Comments on: Carlos Lee mulling over whether to accept deal to Dodgers

By: jimeejohnson

jimeejohnson — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:15:34 +0000

You guys must love humidity! West L.A. fadeaway, but at least Los Angeles is free of the humidity scourge which makes it feel a lot hotter than it really is. Texas and Florida are great in the winter but are horribly humid in summer. You get hurricanes and tornadoes, while Los Angeles gets a destructive earthquake around once every 50 years. In reality, Houston, Miami, and Los Angeles are urban areas with all the nastiness that goes with it; at least they are not New Yawk!

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 11:10:24 +0000

Well now, let’s see. If I waive my no trade clause, I make exactly the same money I would make if I don’t waive it, but hey, I get to go to a town that costs three times as much to live in, am separated from my home, my family and my business, all of whom I won’t get to see except maybe for a few days of unbalanced scheduling (unless the Dodgers have already played those games) until the end of September. Well, I guess I could always pretend I’m on a military deployment and by a husband and father by Skype. But at least the fans won’t dislike me.

Right.

By: xjokerz

xjokerz — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 09:01:59 +0000

I’m not from Texas but I would much rather live in Houston then dirt valley that is LA

By: rohlo

rohlo — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 07:24:28 +0000

ive lived in both cities for years at a time and ill take houston over LA anyday!!! i live in san diego and have lived here most of my life now and ill take san diego over both of them..lived in floirida as kid and southeast florida is better than them all! honestly living in houston things are cheaper and taxes are low,but the freeways are just as bad in houston as LA..millions of people even thoug LA has more..houston and surrounding metro area is close to 8 million which includes all the outlying cities and media area as where LA has like 12 million….. every city has its pro’s and cons

By: beeninnikes

beeninnikes — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:48:53 +0000

I know people will say that he and his agent negotiated this no trade clause, but he also greatly underperformed his contract, which is widely considered one of the worst in baseball the past couple years. He is one of the several reasons the Astros are in the position they’re in.

By: beeninnikes

beeninnikes — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:43:13 +0000

Carlos Lee and his huge contract has been a bust for Houston. I know he’s not very popular and people will be happy to see his contract off the books. The least he could do to help this rebuilding franchise is net us some decent prospects in return. As an Astros fan, I’ve never been a big fan of Lee. But if he doesnt waive his no trade clause to help this franchise, I (along with the majority of other fans) will really dislike him.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 04:17:49 +0000

Voice of....reason? You insult me! Flintlocks or foils, sir?

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 04:14:52 +0000

One of the all-time worst songs not written by Barry Manilow or Jim Webb.

By: yahmule

yahmule — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:30:08 +0000

Could be a vanity issue. In Houston, Carlos is only considered mildy overweight. In LA, he would qualify as morbidly obese.

By: windycity0301

windycity0301 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:36:00 +0000

Who’s to say Houston wouldn’t keep him as a DH next year, at much lower price of he stayed I’d assume. They are making that move and will have a need. Just a thought DJ. And with that ranch he might give that home town discount.

By: stex52

stex52 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:30:24 +0000

Pretty solid argument for most free agents, Randy. I’m just not sure it applies to Carlos this year. I’m guessing take the Astros’ buyout on 2013 and retire.

By: stex52

stex52 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 23:02:59 +0000

Stay classy. Oh wait, in your case, never mind.

By: baddorange

baddorange — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 22:56:43 +0000

He’d better slow down on the Big Mac’s. Looks as big as Michelle

By: stex52

stex52 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 22:55:04 +0000

If I were to guess, OG, he might be referring to the King Ranch.

By: stex52

stex52 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 22:54:19 +0000

There are at least two broad assumptions in any consideration of whether Carlos goes to LA. One is whether he gets much of an offer no matter where he goes. He can still hit for some OBP, but his power production is seriously down. Will he go from 19MM$ per year to maybe 2 MM$ per year? The second is that Carlos cares if retires. He will finish a 100 MM$+ contract in the fall and he may be ready to retire. By all accounts, he really loves it down in Boling. I wouldn’t be surprised if it reminded him a lot of ranching in Panama.

I will stay out of the LA/Houston discussion this time because I don’t think the qualities of either city are relevant to Lee’s decision. I have pretty strong feelings on the subject (refer Gator) but they don’t matter this time.

By: allbucdup

allbucdup — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:53:42 +0000

Jwbiii

People continue to not understand the shear mass that is Texas.

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:45:04 +0000

Drive time from
Houston to Boling: About an hour
Arlington to Boling: About five hours

By: thekingdave

thekingdave — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:43:37 +0000

I can always count on Old Gator being the voice of reason on HBT

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:22:34 +0000

“Glad he has a ranch to go to in October.”

You’re assuming he doesn’t go there after home games. Do you think this is a good assumption? If so, why?

By: djpostl

djpostl — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:59:22 +0000

He could be happy all day long but unless he is going to play for free they won’t re-sign him once the season ends anyway so he might as well move on to a contender.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:03:38 +0000

Dear Buddha…was that actually a Sky King reference????

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:02:50 +0000

Enron…heh heh, I mean, Minute Maid is a pretty nice stadium, and frankly, I’d rather live in earthquake-free Houston than LA any day. The air is just about as bad in both places so that’s a tossup, but dear Buddha, the cost of living in Huston and the ease of getting around it aren’t remotely comparable to the huge taxes, living costs and congestion of LA. Some folks, you know, don’t like living in perpetual city and spending 10-15% of their lives sitting in traffic. Some, believe it or not, don’t even like waking up at six in the morning to find their homes shaking down on their heads, either. I really enjoy visiting LA once in awhile and I get to hit Burrito King out on Hyperion at the 5 – which alone would be worth the trip even if LA were Cleveland – but that’s about it.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:55:42 +0000

Or he could just be perfectly happy where he is, with his family, in a very livable and interesting human-scale city where he already has another successful business. I dunno – seems like, yeah, there are plenty of things for him to consider.

By: billymc75

billymc75 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:50:48 +0000

So trade him to the Rangers

By: sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo

sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:43:19 +0000

“…I don’t necessarily BLAME the guy.”

Dang you edit feature!!!

By: sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo

sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:42:23 +0000

While it seems he is only delaying the inevitable, considering that Houston will not be resigning him this offseason, I don’t necessarily lame the guy. The Dodgers have kinda sucked for a while, which is what everyone thought heading into the season. Why go to a team that is not really a contender.

Plus, if he wants another contract next year, why move from Minute Maid to Dodger Stadium? That is not a move that will help his contract year. Lee struggles to hit to the Crawford boxes these days; he doesn’t need anything that will suppress his power numbers.

By: jrocknstuff

jrocknstuff — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:21:10 +0000

Nothing wrong with not wanting to move to a contender. At 36, with the amount of time he has put in, he’s earned the right. It’s Houston’s mistake for giving him the clause in the first place.

By: thekingdave

thekingdave — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 18:57:09 +0000

Then what exactly is weird? And private planes will solve the problem but, gulp, who called their shot. Read the update broseph.

By: riverace19

riverace19 — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 18:26:13 +0000

Yes a hill and a train = weird
Yes L.A. is a much better city than Houston.
Glad he has a ranch to go to in October.

By: SmackSaw

SmackSaw — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 17:55:36 +0000

Anything that keeps Loney out of the lineup. #6 prospect for Carlos Lee sounds right. Jeff Kent has a cattle ranch in Texas, too. There are such things as private planes. As a ‘king’, you should know that Dave.