Anderson was never talked about as much or in the same way Towles and Pence were.
So in essence, had Pam Garnder heard MMPUS fans slobbery praise for Anderson, Ed Wade *still* would've shipped him out knowing what he and the other baseball men know... you don't make decisions on September performances. In that we agree and yes, Towles has not been talked about in the minors as a fringe prospect but as a viable major league candidate. And he had a great September to back up the assertion. But man, I'm hearing about Pam Gardner more and more and less about scouts assessments of the young man. It's not a good thing, IMHO, to be the darling of the PR group in the Astros. I'd rather, as a player, be given a job because the *baseball men* believe in me. For all I know, they do and screw what the PR/Pam Gardners want. But that's just me.
will say that if Wade had been able to deal for an uber-catching prospect like Jeff Clement with the Mariners fans would have had no problem with dealing Towles. AIS.
We're talking Houston Astros fans?
Towles has skills and holes that have been discussed ad nausem here.
Yes, that's my point. We're talking about a kid who has a ways to go to be a quality major league receiver. He has no AAA time to speak of either. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, just that I usually hear of promotions of such rising catching stars from A ball or AA ball reserved for a Pudge Rodriquez. I'm just surprised how we've accepted Towles as the starter for the Houston Astros and not cast a wary eye at that move. But you know what, if not Towles then who? They would have to trade for a bonafide starter actually and that's not going to happen. Or sign a high priced major league veteran free agent, and that didn't happen either. Towles just kind of had one great September and now... here he is, the incumbent starting catcher. Juneberno, someone besides the PR group might be on to something here. One thing I remember vividly is how terrible Yadier Molina was with the bat in 2006, the year he took over for Mike Matheny (who retired because of concussion syndrome, else he was going to backup Yadier in his Towles-like debut). But what Moline did well in 2006 was play defense, what you really want out of your starting catcher. He did piss off a few pitchers with his less than good way of receiving a baseball (too herky-jerky), but darn if that kid didn't play solidly behind the dish. He didn't let his struggles at the plate creep into his defense, so that spoke well for him. What Houston will find out now is if their rookie catcher will have a similar reaction to the days he's going to struggle. That he's not as good a receiver as Molina was when he took over for Matheny concerns me a little, but hey, he may well be more than okay and make it through this season.
If the Astros had a better option either in quality or AIS (read Biggio situation) as an incumbent at catcher Towles would be headed to RR.
I would limit it to only a better option on the field. Screw the AIS and PR group, they need a solid catcher on this team else why even pretend to be helping your pitching staff. All I'm asking is that if anyone's heard anything about Towles that says "He's going to help the pitchers tremendously... he's ready!" I know that Brad Ausmus said something similar and that is a very good endorsement.
Q isn't the incumbent and not heading to the HOF. Ausmus is no longer a viable starter. Baseball wise Towles is a better hitter than Q. Q is a better defender. And the Astros have no better options. Pick your baseball poison. Drayton's choosing his business.
1. I never said Q was a HOF, all I said was if you trade Q and Towles struggles (as *some* rookies are prone to do from time to time), you've got Ausmus at starter again and who to back him up? And if you have Towles backing up Ausmus at the major league level because you have no one in AAA, then you've got a problem of sitting a rookie who could be learning and doing much in AAA to refine his game. (see: Ensberg, Morgan circa 2004). I would guess that they'd bring up Alberto Castillo to backup Ausmus in said scenario.
2. I don't really care about hitting when talking about catching, other than to expect a catcher to not let his deficiencies at hitting hinder his job as a catcher.
3. Drayton McLane certainly doesn't need me to tell him how to run his "business".
