tremendous talent my butt. come on....the guy is what? 27?? and he's just getting his first sniff at the majors. guys like berkman are tremendous talents...guys like hidalgo...who find a way into the starting lineup because you literally can't keep them out, even early in their careers. lane is not a tremendous talent...and he's not a CF. and right now, i'd have a hard time imagining yanking biggio from the leadoff spot....is there seriously anyone advocating that RIGHT NOW??? do you really want this guy out of the game right now??? .329 .388 OBP .433 slugging .809 OPS 16 RBI 16 runs scored. come on. seriously...you take a guy out of the lineup, particularly at the leadoff spot, who's hitting that well?
Max, you know I respect you a lot but I think your argument is a little flawed. Lane came up as a 1st basemen. You know he isnt going to get a chance there. So they move him to the outfield a la Berkman and Ward. It isnt because this guy is not talented, he just hasnt had a chance. How are you supposed to break into the majors when you are behind a Bagwell, Berkman, Biggio, and Hidalgo? Plus we had decent guys on the bench (Orlando Merced) so they kept in AAA so he could get at bats and play everyday. Thats like saying that Carlos Hernandez and other pitchers we have in New Orleans arent that good because they arent in the majors this year. We are loaded at that position just like we have in the outfield for several years (see also Alou, Ward even if he was a bust, etc.). As much as I love Biggio and I am happy with his production this far into the season, I think we are holding a good player back while Biggio is in the twilight of his career. I seriously doubt he will keep up this type of year and really hope that Lane gets a chance and takes full advantage of it.
ummmm...one of the examples i cited was berkman. they found a place for him, didn't they? even if it was out of position. because you can't keep that bat out of the lineup. lane doesn't prompt that at all. he's not that kind of player. are you saying he is? are you saying he's a prospect on par with hidalgo or berkman?
Does anyone know how to post a spreadsheet in here? I want to post some stats but it is awfully ugly when I do.
No, but I am saying that he is a prospect that is on par to be better than our current Biggio. Here is another LINK basically saying the same thing I did: Also if you compare the numbers that Lane had in the minors to the numbers that Berkman had in the minors, you will see that they are not that different. Berkmans may be slightly better but not enough for me to think that Lane is not a top prospect. Obviously, mlb.com thought so. Year Team Lg. Age Org. Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO HBP SH SF GDP SLG OBP OPS 1999 Auburn NYPL 22 Hou 0.279 74 283 46 79 18 5 13 59 6 38 46 0.516 2000 Michigan Midw. 23 Hou 0.299 133 511 98 153 38 0 23 104 20 62 91 0.509 2001 Round Rock Tex. 24 Hou 0.316 137 526 103 166 36 2 38 124 14 61 98 0.608 2002 New Orleans Zephyrs PCL 25 Hou 0.272 111 426 65 116 36 2 15 83 13 3 31 90 7 0 6 6 0.472 0.328 800 2002 Houston Astros MLB 25 Hou 0.29 44 69 12 20 3 1 4 10 1 1 10 12 0 0 1 0 0.536 0.375 911 2003 New Orleans Zephyrs PCL 26 Hou 0.298 71 248 37 74 17 0 7 39 2 1 30 26 3 1 5 6 0.452 0.374 826 2003 Houston Astros MLB 26 Hou 0.296 18 27 5 8 2 0 4 10 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0.815 0.296 1111 Year Team Lg. Age Org. Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO HBP SH SF GDP SLG OBP OPS 1997 Kissimmee FSL 21 Hou 0.293 53 184 31 54 10 0 12 35 2 37 38 0.543 1998 Jackson Tex. 22 Hou 0.306 122 425 82 130 34 0 24 89 6 85 82 0.555 1998 New Orleans PCL 22 Hou 0.271 17 59 14 16 4 0 6 13 0 12 16 0.644 1999 New Orleans PCL 23 Hou 0.323 64 226 42 73 20 0 8 49 7 39 47 0.518 1999 Houston Astros MLB 23 Hou 0.237 34 93 10 22 2 0 4 15 5 1 12 21 0 0 1 2 0.387 0.321 708 2000 New Orleans PCL 24 Hou 0.33 31 112 18 37 4 2 6 27 4 31 20 0.563 2000 Houston Astros MLB 24 Hou 0.297 114 353 76 105 28 1 21 67 6 2 56 73 1 0 7 6 0.561 0.388 949 If you grab this and paste it into an excel spreadsheet it is easier to read.
i guess i just don't see that of lane, master. and at this point, i refuse to advocate taking a guy out of the lineup who is hitting like biggio...and who can likely play CF better than lane. at the very least, he has a year of experience with it that lane does not.
I agree with you on Lane i rather see Biggio playing out there than Lane to be honest he has show me nothing .
Herni Stanley,Colin Porter they are just 2 porter saw a little action .He should have been giving more time to show what he could do .
wrong no argument won these two guys were not giving the chance that Lane was giving so how do we no what they may have been able to do to help the team. Biggio is a alright CF but if i could have a true CF it wouldn't be him .
where are henri stanley and colin porter now? seriously....biggio is putting up tremendous numbers early on. if the alternative was stanley, porter or biggio....i'll take biggio. and like RM95 said, you just made our case. if those are the CF prospects...then there are no prospects. stanley isn't even in the league anymore, as best i can tell porter has 9 total AB's this season for the Cahdnals.
http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/playerrankings/regularseason/CF 1. Carlos Beltran, KC 2. Craig Biggio, HOU 3. Lew Ford, MIN 4. Milton Bradley, LA 5. Andruw Jones, ATL 6. Scott Podsednik, MIL 7. Jim Edmonds, STL 8. Laynce Nix, TEX 9. Marquis Grissom, SF 10. Brandon Inge, DET
MM glad to see those numbers but i have a Question do you think that Biggio can keep the numbers up for the hole season.
edward -- i don't know. i hope so. but that's not the point. the point is he is remarkably better than the options we had to play CF going into the season. my point is that the criticism of craig was overly harsh. that the guy isn't costing us games.
I don't really have a problem with his fielding, but would wager that by the end of the year he'll be below average with his bat. Biggio is my favorite player. Ever. He's also probably the most underrated player of the 90's. But he's not really a useful everyday player anymore for a contender. He's played so well - but then, so have a lot of guys who suck. For sentimental reasons, I'm still glad to see him in an Astros uniform. And to be honest, I'm glad he still plays regularly. I didn't feel that way about Hakeem - but then, I prefer the Astros to any other team on the planet... and Biggio is my favorite Astro.
