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San Diego Padres State Of The Union For 2016
It was a disastrous plan from the beginning, and now the 2014 winter is causing the 2015 offseason to play out different. The NL West has also seen the Giants and Diamondbacks beef up their Rosters while San Diego has lost their top 3 Bullpen arms. This squad will have a tough time avoiding 100 Losses in the 2016 season in my view. The saving grace is they can trade every Veteran player they can and start building up the club for 3 – 4 more years down the road.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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It certainly is a different feel to the winter of the Padres in the 2015 offseason than it was the 2014 Season. I never bought into the premise of how A.J. Preller built the team last year.
It was one of the easiest over/under wagers of the year. It ended in the club losing more games than they did the previous year – despite running a higher payroll.
The franchise loses Justin Upton to Free Agency, and have traded or lost their top 3 Relievers in Craig Kimbrel, Joaquin Benoit and Shawn Kelley.
Preller has also made a few questionable moves in acquiring Jon Jay for one year – and giving up on Jedd Gyorko. In my view, this is a weird move.
In an Infield that is already lacking power, this latest move furthers the need to bring in more hitters. Read the rest of this entry
How All Of The A’s Pitchers Were Acquired: Lots Of Depth Even For 2015 Without Breaking The Bank!
Part of the lure in acquiring Samardzija was that he had 1 year left of Arbitration. He will likely cost in the $12 – 15 MIL range for 2015. He tops the list of several A’s players that will be ARB eligible in 2015 like Moss, Donaldson, Cook, Parker, Jaso, Reddick and Gentry. While the club is going for it in 2014, their unloading of Cespdes’s $10.5 MIL 2015 salary will be used to pay these guys raises for next year, which should ensure them of another chance to compete for it all.. The Pitching Staff will remain almost intact, with losing just Lester, Hammel and Gregerson, while 12 guys are still under Team control, and 3 more guys with lots of MLB experience are in Sacramento waiting for a callup.
How All Of The A’s Pitchers Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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Billy Beane has assembled quite the Pitching Staff for his 2014 final playoff push despite having both Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin out for the year with Tommy John Surgery.
Sonny Gray, A.J. Griffin and Sean Doolittle (although he was drafted as a hitter) are the only active pitchers on their staff that are homegrown products.
Jon Lester was acquired with Yoenis Cespedes (who signed as an International Free Agent.
Much like the hitters, the ‘Moneyball GM’ has wheeled and dealt until he put together one of the best run prevention teams in the game baseball.
Bringing in Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel cost the team 2 young prospects and Dan Straily, all of whom were team draft picks. Read the rest of this entry
How All Of The A’s Hitters Were Acquired: 2014 Roster Tree Shows Incredible Beane Trading Record
How All Of The Athletics Hitters Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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Truthfully this blog took me forever to do the research for, simply because the A’s GM Billy Beane has been so proactive at the trading helm.
From flipping Mark Mulder several years ago which fetched Dan Haren as part of the haul, to the massive deal with Dan Haren sent to the D’Backs, he added enough depth to pull off several other moves.
Yes, along the way he may have been burned by Colorado for Carlos Gonzalez, but in a the Dbacks deal still is paying off.
The Roster deals include several Oakland draft picks being flipped for current A’s.
Nick Swisher was traded for Gio Gonzalez, who in turn the club can thank for the Catching tandem of Derek Norris and John Jaso as assets received from Swisher initially.
Jaso was brought back in a 3 way deal from Washington, where the A’s sent the SP back to the team they traded Gio Gonzalez for.
Ryan Sweeney (another player brought in for the Swisher) was packaged with Andrew Bailey to obtain Josh Reddick. Read the rest of this entry
How All Of The Blue Jays Hitters Were Acquired (2014 Roster Tree)
How All Of The Blue Jays Hitters Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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For those that have never seen one of our Roster Trees, we go over how all of the players were acquired.
It works like 6 degrees of separation. By searching back to the origin of all the way back until a player is signed, drafted or purchased.
It totally gives you an idea on how the franchise has fared.
Toronto absolutely stole Jose Bautista from Pittsburgh, and then saw Edwin Encarnacion selected off of waivers by the A’s, only to see him return as a Free Agent 6 weeks later.
The Blue Jays have seen EE bash out several seasons worth of awesome since then.
You can track back some of the player to as far as Orlando Hudson and Roy Halladay. Read the rest of this entry
Oakland Athletics Roster In 2014: How All Of The Pitchers Were Acquired
Jarrod Parker is out for the year with Tommy John Surgery. You are talking about a guy that was 25 – 16 with a 3.68 ERA over the last 2 years combined. He has top of the rotation stuff and will be greatly missed. The A’s also had a TJ scare with A.J. Griffin, but it has been downgraded to an elbow strain for now. Parker was traded for by the Athletics in a major package sent to Oakland with Collin Cowgill and Ryan Cook for Starter Trevor Cahill. The club still has Parker and Cahill. While it is bad Parker is out in 2014, he will be back. Cahill has been ineffective for the D’backs in 2014 – with a 9.17 ERA and an MLB leading 4 losses.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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I just finished writing an article about how Billy Beane was smart not to have signed Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson to extensions here.
