This year's Express

[Greenevansj]

Greetings from Iraq!

Just because I can't wait to see who's on the team this year, I figured I'd bring it up. Any sure things? Will the roster be similar to the end of last year? Where will Castro start out?

I can't wait to see Gervacio pitch again. He was pretty impressive, the one game I saw before I left for my vacation in Baghdad!

[rgs]

Since you are serving in Iraq and nobody else answered, I will oblige an answer.

This is the most likely line-up that I can guess at this point:

1B - Saccomono
2B - Sutton
SS - Manzella
3B - Johnson
LF - Rameriz?
CF - Bogecevic
RF - Abercrombie
C - Towles?
UT - Maysonet

Starting Pitchers:
Norris
James
Perez
Nieve - assuming he doesn't make the Astros
Hensley?
Trinidad?

Relief:

Graves?
Paranto
??
??

[juliogotay]

Since you are serving in Iraq and nobody else answered, I will oblige an answer.

This is the most likely line-up that I can guess at this point:

1B - Saccomono
2B - Sutton
SS - Manzella
3B - Johnson
LF - Rameriz?
CF - Bogecevic
RF - Abercrombie
C - Towles?
UT - Maysonet

Starting Pitchers:
Norris
James
Perez
Nieve - assuming he doesn't make the Astros
Hensley?
Trinidad?

Relief:

Graves?
Paranto
??
??

That looks like a more fun to watch than what has been in RR for the last couple of years if only because several of these are actually prospects rather than AAAA players. BTW, if Nieve doesn't make Astros, he is probably gone because he has no options remaining. I wouldn't be surprised to see Paulino here instead as he builds arm strength back.

[Noe]

Since you are serving in Iraq and nobody else answered, I will oblige an answer.

This is the most likely line-up that I can guess at this point:

1B - Saccomono
2B - Sutton
SS - Manzella
3B - Johnson
LF - Rameriz?
CF - Bogecevic
RF - Abercrombie
C - Towles?
UT - Maysonet

Starting Pitchers:
Norris
James
Perez
Nieve - assuming he doesn't make the Astros
Hensley?
Trinidad?

Relief:

Graves?
Paranto
??
??

Unless Newhan really has an outstanding spring, I'd expect one of the three of Sutton, Manzella or Maysonet to make the big club.  It makes no sense to bench any one of the three in AAA.  All three have to play to see who can help the club in the near future.  I expect Newhan to be AAA insurance way before either Manzella, Maysonet or Sutton.

[Greenevansj]

I like that line-up. Some real prospects would be kind of nice. Have you guys seen how good Reggie Abercrombie's been in Spring Training? Is it all gonna be for nothing? Are the Astros locked in on outfielders?

[JimR]

Abercrombie is a whiff machine.

[Greenevansj]

That's true but, with the 'Stros predicted to lose 100 games this year... at least he would make things exciting... when he makes contact.

[JimR]

That's true but, with the 'Stros predicted to lose 100 games this year... at least he would make things exciting... when he makes contact.

you obviously have not seen him play.

[Greenevansj]

Pence - 124 SO - .269 BA
Bourn - 111 SO - .229 BA
Reggie - 116 SO - .289 BA (Between Round Rock and Houston)

Have you seen Pence and/or Bourn play? Like I said, it obviously can't get any worse for the Astros.

[moriartp]

And over how many plate appearances did the players compile those strikeouts? Reggie's strikeout percentage was far higher than either Bourn's or Pence's... and he was facing AAA pitching most of the time.


Abercrombie can't put the bat on the ball to save his life. When he makes contact, it's an accident. He does have value on the bases and as a defensive sub, and he'll make the Astros at some point this year for those reasons. But don't get excited about the bat.

[juliogotay]

And over how many plate appearances did the players compile those strikeouts? Reggie's strikeout percentage was far higher than either Bourn's or Pence's... and he was facing AAA pitching most of the time.


Abercrombie can't put the bat on the ball to save his life. When he makes contact, it's an accident. He does have value on the bases and as a defensive sub, and he'll make the Astros at some point this year for those reasons. But don't get excited about the bat.

He also has now a broken toe which will end any slim chance he had of making the team out of camp. http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090307&content_id=3935908&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou

[juliogotay]

That looks like a more fun to watch than what has been in RR for the last couple of years if only because several of these are actually prospects rather than AAAA players. BTW, if Nieve doesn't make Astros, he is probably gone because he has no options remaining. I wouldn't be surprised to see Paulino here instead as he builds arm strength back.

I'm not liking Nieve's chance of making the Astros unless he really comes on strong. So far he stinks.

