I'm a little bored with the "utility" type infielders. I mean, we already have Lamb, Loretta, Burke, and Bruntlett, all of whom can play multiple infield positions. I just don't see how his offense AND defense are an upgrade over Lamb. Everette will be coming back soon, which means we still have Bruntlett, Burke and Loretta to platoon 2nd, and Ensberg is still a backup for 3rd. Who knows, maybe it'll work out, or maybe we can send two players out a solid (not All-Star, but solid) infield position player and good prospect. BTW, when are we really going to go hard for a quality catcher or a high prospect catcher?? I'll be sad to see Ausmus leave, but we all know it's going to be soon... And I'm not happy with any of our prospects thus far...
I've also been worried that the Astros are considering trading Ensberg. I know he's had a terrible year this year and last, but I'd hate to see him go. I still think he has that All-Star in him...but we'll see. Anyway, just read this article, so maybe he's safe for the rest of the year. I hope so! "The Astros still feel Ensberg can get back to his 2005 All-Star form, when he set franchise records for home runs and RBIs (36 and 101) by a third baseman. " http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070728&content_id=2114915&vkey=news_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou
It's not an upgrade on the field really. Lamb will become less valuable though once he gets a new contract and is making more money. The idea is that they are close in ability and Wiggin will cost much less than resigning lamb. That's the price for signing a big free agent like Carlos Lee. This might be the only trade I have ever liked from Tim P.
Alternatively, it lets you put Lamb full time at 1B and Berkman in RF. Not the best defensive situation, but solves 3B and RF if you so choose. Your lineup becomes: Burke Pence Berkman Lee Lamb Wigginton Catcher Everett Offensively, that's pretty good if you get a decent catcher. Defensively, not so much.
hmm...you bring up a good point. it may just be simple economics. wiggy=lamb basically. they make the same amount roughly, and lamb is a FA. he'll command $5+m from a desperate team, and the astros may be looking to save money wherever they can. with wiggy, they save money for the next few years.
I don't see how that's an upgrade over playing scott. Luke w/ all his struggles this year is still having a better offensive year than wigginton (both in obp and slg). And certainly his peak, as evidence by his play last year, is much higher than wigginton. If you want to have wigginton as a super-utility guy, in a platoon against lefthanders, or just a fill-in placeholder that's okay, but ideally if the astros want to contend they'd need someone better than him playing everday.
This totally ignores average. Wigginton is having a MUCH better year than Scott average-wise. While I like slugging, sometimes what you need is a single with RISP. With Wigginton, you have, on average, a batter chance of getting that so far elusive timely hit.
that's because i care more about creating runs than who gets the most hits. scott creates much runs by getting on base more and by getting more extra base hits, even if he doesn't get as many timely hits. The team with the most runs wins, not the most hits. They should tailor their offense around runs.
and they both have the same career batting average (267). but scott has a much high career obp and slg
It's a nice move for a utility player who has a good chance to be a good 3rd baseman in the future; however, I remember him striking out a lot, but that could be the fantasy baseball side of me that resurfaced. I will go search his stats in a bit, but I just get the "he Ks a lot" idea stuck in my head. If I'm correct, this move doesn't make me feel a whole lot better about the Astros, but it does seem like a good move to me. As for Bourn, there's no way Wheeler was going to land Bourn this year. Personally, I was hoping for some athleticism for this team that could get on base and make it exciting on the base paths. That's what I see as a good baseball product instead of the "let's wait for a 3-run homer" strategy. I rather see a bunch of guys that could get on base a lot and has the athleticism to run around and causing the opposing team to feel pressured. It's like the feeling when a Jose Reyes gets on base. It just makes you feel like he's going to score. Of course, I'm not asking for anyone remotely close to Reyes, but there are plenty of these athletic guys that could run. Heck, we had one last year, except his read on pitches is anything but accurate. I just hate the idea of a bunch of "all or nothing" players that could not run and only hits for power. I also hate the idea of having people in scoring position and a batter striking out without moving the runners up. All in all, I still like the trade, but the "K" factor, if applicable, bothers me.
i don't see any reason to **** on this move but at the same time i'm not really seeing the bigger picture with it. i'll wait and see what other moves purpura has.
Wigginton this season (and for his career) strikes out once every 5 AB (378 AB/73 K). That would be the 3rd highest AB/K ratio on the Astros right behind Ausmus (250 AB/49 K) and Scott (242 AB/57 K).
Absolutely right. This move adds flexibility. Wigginton is solid. He plays all over the infield, except SS. Someone suggested this may be a precursor to a Loretta trade, which obviously would come with a higher return than a Wheeler trade. Some of you expect something from nothing. You complain that you "should have traded wheeler to the Braves or Phils"...not knowing if either team even had interest. Wheeler sucked this season. He's gotten worse. The idea that you were gonna fleece some team to get something better than a Wigginton for him is wishful thinking at best.
Wigginton is a free agent at the end of the year. He'll walk and we'll have gotten no compensation for Wheeler.
no he's not...signed through 09. http://rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&hl=217139&id=3469 2007-09: Arb. Eligible, 2010: Free Agent
What a bad trade. Sure Wheeler has sucked it up this season, but before this year, he's put together 4 straight good-to-great seasons. Relievers numbers tend to fluctuate wildly from season to season, so one bad year doesn't necessarily mean he's ready for the scrap heap Wigginton's biggest selling point is his flexibility - but he's a pretty poor defensive player wherever you put him. He's below-average at third, below-average at first, and terrible at second. His offensive game, as somebody summed it up nicely earlier in the thread, is solidly average. For his career, Wig has been a little below league average OBP-wise, and a little above average SLG-wise, which gives you the sum of his parts - a league average player who plays several positions, none of them well. Somebody compared him to Lamb earlier, but there really is no comparison. Lamb is inept defensively, but Wigginton's not significantly better with the glove. Lamb has averaged 0.344/0.470 OBP/SLG while playing for Houston. Wigginton has a similar SLG over the past couple of seasons, but playing in the AL automatically boosts your offensive numbers, and his OBP has been terrible.
i think you're over-valuing Wheeler. i can not imagine the market for him garnering much more than a Ty Wigginton.
I can't disagree with you, but why move him now if you can't get anything better? Especially for a 30-yr old who is redundant to a couple of players you already have on your roster. Wigginton has no upside whatsoever. He his exactly what he appears to be, which is a lateral move for the team - and that is the kind of deal the Astros should be avoiding right now. IMO, Wheeler has much more upside than Wigginton.
If we're really trying to win, why would you leave out Loretta? And the bigger question is why do you have Burke in at all? Of these three (Burke, Loretta and Scott) Scott his for more power, slugging, with middle average. Loretta has the best average with the fewest strikeouts. Higher average and fewer strikeouts means more contact at the plate. So, at least Scott or Loretta has to fit into this lineup replacing Burke. I'll buy the $$ difference as reason this is a decent move, but I just can't completely agree with your lineup.