You really wont find him do this anytime soon with any of his chuckers.
The Scott Kazmir deal is the one he likes to do. It is simple as to why the man operates like this. He doesn’t have to give up any assets in the process.
Beane is a “Baseball Rounder”.
It is not unlike him to do manage 50 – 60 transactions per year. He was won more than he has lost – whether it is Free Agency or trades. His ballclub has the best record in the Majors since the start of play in 2012 – at 200 – 144 (.581 baseball).
We will go through the Pitching First, and then the hitting by the weekend. Read the rest of this entry
Billy Beane’s Decision To Not Extend Mulder, Zito And Hudson Was The Right One: Money Ball At Its Best
Billy Beane will never spend a king’s ransom for Pitchers on long-term deals or for big $$ because of injuries like Tommy John crippling your salary infrastructure for the whole time a player may be out. Especially with smaller market teams, having too much invested with your pitchers can be catastrophic. Even though Jarrod Parker were out for a couple of years each with TJ surgeries the club was not hampered long-term financially by their injuries. It hurts yes, but not as much as it could have. He was forced into realizing the effects from losing Mulder, Zito and Hudson because the team couldn’t afford to re-sign them a decade ago. But as you will read, it was a blessing in disguise.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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This has been an organization that has thrived on brilliant drafting of young arms. But in saying that. Billy Beane is a manager that will never throw out big dollars to retain Starting Pitching once the club has past the Team Controllable years.
In the early 2000’s, the team featured three ace pitchers in Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder.
Billy Beane had to let each of them leave Oakland (in the winters of 2004 – Hudson/Mulder, and 2006 winter – Zito) because they couldn’t pay them the kind of dollars needed to secure them long term.
It was a decision that looked dire to start with while the team struggled from 2007 – 2011, but it also paved the way for a new run at AL West Division supremacy from 2012 to current.
Lets take another look at the decision on how it has worked out since then. Read the rest of this entry
Houston Astros Roster In 2014 Part 1: How All Of The Hitters Were Acquired
The Astros decided to rebuild a few years ago In doing so they traded away Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee, at first, and then have since also traded Bud Norris, Jed Lowrie, Jordan Lyles and Brandon Barnes. Many of the transactions have given the team many of its current roster today, with many of the players also with the organization – while hardly any of the departing guys are with the team that dealt for them. Today is the 1st part of a 2 parter seeing how the current club was assembled by the Astros.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @chuckbooth3024
At the MLB Reports, we intend to show you the Roster Tree for the Houston Astros – and how they assembled their current roster for hitting and Pitching.
It will work in a six degrees of separation like format.
Once we figure out the origin of how many trades going back in time it takes to see where the tree started, it will be time to dissect how the team fared on the deals.
If a player has never left the organization at all, the tree will be easy – as it will just be the year they were drafted or signed.
Sometimes pitchers will be in the hitters part of the write-up and vice versa. This is simply done when one side of hitter or pitcher is dealt for each other. Read the rest of this entry
How All Of The St. Louis Cardinals Roster Was Acquired: 2014 Season
The Cardinals Roster Tree has been the easiest to do by far. This organization has Drafted so incredibly well, that there has been no real need for trading of late. We will still see how drafting J.D. Drew has turned into Adam Wainwright, and how Albert Pujols signing with the Angels, made for the Cards to select young phenom Michael Wacha. St. Louis is made to their 8th NLCS in the last 13 years, and 4th World Series Appearance in the last 10, with a multitude of young stars coming in the horizon. They are going to be players in the National League for some time to come.
How All Of The Cardinals Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @chuckbooth3024
At the MLB Reports, we intend to show you the Roster Tree for the St. Louis Cardinals – and how they assembled their current roster for hitting and Pitching. It will work in a six degrees of separation like format.
Once we figure out the origin of how many trades going back in time it takes to see where the tree started, it will be time to dissect how the team fared on the deals.
If a player has never left the organization at all, the tree will be easy – as it will just be the year they were drafted or signed.
Cards State Of The Union – Fall 2013: John Mozeliak + STL Brass Are Baseball’s Best ‘Rounders’
The Cardinals are the model NL Franchise, having gone to 8 out of the last 13 NLCS Matchups. They also stand to benefit that the highest revenue teams in the MLB like New York, Boston, Los Angles (x2), Detroit, Texas and San Francisco do not reside in their Division. Their team has been run the best in the MLB for over a decade. At a just north of a $115 MIL payroll, they slightly hover over the Reds for highest team salary in the NL Central. if the Cards continue to display “Rounding techniques” in player acquisitions, they will keep contending every year with the other big boys across baseball. When you add the fact that the brass knows how to run a club like the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bays Rays do, but also have money to spend, then you can see how dangerous this organization has been since 2000.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
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What is not to like about this team?
