Astros Fear the HAVOC: Ed Wade Brings in a Hall of Fame Catcher

by Fat Vegas Alan on Mar 17, 2009 1:15 PM EDT Comment 15 comments

"Boo."

Ivan Rodriguez appears headed to the Houston Astros. Cole Hamels and Manny Ramirez aren't sure when they'll be back in spring training games.

A 14-time All-Star catcher, Rodriguez was closing in on a $1.5 million, one-year contract with the Astros, a person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press on Monday.

The deal would contain $1.5 million in performance bonuses based on games and plate appearances, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been announced by the team...

...Houston needs a veteran catcher to replace Brad Ausmus, who signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros have several young catchers in camp who need time to develop. Humberto Quintero had been in line to start this season, but he'll likely move to a backup role.

"It's very important for me (to be a starter) because I feel good enough to play every day," Rodriguez said. "I feel very good, ready to play a whole season. My cannon is primed and ready to disrupt Dusty Baker's HAVOC."

He added that his strong play with Puerto Rico probably boosted his bid to find a major league team.

"It helps a lot for some players like myself, who still don't have a job. I think this Classic has been a very important factor," he said.

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From Crawfish Boxes:

…the first time the Astros were relevant in the headlines since Miguel Tejada got paraded in front of Congress, so it was definitely a nice change of pace. To be quite honest, it was the first time in a long time I felt compelled to follow the news, monitor the RSS feeds, etc. This off season was boring for us, but Ed Wade finally did what we all thought he would do: sign a veteran position player in the as the clocked ticked closer to the season.

The projections don’t make Ivan Rodrigeuz out to be the savior his former glory days could construe him to be. In fact, he’s really only marginally more valuable than Quintero/Towles were projected to be. The thing to take into consideration—if you’re inclined to try to take it with a grain of salt—is that Pudge was projected in the AL East, since that’s where he last played (at least in PECOTA). So maybe he’ll be more valuable than the average of his wOBA’s from PECOTA, CHONE, and Oliver (.308)…

Whether you want to read a lot into the projections or not, this is, pretty much, a zero-risk deal. One year of veteran leadership at the backstop, proven glove, and maybe some improved rate stats now that he’s in the NL—all for probably between $2-3 million when the performance bonus kick in. I see nothing wrong with it, and I’m excited for the possibility of anywhere from an extra 1-1.5 WAR (yes, I know this means we’re still hovering somewhere between mediocrity and compalancey…but if this a down year, it least we’ll be winning team in a down year).

Some of you might have read about the bonuses yesterday and thought, “WTF?! I thought we had no money?!” You’d be correct in that assessment, and I’m sure that most of you thought, “Well I guess we’ll drop Backe now,” and I hope we do…

Link.

"I accidently put the night light in the washing machine."

by Fat Vegas Alan on Mar 17, 2009 1:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

$1.5 million for Pudge

I think that’s a helluva deal for the ’Stros. I would have preferred that to the ~$5 million we owe Hernandez.

by Brendanukkah on Mar 17, 2009 1:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But then we would have still had Freel.

"I accidently put the night light in the washing machine."

by Fat Vegas Alan on Mar 17, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Today's a day when you want a guy with a leprechaun in his head on your team

by Brendanukkah on Mar 17, 2009 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

F'real.

"I accidently put the night light in the washing machine."

by Fat Vegas Alan on Mar 17, 2009 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fhoir'aeilh

There's action across the street. It's Snowman! Take him!

by Man Mountain on Mar 17, 2009 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And if you'd like to celebrate a saint who's actually Irish today

May I suggest Bréanainn of Clonfert, otherwise known as St. Brendan. Why wait til May 16, his feast day? Give everyone named Brendan you see today a dollar.

by Brendanukkah on Mar 17, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs