we have so little power in our lineup that especially

SO, we have so little power in our lineup that especially with Lance out (until June, sez Peter Gammons) that we better keep Jeff as a badly needed RBI guy…2B Chris Burke well, reviewing his stats in the minors, this is a guy who has gotten better at just about every thing each year, BA, OBP, BB K, SLG, SB:CS last year at A, had a .315 BA with a replica Raymond Weil 2841-ST-00608 Men's watch with 33 2B, 6 3B, 16 HR (most ever), SLG .507, 37 SB with 14 CS (73% success not bad), 55 BB:76 K in 483 AB with NO GIDP.I have no stats telling me where he batted in the lineup, but I would guess that with a .507 SLG it wasn't leadoff, and I ALSO don't have any split stats how he did with MOB, leading off an innings, etc.

He COULD lead off, all right, looks like, but we sure nuff could use a guy who hits that many doubles to knock in runs, since we no longer have Jeff Kent's bat.SS -Adam Everett first, remember that he spent several years being Mr.Sac Bunter (thank you Jimy) as the 2 hitter, so his OBP isn't the best.So let's look at minor league stats, too…replica Raymond 1800-ST2-05783 Ladie's watch Over the last 2 years, OBP is a not so good .318, with 33 sac bunts (yes, I'm serious), 21 SB with 3 CS (VERY good), 33 2B, 5 3B and 16 HR, 45 BB 122 K in 771 ABs.

Well, lessee NOT a good OBP not enough walks but a REALLY good base stealer, and NOT a power RBI guy.So how did he do over 6 (really about 5 1 4) seasons in the minors? 472 games with 1748 AB, scored 292 runs, 84 2B, 23 HR, 75 SB: 4 CS (by the way, this is a better ratio than Carlos Beltran's) 197 BB 326 K, 10 sac bunts and 4 replica Raymond Weil 2836-ST-00307 Men's watch for a grand .388 OBP.So what does this tell us? He's NOT a power guy, is a contact hitter who struck out WAY more than he should, (about 65 times 94 games translates to 112 K 162 games) almost never GIDP, BUT needed to learn to walk a LOT more and strike out a LOT less.

If you COULD get a lineup of 9 Babe Ruths

I know that a LOT of times that management is SO obsessed with the running part of the leadoff man's game that they kinda forget that you can't steal first (Tom replica Raymond Weil 4878-STC-00268 Men's watch Goodwin, say…) just as stats guys are too obsessed with the absolute numbers of outs made by the leadoff man (Juan Pierre.) I think they tend to compare total numbers of outs made by all players, forgetting that leadoff men usually have the most ABs and they shouldn't compare leadoff men to, say 3 or 4 hitters, who have a different job.

If you COULD get a lineup of 9 Babe Ruths (as pitcher, too) then that would be one thing.But reality bites and you have leadoff guys and RBI guys cuz ain't real too many Babe Ruths out there…So, let's see what we've got (assuming Burke starts also, leaving Berkman out of the discussion he always has an OBP in the top 10, but he is a RBI guy, a power hitter and isn't real too good a baserunner…) Spring training stats from replica Raymond Weil 8500-SR1-05207 Men's watch, lifetime stats from thebaseballcube.C Brad Ausmus well, lessee lifetime SB 87 with 46 CS; last 4 years in Houston an OBP of .301 and an average of 37 BB over an average of 433 AB.Uh..NO.

1B Jeff Bagwell well, as you know, he hasn't been his old self over the past few years because of his bad shoulder lifetime OBP of .408, almost 100 replica Raymond Weil 5390-STS-00995 Ladie's watch yr, 202 SB over 14 seasons with two 30-30 seasons in 97 and 99.HOF, yes?! The last few years, he's had an OBP of .377 and last year, had 29 2B and 27 HR with only 12 GIDP (but remember he had Adam Everett in front of him and he's pretty fast) but only 6 SB with 4 CS.This spring, he's 11 39 with 3 2B and 3 HR for a SLG% of .519 no available stats for BB or OBP, but no SB attempts.

Phil Garner STILL has not finished the 25 man roster or given the Opening Day lineup

Opening Day for MLB begins tonight with the Yankees Red Sox at Yankee stadium.(WHY do I think that if ESPN HQ was here in, say Austin, we would have a LOT less Red Sox Yanks and a LOT more Rangers and Astros?) Interesting that the game is on replica Raymond Weil 2310.STG00808 Men's watch and GIRLS basketball is on the main ESPN.Can you believe that female athletes (wearing lots of clothes and not exactly looking like strippers) are on the main channel instead of Sox Yanks…..But anyway, OUR Opening Day is a little more than 48 hours away.And at this time, Phil Garner STILL has not finished the 25 man roster or given the Opening Day lineup.

