Another deal appears to be in the works. According to the NY Daily News the Astros are going after Urbina. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/206203p-177982c.html Meanwhile, sources told the News last night that Hunsicker is not done dealing, and is expected to make another trade today or tomorrow for a closer - believed to be the Tigers' Ugueth Urbina. Chronicle is saying the Hun might go after Rhodes from the A's as well. How fun is it to be an Astros fan right now!?!?
You know a trade between Houston and Detroit has to have Ausmus in it. Since Buck is gone, the Astros would need to get Detroit's catcher back.
I think that they should a.) Make Lidge the full-time closer, and b.) go after Arthur Rhodes in Oakland, who has suffered from Dotel syndrome as closer (except MUCH worse), and his confidence is shot there. We kill 2 birds with one stone... we get a set-up guy for the 8th inning, AND, we get a lefty.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4944 OK, so his ERA is 9.00 in 11 appearances, so maybe he's not pitching so well. But he did go and inning and a third scoreless in the Rangers' 18 inning win last yesterday. Speaking of which, the Rangers' bullpen is toast going into the series tonight. Astros need to jump on the starters early and maybe they can come away with a blowout or two. I'll be there tonight for the Carlos Beltran debut!!
Huh? Detroit has Pudge; they don't need Ausmus. I don't think they'll trade Pudge for Ausmus, either.
I think his comments were tongue-in-cheek with respect to past Astros-Tigers trades involving Ausmus, Bako and Ausmus.
That's not a bad pickup. Although the site of Urbina and Ausmus swapping spit after the final out doesn't appeal to me.
Going after Arthur Rhodes? That dude has been throwing batting practice for a couple of years now. I would like to go after Urbina or the guy from Rice who plays for the Tigers (Matt Anderson). Anderson has nasty stuff he just needs to put it all together. He was clocked at 102 last season.
If Rhodes pitches like he did in '01 and '02 I would want him. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?statsId=4736 2001 ERA 1.72 IP 68 K's 83 Holds 32 2002 ERA 2.33 IP 69 K's 81 Holds 27 I'll take that for a setup man, especially since he is a lefty.
Astros will bring in Carlos Hernandez as the #3 starter and move Clemens in as the closer. J/King ...
We CAN'T trade away Ausmus because our pitchers really depend on him as he calls the game great. Our young guys and old pitchers as well really need him, I seriously doubt the Astros would ever trade him this season unless they're just r****ded. On the other hand, that's awesome that we're still trying to get bullpen help from a trade. Gerry and Drayton are really proving that they think this is the year, and I agree. I'm concerned, though, that a deal will involve us trading another good young prospect, Endsberg (who hopefully is just having a fluke year), or Lane who we never got to fully see play.
