Astros are playing...

[Bandera YaYa]

..if anyone is interested. They have really gotten into a groove......should be another good game tonite! :D

[Pmoney]

yes they are up 3-1....keep it up Roger

[gobbler grad]

let's go ROCKET...astros are really on a roll these days...:clap: :clap:

[Gobbla2001]

This is not a bias here... but I honestly believe that the 'Stros are the 2nd best team in the MLB behind St. Louis... I felt the same way last year though, and Boston ended up being the best...

[BHKrystal06]

I'm going to the game on Sunday...is anyone else?

[TheDOCTORdre]

my brother is at the game tonite

[Bandera YaYa]

Originally posted by TheDOCTORdre
my brother is at the game tonite Hi dre!!! Call your bro and tell him to stand up and yell " Bandera YaYa!!" :D :D

[TheDOCTORdre]

Originally posted by Bandera YaYa
Hi dre!!! Call your bro and tell him to stand up and yell " Bandera YaYa!!" :D :D
how bout.....NO:D

[shellman54]

Stros win 3-2. Coupled with Washington's lost, Houston is one game back in the wild card race!!!

[Bull's-eye]

Astros have over 60 games left in the season and trail STL by 10 games. Could they overtake the Cardinals? Will the Astros make a trade? I would love to see them get a good hitting catcher. This would greatly improve the lower part of their batting order. A good hitting outfielder or first baseman would also help.

[shellman54]

St louis is too good a team, BUT with the injuries they have sustained over the past couple of weeks, anything could happen.

[sahen]

Originally posted by Bull's-eye
Astros have over 60 games left in the season and trail STL by 10 games. Could they overtake the Cardinals? Will the Astros make a trade? I would love to see them get a good hitting catcher. This would greatly improve the lower part of their batting order. A good hitting outfielder or first baseman would also help.
Ausmus just batted .330 or something for the month of july and that new guy, Quintero can hit the ball....they could use a good hitting leftfielder however u have to remember if the astros keep on their current tear they will have the wild card easily....in my opinion they dont really NEED anyone but u could always improve, just have to be careful to not screw up the current chemistry on the team.....

as for catching the cardinals...its possible but not probable...we would have to keep playing our ridiculously good level of baseball and have help from the cards....we only have 5 or 6 games left w/ them...we will prolly have to win all of them to do it, which will be extremely tuff....however its possible and would be great to see...

[shellman54]

Heard today where Jose Cruz Jr was designated for assignment by Tampa (?). Would that be a good move for Houston?

[sahen]

Originally posted by shellman54
Heard today where Jose Cruz Jr was designated for assignment by Tampa (?). Would that be a good move for Houston?
well if Tampa, the team w/ the worst record in all of the majors, designated him for assignment then no...i mean if he cant play for the worst team in the league i dont think he'd help us any....esp. for this year....however it might be nice to get him and let him develop some more...he had some talent when he was playing w/ the dbacks, im actually pretty shocked that the devil rays sent him down, i didnt realize he was doing that bad...

[Bull's-eye]

Ausmus had a great July to raise his average to .248 and he has hit only one home run. Qintero is batting about .167 in his 30 at bats. Ausmus most likely will cool down and he doesn't give you any power or RBI's. In the playoffs, pitchers will pitch around hitters and I worry that the Astros don't have enough power to protect Berkman & Ensburg. A power hitting catcher or outfielder could be the answer. The lower part of the batting order has struggled against playoff pitching. Everett gives you great defense at SS and has hit more doubles, triples, homers, and RBI's than Ausmus. He is only hitting .239, but his production is much better than Ausmus. Everett has scored more runs and is a good base stealer, plus finding a power hitting catcher is easier than at SS. This would add power to protect are hitters and move Lamb, Palmerio or Burke into the 7th position, thus improving our bottom order of the lineup.

[shellman54]

Originally posted by sahen
well if Tampa, the team w/ the worst record in all of the majors, designated him for assignment then no...i mean if he cant play for the worst team in the league i dont think he'd help us any....esp. for this year....however it might be nice to get him and let him develop some more...he had some talent when he was playing w/ the dbacks, im actually pretty shocked that the devil rays sent him down, i didnt realize he was doing that bad...

I think he was having leg problems, another reason it might not be a good idea. But, as a side note, it would reunite him with Cheo, his dad and Houston's first base coach.

[sahen]

Originally posted by Bull's-eye
Ausmus had a great July to raise his average to .248 and he has hit only one home run. Qintero is batting about .167 in his 30 at bats. Ausmus most likely will cool down and he doesn't give you any power or RBI's. In the playoffs, pitchers will pitch around hitters and I worry that the Astros don't have enough power to protect Berkman & Ensburg. A power hitting catcher or outfielder could be the answer. The lower part of the batting order has struggled against playoff pitching. Everett gives you great defense at SS and has hit more doubles, triples, homers, and RBI's than Ausmus. He is only hitting .239, but his production is much better than Ausmus. Everett has scored more runs and is a good base stealer, plus finding a power hitting catcher is easier than at SS. This would add power to protect are hitters and move Lamb, Palmerio or Burke into the 7th position, thus improving our bottom order of the lineup.

have to say i disagree...playoff games are mostly dominated by great pitching and are 1 or 2 run games....scores are mainly 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, or somthing like that...having a great catcher that knows how to call a game and blocks balls in the dirt is much more important than his stick in the playoffs....yah it'd be nice to have one that can hit, but catchers are never given credit for their ability to call a game and keep runners out of scoring position...u trade ausmus and ur trading a fomer gold glove catcher, thats huge when u wanna throw a breaking ball in the dirt in a tie game late with a runner on third....if ur pitcher dont think the catcher can catch it he might leave that ball up to keep it from being a wild pitch and next thing u know they score 2 runs on a homer...

as far as Quintero goes, he is gonna hit eventually, but u gotta give him time....30 at bats is no indication that he can do...if i remember right, i hated Berkman when he first came up cause he went like 0-50 something w/ like 20 strikeouts.....Quintero has already showed he is gonna be great defensively, blocking balls and such and he has an awesome arm....he hit very well in AAA which could mean he could hit like Ausmus through his career or be the next Mike Piazza, we dunno yet.....i imagine he will be something like a .270 doubles hitter eventually and will replace Ausmus here in a year or 2....

anyways as they say, offense wins games but defense wins championships....that is baseball too...people seem to forget it doenst matter if u win teh game 9-2 or 3-2, u still get the W and thats all that matters....

[sahen]

Originally posted by shellman54
I think he was having leg problems, another reason it might not be a good idea. But, as a side note, it would reunite him with Cheo, his dad and Houston's first base coach.
if the leg probs werent potentially a career ender i wouldnt mind sticking him in the minors and having him for a late call up or give him a chance next year....great genes there and he has played well in the past