Lidge Signed

[gleach]

Caution, Chron link

Chron Link

[pravata]

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Caution, Chron link

Chron Link

I should never make predictions.  Purpura "Brad is one of the leaders of our team, and we are expecting great results from him this season."

[HurricaneDavid]

Can someone please explain this quote:

"He ranked second in Major League Baseball with 104 strikeouts"

...or is the explanation simply that the Chron wrote it, therefore it's inaccurate?

[pravata]

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Can someone please explain this quote:

"He ranked second in Major League Baseball with 104 strikeouts"

...or is the explanation simply that the Chron wrote it, therefore it's inaccurate?

as a reliever.  The Link technically, he was tied for 2nd.  Right now Tracy Ringolsby looks to be their primary source for baseball related news.  So maybe they got that from him.

[homer]

From the astros.com article:

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The Astros exchanged salary figures with the three unsigned players on Tuesday. The club offered Everett $2.5 million, with his counteroffer totalling $3.4 million. Lane offered a figure of $1.375 million, with the club countering with $900,000. Ensberg asked for $4.9 million, while the club offered $4 million.

The Link

[Arky Vaughan]

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Can someone please explain this quote:

"He ranked second in Major League Baseball with 104 strikeouts"

...or is the explanation simply that the Chron wrote it, therefore it's inaccurate?

From Chronicle News Services, it says. Of course, a copy editor would catch the mistake if he knew anything about baseball.

[JimR]

a contest for the final deals?

AE: $3mill
Mo: $4.2mill
Lane:$1mill

[S.P. Rodriguez]

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a contest for the final deals?

AE: $3mill
Mo: $4.2mill
Lane:$1mill

As long as we're splitting 100k dollar hairs, I'll offer:

AE: $2.9mil
Lane: $1.1 mil
and Mo goes to arbitration and wins (why? because the system makes no damn sense, that's why.): $4.9mil

[Jacksonian]

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a contest for the final deals?

AE: $3mill
Mo: $4.2mill
Lane:$1mill

As long as we're splitting 100k dollar hairs, I'll offer:

AE: $2.9mil
Lane: $1.1 mil
and Mo goes to arbitration and wins (why? because the system makes no damn sense, that's why.): $4.9mil

AE: 3.156mil
Lane: .996mil
Mo: 4.362mil

[No? in Austin]

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a contest for the final deals?

AE: $3mill
Mo: $4.2mill
Lane:$1mill

Dammit! That's what I was going to say... oh well, change AE to 3.1, Mo to 4.3 and Lane to 1.1 just so I can say I had a different number than you.

[Dobro]

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"Brad is one of the leaders of our team, and we are expecting great results from him this season."

Only Purpura...

I sincerely hope his expectations are met.

[VirtualBob]

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a contest for the final deals?

AE: $3mill
Mo: $4.2mill
Lane:$1mill

AE 3.2
Mo 4.9
Lane 975K

[Arky Vaughan]

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and Mo goes to arbitration and wins (why? because the system makes no damn sense, that's why.): $4.9mil

They won't go to arbitration with Ensberg. Either they reach a deal or he gets traded for a bag of Corn Nuts to feed to Lance. If he tries to drive negotiations all the way to arbitration, Ensberg won't be here come Opening Day.

[TheWizard]

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and Mo goes to arbitration and wins (why? because the system makes no damn sense, that's why.): $4.9mil

They won't go to arbitration with Ensberg. Either they reach a deal or he gets traded for a bag of Corn Nuts to feed to Lance. If he tries to drive negotiations all the way to arbitration, Ensberg won't be here come Opening Day.

Even if they gave him a fat deal, he'd probably pass on it and try to take the walk anyway...

[das]

 

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Even if they gave him a fat deal, he'd probably pass on it and try to take the walk anyway...  

That's pretty darn funny...

[JimR]

not just him...most everyone but you.

man, you need to say what he did to you. did he kill your dog? that much animosity is unhealthy.

[Dobro]

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not just him...most everyone but you.

I assume that "most everyone but me" includes you.  So tell me, what is it about Lidge's 2006 peformance that leads you to believe that the Astros will get "great" results from him in 2007?  Seriously.  Purpura has to give lip service; you don't.

