Astros acquire Huff from Devil Rays Zobrist, Talbot to Tampa Bay; Outfielder Jason Lane optioned to Triple-A Round Rock HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros announced today that they have acquired outfielder Aubrey Huff and $1.625 million in cash considerations from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Mitch Talbot and minor league infielder Ben Zobrist. In addition, the Astros have optioned outfielder Jason Lane to Triple-A Round Rock and designated minor league infielder Joe McEwing for assignment. The announcement was made by General Manager Tim Purpura. Huff, 30, was batting .283 (65x230) with eight home runs, 15 doubles and 28 RBI in 63 games for the Devil Rays this season. He batted .453 (29x64) in Interleague play this year, the second-best mark in the Majors. He hit .359 (33x92) in June, and on June 30, he became the first Devil Ray to reach 300 extra base hits. Huff spent 21 days on the Disabled List from April 12-May 4, his first career trip to the DL, with a strained left knee. He is batting .293 (61x208) with eight homers and 27 RBI since his return. Currently in his sixth big league season, Huff is batting .287 (870x3028) during his career with 128 home runs and 449 RBI. He is Tampa Bay's all-time leader in games (799), at-bats (3,028), runs (400), hits (870), doubles (172), home runs (128), extra-base hits (309), and RBI (449). He made his big league debut with the Devil Rays in 2000 and is the only player in Rays history to reach the 20-home run mark in four seasons (2002-05). Huff is one of five left-handed hitters to average 100-plus RBI the past three seasons, joining David Ortiz, Carlos Delgado, Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu. He is a career .303 (436x1437) hitter after the All-Star break with 71 home runs and 239 RBI. Huff was Tampa Bay's fifth-round selection in the June 1998 draft out of the University of Miami. He attended Vernon College in North Texas and played both baseball and basketball at Brewer High School in Fort Worth. Lane, 29, is batting .205 (46x224) for the Astros this season with 11 home runs, 30 RBI and 40 walks. He made his Major League debut in 2002 and this year marked his third consecutive on the Astros Opening Day roster. He is hitting .256 (249x973) with 49 home runs and 147 RBI for his career. Talbot, 22, is in his fourth professional season after being selected by Houston in the second round of the June 2002 draft. He is 6-4 with a 3.39 ERA (34ER/90.1IP) in 18 appearances (17 starts) for Double A Corpus Christi this season. He ranks seventh in the Texas League in ERA and third with 96 strikeouts. Zobrist, 25, was selected by the Astros in the sixth round of the June 2004 draft. He is batting .327 (103x315) for Corpus Christi this year with three home runs, 25 doubles, six triples, and 30 RBI. He ranks second in the Texas League in batting this season. Zobrist was named a Texas League All-Star last month, and he has earned All-Star honors in each of his professional seasons. McEwing, 33, is batting .274 (64x234) with five home runs and 28 RBI in 64 games at Triple A Round Rock this season. He was acquired by the Houston organization from Kansas City on March 30 and played in seven games for the Astros.
Those who are b****ing should watch carefully who gets dealt between now and July 31. As usual, half of baseball is in the Wild Card race which means there are going to be very few sellers on the market. (see Lee, Carlos as an example of a team no longer in "sell" mode) Given that, there really won't be too many stud hitters available. I predict that Huff will be one of the best bats dealt this trading deadline, which will show just how good the deal is. (i.e. a plus hitter in a slow market) Now I'd like to see us get some bullpen help. Remember those Hunsicker-style deals where he'd snag a Mike Willaims or something for half a season? That's what we need. Or not if Wandy/Buchholz goes to the pen when Backe comes back...
dont' forget guys, Huff bats lefty .......with Lamb and Berkman, suddenly we have alot of possibilities in the lineup i like this: 2B-Bidgy CF-Burkey 1B-Berky LF-Wilson.........y RF-Huffy 3B-Ensbergy C-Ausmusy SS-Everetty P
honestly, i think that has a better chance of being effective than trading for someone that someone else would be willing to give up.
What is Charlie Pallilo going to do now. He can't slob on Zobrist's knob and b**** at why the Astros aren't moving him up to replace Everett.
Yeah, we could be set there with one of them in the pen and getting Nieve more time. As long as we're giving up slop, though, I'd take a veteran arm. You never know if you can steal an above average reliever from someone looking to dump payroll. Fixed the font size on that line in my original post, btw.
I like what I hear about Huff's past and second-half potential. The comment pointing out Drayton mentioning "highest payroll ever" would likely indicate that we might be done adding sgnificantly to the payroll. If this is the only deal that we make, I like that we save our major prospect trade pieces and still get a guy who can improve us offensively. I've warmed up to this deal.
Three team deal: Willy T and Pence to the Marlins Hirsh and "pitching prospect" (from the marlins) to the Rays Carl Crawford and low level prospects to the Stros
'03-'05 huff average: .290/28/101 with .350 OB% and .844 OPS. anyone who doesn't think this is an upgrade is, quite frankly, a moron. but i still think they need another bat - either ensberg picks it up (he has until july 31) or they make another deal for a corner OF and jettison mo, sticking huff at 3B. love that he's a lefty, too, and can hit lefties.
This is just silly. How can anyone not be thrilled? Anyone looking at Huff's current numbers is being incredibly short-sighted. This is a sport where players routinely have fluke seasons. Carlos Beltran is one of the top players in the game, and look what his numbers last season were. So, you're looking at one good but not great half a season and getting worried? Try looking at the entire body of work. Three of his last four seasons: .297, 29 HR, .360 OBP, .493 SLG .311, 34 HR, .367 OBP, .555 SLG .313, 23 HR, .364 OBP, .520 SLG And he's left-handed. And he can play multiple positions. And we got this for two less than elite prospects? Are you kidding me? This is a great deal. This is a much, much different hitter than Preston Wilson. You can't get a guy hitting .330 with 25 homers, not without mortgaging your entire team. You have to adopt a buy low, sell high philosophy. It's clear to people who understand statistical probabilities that Huff's power numbers will improve, and this is how you acquire a very good hitter without forking over 20 million in free agency or trading away multiple elite prospects. I've been harsh on Tim Purpura, but this was fabulous and well needed. Way to go, Timmy!
PLUS... He was hurt at the beginning of the season and rust was obviously there. He was not much of a strike out guy until he was forced to push his bat to hit with better power. Even then, his numbers of walks and his OBP has been tremendous.
to amend his statistics: he's 29, not 30, and make sure you realize his #'s are down because he missed a month of ball this season.
Lane in AAA, Mo in the Bench, a good batter at 3rd, and we didn't have to lose Burke or Lidge, I think it's good. I am just having to put feelings aside and look at it from a WS perspective. Lamby will stay on 1st, Berkman in OF to cover the loss of Lane and Mo will work it out by the time Huff's contract ends. I am just surprised because I thought Lane was not eligible to go back down.
