Rosenthal's Latest: Mets, Brewers, Astros

I hope the mets sign Oliver Perez maybe Pedro but signing Rodriguez for that long would be a mistake. Billy Wagner is good and we need middle relief more than anything.

That is one of the most absurd statements I have ever read. The Astros are an awful team playing above their head right now. Adding Ben Sheets and Randy Wolf make them a 500 club maybe. No way they are better than the Cubs (who I hate).

"No way they are better than the Cubs"

Astros are 9-6 against the Cubs this season, and they just swept the Cubs without Carlos Lee.

"The Astros are an awful team playing above their head right now"

You have no clue what you're talking about. The are 42-27 since June 20th. That's a .608 Winning percentage, over a large course of the season.

The Astros were horrible at the beginning of the year but since then the roster has been tweeked and the team has come together to become one of the best teams in baseball.

TruDru22- What about Jon Niese? I wouldn't sign someone long term to fill a rotation spot when there's a prospect waiting in the wings. I'd sign Pedro to a 1yr deal with an option for a 2nd, and bring up Niese if injuries or underperformances occur.

I could see the Astros getting Ben Sheets. If the Stros had pitching to go along with that offense, things could get interesting in that Central. Especially if CC is not a Brewer next year.

I would love to see the brewers pick up sanchez from the giants. A deal involving Hardy, and Sanchez as the center peices seems fair to both teams.

"Adding Ben Sheets and Randy Wolf make them a 500 club maybe. "

The astros are currently 8 games over 500 so adding ben sheets makes them a worse team? I think that would put them into contention adding those guys and I'm a Cubs fan.

Would the Brew Crew deal Prince to the Bronx for Hughes, Horne and another prospect?

More realistically, the Cain for Prince swap makes some sense.

I believe Ollie Perez's agent pissed off the Mets this past spring and will likely pitch elsewhere (probably for one of the Lone Star teams) in 2009.

The moron who said the Astros are better than the Cubs because the "Stros are 9 and 6 against them is wrong. The Cubs are 2 and 2 against the Nationals, but no one thinks thoses teams are even somewhat alike. Zambrano and Oswalt are about the same. If anything, Big Z is better. Harden and his near 2.00 ERA is better than Sheets and his 2.82 ERA. They are both huge injury risks. Harden is better than Sheets when they are both healthy, Sheets is healthy more often. They are about the same. These two would be very close. Dempster is WAY better than Moehlor. Rodriguez is better than Lilly, but not by THAT much. and Wolf is also a huge injury risk. If Samardzija does bad in the rotation, he could just be moved back into the bullpen and they give Marquis the fifth starter job. I, personally think the Cubs rotation is better, but even if they are even, maybe slightly better, the Cubs are a better team. You say you'd take Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman over anyone in the Cubs lineup. I agree with you. I would also take Soto over any catcher of yours as well as Edmonds over Bourn and DeRosa over Matsui. I would take Ramirez over wiggington, and would consider Theriot over Tejada. It's not over who has the best top 2 hitters, it's over who has the best overall lineup that can manufacture the most runs. The Cubs are ahead there. They also have a way better bullpen. Face it Stros fans, the Cubs are just a better team.

Joe and Angels fan,

I was cherry picking with Berkman and Lee, just like Joe comparing starting pitchers.

Of course the Cubs lineup is more balanced than the Astros.

And Joe, your comment calling me a "moron" for as you put it, for saying "the Astros are better than the Cubs because the Stros are 9 and 6 against them is wrong."...is shortsighted.

What you said that I was commenting on was "No way (the Astros) are better than the Cubs"....my reply was mearly that the Astros have been competitve with the Cubs this year, so saying that there is "no way" the Astros are better, is again short sighted. I guess you failed to see where I listed the Astros record since June 20th, which is 1 game better than the Cubs this season.

What most people, like you Joe, fail to realize the Astros this season has been 2 different clubs. The 1st club had Chris Sampson and Shawn Chacon in the rotation. It also had Dave Borkowski and Oscar Villareal in the bullpen. Borkowski, Villareal and Chacon have all been removed from the team, and Sampson has been stellar in the bullpen. Since they've made those changes, this team is GOOD. Is it better than the Cubs? Probably not. Are the Cubs hands down better than the Astros? No.

The Astros have to focus on getting someone to take over for Backe, because he's the weakest link on the team. The Astros will also probably address catcher and CF in the offseason, and may be able to do so in house with JR Towles and/or Brian Bogusevic.

How about Lackey-Santana or even Santana-Saunders?

hey, who has the better pitching staff, milwaukee or chicago, this season???

And right on que, Carlos Delgado hits two massive homeruns, numbers 32 and 33 on the season, and Delgado is now batting .309/.384/.532 since July 1, a span of 263 plate appearances, after a .198/.297/.323 april, a .258/.318/.454 may, and a .229/.308/.476 june. It is truly ridiculous. The idea in May, that sometime in early September Delgado would have a couple of huge games against the Phillies, be brought out for curtain calls, and having the MVP chants called as he walks to the plate would have been laughable. But thats why they play the game.

Oh, and just to jump into the conversation, if we are talking about 1/2 punches going towards the playoffs, what about Santana and Pelfrey? Mike Pelfrey is developing into a legit frontline pitcher, and his stats in the last 10 weeks back that up. Right now he is as tough as just about anybody. And to go a step further, a Johan/Pelfrey/Perez threesome come playoff time could be very dangerous to teams.

nrmax88, when maine is healthy, he is a solid #2 starter. he has had an injury plagued off year but he has great stuff and is maturing as a pitcher. that staff could take us to the playoffs almost every year. i think they need to let pedro go and bring in someone younger though. let niese mature and bring and established but not very old starter.