Astros acquire Keppinger from Reds KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Houston Astros have acquired infielder Jeff Keppinger from the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Keppinger, who turns 29 on April 21, hit .266 with three home runs and 43 RBIs over 121 games for Cincinnati in 2008. He struck out just once every 20.9 plate appearances, the best ratio in the Major Leagues last season. Keppinger will serve as a right-handed complement to Geoff Blum at third base, but he can also count on seeing playing time at short and second as well. "He gives us a guy with experience all around the infield," general manager Ed Wade said. "He's somebody who's played a lot at second, short and third. He'll certainly be a factor at third with [Aaron] Boone out." "He doesn't strike out a lot," Wade added. "He's a rare player who has more walks than strikeouts every season. He's a contact hitter, a blue-collar player and he fits perfectly on our club." Additionally, the Astros optioned infielder Edwin Maysonet to Triple-A Round Rock.
seems like that's the only thing he does well. i need at least a skosh of power out of my 3b. he has none.
He hits lefties really well -- .901 OPS in 2008 and .986 OPS in 2007. That's pretty much his role at 3B.
do we have to continue to rehash this? He would have gotten a lot more in arbitration. He wasn't worth that. He ended up getting a lot less on the open market.
No power. No speed. But... Keppinger did have a whopping .350 AVG and .410 OBP in 2007 split b/t AAA and the Cincinnati Reds (241 AB's with the big club ) which has been consistent throughout his minor league career. He wasn't that great in '08, however, with a .266 AVG and a .310 OBP . In fact, in around 1000 At-Bats at the AAA level, Jeff Kepinger is hitting around .335 AVG. After looking at his numbers a little more closely, Astros could have a steal here, despite the lack of power and speed. Not sure about the glove Anyone?
Don't know exactly, but he's been a SS for a majority of his career. In theory, he should be good with the glove with the move to 3B.
I was interested in looking at stats for Wade Boggs for some reason. wanted to see his career avg. and obp. and holy crraa? He was even better than I remembered! As for Keppinger, the guy simply does not strike out.
so what is still left to decide on this roster? SP: roy, wandy, moehler, ortiz, hampton (#5 likely to start season in AAA) RP: valverde, geary, wright, brocail, hawkins, byrdak, sampson berkman, matsui, blum, pudge, tejada, pence, lee, bourn erstad, smith, michaels, keppinger, quintero that's 25...i guess capellan may start the season here and be used for long relief until they need the 5th starter? am i missing anything?
Forgive me, I didn't follow the story all that closely. Just knew that he was signed for pretty cheap elsewhere and we let him go. Is baseball not like the NFL where you can make an offer to a guy on the open market even though you released him in the first place?
Ortiz was pitching a gem through 5 innings then gave up a 3-run dinger to Chipper in the 6th. Astros still up 4-3 heading to the bottom of the 6th.
Lee just went deep. He's 2-for-3 with 4 RBI. Astros lead 8-3. Erstad is 3-3 with 2R and a BB. Pudge is 2-3 with a R and 2 RBI.
Astros' roster appears to be set CATCHERS (2) Humberto Quintero Ivan Rodriguez INFIELDERS (6) Lance Berkman Kaz Matsui Miguel Tejada Jeff Keppinger Geoff Blum Jason Smith OUTFIELDERS (5) Carlos Lee Hunter Pence Michael Bourn Jason Michaels Darin Erstad STARTING PITCHING (5) Roy Oswalt Wandy Rodriguez Mike Hampton Brian Moehler Russ Ortiz BULLPEN (7) Wesley Wright Tim Byrdak Chris Sampson Geoff Geary LaTroy Hawkins Doug Brocail Jose Valverde
I'd sign recently-released Dallas McPherson or Mike Lamb in a heartbeat, plug them into the left-handed part of the 3B platoon and send Blum to the Jason Smith super-utility role. A McPherson/Lamb with Keppinger platoon might actually get you a .800 OPS at 3B, which would be a huge boost from the Blum/Boone combination we were expecting over the offseason.
I agree about McPherson, but not so sure about Lamb. He's been cut by 2 teams since he's left Houston, and was pretty horrible last season.
I wouldn't be so quick to give up on the guy. His glove was never good, but his bat was fine in 07 and 06. He had a good year for us in 04 before disappointing in 05. It's very possible that 08 was another 05 for him, and he'll rebound for another good season or 2 like he did his last 2 seasons in Houston.
It's one year - people have fluke seasons in this sport all the time, especially when they're out of their comfort zones and playing on a part-time basis.
