Astros Claim German Duran off Waivers
by Kinslerhomer on Jul 1, 2009 2:03 PM CDT
Email
PrintThe Astros, dealing with a lack of depth in the minor league system, have claimed INF German Duran off unconditional waivers. So, he has been lost to the Astros.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xx x x x x x x xx x x x x
112 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Good luck German...
Heh, I’ll bet he’s one of their top 10 prospects now!
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Any team willing to employ the services of Matt Kata is jump at the opportunity to claim Duran
I wish Duran the best and hope it works out for him, but it shows the current state of the Astros.
"wORLD sEIRES HERE WE COMER!!!!!!!!!"by bigsteve on May 29, 2009 10:21 PM PDT
"Elvis Andrus has just performed a miracle." -Eric Nadel
Duran will get some ML experience there.
That’s for sure. Hope he does well.
A good place
for him to end up.
"I saw a soldier try to dig a foxhole with his bare hands. He didn't notice that he'd torn off all his fingernails. I got him out of there quickly; not for his sake, but for ours. Fear is poison in combat...destructive, contagious." - Band of Brothers
Man that sucks
He seemed like a good guy. I wish him the best.
2009 Texas Rangers: Why The Hell Not Us?--ghtd36 on May 13, 2009
at least he'll get a shot to play
cant be aweful from his persepective. he was just trade fodder here
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
This is front page news?
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Why not?
"Was this really necsarry?" - cowpoke/hurler hurley
Well
After the last couple years I think hes fallen far enough off the radar that its not that newsworthy.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
He had an appendectomy.
Have you tried to hit a curve with a bum appendix?
"[Font} doesn't turn 19 until the end of May and his heater can already hit 99 on the gun. That's baseball porn." - Jason Parks
by hightowersmith on Jul 1, 2009 3:05 PM CDT up reply actions
Not saying its entirely his fault
I think last year he was thouroughly fucked by the Rangers in the way they handled him. But with his dismal performance last year and this year along with the rise in other guys I just don’t see this being big news.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Jesus...
Of course it fucking is.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
Everyone needs to drive a vehicle, even the very tall. This was the largest auto I could afford. Should I therefore be made the subject of fun?
Why are people so concerned with...
What is fucking front page news or not…..if you don’t like it skip the shit.
by death of the cool on Jul 1, 2009 3:21 PM CDT up reply actions
More interesting than
your musings on the 25th man…
he was a ranger
he played with the rangers last year. he was still rangers property and he gets claimed?
was that a joke?
"I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the [MLB] for guys to fall in love with [the Rangers’s] sloppy seconds." (thanks cstorm)
boo
Stupid Astros.
"Was this really necsarry?" - cowpoke/hurler hurley
Adios, German, and good luck.
"I love winning." - rockin_rangers, on May 16, 2009
by ghtd36 on Jul 1, 2009 2:44 PM CDT reply actions 2 recs
No more
Hungry like the Wolf….All that is left is just an Ordinary World in Rangerland.
2009 Texas Rangers: Why The Hell Not Us?--ghtd36 on May 13, 2009
Argh
I don’t like this. Certainly no guarantee that Duran becomes a quality major leaguer, but I think this is a nice move for Houston. And I’m pretty sick that we think that John Bannister has a better chance to help the major league team at some point than Duran.
Arlington, TX: home of The Blue Blur
Couldn’t agree more.
"[Font} doesn't turn 19 until the end of May and his heater can already hit 99 on the gun. That's baseball porn." - Jason Parks
by hightowersmith on Jul 1, 2009 2:55 PM CDT up reply actions
With Vallejo already on the 40
And guys like Lemon and Osuna in the upper minors you can’t have that many utility IFs on it. I don’t think this symbolizes that they think Bannister has a better chance of helping this club but that you can’t have your 40 man roster with 3 utility IFs (Arias, Duran, and Vallejo)
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
He's a guy
with no place in our major league plans any time soon, and no real trade value.
I just don’t see where he fits in. Not enough of a bat to put on the bench as a bat, not enough of a glove to put on the bench as a glove.
God Bless him, he probably has more of a chance to do something with himself in Houston.
"I saw a soldier try to dig a foxhole with his bare hands. He didn't notice that he'd torn off all his fingernails. I got him out of there quickly; not for his sake, but for ours. Fear is poison in combat...destructive, contagious." - Band of Brothers
The part where I’m not sure that you’re right is the bat. They’re obviously betting that way too, but I just don’t know.
Arlington, TX: home of The Blue Blur
by Brett Perryman on Jul 1, 2009 5:08 PM CDT up reply actions
No
Arlington, TX: home of The Blue Blur
by Brett Perryman on Jul 1, 2009 4:47 PM CDT up reply actions
Bah. Duran had no real place here, so it's good for him that he gets to move to a team where he's got a shot at some big league time.
