Baseball Guru
11-16-2001, 06:51 PM
Astros skip on Alou, Castilla
By Alyson Footer
MLB.com
HOUSTON -- Astros General Manager Gerry Hunsicker confirmed during a media briefing on Thursday at Union Station that the club is not interested in negotiating with free agents Moises Alou and Vinny Castilla.
"We've notified both of them that at this particular time we are not prepared to enter into any exploratory negotiations that might bring them back to rejoin this club next year," Hunsicker said.
Alou and Castilla are among 12 players who were with the Astros last year and filed for free agency upon the conclusion of the season. While Hunsicker, who addressed the media along with President of Baseball Operations Tal Smith and Assistant General Manager Tim Purpura, acknowledged that the other players "will have various degrees of negotiations as we get into the process," the two highest-profile free agents -- Alou and Castilla -- simply do not fit into the Astros budgetary plan for 2002.
"Not only the Houston Astros, but almost all of the clubs outside of a handful that really don't seem to have any budgetary constraints, have a goal to put the best team possible on the field year in and year out that we can afford," Hunsicker said. "When you start with the dollars that you have to spend, it's very important for us to maximize those dollars and make the most effective and efficient use of those dollars that we can."
Alou, who will be 37 next July, batted .331 with 27 homers and 108 RBI during the 2001 season. In three years with Houston, he compiled a .330 average with 95 homers and 346 RBI. While his numbers are without question of All-Star caliber, Alou's vulnerability to injury was a concern for the Astros as the right fielder enters the latter years of his career.
Alou missed the entire 1999 season with a knee injury and missed 26 games during the 2001 campaign due to a calf strain. He began the year on the disabled list and missed six starts during the stretch drive at the end of September. During his 11-year Major League career, Alou has been on the DL a total of nine times.
But according to Hunsicker, Alou's health played only a minor factor in the decision.
"The trend that is really a concern is that a smaller and smaller number of players are making up a greater percentage of our budget," Hunsicker said. "That's a real dangerous trend. What you're going to have is four or five or six star players and a very weak supporting cast. It takes more than five or six players to win a championship. That is the biggest single factor as any when we looked at Moises Alou and Vinny Castilla. The dollars that they will likely command as a free agent does not fit into our goal to maximize our dollars."
The loss of Alou will finally give Daryle Ward a chance to establish himself as a starting outfielder, and the Astros are confident that he is ready to step into such a role. Despite his well-documented potential to be a big league power hitter, Ward was limited to 150 at-bats in 1999, 264 in 2000 and 213 in 2001.
"As I look at the club for next year, the outfield -- and it's always subject to change because we're always in a position to look at what opportunities might be available to us -- but from a planning standpoint today, we are in a position to give Daryle Ward an opportunity that he has been ready for for some time," Hunsicker said. "We are ready to look at him as a regular outfielder on next year's club. It also gives us that additional left-handed bat that we've been looking for in a predominantely right-handed hitting lineup. So we've got three quality young outfielders in (Lance) Berkman, (Richard) Hidalgo and Ward."
As for the decision not to pursue Castilla, the Astros feel that they have home-grown options for third base next year, namely Chris Truby and Morgan Ensberg. Truby began the 2001 as the Opening Day third baseman but was optioned to Triple A on May 15 when Castilla signed as a free agent. Truby, who will turn 28 on December 9, rejoined the team on August 19 and batted a combined .207 (28-for-136) on the big league level with eight homers and 23 RBI. Ensberg, 26, batted .310 with 23 homers and 61 RBI last year in New Orleans, but was sidelined for two months with a broken hand.
"We feel like we've got two third baseman who are competent and have the ability to be productive Major Leaguers," Hunsicker said. "Since they're both inexperienced -- I wouldn't say they're both young because Truby's getting up there a little bit -- I would like to see us try to acquire a left-handed hitting complement to protect them in certain situations against right-handed pitchers and so forth. That would be one profile on our wish list: a left-handed hitter in the corner position."
The Winter Meetings begin in Boston on December 9 and the Astros are undecided on how active they will be during a frenetic week when many trades and free agents signings take place. But they have confidence in their home-spun talent and take pride in the scouting and player development system that led to three major publications -- Baseball America, Baseball Weekly and The Sporting News -- along with wire service SportsTicker -- naming the Astros their Organization of the Year.
"We have younger players that we feel have the ability to become Major League players," Hunsicker said. "We have to find a way to push them into the equation. That means that year in and year out we're probably not going to be able to re-sign some players who were good players here. We're going to have to allow people to move on. The point is that it still gets back to putting a championship caliber team on the field with the dollars that we have."
Hunsicker also mentioned that the 2002 budget will be "in the same general area as last year."
