completely sat out the '06 and '07 seasons due to injury, and pitched a whopping 78 innings last year.

If this is Drayton McClane and Ed Wade's big move this offseason, I'm not looking forward to 2009.
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I know it was just a spring game but Mr. Hampton pitched well today.
 
goreds2 said:
I know it was just a spring game but Mr. Hampton pitched well today.
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Haha yeah, there's just no telling where he can go from here!

But I'm guessing the 2009 Cy Young is not in Hampton's future, despite his decent performance yesterday (2 scoreless innings...stop the presses!). I'd be surprised if the Astros were able to get 15 starts out of him this season. He had some sort of irregular heart beat prior to spring training, and of course his past is riddled with injuries and missed time. So who knows. After Roy Oswalt, the 'Stros starting rotation is bleak at best.

I read the other day that Baseball Prospectus predicted Houston to win something like 70 -75 games this season. It's going to be a long, long summer. So here's hoping the Rockets can play well into June...

Astros do play on ESPN today at 1:00 eastern time for anyone interested. I realize there must be plenty of you out there! I've got my new DVR ready to go. They're taking on eddiepritchett's Braves - http://www.digitalradiocentral.com/mlb/3696-lets-go-braves.html - you're goin' down Eddie!
 
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goreds2 said:
Best of luck to your ASTROS. :nana:
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Yes thank you. But as bad as Houston may end up being, you can always count on the Pirates to finish in last place in the Central. Though lately Cincinnati has been giving them some stiff competition for that cellar dweller spot.
 
Avuncular_Jew II said:
Though lately Cincinnati has been giving them some stiff competition for that cellar dweller spot.
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^^^
This may replace the QUOTE OF THE YEAR. Time will tell.

We can always count on you.

Time to change this Astros thread into a REDS thread:

The Reds may be the closest thing the NL has in 2009 to the '08 Rays.
So says Jonny Gomes, the no-longer mohawked utility player who is a non-roster invite to Reds camp after spending his entire career with Tampa Bay, including a front-row seat to the Rays' improbable World Series run of a year ago.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ted_keith/02/26/reds.postcard/index.html?eref=sircrc
 
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Well if you think the 2009 World Series is a possibility for the Reds, you may want to temper your expectations. Just a little bit. MAYBE, just MAYBE they make that big leap from complete obscurity to mediocrity, but anything other than that just isn't happening. Let's be honest, the Reds have been one of the worst franchises in all of sports over the past, well almost 15 years.
 
Avuncular_Jew II said:
Well if you think the 2009 World Series is a possibility for the Reds, you may want to temper your expectations. Just a little bit. MAYBE, just MAYBE they make that big leap from complete obscurity to mediocrity, but anything other than that just isn't happening.
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I am sure you made one of your many great predictions concerning the Rays last year. I need to go to the SIRIUS Back Stage archives.
 
Source: Rodriguez, Astros agreeComment
ESPN.com news services

Catcher Ivan Rodriguez has agree to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Houston Astros, a source told ESPN's Steve Phillips on Monday.


Rodriguez can make an additional $1.5 million in performances bonuses.

At the World Baseball Classic this spring, Rodriguez, a 14-time major league All-Star, is hitting .600 (9-for-15) in four games for Puerto Rico.

Rodriguez hit .276 with seven homers and 35 RBIs in 115 games with the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees last year. He is the only player in baseball history with at least 13 Gold Gloves and a career .300 average or better.

He has three more Gold Gloves, earning one as recently as 2007, giving him three more than Johnny Bench and almost double the total by Bob Boone, who is third on the list. Among position players, only Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson has more Gold Glove awards.

Rodriguez has caught 2,173 games, trailing only Carlton Fisk (2,226) and Boone (2,225) in terms of longevity behind the plate.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
 
It's funny, Houston's GM Ed Wade came out publicly last week and said that the Astros had ZERO intentions of signing Pudge. Well, so much for that...

The Astros are just grasping at straws at this point. Pudge is washed up (and off the juice, like Tejada). He's got very little left to offer. But still, he's better than anything we had at catcher. It's gonna be a loooooooooong season....
 
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