So unfortunately, it's been "that time of year" -where fans begin to think of what may happen next year instead of continuing to subject themselves to the mental suffering that comes with following a team as bad as the Houston Astros- for about three months now. While I admit that watching the young infusion of players on the field has been quite entertaining, it's only natural that I submit to you faithful readers what the lineup should look like for the team in 2012. So, I'm assuming that newly minted owner Jim Crane fires current GM Ed Wade and manager Brad Mills, anoints Andrew Friedman as Wade's successor, and hires me to manage the club. Sounds fabulous, eh? Here's my lineup card on Opening Day, 2012:
Jason Bourgeois, CF
Jose Altuve, 2B
J.D. Martinez, RF
Carlos Lee, LF
Clint Barmes, SS
Chris Johnson, 3B
Brett Wallace, 1B
Jason Castro, C
Whoever, P
Let me be clear on a few things here. I would love to get rid of Lee just as much as the next guy, but it's simply implausible to think that any team is going to swallow that whale of a contract. Lee's not very good, but he's not so bad as to justify releasing him and paying the $17 million that he's owed next season. We can get through this together, Astros fans, it's just one more year of him in left field.
I assume that whoever comes in as GM makes it a priority to keep Barmes. Sure, this blog was critical of his signing in the first place, but Barmes offers a bit of veteran leadership that will be sorely needed on a very young 2012 club. Plus, he holds his own at the plate while possessing a flashy glove. Barmes does things the right way, and now with Tommy Manzella gone, the other shortstop prospects on the farm need some more time to develop.
Martinez obviously deserves to be a permanent part of the major league club. Barring a catastrophic collapse in September, he'll have put up absolutely spectacular numbers since his call-up on July 30. I'm not exactly thrilled that he's my #3 hitter so early in his career, but who are you going to put third? He's shown legitimate pop, and no matter how "flat" his swing is, he's performing with it, so who cares? That being said, he'll have to be moved over to right field for the time being, as I'll be a tough lobbier for bringing back Wallace and Johnson, which in effect moves Lee back out to left field. Getting Castro back will be nice, but I haven't seen enough production out of him yet to bat him higher than eighth. Lastly, with the state of flux that the Houston rotation will be in during the offseason, I'll leave it up to the team brass to decide who's going to be the pitcher on April 1, 2012.
That's my idea, what's yours?
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