Astros Make A Move...
Today, the Houston Astros traded center fielder Willy Taveras, and two young pitchers Jason Hirsch and Taylor Buchholz to the Colorado Rockies for starting pitcher Jason Jennings and youngster Miguel Asencio.
Houston gets a 200+ inning pitcher to fill in behind Roy Oswalt and replace Andy Pettitte. His numbers show a high E.R.A., though baseball fans know that pitching in Denver will inflate your statistics. Since the Rockies began using the humidor, his numbers have come back down to Earth. He doesn't give up the long-ball and strikes a lot of guys out, although he does walk a lot of batters. He's will benefit from being a sinker-ball pitcher with the solid defense in the Astro infield. Jason Jennings was the pitcher with the second worst run support in MLB last season.
We lose Willy Taveras, who is the true center fielder the Astros were looking for when they originally acquired Carlos Beltran. His defense is fantastic, but as a lead-off hitter, the Astros believe he had work to do. Another rumor regarding Willy, was that because his agent is Scott Boras, the Astros were looking to move him before he reaches the point in his career that contract talks would begin. Since the incident with Carlos Beltran, the Astros do not deal with Boras.
Jason Hirsch was highly regarded by Astros management as a top of the rotation starter with lots of upside, as was Taylor Buchholz, who has a history of injuries. As I stated in a previous blog, the Astros do not typically deal with players with a history of injuries.
Currently, the Astros rotation appears to be Roy Oswalt, Jason Jennings, Woody Williams, Wandy Rodriguez, and Matt Albers.
Tentatively, Chris Burke is slotted as the starting center fielder, but Jason Lane will compete for the position, as well. Hunter Pence is a prospect who's never played above Double-A, but is expected to compete for a roster spot in Spring Training.
Maybe the Astros overpaid a bit, but in order to make the Carlos Lee signing make sense, it was a good decision, and both sides benefit from this trade. Jennings is under contract for one more season, so the Astros hope to sign him to an extension soon.
Houston gets a 200+ inning pitcher to fill in behind Roy Oswalt and replace Andy Pettitte. His numbers show a high E.R.A., though baseball fans know that pitching in Denver will inflate your statistics. Since the Rockies began using the humidor, his numbers have come back down to Earth. He doesn't give up the long-ball and strikes a lot of guys out, although he does walk a lot of batters. He's will benefit from being a sinker-ball pitcher with the solid defense in the Astro infield. Jason Jennings was the pitcher with the second worst run support in MLB last season.
We lose Willy Taveras, who is the true center fielder the Astros were looking for when they originally acquired Carlos Beltran. His defense is fantastic, but as a lead-off hitter, the Astros believe he had work to do. Another rumor regarding Willy, was that because his agent is Scott Boras, the Astros were looking to move him before he reaches the point in his career that contract talks would begin. Since the incident with Carlos Beltran, the Astros do not deal with Boras.
Jason Hirsch was highly regarded by Astros management as a top of the rotation starter with lots of upside, as was Taylor Buchholz, who has a history of injuries. As I stated in a previous blog, the Astros do not typically deal with players with a history of injuries.
Currently, the Astros rotation appears to be Roy Oswalt, Jason Jennings, Woody Williams, Wandy Rodriguez, and Matt Albers.
Tentatively, Chris Burke is slotted as the starting center fielder, but Jason Lane will compete for the position, as well. Hunter Pence is a prospect who's never played above Double-A, but is expected to compete for a roster spot in Spring Training.
Maybe the Astros overpaid a bit, but in order to make the Carlos Lee signing make sense, it was a good decision, and both sides benefit from this trade. Jennings is under contract for one more season, so the Astros hope to sign him to an extension soon.
Labels: Baseball, Houston Astros, Sports
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