It still sucks to lose a guy, though.
Best of luck, German.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
Everyone needs to drive a vehicle, even the very tall. This was the largest auto I could afford. Should I therefore be made the subject of fun?
Thats too bad.
You can never have enough depth. I think this was an unlikely result and I’m sure the rangers did too. Oh well.
the preceding post was a great success.
They are pissed because we have Nolan
This is why they claimed Duran. Now we are even.
2009 Texas Rangers: Why The Hell Not Us?--ghtd36 on May 13, 2009
This is the kind of thing
we need to be worried about over the next few years as talent rises in the system. This has always been my main reservation with Daniels, mistakes in roster management and filling out the edges of the roster. The Teixeira trade was awesome, but you have to take care of this, too. Losing guys like Galarraga and Duran is just stupid when you’re keeping Bannister, Mendoza, and Eyre.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
We already have 4 utility guys on the 40
Thats 10% of our 40 man roster dedicated to a backup IF that, with our current crop of ML IFs, isn’t going to be used very much.
And we have more guys that profile as this coming up in the upper minors.
I wish German luck but this really isn’t a big deal
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Well, to ask the tough question...
Which is the better utility player: Duran, Arias, or Vallejo?
I don’t know if Jose Vallejo faces a ML pitch in his life.
"[Font} doesn't turn 19 until the end of May and his heater can already hit 99 on the gun. That's baseball porn." - Jason Parks
by hightowersmith on Jul 1, 2009 3:17 PM CDT up reply actions
You don't think Vallejo will
Ever make it to The Show?
2009 Texas Rangers: Why The Hell Not Us?--ghtd36 on May 13, 2009
Well
Jose Vallejo looks at Duran’s age-22 year and his balls draw up inside him.
Maybe the power he showed in BAK last year wasn’t a flash in the pan.
"[Font} doesn't turn 19 until the end of May and his heater can already hit 99 on the gun. That's baseball porn." - Jason Parks
by hightowersmith on Jul 1, 2009 3:23 PM CDT up reply actions
I think its a tossup honestly
With our current ML IF I would almost rather us just go out every year and sign a Omar Vizquel type to be our utility guy than have a guy like Vallejo or Arias on the bench 6+ days a week
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
I would agree with T-Ball
and state that the fact we have 10% of the 40 dedicated to utility guys is an example of poor roster management. I think that the 40 roster is a much bigger weakness for JD than even the 25 man.
Godwin's Law Version 2.0 (Rangers Edition)
"As a Ranger discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Danks, Volquez, or Young approaches one."
Well
Arais and Vizquel will be gone after this year most likely (Omar as a FA and Arias is out of options after this season) Vallejo was just added this past winter.
I don’t think the 40 is JDs greatest strength but I haven’t seen any serious blunders yet. And before someone says Galarraga I don’t consider him a good pitcher.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Yeah
Not that I think Duran has a particularly bright future with the Rangers, but for Willie Eyre? Bah.
Is Duran good...
enough to really worry about? I mean we filled the bench INF job with a Hall of Famer for $1 million in the off-season?
I would rather keep
a questionable pitcher over a questionable position player.
Elvis Andrus - 2009 AL Rookie of the Year
Mitch Moreland - 2009 Rangers Minor League POY
I think we lost Duran
because we added a bat to the 40, so we removed a bat.
I do think Duran and Arias were redundant. If you want to make an argument that we should have moved Arias instead, I can’t argue that.
Seems like small Beer either way.
"I saw a soldier try to dig a foxhole with his bare hands. He didn't notice that he'd torn off all his fingernails. I got him out of there quickly; not for his sake, but for ours. Fear is poison in combat...destructive, contagious." - Band of Brothers
What Req says below is my issue
I don’t know that Duran will be a quality player, but it’s a bad gamble. Just like there were last spring and the spring when they dumped Justin Duchscherer, there are much safer options to cut. I’d echo the Hunter comment as well, and I’d add that it even spreads to not waiting a couple of weeks on Andrus and decisions of that nature. Reckless move after reckless move quietly slides you back to mediocrity and consistently puts you back in difficult situations. It’s not that Duran is likely to be a stud; it’s the pattern of iffy decision making.
And I disagree that he and Arias are redundant. The only things that they have in common are that they are both infielders and they both hit from the right side. They don’t even play the same position. Arias’ value is wrapped up in his (former) athletic/defensive tools and contact ability as a pure SS. Duran’s value, as it is, is wrapped up in his offensive potential, given that he can be acceptable at 2B. You can just dismiss the fact that he has any potential if you want, but that’s the irresponsible thinking that leads to mistakes, imo.
