Lamb to get less playing time

[homer]

Brownie reports that Lance is at first, and not in the outfield, for the rest of the year which will decrease Lamb's playing time.

[homer]

Soon after Cooper took over as manager, he told Lance Berkman he was going to play exclusively at first base, rather than jump back and forth between first and right field.

According to Cooper, Berkman replied, "thank you."

Berkman has said many times this year that he does not mind playing the outfield, but he's just as happy playing only at first base, where he's slightly more comfortable.

"Really, truly, it doesn't bother me to go back and forth," he said. "But it is nice to know that I won't be."

Berkman thinks it's in the team's best interests if he plays one steady position.

"It solidifies some other guys," Berkman said. "From a team standpoint, it's the right thing to do, to establish some cohesiveness. We can't keep switching back and forth between we're doing this, we're not doing this. We have to find some combination that works."

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070829&content_id=2177909&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou

[Fredia]

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070829&content_id=2177909&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou

who would have thunk berkman could have been so coherent

[94CougarGrad]

who would have thunk berkman could have been so coherent

He went to Rice.

[utastro]

who would have thunk berkman could have been so coherent

Did you hear his player of the game interview with Patti Smith?  Impressive. Lance for player GM.

[Houston]

who would have thunk berkman could have been so coherent

Isn't irony funny?

[Phil_in_CS]

He went to Rice.

We've mentioned relaxed standards for athletes before.....

[Kent's Moustache]

Doesn't less playing time for Lamb make it more likely that Elias eventually rates him as a Type B free agent, rather than a Type A free agent, for the purposes of draft pick compensation (assuming the Astros offer Lamb arbitration and he declines)?

[Jacksonian]

Doesn't less playing time for Lamb make it more likely that Elias eventually rates him as a Type B free agent, rather than a Type A free agent, for the purposes of draft pick compensation (assuming the Astros offer Lamb arbitration and he declines)?

It's a 2 year average, so I'm not sure.  Last year they had him listed as a first baseman which hurt.  If he's listed at 3b this year it'll help in the rankings.

[Limey]

Berkman has said many times this year that he does not mind playing the outfield, but he's just as happy playing only at first base, where he's slightly more comfortable.

There's also no one to talk to in RF.

[Duman]

There's also no one to talk to in RF.

LB: Hunter! Hey HUNTER!!!!!
(silence)
LB: Maybe if I shade the hitter to right center he can hear me (shuffles over) HUNTER!!! PENCEY!!!!!!
LB: Man, I hate RF

[Noe]

LB: Hunter! Hey HUNTER!!!!!
(silence)
LB: Maybe if I shade the hitter to right center he can hear me (shuffles over) HUNTER!!! PENCEY!!!!!!
LB: Man, I hate RF

You underestimate Mr. Berkman:

LB: Hunter! Hey HUNTER!!!!!
(silence)
LB: Maybe if I shade the hitter to right center he can hear me (shuffles over) HUNTER!!! PENCEY!!!!!!
LB: Man, I hate RF... oooohhhh.... look... A PENNY!!!! 
(turning to the crowd in the RF seats)
LB: Anybody lose this penny... hey, look, it's a 1964 Lincoln penny... is that worth anything?
crowd: Boooooo....
LB: What?  Luke?  He's sitting in the bench ri.... hey, I get it, you're saying that Luke lost this penny!  Thanks!

[Fredia]

the tz at its best

[mihoba]

There's also no one to talk to in RF.

That's okay. He has adapted. If he keeps hitting homers, he'll keep getting his man hugs from Burke.

[homer]

Footer gets a quote:

Cooper told Lamb he'll be a bench player, a pinch-hitter, and he'll receive a start from time to time when the club "faces a tough right-hander."

"I wanted to make sure he understood where I was coming from," Cooper said. "That's not to say he's not a valuable member, but Ty's a guy that's our third baseman and he has to play as much as possible.

"It's tough for [Lamb], too, because he's going to be a free agent. We talked and initially, and he was somewhat upset by it, frustrated. Later on, he came up to me and said, 'I understand.'"

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070830&content_id=2179222&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou

Dick thinks the Ty trade was Purpura's last fuck up:

Tim Purpura's final bone-headed move was trading for a third baseman no better than the one he already had on his roster. Maybe McLane and Tal Smith deserve some blame for the other mistakes, but this one almost certainly was Purpura's.

