Tuesday, March 08, 2005

I dunno, Andy. I think that I saw that same blurb that you mentioned - Beane wants Chris Burke.

The latest Gammons column has some pretty interesting Astros tidbits:

The Astros keep pestering the Mets about Mike Cameron, but it is looking less and less likely that New York will move Cameron because they have to get a strong corner bat in return, and right now there may not be any on the market." One possibility for Houston is Terrmel Sledge, as Washington is looking for a bopper and will move Sledge and/or Endy Chavez. Right now, if Craig Biggio moves back to second base, as he would like to do, then until Lance Berkman comes back, the 'Stros outfielders are Jason Lane, Willy Taveras (who has temporarily given up switch-hitting), possibly Chris Burke and Orlando Palmeiro.
Houston has four bubble pitchers out of options:
Tim Redding, Carlos Hernandez, Peter Munro and Brandon Duckworth. … Oh yes. On Friday, the first four Houston pitchers were Clemens, 42, John Franco, 44, Dave Burba, 38 and youngster Russ Springer, 36.

It's too bad that Biggio is so intent on playing 2nd. I see why Hunsicker may have resigned in protest of the re-signing of Biggio; he's just complicating things now. I'm glad we're still pestering the Mets about Cameron, but if they want a strong corner bat for a guy coming off wrist surgery then fugheddaboutit. The Termell Sledge rumor interests me a lot - here's a 27 year old LH bat who put up a 799 OPS last year during his first big league stint (399 AB's) and can handle all 3 outfield positions. Plus the Nationals GM, Jim Bowden, is awful - he signed Cristian Guzman and Vinny Castilla to multi-year deals. Maybe two of our "out of options" pitchers could get Sledge in return. Redding and Duckworth for Sledge? Man, I'd love that.

So, in conclusion: don't trade Burke. Biggio needs to suck it up and be an OF or utility guy. Trade for Termell Sledge. Our #5 starters (Redding, Hernandez, Munro, Duckworth) are all pitching terribly at the moment. Luke Scott is ripping the ball. An OF of Biggio / Sledge / Lane / Scott / Palmeiro, with Taveras getting a full year in AAA? My choice for #5 starter (assuming we trade Redding) is probably Carlos Hernandez - we can't send him back to the minors and he still has some potential unlike, say, Pete Munro. I say give him one last look, and if not, maybe Ezequiel Astacio can step in.

1 comment:

Andy said...

Are you sure all four of them are out of options? I don't think Duckworth or Hernandez are out; I assumed they'd both start the season in AAA.

Our solution for everything seems to be Redding and Duckworth. For Cameron, for Sledge, for Winn, for Cruz... Do you think ANY team out there wants two bad pitchers? I doubt it. At this point I feel like we gotta start offering more to get some decent trades. Like a Luke Scott.