This is a DUMB trade! Wade could have waited until tomorrow, seen Tejada's name on the Mitchell report, wait until MLB suspended him a minimum of 25 games next season, his trade value drops significantly, then negotiate a trade if you still want him. No way should they have traded Patton.
Well he was hurt in 07 so I would bet he's more productive this year than last. This isn't really a horrible trade like I initially thought it was, I'm just not sure it is very productive either. It will certainly make them more interesting to watch though.
"Because of the Astros' acquisition of Miguel Tejada, Adam Everett could be non-tendered prior to Wednesday's deadline. Everett was rumored to be involved in past Tejada scenarios. Maybe he'll be non-tendered and then join the Orioles as a free agent. If the Astros decide to keep Everett, then they'd have to ask Tejada to play third base, making Ty Wiggington available. Ideally, they could trade either Everett or Wiggington for a rotation candidate, but that might not be possible. They're really hurting for rotation depth after parting with both Troy Patton and Matt Albers. Not only are they adding a $13 million infielder, but they're probably going to have to spend another $10 million-$15 million on starting pitchers now." Hahaha can you imagine Everett signing with the Orioles then that would be a 6for1.
Hunter Pence has a career .360 OBP Tejada and Carlos Lee might not have career OBP of .350, but they have recently been at that mark or higher. Mark Loretta is a career .362 OBP. So, thats 5 out of 8 roster spots that could very easily have a .350 OBP for this upcoming season. That's very solid.
I'd rather keep Everett at SS and put Tejada at 3B. I'm not big on Wigginton and I don't mind having the Everett hole in the line up if Ausmus isn't playing anymore.
Wondering if the Mitchell report led to the trade going down today? The Astros organization has always taken alot of pride on having good, “honest”, play-the-game-the-right way kind of guys. I wonder how they're going to react when Tejada is named in the report. With all the embarrassments that the Palmeiro situation gave the Orioles, they made have just wanted to get Tejada off the books before the announcement tomorrow.
If anything how is one-dimensional? We've got speed, a lot power and at least a 3-4 guys who could hit .300. Berkman's lifetime OBP is over .400, Lee's is .340, Pence's was .342 last season, Tejada has a lifetime .340 OBP and Bourne should probably expect something similar. Bourne and Kaz are speed, Pence is both, Towles should be very light in both (like a 10/10), Wiggy has decent power (20-25hr's) and Berkman/Lee/Tejada should all mash like they always have.
- Pence's high OBP is a direct result of his batting average. I like him as much as the next guy, but I don't believe he'll hit .320 next year. - Morgan Ensberg has recently been an MVP candidate, but it doesn't been he will be one next year. - Loretta will see pretty limited AB this year. - Lost seasons are built on 'could haves'.
I think speed in the 6 spot makes a lot of sense. In front of Berkman/Lee, Pence wouldn't get as many running opportunities because you don't want to run yourself out of an inning. In the 6 spot, if you're on base with the 7/8 hitters coming up, you really pretty much always try to run so that singles can drive you in.
I like the trade, but it will put some pressure on Drayton's wallet as he will be limited to FA's most likely to get pitching.
Pence may not hit .320 again but a .340 OBP is a perfectly reasonable expectation. I don't know why you brought up MO. No one had the obvious decline he had over the past few seasons. This is me hoping Miggy rebounds. Loretta is a moot point. I agree with your "could haves" idea but that implies they would have to strive to achieve those levels. Most of those numbers are reasonable expectations and solid predictions. You could also say seasons are lost when people don't reach their expected production levels but it would be a huge surprise if those guys didn't at least meet those numbers.
Don't worry - Matsui is likely to miss 40-60 games due to injuries. Loretta should have plenty of opportunities at his ideal position.
this needs it's own thread.....that dumb ass chatter needs to stop. this team has been over the top aggressive this offseason.
Livan Hernandez sounds pretty good right now. I wouldn't be surprised if we bring back Jennings on an incentive-laden one year deal.
No, I am not pretty certain that Tejada's name is not on the report. Regardless, this Mitchell report is just a tease. This report is just announcing a small percentage of players who used steroids, it ain't over yet!
from mlbtraderumors.com [rquoter] That's a fine haul for Baltimore. The Astros pretty much cleaned out their farm system for two years of an average-hitting third baseman. The average NL 3B had an .804 OPS in '07; Tejada was at .799 in the AL. I know some readers think I'm an Astro-hater but that's not the case. I just think they gave up way too much here. Patton was ranked their third best prospect by Baseball America, Costanzo sixth. Scott is a cheap quality regular, and Albers was third on the team's 2007 top prospect list. [/rquoter] If Albers and Patton develop into legitimate midle of the rotation starters this could come back to haunt the Astros. That or if 1 or the 2 works out and Costanzo develops on the high end of the expected curve. If all the prospects fail like everybody seems to be assuming, then yes this is a great deal. If Patton becomes a #2 - #3 and everybody else fails, it is a good deal. But I think that those scenarios are not as likely to occur as everybody seems to be assuming. If 3 pan out as legitimate major leaguers for several years, which I think is very possible, this could turn out to be a very bad deal.