The club has appeared in 4 World Series in the last decade, 8 NLCS series since the turn of the millennium, and now with brilliant drafting and trades, the club is in outstanding position to keep it up for the next decade.
While I hated the fact they recently signed Jhonny Peralta, I understand the move because it was so smart.
This franchise addressed their two top needs this offseason, without surrendering any of their top young Pitching prospects, or even Oscar Taveras for that matter.
Did I also mention that when Carlos Beltran signs somewhere else – the club receives another pick?
Michael Wacha Tosses 8.2 IP Of No – Hit Ball 9/24/13
Houston Astros State Of The Union Address: Fall 2013
From 1992 – 2006, Houston was one of the best franchises in the games of baseball, not having one losing season in that time span. They won 4 Division Titles, 8 – 2nd place finishes, and appeared in 6 playoffs. After being swept in the 2005 World Series, the core got old, and the team waited too long to rebuild. Once it was time, the management actually did a smart thing in totally gutting the entire franchise, in order to restock the Minor League System. Now with 3 105+ Loss seasons, and back to back 1st overall picks, the team has begun the process. An ownership changed mirrored the last transference of all the remaining Veterans from the previous regime. How long will it take for the Astros to compete again?
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @mlbreports
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The Astros had one of the easiest years to peg down in the game of baseball for 2013.
They were horrible early, traded away every possible Veteran that were making any kind of cash on the Major League Level, and then proceeded to be even worse after the ALL – Star Game.
The worst part of the campaign was left for the end, where they promptly lost their last 15 games – to finish with a record of 51 – 111.
It was their 3rd straight 100+ Loss season. But overlooking the obvious is that they actual drew a few more fans in 2013 – compared to 2012.
That was more a symptom of the club moving to the American League. At least they were not last in the league for Attendance, like payroll.
The Houston Astros Payroll in 2014 + Organization: Affiliates, Prospects + Depth Charts (MLB + MiLB)
The Astros have scaled their Payroll to miniscule proportions. As of this minute, the players they have signed – that aren’t on entry level deals, equals $4.37 MIL, and that is if the club picks up their Team Option on Philip Humber for 2014. The only other player that makes more than an entry level is Jose Altuve at $1.37 MIL in 2014. The club is paying more in dead money to Wandy Rodriguez ($5.5 MIL in 2014) as part of the 2012 Trade worked out between clubs. It has been bantered about that the ownership and management are willing to spend some money in Free Agency for 2014. MLB currently does not have a floor for Team Salary in the current CBA, so why would the club do that until they are ready to compete?
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @mlbreports and Jeff Kleiner (Salary, Roster and Depth Chart Expert for the MLB) – visit his website here Follow @prosportsroster
A 3rd straight season with 105+ Losses, and 15 straight losses to finish the 2013 campaign does not give the fans very much to look forward to in 2014.
I am here to tell you that the MLB should be ashamed of letting the Houston Astros field such an incompetent team.
Having said this, I don’t personally blame them for tanking it over the last 3 years. They are the other ‘extreme’ – of what the New York Yankees and LA Dodgers have done payroll wise.
Last season at the end of the year, their highest paid player for the Active Roster was Erik Bedard, making $1.1 MIL.
If they keep picking 1st overall, it is only a matter of time before the team becomes very good, just like the Rays, Nationals, Twins and Pirates have all done in recent times.
For the Up to Date Roster for the Astros all year around, please visit Jeff’s Website right here
For the Entire Page of teams links we have dedicated to Payroll, Rosters, Depth Chart, State Of the Unions and Roster Trees, please click right here. Please bookmark this page and check back, as we are busy on the analysis at MLB Reports always.
Jose Altuve Highlights
St. Louis Cardinals Current Roster Tree: How All Of The Team Was Acquired
The Cardinals Roster Tree has been the easiest to do by far. This organization has Drafted so incredibly well, that there has been no real need for trading of late. We will still see how drafting J.D. Drew has turned into Adam Wainwright, and how Albert Pujols signing with the Angels, made for the Cards to select young phenom Michael Wacha. St. Louis is in their 8th NLCS in the last 13 years, with a multitude of young stars coming. They are going to be players in the National League for some time to come.
How All Of The Cardinals Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @chuckbooth3024
At the MLB Reports, we intend to show you the Roster Tree for the St. Louis Cardinals – and how they assembled their current roster for hitting and Pitching. It will work in a six degrees of separation like format.
Once we figure out the origin of how many trades going back in time it takes to see where the tree started, it will be time to dissect how the team fared on the deals.