Arlington, TX: home of The Blue Blur
by Brett Perryman on Jul 1, 2009 4:58 PM CDT up reply actions
Iffy decision making
I’m starting to wonder if they have spent enough time wargaming for contingencies since these iffy decisions all revolve around “hey, we need a guy tonight…who do we dump off the 40/25?”. Of course, maybe they just don’t like Duran. But having to suddenly add guys like Hunter is bad, sloppy, and makes me worried.
They do wonderful things, like snag Madrigal and Strop, and then mess up guys they already have in hand, like Castro and Galarraga.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
Castro?
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Ahh yeah
Wasn’t that more Buck refusing to use him than anything? I may be misremembering but I thought that was more a case of Buck refusing to use him which wore out our other relievers
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
at the end of the day
the only position realistically for Duran or Arias is UI. So you had Arias, Duran, Vallejo and Vizquel on the 40 as UI.
Its kind of an obvious position to weed back when you have 40 issues. When you only have 8 or so position players on the 40 who aren’t on the 25, going after one of Arias, Duran or Vallejo is a fairly obvious place to go.
"I saw a soldier try to dig a foxhole with his bare hands. He didn't notice that he'd torn off all his fingernails. I got him out of there quickly; not for his sake, but for ours. Fear is poison in combat...destructive, contagious." - Band of Brothers
Let me clarify
I don’t think losing Duran really hurts the team much, just like Galarraga is not a huge deal. But both of those decisions involved keeping players even less painful to lose and I see a chain of these little things going back to the beginning of Daniels’ tenure. I understand you have to take risks to move forward, and by and large I like the risks the Rangers take.
I’m not freaking out about this by any means, it’s just an annoyance that could be a bigger worry in a year or two. Filling out the edges of a roster can be as tricky as picking keepers for the ever-inconsisten bullpen, but it’s important in building a winning club. I’m just disappointed.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
I agree
What’s concerning is that there have been enough examples of mismanagement of the 40, that it’s starting to get worrisome.
Especially as our top prospects approach the out of options stage, we want to avoid just giving away talent because we haven’t handled the 40 decently.
Another example, besides the Galarraga and Duran losses would be adding Tommy Hunter to the 40 last year AT LEAST 1 and 1/2 years before he needed to be, just to watch him get shelled in the majors.
R
Hunter was out of necessity
He was what our 20th starting pitcher used last year. We simply didn’t have anyone else.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Not true
We even had a debate about arguing whether Hunter was ready.
IIRC (I don’t have the time to look it up right now), you said that if they believe he was ready, it was good enough for you, so it’s fine to bring him up.
I thought they were panicking at the time and that it was highly questionable whether Hunter was ready for the big league.
Heck, I STILL don’t know if he’s ready for the big league.
R
At least with Hunter
if they ever got to the point where they didn’t have room for him he has trade value. A back of the rotation guy that doesn’t walk people, Joe Blanton brought back some decent kids for Oakland. Don’t think he’d bring that much unless he does well for a couple years, but he has value.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
The Astros wanted a German because you know the Germans make good stuff.
by Inkara1 on Jul 1, 2009 3:27 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
hah
Arlington, TX: home of The Blue Blur
by Brett Perryman on Jul 1, 2009 4:51 PM CDT up reply actions
Rec
Get on base or die, Salty.
"I don’t think we ever envisioned that anyone could shut this offense down to one hit" - Ron Washington
OT: Real Madrid signs Benzema.
They have now spent 200,000,000 Euros on transfer fees in the past few weeks. Each one seems more shocking than the last because where the hell is all the money coming from??? I read that they are in a unique situation because for some reason they have access to cheaper/better lines of credit, but holy crap man.
Real Madrid=Arab Money.
Real Madrid = Bank of Spain
Real means Royal and they were owned by the royal family prior to the spanish civil war, when franco won, they became his darling. The money had been staight out of the spanish treasury for decades. Times have changed, franco is gone but the connect with the old banking industry from the royal and franco era will never refuse to loan them money. so they basically end up with an unlimited blank check and i guess they sell enough Kits to be able to pay off the loans over time.
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
Crazy.
"We're One Nation Under a Groove"
- Ayjayem
by inactive lsb user on Jul 1, 2009 7:56 PM CDT up reply actions
at least he aint a manC
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
My first reaction...
…every time Real Madrid signed someone was “well, at least it wasn’t another EPL team”. Now I’m concerned about the big 4 EPL teams fighting over the next tier of players. Also wondering if Real Madrid could replace Iker with “Money”. Literally, just piles the entire goal full of money.
LOL
I hate to see Madrid with another big-money signing, but Benzema’s a good player, and as Jayslick said, at least he’s not headed to Manchester.