He could have signed Mike Lamb to a two-year contract for less money than Ty Wigginton is going to make. He wouldn't have surrendered Dan Wheeler. Purpura made some curious decisions during three seasons on the job. None was more curious than this one.

http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/archives/2007/08/drayton_as_stei.html

[JimR]

sorry, but i like the Wigginton trade.

[Astroholic]

sorry, but i like the Wigginton trade.

dos

[jbm]

Ditto, I've read in other places people being real critical of this trade.  I just don't get it.  Wigginton has hardly been the butcher at third as some had predicted, and looking at Wigginton's past stats, he is pretty consistent offensively.  Not at a high level, but predictably consistent.  I think that has some additional value to a GM as he doesn't need to worry so much about whether he will get Jeckyll or Hyde, ala Ensberg and Lane. 

[ybbodeus]

Dick thinks the Ty trade was Purpura's last fuck up:

http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/archives/2007/08/drayton_as_stei.html

Did Dickie post that opinion immediately following the Brooks Robinson-ish play that Lamb made yesterday, the one named numero uno on the Web Gems segment of the show that shall go unnamed?

[homer]

3B Free Agents:

Pedro Feliz (33)
Mike Lamb (32)
Mike Lowell (34)
Alex Rodriguez (32) - Has ability to opt out of contract after season

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/03/2008_mlb_free_a.html

I think that Dick underestimates the pay day Lamb is going to get. That along with the fact that Lamb is such a valuable bench player (more valuable in that role than as a starter) made the trade a good one.

[pravata]

3B Free Agents:

Pedro Feliz (33)
Mike Lamb (32)
Mike Lowell (34)
Alex Rodriguez (32) - Has ability to opt out of contract after season

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/03/2008_mlb_free_a.html

I think that Dick underestimates the pay day Lamb is going to get. That along with the fact that Lamb is such a valuable bench player (more valuable in that role than as a starter) made the trade a good one.

Wigginton, more reliable offensively than Ensberg, more reliable defensively than Lamb.

[Noe]

Wigginton, more reliable offensively than Ensberg, more reliable defensively than Lamb.

He could have signed Mike Lamb to a two-year contract for less money than Ty Wigginton is going to make.

Pinwheel wrote *this* with a straight face?  How did he come to this conclusion?  I thought Purpura told him flat out (maybe it was another conversation though with Daisy and Duke) that Wiggington was necessary to this team because having FA's to be demand money and have to feel you need to pay for them because you have no other options is a bad thing.

I thought that was being a good GM, you know, not allowing the leverage to be against you?  This is getting funny.

[Jacksonian]

Wigginton, more reliable offensively than Ensberg, more reliable defensively than Lamb.

I'll be interested to see if the new GM considers Wigginton the Astros 3b for 2008.

[Kent's Moustache]

I'll be interested to see if the new GM considers Wigginton the Astros 3b for 2008.

Good point... because it seemed as though the D-Rays considered Wigginton to be the RH version of how the Astros regarded Lamb at the beginning of '07.  Very "Groundhog Day"-ish.

[Reuben]

Good point... because it seemed as though the D-Rays considered Wigginton to be the RH version of how the Astros regarded Lamb at the beginning of '07.  Very "Groundhog Day"-ish.

In terms of playing multiple positions, yeah. But Wigginton more or less played every day, and in fact has basically been a full-time player his whole career, whereas Lamb only had that role his first season with Texas. I'll be interested to see how Lamb does next year, wherever he ends up.

[TheWizard]

This is a very philosophical and bullshit way to look at it, but this is how I look at it:  Lamb has had a few years now to separate himself on this team, and he hasn't distinguished himself as anything more than a role player, albeit a very useful one. So how much will it really hurt the team to let him go now that we have Wigginton?

Of course, its hard to know how much of his inability to become a starter was the "loyalty" to Ensberg.  In the previous years, did Lamb have a legitimate chance of being the starting 3B based on his performance, or was he always going to be regulated to split-time no matter how well he performed? 

[Kent's Moustache]

In terms of playing multiple positions, yeah. But Wigginton more or less played every day, and in fact has basically been a full-time player his whole career, whereas Lamb only had that role his first season with Texas. I'll be interested to see how Lamb does next year, wherever he ends up.

If D-Rays CF Rocco Baldelli hadn't taken his annual trip to the 60-day DL, then I'm not sure that would've been the case.  Otherwise, though, I agree with your point.