Thursday, March 26, 2009

So who is REALLY playing 3rd..UPDATE

Scouring the depths of the web for something to post today, I keep seeing possible players being named that the Astros may acquire. Let's take a look at who they are and the odds on getting picked up.

Jeff Baker - Uber utility man for the Rockies, who has spent a portion of ST dealing with an inflamed right elbow, is out of options. He specialized in second base but has played pretty much everywhere. He hit .309 in his first two major league seasons (07' & 08'). He is making roughly 400K, which is within the Astros payroll. He would be a clear upgrade over Blum/Insert name here. Baker is my first choice.

Mark Teahan - Another utility man, kinda. Teahan is just above league average in HR's, Avg, and RBI. He is currently 3B2, LF2 and has been playing 2nd in ST this year. Still unclear if he will remain with the Royals or not. Another good pick if the Astros can make something work, although, he is making 2 million and change. Baker still gets the edge as he costs significantly less and projects about the same as Teahan.

Melvin Mora - Originally signed as an amatuer free agent in 1991 by the Astros, Mora will not be with the Astros come opening day. Although his age (37) fits the Astros quite well, his price tag is around 7 Million. Nobody was really interested in Mora during the offseason and I highly doubt that even though the Astros need for a 3rd baseman are that bad. Compare Mora to Johnson and I think the Astros would rather just let the newbie work it out at the hot corner.

That is really about all I have heard in the rumor mill. I keep racking my brain to wonder who the Astros would possibly trade for and it just isn't working. I know the only real trade bait right now is JR Towles, but he had a lackluster spring and probably won't get many GM's peeing their pants to get him. In addition, the Astros would only get prospect(s) for Towles and they severely need a major league ready guy.

Unless Wade pulls a couple million out of his ass, don't expect much at the hot corner.

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