This move kind of flew under the radar, but I think it's worth noting today. Yesterday, the Astros sent minor league second baseman Drew Sutton to Cincinnati to complete the trade that the two teams made for Jeff Keppinger shortly before the regular season started. I don't know how they do it, but it seems like at least once a week the Astros make a move that makes me scratch my forehead and wonder just what's going on in their front office.
To a casual observer, this might seem like a pretty lateral move. Keppinger's hit well with the Astros so far and Sutton is a 26-year-old who's just breaking in to Triple-A for the first time. But look a little deeper, and see that Sutton had a huge breakout year in Double-A last year and he's one of the only remaining bright spots in a farm system that's been ravaged by trades, giving away draft picks to make free agent signings, and poor drafting.
It's early. It's very early. By my estimation, the second Monday of the baseball season is far too early for any extreme emotion; be it panic, joy, or anything in between. There are still more than 150 games to be played in this young season, and even starting to draw conclusions is a dangerous game. That all being said, Zach Duke and the Houston Astros sure seemed to pass each other going in opposite directions this afternoon.
On an emotional afternoon in Pittsburgh, where the Pirates opened PNC Park up for 2009 by wearing Pittsburgh Bureau of Police caps to memorialize the three officers killed in a shooting ten days ago, Duke went out and turned in his second straight good start of 2009, shutting out the Astros on just four hits over a complete game. After winning just five games in all of 2008, Duke's won his first two starts of '09 and allowed just one earned run in his first 15 1/3 innings.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Houston Astros.
Every year, it seems like there's a team or two that really defies their Pythagorean record and finishes with a record either much better or worse than their run differential suggests. In 2006, the Indians finished 78-84 despite scoring nearly 100 runs more than they allowed. In 2007, they came one win away from the World Series. In that same 2007 season, the Diamondbacks won 90 games despite scoring about as many runs as they allowed. Last year, they only won 82 games.
With Pudge Rodriguez raking the ball for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, it seemed like only a matter of time until some major league team would finally cave and give him a job. In the league right now, there are two GMs that stand out as guys that love overpriced veterans way too much. Bengie Molina is firmly entrenched in San Francisco, so Brian Sabean's hands are tied on this one. That leaves Ed Wade.
The sun came up in the east for approximately the 1,657,100,000th time this morning. Now, ESPN is reporting that Pudge is signing a one-year deal with the Astros. At this point, I want to write a phrase starting with, "The only way this could be more predictable is ..." but I can't. Ed Wade signing an over-the-hill veteran for a position he has a decent young player at could not possibly be more predictable.
You probably don't need me to point Ed Wade's failings as a general manager out to you continuously, but given that some people still attribute their near-playoff run last year to some kind of genius on his part, I feel like it's important to point out why that's just not true. Today, the Astros inked an $8 million deal with closer Jose Valverde, avoiding arbitration.
That seems like a decent deal for a decent closer, but consider that it basically comes at the expense of Ty Wigginton. Wigginton was non-tendered rather than being given a similar contract by Houston after a career year last year when he hit . So the Astros will now play Geoff Blum at third base, who's probably a considerable downgrade from Wigginton, and instead have a guy that will pitch 70 innings this year, if the Astros are lucky.
Really, Houston could've kept Wigginton at third and dealt Valverde, who's led the NL in saves the past two seasons. He's not a bad closer, but a position player is always going to be more valuable, especially for a team that doesn't have much pop to back Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee. If the Astros are trying to keep pace with the Cardinals, Cubs, and Brewers, this isn't the way to do it.
From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.
Season's Greetings. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
As baseball fans across the country gather to celebrate the holiday season with their loved ones, we here at MLB FanHouse have come up with a present we'd like to give to fans of every team -- even the ones who root for the Yankees, it turns out you folks don't have quite everything just yet.
On a day like Christmas, baseball season can seem an awfully long way off, especially here in the Northeast, where the snow banks are piled four and five feet high. In reality, pitchers and catchers can report to Spring Training in a mere 52 days.
Enjoy the hypothetical gifts for now; it won't be very long before we can all unwrap a very tangible one -- a brand spanking new baseball season.
Remember when the Astros made a crazy run at the playoffs just a few months ago? In the absence of Carlos Lee, one of the players that sparked that run was Ty Wigginton, as he thumped along to a .379/.394/.804 line in August, when the 'Stros were making their run. He fell off in September, but he still had a career year in 2008. In line with Ed Wade's mad scientist plan to contend, the Astros decided last night to non-tender Wigginton.
The official reason for the move is simply that the Astros thought that Wigginton would be too expensive. Based on his $4.35 million salary last year he likely would've made in the neighborhood of $6 or $7 million in 2009. How Wigginton isn't worth that when the alternative is Geoff Blum, I don't know. They tendered Jose Valverde and he's likely to make a similar amount of money next year. This is just a poorly thought out move by the Astros, but what else is new?
Sometimes a news story breaks that has so many punchlines that my brain just overloads and freezes. I believe that we have one of those situations on our hands.
Once upon a time (or, more accurately, in 1999), a younger, healthier Hampton went 22-4 for the Astros in the Astrodome, which was more or less pitcher heaven. He's never really done anything like that since, though the eight-year, $121 million contract he signed with the Rockies in the winter of 2000 is still one of the biggest ever for a pitcher. This contract is presumably for much less than that.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2009.
Everyone expected the Astros to be awful in 2008 and indeed, they were out of the playoff race by more than ten games as July wound down. Oddly, Ed Wade decided to reload at the trade deadline and acquired Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins. Somehow, they very nearly sprinted from Pirate territory at the bottom of the NL Central to a wild-card berth. In the end, they were derailed both by Hurricane Ike and by just not being good enough.
That's put them in an interesting situation. The general feeling is that they're going to try and reload around this team and make another run at the playoffs in 2009. That's a potentially disastrous plan, but rebuilding around middling veterans and just missing the playoffs is what general manager Wade is known for. This is an important off-season for the Astros. They're not nearly as close to contending as people think they are and what they do this winter could set the course for the team for the next several years.
From the Windupis FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.
A strange thing is happening in the National League wild-card race this year. The Brewers, who had a stranglehold on the race as recently as about a week ago, have fallen apart and opened the door up for a number of teams who seemed to be as good as done. One team who's had the door opened for them is the Houston Astros. They've spent most of the season well out of contention, but a well-timed hot streak has them contending, much like the Rockies did last year.
What makes this hot streak even more interesting is that the man behind it, general manager Ed Wade, has made a string of nearly inexplicable, almost indefensible, moves to try and improve the team. They are making a run at things, but it's been mostly lead by Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, and Ty Wigginton. All of them were Astros before Wade's hiring. What, exactly, is going on in Houston?
This move kind of flew under the radar, but I think it's worth noting today. Yesterday, the Astros sent minor league second baseman Drew Sutton to Cincinnati to complete the trade that the two teams made for Jeff Keppinger shortly before the regular season started. I don't know how they do it, but it seems like at least once a week the Astros make a move that makes me scratch my forehead and wonder just what's going on in their front office. 
It's early. It's very early. By my estimation, the second Monday of the baseball season is far too early for any extreme emotion; be it panic, joy, or anything in between. There are still more than 150 games to be played in this young season, and even starting to draw conclusions is a dangerous game. That all being said, 
With 
You probably don't need me to point 
Remember when the Astros made a crazy run at the playoffs just a few months ago? In the absence of Carlos Lee, one of the players that sparked that run was 
Sometimes a news story breaks that has so many punchlines that my brain just overloads and freezes. I believe that we have one of those situations on our hands. 
