Matsui deal not good value, 1986 music & LaRussa

I've been on record since day one. Kaz Matsui is a mistake. Pursuing him was a mistake. Outbidding the Cubs for him is a bigger one. He's 32 - he's not getting better, in fact, since speed is his greatest asset, he's actually getting worse. He's not a bad player to have, but for $15 million - over 3 seasons as it's being reported - he's just not a good value. He's not among the top half of MLB 2B- so why pay a premium price for him?? The Rockies just went to the World Series with him as their guy and yet they didn't show too much interest in bringing him back.

While he is an upgrade defensively, that is meaningless since the Astros arguably had the 32nd best defensive second sacker last year with Biggio, et al. He did steal 32 bases, so sure the Astros are faster at the top of the lineup, but it will not matter if the duo of Michael Bourn and Matsui are not on base often enough.

Here are the numbers....
2007-Among NL 2B with 300 ABs
- 1st in SB (32)
- 8th in Avg (.288)
- 11th in OPS (.746) [Blum(12th), Burke (15th)]
- 3rd in Home Avg (.330), 6th in Home OBP (.381)
- 11th in Road Avg (.249),11th in Road OBP (.304)
Career notes..
- As a rookie, had 460 at-bats and played in 114 games, has not reached those totals in a single season since. Just 410 at-bats last year in 104 games.
- Began his pro career in Japan at age 19, came to MLB after 8 consecutive seasons of at least 473 at-bats. (Then b/w ages of 28-32 he started breaking down more often - shocking!!)
- Last season, he missed a more than a month with back spasms and another two weeks with a hamstring issue.
- Played 87 games in '05, just 70 in '06 due to various injuries.

So Wade saved money by trading Lidge for Bourn, and now used it to sign Matsui - in my mind it's not money well spent. Your thoughts????
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As promised - we played the audio last night on the show on SportsRadio 610. Here are the sweet videos from the 1986 LA Rams with their unforgettable "Ram It" and the '86 LA Dodgers with the dance-craze "Baseball Boogie". It's fine if you're angry with me because these ridiculous tunes stay in your head all day. Enjoy.

Let's Ram It - you must listen closely to the lyrics, these Rams don't mess around!!
UPDATE - apparently there's an issue with the vid, sorry.
Instead why not watch St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa's DUI stop and subsequent arrest.

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Baseball Boogie - Keep an eye out for Astros special assistant to the GM, Enos Cabell - he's a dancing fool. And there's not a chance in hell that's Orel Hershiser's voice.

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It's Friday, so there'll be more throughout the day and night including Danny & I making our college and pro picks for the weekend.
By the way - did you miss Bill Bellamy's appearance on the show this past Tuesday? He's at the Improv starting tonight and he was in rare form with us.
------------- WEX

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