[Greenevansj]

He also has now a broken toe which will end any slim chance he had of making the team out of camp. http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090307&content_id=3935908&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou

Great muircheartaigh, you jinxed him. I'm totally blaming that one on you. 

[JimR]

Pence - 124 SO - .269 BA
Bourn - 111 SO - .229 BA
Reggie - 116 SO - .289 BA (Between Round Rock and Houston)

Have you seen Pence and/or Bourn play? Like I said, it obviously can't get any worse for the Astros.

i made the mistake of thinking you were asking for information from those who had some. you weren't.

[VirtualBob]

Pence - 124 SO - .269 BA
Bourn - 111 SO - .229 BA
Reggie - 116 SO - .289 BA (Between Round Rock and Houston)

Have you seen Pence and/or Bourn play? Like I said, it obviously can't get any worse for the Astros.

RMPL Statskin?

[VirtualBob]

i made the mistake of thinking you were asking for information from those who had some. you weren't.

A fairly obvious mistake, in retrospect.  But I credit you for giving him the benefit of the doubt.

[Greenevansj]

i made the mistake of thinking you were asking for information from those who had some. you weren't.

In actuality I wasn't asking for information, I was merely hoping to discuss the possible roster with guys who may know of AA players from last year that will make it, etc.

Why does everything turn ugly on this board? Maybe you guys couldn't tell I was joking in my posts when I blamed Abercrombie's injury on someone who talked bad about him. Isn't this a forum full of people with a mutual interest in the 'Stros who just want to talk about their team? Are we enemies?

If you guys don't want new people to get in conversations, make a sticky at the top of the forums titled "No New People." Then the message could be something like, "Despite the fact that none of us played baseball past 5th grade and the closest we've ever been to hitting a live Minor/Major league pitch is at Putt-Putt Golf & Games' Batting Cages, we are the experts here. We will tell you what is fact, you will accept it as fact. Period. We have read numerous baseball books and magazines while sitting in the stands at single A baseball games. We know a guy who knows the team doctor for the Astros. We once ran into Lance Berkman at 7-11 (he got a blue slushee and a bagel dog. It was awesome!) We are the experts. Now we have to go because our Mom needs the basement for her quilting club's meeting and it's time to go heat up a Hot Pocket for dinner!"

So as far as "asking for information from those who had some," no, I wasn't. I was merely starting a discussion which would include your opinions as well as mine. In my eyes, there is no reason that your "information" is any better than mine, unless of course you are a manager for a team in the Astros system. In which case, you need to get to work and stay off the internet.

Your Mom's calling.

[Andyzipp]

We should all jus t get off of mommas.  Several of us just got off of yours.

[austro]

"Despite the fact that none of us played baseball past 5th grade and the closest we've ever been to hitting a live Minor/Major league pitch is at Putt-Putt Golf & Games' Batting Cages, we are the experts here."

I think you're underestimating the experience of many of the people here.

[VirtualBob]

We should all jus t get off of mommas.  Several of us just got off of yours.

Nominated.

[Mr. Happy]

We should all jus t get off of mommas.  Several of us just got off of yours.

Don't post shit like this when I've got a mouthful of coffee near my laptop. Nominated.

[homer]

Nominated.

Don't post shit like this when I've got a mouthful of coffee near my laptop. Nominated.

You two should get out more.

[Mr. Happy]

I thought this was a site for Astros fans to discuss the team, not for you guys to sit around and blow each other.

I'm glad that you take time out from playing D&D to comment on each other's posts.

Don't ever let anybody tell you that you don't have friends (your Mom not included), you always have lots of virtual friends. Good for you!

I'm a little offended by this and your other post about fifth grade baseball. Many of us played well beyond that. Some of us even played in college. And I don't even know what D&D is.

You see, we've been doing this for a long time. A very long time. We get new people who come in here with an attitude all of the time. We grow weary of it. I'm not opposed to new people, but the place has an edge to it, and you really ought to lurk here for a while before subjecting us with your brilliance.

Oh, and regarding Abercrombie. Dude. He's proven to most people in baseball that he's a AAA player. Nothing more.

[Duman]

I thought this was a site for Astros fans to discuss the team, not for you guys to sit around and blow each other.

I'm glad that you take time out from playing D&D to comment on each other's posts.

Don't ever let anybody tell you that you don't have friends (your Mom not included), you always have lots of virtual friends. Good for you!

Maybe your the one who needs relationship skills.  You don't go into someone else yard and tell them the rules of their game.  You watch and learn and decide if you want to play their game.