I would argue that the only thing "unhealthy" here is Purpura's obsession with underachieving homegrown talent.

[juliogotay]

$5+ million is more than lip service. They honestly have expectations of him.

Any ridiculous notion of foolishly hanging on to home-grown talent should have been dashed with the trading of Hirsch and Buckholz for a veteran with one year left on a contract.

[Andyzipp]

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not just him...most everyone but you.

I assume that "most everyone but me" includes you.  So tell me, what is it about Lidge's 2006 peformance that leads you to believe that the Astros will get "great" results from him in 2007?  Seriously.  Purpura has to give lip service; you don't.

I would argue that the only thing "unhealthy" here is Purpura's obsession with underachieving homegrown talent.

I'm curious as to why you think that a 1 yr / $5 million contract is an obsession.  

That contract is tantamount to the team saying "Hey bucko, this is your last chance. No more soup for you unti you get back to 2004/05 performance levels."  

Had he sucked less, they'd have announced a multi-year deal by now.  Truly, if Purpura was obsessed that would have been the route they would have gone anyway.

[Foghorn]

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not just him...most everyone but you.

I assume that "most everyone but me" includes you.  So tell me, what is it about Lidge's 2006 peformance that leads you to believe that the Astros will get "great" results from him in 2007?  Seriously.  Purpura has to give lip service; you don't.

I would argue that the only thing "unhealthy" here is Purpura's obsession with underachieving homegrown talent.

I'm curious as to why you think that a 1 yr / $5 million contract is an obsession.  

That contract is tantamount to the team saying "Hey bucko, this is your last chance. No more soup for you unti you get back to 2004/05 performance levels."  

Had he sucked less, they'd have announced a multi-year deal by now.  Truly, if Purpura was obsessed that would have been the route they would have gone anyway.

Why is it an obsession?  Because it represent about 5.5% of the team's payroll for this year.  And it represents about 2% of the total payroll that is committed to players in the form of all guaranteed contracts currently on the books.

2%.  That is an unhealthy obsession from the Count.

[No? in Austin]

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not just him...most everyone but you.

I assume that "most everyone but me" includes you.  So tell me, what is it about Lidge's 2006 peformance that leads you to believe that the Astros will get "great" results from him in 2007?  Seriously.  Purpura has to give lip service; you don't.

I don't know about "great", but very good is very possible.  I saw Lidge work on a sinker/cutter late in the season and it was coming along nicely.  He used it on occasion and he threw it for strikes.  In one particular at bat for Jason Bay (a guy who was prone to do well against Lidge before), he threw him a cutter to begin with.  Bay spit on it as if he thought he was getting a slider.  Bay stepped out of the box as if to say "what the fuck!?!?".  He stepped back in and Lidge threw him the slider, this time Bay swung perhaps thinking it was the same cutter Lidge threw before.  He swung right over the top of it and again Bay stepped out of the box.  He glanced over to the third base coach as if he were getting signs, but in reality (you and I know this from our playing days), he's thinking that he's toast if he can't  make the distinction between the cut fastball and nasty slider.  So he's up there again and Lidge throws him a four seamer at about 96 mph and Bay swings really late on it.

Three pitches, three strikes (two swinging) and Bay never looked comfortable in any one of those pitches.  If Lidge, in my not so humble opinion, makes the cutter a regular pitch in his arsenal, he'll be deadly again.  "Great"? That is a lot to ask of anyone, even though Brad Lidge did do "great" in 2004.  He's doomed by his own "greatness" as it were.  But Lidge can save a ton of games in 2007.  Heck, if Dave Smith could save a ton of games and he was never, never, never, ever "great", then Lidge can do it too.  Again in my humble opinion.

People just get fixated in the superstar aspects of some of the more sexier positions on teams.  Like closer, or #3 hitter, or ACE. I can see why, but overall, if my closer saves 35 to 40 games, I'm really happy.

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I would argue that the only thing "unhealthy" here is Purpura's obsession with underachieving homegrown talent.

Funny, Purpura has had to endure the remarks of "This is Gerry's team, that is why he wins", but you're saying that it was wrong for him to stay the course with "Gerry's Kids" as it were.

Hmmmm... fans!  We want our cake, icing, ice cream and eat it too.  We will criticize a GM for one thing and then turn around and criticize him if he does the opposite.