Alyson Footer is the site reporter of astros.com
By Alyson Footer
MLB.com
HOUSTON -- Astros General Manager Gerry Hunsicker confirmed during a media briefing on Thursday at Union Station that the club is not interested in negotiating with free agents Moises Alou and Vinny Castilla.
"We've notified both of them that at this particular time we are not prepared to enter into any exploratory negotiations that might bring them back to rejoin this club next year," Hunsicker said.
Alou and Castilla are among 12 players who were with the Astros last year and filed for free agency upon the conclusion of the season. While Hunsicker, who addressed the media along with President of Baseball Operations Tal Smith and Assistant General Manager Tim Purpura, acknowledged that the other players "will have various degrees of negotiations as we get into the process," the two highest-profile free agents -- Alou and Castilla -- simply do not fit into the Astros budgetary plan for 2002.
"Not only the Houston Astros, but almost all of the clubs outside of a handful that really don't seem to have any budgetary constraints, have a goal to put the best team possible on the field year in and year out that we can afford," Hunsicker said. "When you start with the dollars that you have to spend, it's very important for us to maximize those dollars and make the most effective and efficient use of those dollars that we can."
Alou, who will be 37 next July, batted .331 with 27 homers and 108 RBI during the 2001 season. In three years with Houston, he compiled a .330 average with 95 homers and 346 RBI. While his numbers are without question of All-Star caliber, Alou's vulnerability to injury was a concern for the Astros as the right fielder enters the latter years of his career.
Alou missed the entire 1999 season with a knee injury and missed 26 games during the 2001 campaign due to a calf strain. He began the year on the disabled list and missed six starts during the stretch drive at the end of September. During his 11-year Major League career, Alou has been on the DL a total of nine times.
But according to Hunsicker, Alou's health played only a minor factor in the decision.
"The trend that is really a concern is that a smaller and smaller number of players are making up a greater percentage of our budget," Hunsicker said. "That's a real dangerous trend. What you're going to have is four or five or six star players and a very weak supporting cast. It takes more than five or six players to win a championship. That is the biggest single factor as any when we looked at Moises Alou and Vinny Castilla. The dollars that they will likely command as a free agent does not fit into our goal to maximize our dollars."
The loss of Alou will finally give Daryle Ward a chance to establish himself as a starting outfielder, and the Astros are confident that he is ready to step into such a role. Despite his well-documented potential to be a big league power hitter, Ward was limited to 150 at-bats in 1999, 264 in 2000 and 213 in 2001.
"As I look at the club for next year, the outfield -- and it's always subject to change because we're always in a position to look at what opportunities might be available to us -- but from a planning standpoint today, we are in a position to give Daryle Ward an opportunity that he has been ready for for some time," Hunsicker said. "We are ready to look at him as a regular outfielder on next year's club. It also gives us that additional left-handed bat that we've been looking for in a predominantely right-handed hitting lineup. So we've got three quality young outfielders in (Lance) Berkman, (Richard) Hidalgo and Ward."
As for the decision not to pursue Castilla, the Astros feel that they have home-grown options for third base next year, namely Chris Truby and Morgan Ensberg. Truby began the 2001 as the Opening Day third baseman but was optioned to Triple A on May 15 when Castilla signed as a free agent. Truby, who will turn 28 on December 9, rejoined the team on August 19 and batted a combined .207 (28-for-136) on the big league level with eight homers and 23 RBI. Ensberg, 26, batted .310 with 23 homers and 61 RBI last year in New Orleans, but was sidelined for two months with a broken hand.
"We feel like we've got two third baseman who are competent and have the ability to be productive Major Leaguers," Hunsicker said. "Since they're both inexperienced -- I wouldn't say they're both young because Truby's getting up there a little bit -- I would like to see us try to acquire a left-handed hitting complement to protect them in certain situations against right-handed pitchers and so forth. That would be one profile on our wish list: a left-handed hitter in the corner position."
The Winter Meetings begin in Boston on December 9 and the Astros are undecided on how active they will be during a frenetic week when many trades and free agents signings take place. But they have confidence in their home-spun talent and take pride in the scouting and player development system that led to three major publications -- Baseball America, Baseball Weekly and The Sporting News -- along with wire service SportsTicker -- naming the Astros their Organization of the Year.
"We have younger players that we feel have the ability to become Major League players," Hunsicker said. "We have to find a way to push them into the equation. That means that year in and year out we're probably not going to be able to re-sign some players who were good players here. We're going to have to allow people to move on. The point is that it still gets back to putting a championship caliber team on the field with the dollars that we have."
Hunsicker also mentioned that the 2002 budget will be "in the same general area as last year."
Alyson Footer is the site reporter of astros.com