If a player has never left the organization at all, the tree will be easy – as it will just be the year they were drafted or signed.
For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.
Carlos Beltran Steals Game #1 of the 2013 NLCS for the Cards
Top MLB Teams 1 – 30: Monthly Rankings + (Top 200 Stats For Reading And Fantasy Baseball)
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Follow @mlbreportsThursday July.11/2013
The Giants have gone 9 – 23 in their last 32 Games – and are in danger of having a brutal campaign just one year after capturing the World Series. Key injuries and overlogged pitchers have been the main point of contention. They lost 8 Ranking Spots this past time. Should they also become sellers at the Trade Deadline, Tim Lincecum and Hunter Pence could fetch a few players in return. The Giants are currently 40 – 50 and 6.5 Games behind the NL West Leading DBACKS – but are in last in the NL West.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The time has come for the July Power Rankings with Stats Edition. There will be one each for May, June, July, August, September – and then a special playoff edition Power Rankings will be done in October.
I will not do a weekly Power Rankings during these weeks, because in essence, these are the weekly rankings done on a much larger scale.
These Reports are done with a heavy thought to how the teams project by the end of the season – along with how the clubs have fared so far.
I will point out who has had great months for the all 30 MLB Teams. I reward the good performances in these rankings – and leave the poor ones for the Podcasts or future articles. CLICK THE READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY ICON or scroll past the video and picture.
The Astros Are Making Player Moves And Are 4 – 5 In The Last 9 Games
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Brett Wallace had struggled something fierce to start this year before his most recent demotion to the Minor Leagues. At Age 26, he is nearing the end of his rope with the Astros. He has a Career 3 Slash Line of .243/.316/.682 – with 16 HRs and 66 RBI in 743 At-Bats. Not encouraging numbers. He was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2010 season for OF Anthony Gose. At least Gose hasn’t accomplished much with the Canadian franchise yet.
By Richard Perez (Astros Correspondent visit the StrosBros Website here): Follow @yokorick
After seven games played, 17 Strikeouts, and one hit in 27 Plate Appearances, the Astros optioned First Baseman Brett Wallace to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and it comes a great news to me. I feel that Brett Wallace is on limited time in the Major Leagues and that he just isn’t going to pan out to be the highly touted prospect he once was.
He’s had somewhat of a successful tenure in Houston, but I feel compelled to believe that he was transferred around from one organization to the next while never making an appearance at the Major League level is one of the more pieces of condemning evidence from early on the Brett Wallace was doomed to be a dud
Astros Struggle in the 2013 Year:
Athletics 8 Game Win Streak Is Nothing New To Pattern Formed Since Last Year
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Oakland Athletics’ Jed Lowrie has made Billy Beane look like a genius once again – with clubbing 16 hits, (8 of the Extra Base Variety), Scoring 10 Runs and Walking 6 times so far in the teams 8 – 2 start. He has an OPS of 1.258. He was acquired from the Houston Astros in a February trade which sent Chris Carter the other way. The man can play several defensive positions well. He is due for Arbitration at the end of this season, before becoming a Free Agent in 2015. Beane doesn’t seem to make a bad move these days.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Hands up.. How many people would have thought that the Oakland Athletics would start the 2013 season with the best record in the Major Leagues so far?
Of course this website is not surprised at all. Jonathan Hacohen (Website Founder and current Oakland A’s Correspondent) wrote a brilliant piece in the 1st week of July/2012 – breaking down Billy Beane‘s new MoneyBall Philosophy here.
I have to admit something right now.. I had not seen the movie “MoneyBall” even by this time. Yes…brutal and I was kicking myself for not seeing it before hand.
After the movie, I did some digging and was extremely flabbergasted with what I found about Beane’s magic. I wrote a Roster Tree for the Hitters and Pitchers in the organization. I studied every single transaction to back track how each of the current member of the team had arrived in an Oakland uniform. You can find that 2 part series here.
Can the Oakland A’s Do it Again in 2013 Preview:
Why The Houston Astros Can beat The Texas Rangers On Opening Night
From Chuck Booth: Lee White sent this to me on late Saturday Night – no joke. I am still on vacation and watching the Dodgers Season Opener today (Cain vs Kershaw), but attest to this.
The Houston Astros will take the diamond at 7:10 local time to square off against the Texas Rangers. Everyone is looking past the Astros, and for good reason. The Astros have lost 213 games over the past two season, but are looking for a change of fortune in 2013. It won’t be easy for ex cellar dweller of the NL Central. The Astros are now in a tougher division, but can still improve on the field of play. But forget all that. It is Opening Night!
Baseball is back, and the games finally mean something again. Everyone has a fresh clean slate, and are looking to improve on their past seasons. Forget what teams did what last year, that doesn’t matter anymore.