[Dobro]

You may be on to something, Noe.  If Lidge throws a nasty cutter in 2007, he could very well be a force to be reckoned with.  However, to simply hope that Lidge is going to show up in '07 with his head on straight (without signficiant changes to his approach) is foolish.  

Purpura obviously knows more about Lidge's status than any of us here, so his expectations may very well be valid.  I hope they are.

[Lefty]

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Purpura obviously knows more about Lidge's status than any of us here, so his expectations may very well be valid.

How does this line jibe with all the "Lidge is done" bitching you've done for the past few months?

[No? in Austin]

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Purpura obviously knows more about Lidge's status than any of us here, so his expectations may very well be valid.

How does this line jibe with all the "Lidge is done" bitching you've done for the past few months?

Because it's his opinion.  As is mine that Lidge has a chance to prove everyone wrong... and I hope he does.  Time will tell what Brad Lidge shows up in 2007.

[pravata]

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Purpura obviously knows more about Lidge's status than any of us here, so his expectations may very well be valid.

How does this line jibe with all the "Lidge is done" bitching you've done for the past few months?

Because it's his opinion.  As is mine that Lidge has a chance to prove everyone wrong... and I hope he does.  Time will tell what Brad Lidge shows up in 2007.

Everybody has one.  As long as it's not just lip service, this change of attitude regarding Lidge is remarkable.  If only in the sense of worthy of being remarked upon.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

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Purpura obviously knows more about Lidge's status than any of us here, so his expectations may very well be valid.

How does this line jibe with all the "Lidge is done" bitching you've done for the past few months?

Because it's his opinion.  As is mine that Lidge has a chance to prove everyone wrong... and I hope he does.  Time will tell what Brad Lidge shows up in 2007.

Everybody has one.  As long as it's not just lip service, this change of attitude regarding Lidge is remarkable.  If only in the sense of worthy of being remarked upon.

I'm optimistic. He's got good stuff that is worthy of his trust. I just hope he doesn't rub his chin each time before he throws the cutter.

[Arky Vaughan]

John Lopez and his merry band of idiot posters on his blog have started in:

The Link

Pity that they don't grasp that for arbitration-eligible players, pay raises are as much about seniority as they are about merit. To read Lopez's column, you'd think Lidge was a free agent whom the Astros just signed.

[Foghorn]

Lopez is fucking worthless.  He has nothing else to write in his "blog" so he goes back to the tried and true sportswriters' bag o' cliches and pens a "what's {insert owner's name} thinking giving {Player X} a raise" entry.

Hey Cum Gums, the reason why Lidge makes a boatload of money in 2007 is cause he was underpaid in every year up till now.

The Chronicle is fucking worthless.  I hope they go tits up and Houston becomes the first city without a major daily print newspaper.

Put all those shitbags out of a job.

[MRaup]

Holy Christ...


Cum Gums!

I just coughed water all over my desk.

[TheWizard]

Lidge's addition of a reliable cutter he can consistently throw for strikes would be huge, because he needs another pitch to get over the zone.  His slider is still devestating, but usually its thrown out of the zone.  Give hitters something else to watch for over the plate.

[No? in Austin]

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Lidge's addition of a reliable cutter he can consistently throw for strikes would be huge, because he needs another pitch to get over the zone.  His slider is still devestating, but usually its thrown out of the zone.  Give hitters something else to watch for over the plate.

Eggszactly, it has to be a pitch that is a strike or near strike pitch consistently for Lidge to make it work. At worse, he'll get groundouts to short if he throws it for good location, at best, he's got into the hitters head that they can't just sit on the four seamer and spit on the slider.  If they can't tell the difference between the slider and cutter because the speed is almost the same, it will mess with their heads for sure.

Here is hoping that cutter (or some say it's really a sinker he's working on, ala Chad Qualls) comes along nicely in spring training.

[DVauthrin]

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not just him...most everyone but you.

I assume that "most everyone but me" includes you.  So tell me, what is it about Lidge's 2006 peformance that leads you to believe that the Astros will get "great" results from him in 2007?  Seriously.  Purpura has to give lip service; you don't.

Did you just start watching baseball in 2006 or did you skip the 2003, 2004, 2005 seasons when lidge was one of the nastiest relievers in the game?