Sorry for the absence of the blog, I am a real estate appraiser and with the interest rate dropping lately I have been up to my ears in appraisals.

Anyhow, enough about my boring life.........

Let's take a look at the recent boring acquisitions of the Astros.

Aaron Boone: Despite being almost 36 years old, playing with the worst team in baseball last year, only playing in 104 games with 232 AB's doesn't mean that this is a terrible signing. Albeit that Boone is no Mark Loretta or Daniel Boone for that matter...wonder if there is any relation there? Anyhow, although he is not Mark Loretta he is obviously slated to be the replacement for Loretta. This could be big shoes to fill seeing as Loretta was a better utility than the electricity running to your home. 

First off, for those of you who say "oh my god, he is old and not worth the bla bla bla". Let's get this straight, Boone is younger than Loretta. Second, after being plagued with injuries, sure, Boone's stock plummetted but that is a good thing for The team that just got him. With injuries apparently in his past his stats should rebound somewhat.

Boone, when healthy, is a .270-275 Avg with 40 doubles and 20 HR's a year guy. Obviously that was his last full healthy season split with the Yankee's and Cincinnati. Loretta last year with projections as a full time player would have put up a respectable .285 Avg, 35 doubles and maybe 15 HR's. Both stats are taken off of a 150 games season (everyone needs a break).

I like Loretta's avg more but nothing to drastic in comparison to Boone. With the money woes and the lack of a owner who is willing to shell out the dough, I think this is a compitent signing and for only 750K, this can never hurt to give the guy a shot and hope for the best...ya know kinda like the way I feel with the Astros season so far.

Clay Hensley: The 29 year old posted a 3.94 ERA in Triple A and a 5.31 mark in the Majors this year after recovering from labrum surgery.  The Padres chose to non-tender him. Hensley had success back in '06, tossing up a 3.71 ERA in 187 innings on the strength of a 54% groundball rate. Obviously this is where the ole' "the guy has potential" talk comes in. I know he is on the verge of age in terms of saying he still has upside buti'm going to give the vote to the scouts and Ed Wade on this one. Remember this is the samecrew who saw potential in Doug Brocail, LaTroy Hawkins, Byrdak and Wright last year. Did those guys have a great year? YES, mostly.

Hensley has thrown 206 SO's in 323 IP over the course of time through the Pad's system mostly in the majors. That shows right off the bat the guy has decent stuff. In addition, the guy is a groundball pitcher. This should prove to be great at the juice box with those pesky crawford boxes. Also, Hensley is a local guy from Tomball. 

This move should make Brandon Backe shake in his boots. As of right now Backe is the 5th starter in the Astros rotation....will he be for long?

That's it for now, sorry for any grammatical or "typo's" in a bit of a hurry today and needed to get something out there before I have to head out for an appointment!!!!