When the Astros play the Rangers tonight, I fully believe the Astros may be able to surprise some people. They have arguably the best pitcher (at home) that you can have taking the mound in Bud Norris.
Last season Norris was terrible, unless he was pitching at home. My ‘Stros Bro and I, Richard Perez, had a bit of a debate about Bud pitching Opening Night instead of Lucas Harrell, and there is no way around what Norris can do at home. Last season at home, he went 4-1 with a 1.71 ERA.
He came extremely close to setting a franchise record for ERA at home last year. How can you not pitch him for Opening Night? Especially since, you know, it is at Minute Maid Park. I predict that manger Bo Porter may stretch Norris out a bit in his first start and let him go seven innings. If he can make it that far, he’ll go seven innings and give up one run and help propel the Astros to victory.
Another reason I think the Astros can beat the Rangers on Opening Night is because they’re facing Matt Harrison. Harrison was a pretty good pitcher for the Rangers last season, I’m not trying to belittle what he can do.
But, he has never pitched well against the Astros. In fact, in four outings, two starts, he is 0-1 with a 5.04 ERA against the boys from Houston. Harrison isn’t exactly a veteran either. So he has been facing the rebuilding Houston Astros, especially as a starter.
One more reason why I think the Astros can win. Here it is: Offense. The Astros haven’t had it the past few years, but with the addition of Chris Carter, and a little from Carlos Pena, they will get some offense. Yes, they will also strike out a ton, but tomorrow night against the Rangers, I believe we may see a few long balls from the Astros.
Houston will have the little hit machine, Jose Altuve, leading off with Brett Wallace following, and then probably Chris Carter in the three hole. Carter will probably be the Astros biggest bat in the lineup, so Brett Wallace will see his fare share of pitches. Especially if Altuve is on base. The Rangers will try to make Brett Wallace earn his way on base, and Wallace can run into a baseball. He is no slouch.
I’m not predicting a blowout, but I may be one of the few people who actually believe the Astros can win tonight against the Rangers. They will need to put it all together though. Pitching will be the main key as Bud Norris will need to shut the Rangers potent lineup down if the Astros want to have a chance to shock the baseball world on Opening Night.
Lee White
Oakland A’s Player Roster in 2013: State Of The Union Part 2: The Pitchers
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A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A’s in his 2012 Rookie Season. The A’s will look for the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013. The former University of San Diego Pitcher yielded a 1.13 WHIP during his time last year. As the teams #4 Starting Pitcher on the depth chart, Griffin should be able to see some favorable matchups in 2013. If he throws like 2012 again in 2013, he might very pole vault to being the ace of the rotation. We may have another 3 – 4 staff that contend for the AL Cy Young like the days of Hudson, Mulder and Zito.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Billy Beane has always recycled his great starting pitchers once they hit the experience level that he could not pay them for. His new crop of pitchers include Jarrod Parker, Brett Anderson, Tommy Milone and new Starter A.J. Griffin.
They also are bringing back Bartolo Colon for the 2013 season, despite taking a 50 game suspension for PED use last year. Billy Beane is a master tactician on assessing a players worth and especially pitchers. Just like the hitters, the pitchers are all mostly in the 25-30 Age bracket. He has a quality set of controllable relief pitchers in the barn to close out games too.
A.J. Griffin at University of San Diego:
Can Nate Freiman Make The Houston Astros?
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Freiman has a 3 Slash Line of .294/.364/.847 in the Minor Leagues – with 71 HRs and 368 RBI in just 1876 AB for the Padres organization.
By Lee White (Astros Correspondent) Follow @Lee_White73
Nate Freiman was taken by the Houston Astros in the Rule V Draft. Freiman, a career .294 hitter in Minors, has never seen Major League playing time. He has that chance now. Freiman has shown the ability to hit, and hit with power. 2012 marked his second straight season driving in 100 runs or more. The only mark on Freiman that I have found is he doesn’t really have a position to play in the field. Good thing the Astros will have a DH this season!
It is simply crazy that the Padres had not protected this 6 Foot 7 Giant. It may be a loss that will be felt for years if the man from Massachutsses pans out for Houston.
Nate Freiman walkoff HR for the San Antonio Missions:
Houston Astros Roster In 2013: State Of The Union:
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By Nicholas Rossoletti (MLB Reports Trade Correspondent): Follow @NRoss56
In 2005, the Houston Astros completed a run to the World Series. It was the culmination of the Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell teams in Houston. That team had players on it named Clemens, Pettitte, Oswalt,Bagwell and Biggio. This Houston team is a far way from that National League Champion. Houston has failed at epic levels the last two seasons. The state of the current union of this team is summed up in one word: bad. With that said, there is a ray of hope in these dark days.
