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Oswalt deal a success?


When we talk about evaluating baseball trades we usually have to start by comparing the analysis of baseball trades with that of basketball and football trades. Football trades are rare, so the main source of comparison is with the NBA. There is a simple proverb in the NBA. The team that acquires the best player wins the trade. That proverb doesn’t fit in baseball and that is why evaluating deals is more difficult.

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The Beane Count


Moneyball was a huge success in book form and many of us are looking forward to the movie. I’m not quite sure how it is going to play out because the key to the book was the idea and not the people involved. Many of the ideas were simple and many were complex. Today, I’m going to talk about a simple idea that tends to ring true.

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The Expendables


No, this is not a review of the new film coming out. We have enough movies with aging action heroes. However, it is good to see Arnold coming back to the big screen. This is about all of those players on the roster that seem to be expendable. It’s funny but these players are the ones keeping the Astros afloat this season.

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Sweep is Sweet


For those that go by the book, summer goes from June 21st to September 21st (or therabouts). Baseball fans usually look at summer ending when the World Series ends. With the playoffs going into November, that isn’t very practical. Personally, my summer has already ended. I work in the education business and students came back to school this week. The first week is always hectic, so entries at kissmyastros have ground to a halt.

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Lee not so bad?


It’s funny, the denegration of Carlos Lee began from the moment he was signed. People decried his signing as a one dimensional player getting 100 million dollars. The six year portion of the deal was destined to fail from the start. Everyone hoped he would make it through four years and then get traded between year four and five. Funny how bad a contract is when you hope a player gets through two thirds of it.

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Athleticism vs. Performance


I touched on this in a prior entry and thought I should spend more time on this than just a couple of sentences. There are a number of different philosophies that govern how a team drafts. You have a debate between high ceiling high school players and more major league ready college players. You have a debate between focusing on pitching or focusing on position players. The final debate is the one I will focus on today. That is the debate between focusing on athletic players that might be more raw or focusing on players that might be less athletic, but have proven track records.

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Down on the farm: Pitchers


I decided to axe the relief pitchers for the time being. There are no out and out studs among the relief arms, but there are guys we have hopes for down the line. David Carpenter is coming in from St. Louis and likely will be in Corpus Christi next year. Chia Jen-Lo has been highly touted, but also has been injured most of the season. Meanwhile, we always have Sammy Gervacio and Alberto Arias coming back from injury.

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Astros trade Feliz for Carpenter


Yeah, I know what you were thinking. No, it isn’t that Carpenter. In this case, they acquired 25 year old A ball closer David Carpenter. Switch the first name to Chris and it would be a much sweeter deal. Carpenter has 20 saves in A ball. He is a converted catcher. He has a plus arm and likely will be one of the top ten relievers when I do my outlook on the relief pitchers tomorrow. That says more about the state of Astros minor league pitching than it does about Carpenter.

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The Pence Factor


A friend of mine is editing my manuscript at the moment and since he is doing this as a favor, I won’t reveal his identity. He is one of the more staunch anti-Pence people I know. Others I know call him one of their favorites if not their favorite Astro. I can’t think of anyone else on the club with such divided groups. Everyone hates Carlos Lee and I don’t think there is anyone else that inspires any intense emotions whatsoever.

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Smorgasbord


The Astros finished off their 2010 draft class by signing athletic outfielder Austin Wates. The contract was said to be at slot. Kudos to the Astros for not blinking on his price, but the Astros did not sign coveted high schooler Jacoby Jones and did not come to terms with the 17 of their 52 draft picks. Their sixth round selection was the highest pick not to sign.

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