Quote:
Originally Posted by Aordolin
I like ausmus. I am just saying that they need to upgrade one of those positions and catcher makes the most sense. Because Ausmus' skills are clearly declining. I think the whole calls a great game is overrated though. Thats just an excuse used when you cant say anything else positive about a player. Lets look at what the Astros possibly have as a rotation in 07:
Oswalt
Pettitte
Clemens
Williams
Hirsch
How much handling do the top 4 need? I would say almost none. Those guys know how to pitch already and I doubt recieve that much benifet from having Ausmus as a battery mate. Now lets say Clemens and Petitte arent back and you have a bunch of young guys in the rotation then maybe I can see your point. But even if they did get Molina you still have Ausmus. Molina only played 110 games last year so Ausmus still has plenty of playing time IMO.
Agian I dont think their lineup even with the addition of Lee is strong enough to suffer Ausmus' bat. Even more so if we dont get Clemens and Pettitte back. If we had 7 legitimate major league bats in the lineup and Ausmus was batting 8th it would be different. Lets look at the probably lineup:
Tavaras CF .278 .329 OBP .340 SLG 34 BB (Thats not good for a leadoff)
Biggio 2B .246 .306 OBP .422 SLG (batted like .130 on the road)
Berkman 1B .315 .420 OBP .621 SLG
Lee LF .300 .355 OBP .540 SLG
Ensberg 3B .235 .396 OBP .463 SLG (He should be better this year)
Scott RF .336 .426 OBP .621 SLG (2 months action - is he this good?)
Ausmus C .230 .308 OBP .285 SLG (Petitte had a higher SLG than him)
Everett SS .239 .290 OBP .352 SLG
Half their lineup hit under .250 last year. Besides Berkman and Lee I would wager that none of their other starters would start for any other team with World Series aspirations. And that is what the Astros have isnt it? Burke will probably end up replacing Biggio at 2B or even Tavaras at CF at some point this year. So I guess that could be considered an upgrade. If Luke Scott plays like he did last year and Ensberg plays like he did in 05 then this doesnt look so bad but I dot think they can afford to take that chance.
I like Tavaras improvement on defense but he should really be batting 7th or 8th in the lineup. He doesnt have the OBP to be a leadoff hitter. Though he might get better.
Everett does one thing really well. Play defense and I think he is the best defensive shortstop in the game. Because of that I am willing to suffer his poor bat. Though unlike Tavaras and Ausmus he does have some pop. He is also still fairly young.
Ausmus is 38. Slow with no power. Even if he is on a roll hitting he is only hitting singles (usually with nobody on base because nobody else gets on either). His arm strength is not what it used to be so he gets stolen on pretty regularly. He does still field the position well (saves Lidge alot of WP on his sliders).
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I know hes on the decline...I guess I'm just a homer. I think with Lee on the team, if Clemens and Pettite both come back, theres no need to overspend on a guy like Molina. I say play Ausmus some and give Hector Gimenez a chance to play a little. He's a switch hitter with some pop. The OF isnt that bad. You have Lee in LF, Scott in RF and then Burke, Lane or Taveras in CF. Thats better than quite a few teams. If Morgan Ensberg can turn things around, theres no need to add another hitter. If he can hit around .280 with 30+HR's and 100+RI's (which he did in 05)that will be like adding a hitter basically.