When I first learned of this assignment, I planned on doing a portion of a piece on the Astros most expensive and possibly most prominent offensive piece, Jed Lowrie. Houston, in an effort to aggressively proceed with rebuilding its roster, traded Lowrie for several pieces. The trade itself has been covered by this site and our Astros’ corespondent already so I’m going to focus on piece of it. Chris Carter, the First Baseman/Outfielder, acquired by the Astros. Carter has shown consistent power at the Minor League levels as he consistently posted well above league average ISO numbers. His brief stint in the Majors with the A’s prior to the 2012 season did not see those numbers translate. Finally in 2012, we got a look at what we hope is the real Chris Carter.
Carter posted 16 Home Runs in less than 300 Plate Appearances while posting a spectacular ISO. Carter is not the type of player who will hit for average as his Strike-Out rates are consistently well above league average, but he does so an excellent propensity for taking walks. Carter is an Adam Dunn – type player. Big power, good On Base Percentage, but a high Strike Out rate with a low Batting Average. Overall, I think he will make a fine number four hitter, but the pieces around him need to fit. The other issue is where does Carter play. He is traditionally a First Baseman, but Houston is currently playing 26-Year Old Brett Wallace at first in an effort to determine his value. More important than Wallace though is one of Houston’s top prospects, First Baseman Jonathan Singleton.
Bagwell and Biggio Mix of Highlights: Who will be the next tandem of Astros greats?:
Chris Carter: The Future Star That Will Make Billy Beane Regret His Trade Mistake
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Chris Carter: A career .283 hitter in the minors, with a .378 OBP and .535 SLG. The perfect combination of power and patience. He will prove to be the one that got away from Billy Beane.
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist, Oakland A’s Correspondent and Website Founder): Follow @Jhacohen
Mark down the date of February 4th, 2013. The day that Billy Beane broke my heart. In preparing for my latest A’s feature, the working title of the article was “Chris Carter: The Next Great A’s Superstar”. Then fate intervened. Or rather, Beane decided to pull off one too many trades. After a successful offseason that saw the A’s GM bolster significantly bolster his playoff squad, Beane decided that one more blockbuster move was in order. Jed Lowrie was headed to Oakland, with Chris Carter (the good one), Max Stassi and Brad Peacock going over to the Astros. For the purpose of this piece, I will be focusing on the loss of Carter. Stassi is a former 4th round pick of the A’s and a young 21 Year Old catching prospect. With Derek Norris ready to grab the A’s catching job for the next decade, I can see how he was expandable. Peacock was a 41st round pick of the Nationals. A 25 Year Old arm that may develop one day, but crashed and burned last season in AAA. With the A’s pitching depth, I can see how he could be ticketed out-of-town for a change of scenery. But Chris Carter? Really Billy??!! You worked your magic to get him in the first place from the Diamondbacks. I certainly hope that your return pans out (Jed Lowrie and Fernando Rodriguez). Right now, I simply cannot see the logic of this move.
Houston Astros Payroll In 2013 And Contracts Going Forward
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Follow @mlbreportsThursday, December.27, 2012
Nicholas Rossoletti (Baseball Writer): Follow @NRoss56
The 2013 Houston Astros payroll is one of the stranger payrolls to look at given the current state of baseball where player’s salaries seem to be ever-increasing. Before Dec.18, the Astros were paying exactly one player above One Million Dollars annually. That player was shortstop, Jed Lowrie. Then, the team added 1B/DH Carlos Pena to its roster on a one year deal for approximately $2.9 Million according to reports and reliever, Jose Veras on a 1 Year/$1.85 Million dollar deal. Thats it. Three players earning more than a Million Dollars on a professional baseball franchise approximately sixty (60) days until pitchers and catchers report. (Please note that the Astros are rumored to be interested in signing Third Baseman Jose Lopez who may be added to this list). These are your 2013 Houston Astros, who are a far cry from the Astros of the mid-2000’s who signed Andy Pettite, Roger Clemens, traded for Carlos Beltran and made a run at a World Series. Read the rest of this entry
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2: The Pitchers And Analyzing Mulder, Hudson and Zito Post Oakland
Sunday, Dec.02/2012
A.J Griffin was 7-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 15 Games Started for the A’s in his 2012 Rookie Season. The A’s will look to the 24 Year old for some Quality Starts in 2013.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Yesterday we talked about the hitters of the Oakland Athletics current roster and today we will talk about their pitching. This has been an organization that has thrived on brilliant drafting of young arms. In the early 2000’s, the team featured three ace pitchers in Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. Billy Beane had to let each of them leave Oakland because they couldn’t pay them the kind of dollars needed to secure them long term. With the exception of this year, Barry Zito has not lived up to his 7 Years and 126 Million Dollar contract he signed with the San Francisco Giants since leaving the Athletics. Despite a 15-8 year for the SF club this past year, he holds a 58-69 (.447) record for San Francisco lifetime with a 4.47 ERA. He was 102-63 (.618) and a 3.55 ERA with the A’s before leaving at the age of 29. The guy made 18.25 Million in his Oakland days and has already pocketed 99 Million with SF.
