Berkman is still a great player, and would be great for Boston. I'm not trying to compare the situations, just that I think this would work out way better for Boston then trading for Andersen, and I'm willing to bet we wouldn't get a Bagwell back.
Oswalt and Berkman had their chances in 04 and 05 but couldn't get the job done. The beginning of the end was them letting Jeff Kent go to save some pennys.
Are you trying to say that Feliz plays 3B defensively as poorly as Blum? You might want to think about that before declaring them to be "identical players." Did we get better offensively? No. Defensively? A lot of baseball people would say yes.
Same team that offered Clemens an $18 million contract. A raise of $13 million. All in the name of the pennies.
Ellsbury doesn't have the arm for right, and unfortunately lacks the power this lineup could use. He'd look best in Center, and trading Bourn.
Move Bourn to Right, Pence to left, and make El Caballo Grande learn to use his girth to block 1st base. Our outfielders would cover more range than any in baseball.
Our pitchers values would skyrocket. Everyone would have career numbers as our outfielders ran down fly balls. In the Dome, it would have been downright scary.
Last year, Blum had a higher Zone Rating, lower Range Factor, and substantially fewer errors. Blum had 3 errors in 100 games at 3B. Feliz had 15 in 155 games. For their careers at 3B, they are virtually identical in fielding %, Feliz wins in Zone Rating, and Blum wins in Range Factor. Again, extremely similar players. There's nothing to suggest Feliz is any better defensively than Blum. Blum has been more than adequate at 3B. Last year, if he had enough games, he would have been #3 n fielding %, #11 Range Factor, and #1 in Zone Rating in the NL of all third basemen. But regardless, even if Feliz was better defensively, paying $5MM for a small defensive upgrade is even worse a use of that money than any of the other reasons cited thus far.
Right or worng, the thinking from the Astros is that Blum is not an everyday player. Feliz is. This might pave the way to Blum getting more starts at second, which can not be a bad thing, given the suckitude of Matsucki.
Intriguing....I'll be up for it along with Bucholtz and another prospect. Bourn Ellsbury Pence Lee Castro Feliz/Blum Manzella Matsui Oswalt Wandy Norris Bucholtz Paulino Speed, Speed and more Speed!!!
That is a quick lineup, but I don't see the Astros ever trading Berkman. I think he'll retire as an Astro. Maybe we could convince Boston to take Lee and turn him in to a first basemen?? lol
Astros hire former ESPN analyst and Rockies outfielder Eric Young. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/6777937.html
