Carlos Lee signed a six year, $100M contract to play LF for the Houston Astros. Well, the market sure has gone crazy, hasn’t it? Not that Carlos Lee isn’t an above-average power hitter – he’s averaged .290-33-111 over the past four seasons – but $16.6M for the next six years?
Coming off a season where Lee regressed from league-average to below league-average in the field, and without the benefit of DH-duty, I’m not sure I see the logic in spending that kind of money on a player such as Carlos Lee. In addition to the salary, Lee gets a full no-trade clause for the first four years of the deal and a limited no-trade clause for the final two seasons. As I’ve been writing since early November, GM’s have flown off their rockers...
The most interesting thing about this deal is, when viewed through the prism of the past few off-seasons, how incredibly illogical Houston management’s approach has been. Before 2006, the Astros were a two-time NLCS participant, narrowly missing the World Series in 2004 and finally winning the first pennant in franchise history in 2005. And yet, in both off-seasons, the team decided to stand pat, not adding any talent to what seemed like the best team in the NL. In fact, the Astros went as far as simply not offering Carlos Beltran a legitimate contract after his coming out party in the 2004 playoffs. So where is all of this new cash coming from for Carlos Lee? Why are the Astros offering more money for Carlos Lee, who is a limited defensive player without the all-around game of a guy like Beltran?
If I were a sportswriter whose job it was to cover the Astros, I’d demand an answer. Why did the team pick this Carlos over that one? Why did the organization lie to its fans in 2004?
All that being said, the Astros are still a contender in the dismal NL Central, where any team (except for Pittsburgh) can realistically win the division in 2007.
Coming off a season where Lee regressed from league-average to below league-average in the field, and without the benefit of DH-duty, I’m not sure I see the logic in spending that kind of money on a player such as Carlos Lee. In addition to the salary, Lee gets a full no-trade clause for the first four years of the deal and a limited no-trade clause for the final two seasons. As I’ve been writing since early November, GM’s have flown off their rockers...
The most interesting thing about this deal is, when viewed through the prism of the past few off-seasons, how incredibly illogical Houston management’s approach has been. Before 2006, the Astros were a two-time NLCS participant, narrowly missing the World Series in 2004 and finally winning the first pennant in franchise history in 2005. And yet, in both off-seasons, the team decided to stand pat, not adding any talent to what seemed like the best team in the NL. In fact, the Astros went as far as simply not offering Carlos Beltran a legitimate contract after his coming out party in the 2004 playoffs. So where is all of this new cash coming from for Carlos Lee? Why are the Astros offering more money for Carlos Lee, who is a limited defensive player without the all-around game of a guy like Beltran?
If I were a sportswriter whose job it was to cover the Astros, I’d demand an answer. Why did the team pick this Carlos over that one? Why did the organization lie to its fans in 2004?
All that being said, the Astros are still a contender in the dismal NL Central, where any team (except for Pittsburgh) can realistically win the division in 2007.
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