Oswalt to Phils? ... The trade-deadline thread

Houston is run by fucking idiots. They are trading their fan favorites for scraps from the convenience store simply because that's what everyone else does. Seems like they have no plan in place. Their owner is on Forbes richest people list and they are in one of baseball's biggest markets. Yet their team has turned into a joke.

 

Not a big fan of the Padres' Tejada move ... but it's nice to be a buyer when all the "experts" were predicting both Gonzalez and Bell would be gone by the trade deadline. Tejada ain't what he used to be, and he probably can't reach the PETCO fences either, but it's worth a shot when they didn't have to give up much.

 

As a Houston fan, I can't agree with this more. Drayton, Ed and Tal are about to get run out of town if they can't put together a plan and show it to fans. I'm willing to suffer through a few rebuilding seasons while the money from Oswalt, Berkman and especially Lee (that deal is awful now) come off the books. Was excited the Yankees took Berkman because I thought the trade might involve Montero. However, seeing what the Astros got I'm not happy at all.

 

They always pull him in the 8th or 9th inning and put Kennedy on first for defensive purposes.

Tonight, he was pulled for the last two innings. It's nothing new.

 

Drayton McLane owns the team. He'll be there until he either croaks or decides to sell.

 

Lee's reputation as a headcase goes all the way back to juco ball and his dealings with MLB scouts (as close to first-hand as I can tell you). He was suspended for a season at the University of Arkansas for insubordination, and he got cross-ways with the fans in Cleveland in 2007 before he won the Cy Young the following year.

I have no idea of what happened in Philly.

So far, he's been a model citizen in Texas and has said all the right things. It's a good clubhouse and he seems to have gotten with the program, much like predecessor cancers of previous years Carl Everett and Milton Bradley did. Granted, Lee may be just glad to be back in a pennant race and out of the cellar. He is certainly light-years more mature than he was in June of 1999.

 

BYH, they are still getting him pretty much for cash.

 

Point being a.) nobody else wants him (except maybe the White Sox, I read somewhere Berkman wouldn't waive his no-trade to go to Chitown) and b.) the amount of cash they are giving Houston is an amount any contender could match. I'll agree this is the Yankees just grabbing the biggest name, b/c that's what they do, but this isn't even close to the most offensive and one-sided trade of the summer, or the week, or the--ok, maybe the day, but only b/c not a whole lot went on.

He is done as a difference-maker and I would not be shocked if these next three months are the last of his big league career.

 

See, if he's the White Sox DH, he could stay in the lineup the entire game! [/rationalizing of a fanboi]

 

Wait a minute, OOP. The Astros are giving the Yanks $4 million. How does that make it the Yankees "arer still getting him pretty much for cash?"

Apparently, 8 teams inquired about Berkman. He approved 4. He's owed roughly 1/3 of this year's $14.5 mill (about $4.8 mill) and a $2 mill buyout on next year's option -- which I have read will no longer be a team option but a mutual option, so Berkman can opt out.
The Yankees are getting a 2 month + post-season rental for about $2.8 million while the Astros are paying $4 mill to unload him.
So how is that a Yanks cash buy?

He'll be their primary DH. But what the hell are they going to do with Kearns?

 

When Berkman isn't nursing an injury and swinging a decent bat, he's a good option to have in the lineup. Plus, if anything, the Yankees wanted to land a guy with a big name.

 

It's been a while since Berkman was a big name.