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« 2010 Options: Houston Astros | Main | Rangers, Dodgers Eyeing Yusei Kikuchi »
Discussion: Replacing Mike Hampton
Richard Justice at the Houston Chronicle thinks Ed Wade's one-year gamble on Mike Hampton might come to an end soon. Hampton was "the guy they could afford, not the guy they really wanted," Justice says. The guy they wanted was Randy Wolf, who's sporting a nifty 3.02 ERA and 50/19 K/BB ratio for the Dodgers. After an ugly start today Hampton sits at a 5.62 ERA for the season and 7.04 in his last six.
Should a shakeup be in order, the 'Stros have their eye on Triple-A farmhand Bud Norris, who's pitching well for Round Rock. But as we noted here last week, Paul Byrd, Odalis Perez and Pedro Martinez are still waiting for a phone call--could they be a good fit? Or could Wade swing a deal?
And greetings folks, I'm one of the new guys in class. Feel free to throw spitballs if need be.
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Shawn Chacon
Posted by: eighty1 | May 24, 2009 at 06:19 PM
"I'm one of the new guys in class. Feel free to throw spitballs if need be." = FAIL
Just Kidding, Nice first entry... No errors, well thought out. Congrats on the job
Posted by: FreeSide | May 24, 2009 at 06:25 PM
Chacon seems to be on good terms with the Newark GM -- No restraining orders on the scorecard just yet. 7.59 ERA in 10.1 innings--yikes.
Posted by: Eddie Schmid | May 24, 2009 at 06:32 PM
Houston is in all likelyhood going no where this year. why don't they trade Valverde to Atlanta for Scott Redmond. Valverde proabaly won't resign, Atlanta needs a true bona-fide closer instead of set-up guys trying to close (soriano and gonzo) and Atlanta a surplus of good pitching prospects. Good trade all around
Posted by: bravoboy10 | May 24, 2009 at 06:34 PM
Houston is in all likelyhood going no where this year. why don't they trade Valverde to Atlanta for Scott Redmond. Valverde proabaly won't resign, Atlanta needs a true bona-fide closer instead of set-up guys trying to close (soriano and gonzo) and Atlanta a surplus of good pitching prospects. Good trade all around
Posted by: bravoboy10 | May 24, 2009 at 06:34 PM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is Scott Redmond even a real person?
Posted by: FishRock | May 24, 2009 at 06:46 PM
Scott Redmond is probably supposed to be Todd Redmond? He must be pretty good to not even know his first name. Let's see, we'll trade you our 10th best pitching prospect for your major league closer?
Get a clue!!
Posted by: indybucfan | May 24, 2009 at 07:15 PM
As a Braves fan I just feel like I need to check in here to express what a lameazz douchebag Mike Hampton is. The jokes about him spraining his ankle on the way the the bank aren't even funny anymore. He already did more for Houston during this measly part of the season than he did for Atlanta for 2 whole seasons while collecting way more. Fck him. I would say "why don't you just retire azzhole," but if someone's going to continue paying him to suck, why would he?
Posted by: drphonic7 | May 24, 2009 at 07:29 PM
Tell us what you really think drphonic7
Posted by: Greg | May 24, 2009 at 07:31 PM
/Throws spitball.
Roookie!
Posted by: Drew Silva | May 24, 2009 at 07:35 PM
Todd Redmond is actually a decent prospect but not worth Valverde, who the Braves don't need.
My suggestion is for the Stros to dangle their big guys and rebuild. Or offer the Braves Yordany Ramirez/Locke/Ostrand for a young pitcher or two. They have some solid young OFs and El Caballo and Pence taking up two of their spaces.
Posted by: insomniac | May 24, 2009 at 07:37 PM
I did mean to type Todd sorry, but Redmond could net Valverde. He was the southern league pitcher of the year last year. Throws mid 90's and baseball america said his change-up was in the top 5 in the minors. Valverde is likely to walk after the season and houston isn't making the playoffs this season. I don't know alot about Houston's minor league pitching but, at the majors all they have is Oswalt(who could also be moved this year) and Wandy. Atlanta could use Valverde, soriano needs to be a set-up man and gonzolez has only converted 78% of his saves as a braves and is 7/10 this year.
About their big peices, Atlanta proabaly can't pay for Carlos Lee and Pence is having an all star season and the only reasonable trade I could see would invole Houston also trading Berkman and then Atlanta giving Houston Morton, Kotchman, Hernandez.
Posted by: bravoboy10 | May 24, 2009 at 08:17 PM
Todd Redmond doesn't throw in the mid 90's... He's pretty average infact, althought his split finger/change up is his best pitch. If I was Houston,or another big league club looking for young bi league ready pitching, I would go after Morton.
Posted by: OldOak33 | May 24, 2009 at 08:31 PM
I'm glad he didnt resign with the Braves,he stole there money and ran,BYE BYE HAMP AND DONT LET THE DOOR HIT YOU IN THE BUTT
Posted by: Raymond | May 24, 2009 at 08:55 PM
Hampton should pull a Rick Ankiel and re-invent himself as a hitter. Pitching wise he is just completely flat. His breaking balls dont break, his change up is ordinary and his fastball is lifeless. I dunno what happened to this guy but he looks awful.
But like I said, he swings the bat well and if he was to work out like a hitter and such, who knows?
Remember he once hit .291 with 7 homers and 16 RBI's in only 79 AB's.
Its worth a shot if he wants to stay in baseball.
Posted by: xethicx | May 25, 2009 at 08:18 AM
Bravoboy you just keep getting more and more absurd.
Posted by: Greg | May 25, 2009 at 06:49 PM
xethicx: Ankiel was many years younger than Hampton when he re-invented himself as a hitter. Plus, there's the small matter of playing the field. Where would he play? He's an excellent fielder as a pitcher, but he wouldn't hit enough to play an OF position or 1B (since he's left-handed).
In my opinion (as a neutral Cubs fan), the Astros should unload Lee's huge contract if they can and get a huge bounty back. There won't be many big hitters available this summer and that scarcity could result in a bidding war. Would you rather have Carlos Lee or Matt Holliday? I'd take Lee any day of the week, unless you're only interested in the draft picks with Holliday.
With all that said, the Astros are notorious for being conservative at the deadline. They think they are contenders when they are not. This will probably result in very little activity in Houston this summer.
Posted by: jcarney23 | May 25, 2009 at 09:20 PM
We definitely DO NOT need another "closer" in our pen. Yes, Mike Gonzalez has blown 3 saves this year. However, we've only actually LOST one of those games. If we're coming out on the win column, I don't care what he does out there. Soriano on the other hand has been ridiculous this year. He too has 1 blown save, which ALSO resulted in a win. I don't know how any Braves fan in their right mind can be thinking "Hey, what we really need is a closer." Our "closers" have cost us exactly 1 game this year. I think I'm pretty satisfied with that.
Posted by: ksesxe | May 25, 2009 at 11:59 PM