Mark Mulder never was the same pitcher in the NL and was out of baseball four years after being traded to St. Louis. His A’s career had netted him an 81-42 (.659) record with a 3.92 ERA. He was only 22-18 (.550) and a 5.04 ERA with the Cardinals before retiring. As you will read in this article below, the franchise made a worthy trade in returns for this man. Mulder made 25.3 Million in his contract with the Cardinals after making only 8.4 Million with the A’s.
Tim Hudson on the other hand, has been one of the better pitchers in the NL for the last decade, still towing the hill for the Braves at the age of 38. He was 92-39 (.702) with a 3.30 ERA for the A’s. He has since gone 105-65 with a 3.52 ERA for the Braves in in 8 years. He definitely has been worth the $ invested (84.5 Million plus another 9.0 Million in 2013.) He only made 4.5 Million in his 6 years with Oakland. The sandwich pick they landed for Hudson’s Free Agent signing was Travis Buck. Unfortunately Buck only played 170 games for the franchise, hitting .250 with 18 HRs and 71 RBI in 571 AB.
Total Record for 3 other teams is 185-152 (.549) and they have made 208.8 Million away from Oakland, whereas they were 275-144 (.656) and made a total 33.15 Million Dollars with the Athletics. I would say, Beane made the right decision in not signing them.
The Future of the Oakland A’s: The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers: Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.
For The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 1: The Hitters Click Here
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 1: The Hitters
Saturday, Dec.01/2012
How important was Cespedes to The A’s Lineup in 2012? They went 82-47 with him in the lineup and 12-21 without him. He was the biggest reason the team soared into the playoff race and won the AL East. Beane secured him in Free Agency before the start of last year. He is signed for 3 more years at 9 Million Dollars Per Year.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
A few months ago, our Lead Columnist/Website Founder (Jonathan Hacohen) wrote a brilliant piece about the assembly of the Oakland Athletics roster. He called it “MoneyBall 2.” Right after the piece, the A’s surged to the greatest record in the second half of the season and won the AL West. The team is now constructed of power hitters and power pitchers. The man behind it all is Billy Beane. I will not get into too much of this philosophy as you can read that piece here. What I intend to do is to show the roster of how it was comprised by Beane in the form of a roster tree. It is just like a family tree, however this shows trades dating back 2,3,4,5,6 fold etc.. in order to show you the mastery of the GM’s ability to field a roster on a limited budget.
The Future of the Oakland A’s: The Mustache Gang Meets the Bash Brothers: Revealing Billy Beane’s Master Plan click here.
The Oakland A’s 2013 Roster Tree Part 2: The Pitchers click here.
The Toronto Blue Jays Franchise 1994-2012: Part 2 of a 7 Part Series
Wednesday, Nov.28th, 2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5-7 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Teams Payroll going into 2013 and 5.The Ball Park that they play in. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) Be sure to check my author page with a list of all of my archived articles section here.
Today’s Part 2 Feature of the Blue Jays Franchise will be written by our Baseball Writer Alex Mednick. To do this franchise series service, Alex has studied this club a lot more than I have in the last 20 years and will do this article better justice for you the reader!
Alex Mednick (Baseball Writer and Analyst):
Note from Alex Mednick: Chuck Booth offered to me the opportunity to step in to his Franchise Series and cover the Blue Jays history from 1994-Present. I gladly accepted the honor.
In Part 1 of this series, Chuck covered the Blue Jays history from their humble beginnings at Exhibition Stadium in 1977, through the glory years in the late 80s and early 90s. The story dropped off right after the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Championships in 1992 and 1993. We closed the books with the walk-off winning home run by Joe Carter to win the World Series, and the parties and celebrations that were to follow across Ontario, Canada. I will pick it back up at the beginning of the 1994 season, when the Blue Jays had high hopes to win a third consecutive world championship.
(Scroll Down Past the Links or Click the READ MORE OF THIS ENTRY ICON.)
Franchise Series Links:
Franchise History Part 1 1977-1993: https://mlbreports.com/2012/11/09/jays1/
The Hitters: The Toronto Blue Jays Franchise Hitters: Part 3 Of A 7 Part Article Series:
The Pitchers: The Toronto Blue Jays Franchise Pitchers Part 4 Of A 7 Part Series
Skydome: An Interview with ‘Rogers Centre Expert’ and “MLB reports Founder” Jonathan Hacohen Part 5 of 7
2013 Team Payroll: https://mlbreports.com/2012/09/10/tor/
Special Bonus Fan Blog Of 2013 Team Payroll: https://mlbreports.com/2012/09/12/torfanalex/
Just How Bad Are The Houston Astros?