You want to know more about the RR roster,  here is what we know so far:

Brad James who has been dealing with the Yips as a pitcher will be there.
Polin Trinidad will be refining his stuff down there.
Sammy Gervacio and Tyler Lumsden will be holding down the bullpen with Lumsden, if he preforms well, one to go up pretty quickly.
Yordany Rameriz will be learning to take a walk every now and then while running down balls in CF
Drew Sutton will be honing his skills at 2nd and proving last year wasn't a fluke with the bat.
Chris Johnson will be proving his AFL wasn't a fluke
J. R. Towles will try again to prove that September 2007 wasn't a fluke.

That is the core of your roster as of today.  We will know more when they break camp in 2 weeks.

Reggie A will likely be there only if willing to accept a DH/4th outfielder roll.

[tbone421998]

A classic example of read more, post less.

[BudGirl]

If you had read enough before you would not have gotten your feelings hurt by Jim R.'s response.

[Jacksonian]

It takes a lot more than that BudGirl, believe me.

Is it weird that I'm happy that I have the obviously most popular thread at this moment in time? 

I'll shut it down if the whining continues.

[Guinness]

If you had read enough before you would not have gotten your feelings hurt by Jim R.'s response.

Agreed.   There's a reason why Read More Post Less is the golden rule here.  You wouldn't know it by my post count, but I've been participating in this site and the BFT before it for going on 10 years now, and it's an incredibly informative (and funny) site.  The big difference, that Mr Greenevansj is missing, is that this site is populated with adults which is why to me it's refreshing, entertaining and informative, no basement dwelling Harry Potter types, or thin skinned people, need apply.

[moriartp]

no basement dwelling Harry Potter types ... need apply.

I'll see myself out.

[Duman]

BTW, I "lurked" here for a while. I knew that a lot of people were cool and there were a few tools here. Lucky for me, a lot of the tools decided to answer my post with their typical douche-bag, pseudo-expert style.

and Duman, I did watch and decide I wanted to "play". If anybody had posted anything like you just posted earlier, I would have said thanks and that would be that. Your post was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Duman. You are a man among boys.

I am actually one of those who didn't play ball past 5th grade people you mentioned earlier.  The guys you have been bashing have vastly more baseball knowledge than I do.  I just happen to be located in a spot where I get to see more players earlier. 

You want feedback on where you hacked folks off it was when you tried to use stats to back up an argument for Reggie A to be with the Astros based on last years numbers and a hot spring.  Here is your mistake: as was noted earlier you have to look at at bats.

Bourn 111 K / 467 AB = 1 K every 4.21 AB
Pence 124 K / 595 AB = 1 K every 4.8 AB
Reggie (combined Minors/MLB) 116 K/ 344 AB = 1 K every 2.96 AB.  That is a strike out a game for one batter.  Yes his average was higher.  But his defense wasn't as good as Bourn's, his base stealing came now where close to Bourn's 41. His power was no where near Pence's (25 HR/ 63 Xtra basehits to RA's 14 HR / 35 Xtra basehits combined).

You through out a poor argument/ backed it up with bad stats and then didn't like what came next. 

[VirtualBob]

I am actually one of those who didn't play ball past 5th grade people you mentioned earlier.  The guys you have been bashing have vastly more baseball knowledge than I do.  I just happen to be located in a spot where I get to see more players earlier. 

You want feedback on where you hacked folks off it was when you tried to use stats to back up an argument for Reggie A to be with the Astros based on last years numbers and a hot spring.  Here is your mistake: as was noted earlier you have to look at at bats.

Bourn 111 K / 467 AB = 1 K every 4.21 AB
Pence 124 K / 595 AB = 1 K every 4.8 AB
Reggie (combined Minors/MLB) 116 K/ 344 AB = 1 K every 2.96 AB.  That is a strike out a game for one batter.  Yes his average was higher.  But his defense wasn't as good as Bourn's, his base stealing came now where close to Bourn's 41. His power was no where near Pence's (25 HR/ 63 Xtra basehits to RA's 14 HR / 35 Xtra basehits combined).

You through out a poor argument/ backed it up with bad stats and then didn't like what came next. 

Has fredia been tutoring you?

[VirtualBob]

Maybe your the one who needs relationship skills.  You don't go into someone else yard and tell them the rules of their game.  You watch and learn and decide if you want to play their game.

You want to know more about the RR roster,  here is what we know so far:

Brad James who has been dealing with the Yips as a pitcher will be there.
Polin Trinidad will be refining his stuff down there.
Sammy Gervacio and Tyler Lumsden will be holding down the bullpen with Lumsden, if he preforms well, one to go up pretty quickly.
Yordany Rameriz will be learning to take a walk every now and then while running down balls in CF
Drew Sutton will be honing his skills at 2nd and proving last year wasn't a fluke with the bat.
Chris Johnson will be proving his AFL wasn't a fluke
J. R. Towles will try again to prove that September 2007 wasn't a fluke.