Yesterday, on the Astros preview on Fox, Craig Biggio was labeled a “utility” guy.Very Interesting did they hear something privately and decide to keep it to themselves? Will Biggio or Burke start at second? Biggio has only played one game (part of it) in the OF this spring, so I kinda doubt that he will be starting out there.Which is a replica Raymond Weil 2710-ST-20001 Men's watch plan.Chris Burke has out-hit Biggio this spring .347 BA with 11 RBIs, 17 49 with a double, a triple and 2 HR .531 SLG% and is 3 fer 4 in SB while Biggio has a .292 BA (.354 SLG%) with 3 doubles, NO HR or SB.(sorry, I have no data on fielding, but I have SEEN Biggio field in a few games this spring and it isn't pretty…)

Your question, of course, is, if Biggio is not in the starting lineup, who will lead off? Well, a lead-off person should have a decent OBP (at LEAST .350) with a decent walk rate, so that OBP is NOT the same as BA and not be so slow (Jeremy Giambi, that is) that he is at risk of being thrown out in a lot of DPs.It would be REAL nice if he can steal bases, like at least 15 20 a year, with a success rate of at least 75% replica Raymond Weil 4878-ST-00668 Men's watch it would also help if he can hit if bases are NOT empty.These days, people are WAY too obsessed with HR, but the job of the leadoff man is NOT to hit HRs, it is to get on base and score runs, so personally I don't care if he hits ONLY singles or walks as long as he is a good base runner and has a high OBP.

hoping that the lineup looks like this just so Biggio

FINALLY, the Astros released the completed 40 man roster (see below) and the opening day lineup.(from Houston Chronicle) Interesting that Garner decided to switch Biggio and Everett in the lineup.Over the past 3 years, Biggio has only replica Raymond Weil 1500-ST1-05303 Ladie's watch AB not hitting leadoff (and I can't find lifetime stats), so I have NO idea how he does from the 2-hole, but over the past 3 years, he does MUCH better leading off, with no on, no out (like 100 points) than at other times.So unless he plans to do a LOT of bunting, I do NOT understand THIS one.

I?am hoping that the lineup looks like this just so Biggio can have his last Opening Day start and that Burke will be starting after that…1 Adam Everett, SS2 Craig Biggio, 2B3 Jeff Bagwell, 1B4 Morgan Ensberg, 3B5 Luke Scott, LF6 Jason Lane, RF7 Brad Ausmus, C8 Willy Taveras, CF9 Roy Oswalt, PHere's the 40 man roster remember that the 25 man has NO 5 starter named… PITCHERS B T HT WT Birthday Country Exp. replica Raymond Weil 8500-ST-05207 Men's watch Birthday Country Exp. 99- note that 9 25 guys on the 25 man were drafted by the Stros.Scott and Taveras, of course, are the guys we got from the Indians for Jeriome Robertson and I LUV having rookies to root for.

Jason Lane, of course, isn't really a rookie, but it's high time he was startin and I'm gonna be screamin for him, too.When Chris Burke fights his way onto the starting lineup, we'll have 4 new guys.Yeah, I know all about the Proven Veterans (TM) but I still like to root for the new guy.ESPECIALLY when I know we not gonna win anyway.Disabled ListNo.NAME B T HT WT Birthday Country Exp.Drafted17 Lance Berkman (RF) replica Raymond Weil 2836-P-00807 Men's watch so when Lance comes back, who gonna sit?In The MinorsNo.NAME B T HT WT Birthday Country Exp.Drafted- Josh Anderson (CF) L R 6-2 195

the play of Carson Palmer was not the reason

7.Cincinnati Bengals.Even though the Bengals made the playoffs in 2009, the play of Carson Palmer was not the reason why.Coming into the 2010 season there was much promise surrounding the Bengals and thought that they could be a real contender if their star quarterback could return, at least somewhat, to his previous MVP form. D&G DW0065 Palmer has not delivered though as he has put up a quarterback rating of 78.7 and a touchdown to interception ratio that is close to even.

With the new Shannahan regime in place, Donovan Mcnabb, who not too long ago signed an oddly structured contract, has already been benched twice in favour of Rex Grossman.Seriously?5.Minnesota Vikings.Okay, D&G DW0065 watch Brett Favre didn’t work out, they sold a 3rd round pick for a few weeks of Randy Moss and Tavaris Jackson is injured so there is still no read on his ability to lead the Vikings into the future.Things are pretty crazy in Minny right now and I cannot believe that Jackson has any shot at being the long term solution there.Joe Webb anyone?

4.San Francisco 49ers.Mike Singletary pronouncing Alex Smith as the 49ers quarterback of the future hasn’t helped the situation in San Fran as the 49ers got off to a 0 5 start and experimented with former Heisman winner Troy Smith at quarterback before reverting back to Alex Smith. This has caused the Bengals to currently be sitting at 3 11 on the Seiko SNQ039 Men's Watch season.Analysts have mentioned Palmer’s deteriorating arm strength as a potential cause to his fall as a quarterback and if this is the case, combined with his deteriorating play, then the Cincinnati front office needs to look elsewhere for their future.6.Washington Redskins.I’m not sure too much needs to be said about this situation.