Thoughts on Tejada to Houston
According to multiple reports, the Astros have acquired Miguel Tejada from the Orioles for LHP Troy Patton, OF Luke Scott, RHP Matt Albers, RHP Dennis Sarfate and 3B Mike Costanzo.
- The Astros are planning on using Tejada at shortstop, so it looks like this could actually be a 6-for-1 deal. Once Adam Everett is non-tendered tonight, Baltimore will be his most likely destination as a free agent.
- Now that the Astros have Tejada, they should abandon the ill-conceived plan of sticking both Michael Bourn and Kaz Matsui at the top of the lineup.
2B Kaz Matsui
RF Hunter Pence
1B Lance Berkman
LF Carlos Lee
SS Miguel Tejada
3B Ty Wigginton
C J.R. Towles
CF Michael Bourn
I'm guessing they won't do it, but that makes a lot more sense than letting Bourn lead off and dropping everyone else a spot. Do they really want Bourn on pace to get 80 more play plate appearances than Lee? 100 more than Tejada?
- The Astros further downgraded what was arguably already the NL's worst pitching staff. They're currently looking at a rotation and bullpen of:
Roy Oswalt
Wandy Rodriguez
Woody Williams
Brandon Backe
Chris Sampson
Chad Qualls
Doug Brocail
Oscat Villarreal
Geoff Geary
Mark McLemore/Wes Wright
Dave Borkowski
Surely they'll add at lest one more reliever. Felipe Paulino and Juan Gutierrez are all that's left for rotation depth, and both could use more seasoning. It's more obvious than ever now that they need to spend another $10 million-$15 million to beef up their current group.
- The Orioles' lineup of the minute should look like:
2B Brian Roberts
3B Melvin Mora
RF Nick Markakis
1B Kevin Millar
DH Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
LF Luke Scott
CF Jay Payton
SS Luis Hernandez
I'd rather see Scott hitting second and Mora down in the lineup, which is something that could happen. Most likely, they'll acquire a shortstop and a center fielder. Payton could then start over Scott against lefties, though Scott has fared surprisingly well versus southpaws in his brief career. A trade involving Jay Gibbons or Huff is possible, though there's not going to be much interest in either.
- Patton and Albers both figure to battle for spots in the Baltimore rotation, though each could use some additional seasoning. In Patton's case, that means a return to the minors. Albers could help as a reliever right away.
- Sarfate becomes a deep sleeper for saves. His long history of command issues caused the Brewers to give up on him late last season, but after the Astros claimed him off waivers, he allowed one run and struck out 14 in 8 1/3 innings. There's still good reason for skepticism, but he's always had the stuff. If he's put it together, he could be an asset late in games.
Comments
Thanks for the analysis on the Houston players..not much known about them.. This should only continue on the O's part of other player moves.. Roberts and Bedard.. they should bring even more pieces to the O's puzzle.
Posted by: shaan | December 12, 2007 03:47 PM
Seems like a good trade to me, being an O's fan. Of course, I barely know anything of the 5 players we acquired from Houston since I'm not much of a follower of the NL. But getting 5 young players for Tejada doesn't seem like a bad idea to me at all. Tejada's time here in Baltimore was winding down anyway.
Posted by: Eric SJ | December 13, 2007 12:39 PM
Hey,where's the news on the names in the Grimsley report?Doesn't have the right names on there for you?
Posted by: bob mac | December 20, 2007 11:39 PM