That is the core of your roster as of today.  We will know more when they break camp in 2 weeks.

Reggie A will likely be there only if willing to accept a DH/4th outfielder roll.

In an attempt to get this thread back on a rather interesting topic, I'll throw out a few more questions/suggestions.

Bogusevic will almost certainly be in RF this year.  Does anyone in the know know whether Iorg or Einertson or maybe even Billy Hart has the inside track on LF?  It seems to me that all of those guys need to have a career year to avoid minor league free agency ... and maybe even before this season starts.

I assume that Saccomanno will be at 1B ... any chance on Mark Ori joining him in a platoon of some sort?  Or do folks think Ori & Sheldon will both be at CC?

And what about the rotation?  I see ...
Trinidad
James
Norris
Paulino
Capellan/Ortiz

Or does anyone think Perez beats out someone above?  And is Josh Muecke still around?  I did not see him in any off-season transaction, but I'm pretty sure he was a 6-year FA.  Ditto for Josh Miller.

[BUWebguy]

Does YRamirez have a strong hold on CF? Or will the Astros play Bogusevic there in hopes he can hold down the position at the big league level, and/or be ready if Bourn were to fail (whatever that means in whomever's eyes) this season?

[Jacksonian]

In an attempt to get this thread back on a rather interesting topic, I'll throw out a few more questions/suggestions.

Bogusevic will almost certainly be in RF this year.  Does anyone in the know know whether Iorg or Einertson or maybe even Billy Hart has the inside track on LF?  It seems to me that all of those guys need to have a career year to avoid minor league free agency ... and maybe even before this season starts.

I expect to see Bogusevic in center and right, alternating with YRam.  But, Bogusevic mostly in cf.

[Jacksonian]

And what about the rotation?  I see ...
Trinidad
James
Norris
Paulino
Capellan/Ortiz

Or does anyone think Perez beats out someone above?  And is Josh Muecke still around?  I did not see him in any off-season transaction, but I'm pretty sure he was a 6-year FA.  Ditto for Josh Miller.

Trinidad, James, Norris, Paulino, Perez is what I understand at the moment.  As with all things ST though that's likely to change by April.

[OregonStrosFan]

I expect to see Bogusevic in center and right, alternating with YRam.  But, Bogusevic mostly in cf.

Coop had him playing left field today.

[Duman]

Has fredia been tutoring you?

Nope I come by it honestly.

[Duman]

In an attempt to get this thread back on a rather interesting topic, I'll throw out a few more questions/suggestions.


I assume that Saccomanno will be at 1B ... any chance on Mark Ori joining him in a platoon of some sort?  Or do folks think Ori & Sheldon will both be at CC?



Or does anyone think Perez beats out someone above?  And is Josh Muecke still around?  I did not see him in any off-season transaction, but I'm pretty sure he was a 6-year FA.  Ditto for Josh Miller.

At 1B - John Gall who was just assigned to Minor Camp is a 1B/OF so he could be in the mix.  I don't see Ori making that big of a jump.  Sheldon could be at RR.

Josh Miller was a minor league free agent and hasn't re-signed with the Astros
Josh Muecke is still around.

[JimR]

In actuality I wasn't asking for information, I was merely hoping to discuss the possible roster with guys who may know of AA players from last year that will make it, etc.

Why does everything turn ugly on this board? Maybe you guys couldn't tell I was joking in my posts when I blamed Abercrombie's injury on someone who talked bad about him. Isn't this a forum full of people with a mutual interest in the 'Stros who just want to talk about their team? Are we enemies?

If you guys don't want new people to get in conversations, make a sticky at the top of the forums titled "No New People." Then the message could be something like, "Despite the fact that none of us played baseball past 5th grade and the closest we've ever been to hitting a live Minor/Major league pitch is at Putt-Putt Golf & Games' Batting Cages, we are the experts here. We will tell you what is fact, you will accept it as fact. Period. We have read numerous baseball books and magazines while sitting in the stands at single A baseball games. We know a guy who knows the team doctor for the Astros. We once ran into Lance Berkman at 7-11 (he got a blue slushee and a bagel dog. It was awesome!) We are the experts. Now we have to go because our Mom needs the basement for her quilting club's meeting and it's time to go heat up a Hot Pocket for dinner!"

So as far as "asking for information from those who had some," no, I wasn't. I was merely starting a discussion which would include your opinions as well as mine. In my eyes, there is no reason that your "information" is any better than mine, unless of course you are a manager for a team in the Astros system. In which case, you need to get to work and stay off the internet.

Your Mom's calling.

how many Troll Steps did he get through here?

[Mr. Happy]

how many Troll Steps did he get through here?

All of them I think. I haven't seen that troll around in a while though.