Wednesday September 12th, 2012
Sam Evans: The 2012 Houston Astros are breaking records every day. If you have followed baseball at all these last two years, you know that these aren’t records that are normally associated with winning baseball teams. At their current pace, this year’s Houston team is on pace to lose at least 111 games. What Jeff Luhnow and others are doing to turn around the losing in Houston looks great, but it doesn’t hide the fact that the product the Astros are putting out on the field is historically bad.
Since 1962, only one team (the 2003 Detroit Tigers) has lost more than 108 games in a single-season. The 2003 Detroit Tigers were pretty awful, but it’s not like they were bereft of talent. That team featured a young Jeremy Bonderman in the rotation and Fernando Rodney pitched out of the bullpen. That Tigers team also had Dmitri Young, Carlos Pena, Omar Infante, Andres Torres, and Cody Ross. Looking at the current Astros’ roster, I don’t see anywhere close to that level of talent. Read the rest of this entry
MLB Reports Monthly Power Rankings: July 2012
Wednesday July.4, 2012
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)-We are going to bring you monthly power rankings every month of the season. There will be a few notes written for each team. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts. The Texas Rangers are the top ranked team yet once again, although teams are certainly gaining on the them in the last month. If this report was being done last week I might have put the New York Yankees in 1st and Texas in 2nd. A 7 game winning streak help preserve another month for Texas on the leader-board. There were superior months by Aaron Hill, Jose Bautista, Joey Votto , Jason Heyward and a new phenomenon was born with Jose Altuve. It was a great month for the MLB. With 20 teams within 5.5 games or less for the playoff races, we are sure to see some serious movements in the Power Rankings in the 2nd half of the season.
Standings taken before play Tuesday July.03/2012
July Power Rankings-Last Month Rank in Parenthesis
1. Texas-50-30 (1) The Rangers rode a 7 game winning streak to end up 18-8 for the last month. David Murphy, Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus all hit over .300 in the last 30 days. The Rangers were able to weather a slow spurt from Josh Hamilton, in which he hit .222 with only 4 HRs for the month. Matt Harrison has asserted himself as an ace on the staff with a 5-0 month with a 1.29 ERA, while leading the American League with 11 wins on the year. The Rangers have 6 players going to the ALL-Star Game including 3 starters. Yu Darvish can make a 7th if he is voted into the final roster spot with his rookie campaign of 10-5 so far.
2. NY Yankees 48-31(5) The Yankees have ridden good pitching and a hot bat from Robinson Cano to a 19-7 record over the last month, with a 5 games lead over their competition in the AL East. Cano hit .370 with 12 HRs and 24 RBI in the last month. Derek Jeter is hitting .298 overall but saw his average go from .389 in April, to .283 in May to .232 in June. He still tops a list of 4 Yankees heading to the ALL-Star Game including 23 HR homer man Curtis Granderson. Phil Hughes went 5-1 in the month with a 2.59 ERA and Ivan Nova won his 3 decisions with a miniscule 1.32 ERA. Rafael Soriano has converted 18 out of 19 save opportunities since taking over as team closer.
3. San Francisco 45-30 (9) The Giants went 16-11 in the month and saw a perfect game from Matt Cain, with a few other 1 hitters. The team shutout the Dodgers 3 games in a row in a series last week. The Giants have Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey and Melky Cabrera starting in KC next week. The Melkman continues to show that last year was no fluke with his .352 Average and he is leading the Major Leagues with 111 base hits. The Giants pitching staff has coped with the loss of Brian Wilson and the ineffectiveness of starter Tim Lincecum, by the rest of the staff having career years.
4. LA Angels 45-35 (12) The Angels have been really steady since the end of May. They just finished going 17-8 in the last 25 days on the backs of ALL-Stars Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo and resurgent Albert Pujols. Trout might be the most exciting player on the planet these days and is a lock for AL Rookie of the Year if he keeps this up. Trout hit .367 over the last month and has taken over the AL batting lead with a .342 AVG. Trumbo hit 10 HRs and drove in 28 RBI for the month and Pujols hit .337. to raise his average 40 points. C.J Wilson was good enough in June to be named as CC Sabathia‘s replacement at the ALL-Star game.
5. Washington 45-32(9) Mike Morse has returned to the lineup with a vengeance during the last week with a .484 average. Super Sub Tyler Moore has also hit .415 in the last 14 games with 4 HRs and 12 RBI. Ian Desmond had 16 Extra base hits for the month to go along with 20 RBI, while he made the ALL-Star game as a reserve. Ryan Zimmerman awoke from a season long slump to plate 17 RBI. Adam LaRoche still contributed 7 HRs and 15 RBI despite a paltry .191 average in June. Stephen Strasburg is 9-3 on the year with a 2.81 ERA and a league leading 122 SO. Gio Gonzalez is 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA. Both Gonzalez and Strasburg made the ALL-Star squad. Read the rest of this entry
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