Surely, though, if Madrid is shelling out this kind of cash for Benzema, they can spare 40 million for Xabi Alonso or 8 million for Alvaro Arbeloa. United, Lyon, and AC Milan have all received fair value for their players- what’s with lowballing us, Madrid? Still bitter about that ass-kicking in the Champions League this past season?
"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky
they also hate that we have rafa
even though he’s a terrible fit for them, they hate he isnt there still
mormons stole me and held me against my will with Oklahoma beer and 12+ hour work days.
True
That’s their fault, though. They were too busy running through half of the European manager pool, while they had Rafa managing the reserves. And yeah, he’d be a terrible fit for them now. I couldn’t imagine him with a team of “galacticos.” He’d much rather win with a team of Dirk Kuyts than a team of superstars with big egos.
"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky
And yet
the FIFA chief sees England as the problem. What a doosh.
Arlington, TX: home of The Blue Blur
by Brett Perryman on Jul 1, 2009 4:49 PM CDT up reply actions
you'd think this will happen more and more
as the team gets better. Decent positional players with some promise simply won’t make the cut.
Look at our starting outfield: both Byrd and Murphy are castoffs from winning teams.
Promote Nam!
On the plus side for German
he gets to earn ML salary and per diem while on the DL now
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
OT
So, HH is bragging about how ESPN the Magazine rated their team the “fan friendliest” environment of all major sports, nationwide. Just curious: how does having a fan – after a game – getting sucker punched, then left for dead in a stairwell, then acting DYING from said actions qualify as “fan friendly?”
WTF.
ESPN, HH one in the same
I never listen, watch or read either one.
2009 Texas Rangers: Why The Hell Not Us?--ghtd36 on May 13, 2009
Yeah, Agreed
Only reason I caught it was because the Rangers Blog on the DMN; remember something or someone on HH did a fanpost or something about it. I really can’t remember, I almost can’t stand even surfing to that site, much less reading it.
The more I think about it...
….the more I am convinced that the whole “fan gets beat up at the stadium, left for dead, and actually dies” qualifier should, by default, make you the least friendly fan environment in America. That sort of thing is usually reserved for international soccer hooligans. Stupid ESPN.
Could it be due to it’s close proximity to Disneyland?
by GregoryM on Jul 1, 2009 3:58 PM CDT up reply actions
This.
Disney = fun.
Right???
Right ?!?!?!?!?!
"We're One Nation Under a Groove"
- Ayjayem
by inactive lsb user on Jul 1, 2009 8:00 PM CDT up reply actions
don't forget the off duty cop shooting 2 people after a game a couple weeks ago
after they hit him over the head and threatened him or whatever.
the preceding post was a great success.
I hadn't heard that.
Sounds like a gem of a fan experience. You may die a grizzly death, but hey – your tickets are on average $2.10 cheaper than the rest of the league!
40 man roster
One would think that all teams would have a full 40 man roster at this time of year. According to thier MLB site, they only have 38 before adding Duran.
Elvis Andrus - 2009 AL Rookie of the Year
Mitch Moreland - 2009 Rangers Minor League POY
With their farm system
Im surprised they have 38
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Wonder if Duran is a top 10 prospect for them.
Elvis Andrus - 2009 AL Rookie of the Year
Mitch Moreland - 2009 Rangers Minor League POY
Probably not top 10
But with his 2007 season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him crack our top 15. Top 20, almost definitely. I wish I was exaggerating.
Ed Wade has shown himself to be very good at pulling guys off the scrapheap in the last year and a half. Our bullpen has been pretty good this year, and it’s made up of a lot of castoffs…Arias (waivers), Wright (Rule 5), and Fulchino (waivers), Hawkins (traded A-level filler for him). I hope he can do the same kind of magic with position players. I think Wade tries to keep the 40-man at around 38 players during the season, just in case there’s a trade or a waiver claim to be made.
Have you seen their system?
There’s nothing worth adding at this point.. Might as well keep it open for something worthwhile like waivers..
maybe it was just bad timing
I think they just released Backe and someone else in the last few days…
Duran's comments via Anthony Andro
Go here for the complee reprt.
It’s been a rough season for Duran. He was an early spring training cut and then struggled at Triple A. He then went on the DL with a rib injury. As he was returning from that, his appendix nearly ruptured, forcing him to have surgery in Arizona. He said he’s feeling better now.
Elvis Andrus - 2009 AL Rookie of the Year
Mitch Moreland - 2009 Rangers Minor League POY
typo on the main post
reads"So, he has been lost to the Astros. Shouldn’t that say "he has been lost to the Rangers?
I soloed in the Mile High Club!
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
