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Astros done dealing—except for a pure short stop

According to McTaggart, Ed Wade and Drayton McLane are going to hold put with the team as it is—McLane laughed at the suggestion of a Ben Sheets signing (sorry entropic).

McTaggart's interview with Ed Wade did specify one piece of the puzzle they'd like to acquire, a pure shortstop, ostensibly to be Miguel Tejada's off-day platoon.  I'm fully behind that signing (per my stab at quantifying what off-day's might do for his production), provided we get someone who actually provides value (i.e. not an Aaron Boone).  Wade dropped this juicy morsel:

...[W]e're closing in on a couple of guys in that group. We're waiting to see what happens.

That, of course, begs the question of who that pure shortstop could be?  Luckily, MLBTR has been keeping an up to date list of available free agents, by position.  Unfortunately, there isn't anyone worth signing, that probably wouldn't bust our self imposed salary cap because they would cost about $2 million.

My two votes, however, are Alex Cora (BRFG) and Aaron Miles (BRFG).  These two guys have decent OBP and played adequate to more than adequate shortstop last year.  Further, both can play 2B and Mlles even has 3IP to his record.  According to Baseball Reference's lgOBP (a park neutral figure), both have posted OBP's in the .340 range of the last few years, which makes them the equivalent of Adam Dunn in our line-up.  The only thing that I know will preclude signing either of them is money; Cora made $2 million last year and Miles $3.4 million.   

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You seem to have double posted articles.

I agree that Aaron Miles is a decent idea for utility infielder. I mentioned him a few weeks ago. He may have had his “career year” offensively in 08, but he has always struck me as a tough out (as far as that type of hitter anyway). He has hurt the Astros more than a few times. But, if Wade used the term “pure shortstop,” I doubt that Miles in who he has in mind. Miles hasn’t played a lot of shortstop and he is -18 on a career basis at short, according to UZR. I am guessing that Miles likely will re-sign with the Cardinals. He is an ex-Astros farm hand, though.

Cora isn’t a bad idea, I suppose. He has always been a light hitter. But anytime you look for a “pure shortstop” who isn’t a starter, you will get light hitters. Cora is a good defensive player, and UZR has him at something like +8 at shortstop.

I still like the idea of waiting a couple of months, if necessary, to see if some better players can’t find a job and become available at a cheaper price (perhaps Eckstein).

If Wade used the term “pure shortstop,” I assume that means he isn’t considering Chris Burke. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be surprised if Burke was the type of guy that might be in their price range.

by clack on Dec 28, 2008 9:32 AM CST reply actions  

Haha

I didn’t notice that.

I think it’s a pipe dream that we’d get someone of value, but do you think we can bring back Burke?

The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.

by Stephen Higdon on Dec 28, 2008 12:24 PM CST up reply actions  

Maybe it would make Berkman happy if the Astros signed Burke :)

But I have no idea how the Astros front office would feel about it. He ought to be relatively cheap, given that he hit so poorly last year. He would be a stretch at shortstop, unless he was limited to only a few starts per month at the position. But he is good defensively at 2d base, and Kaz Matsui doesn’t have the best injury history. Truthfully, though, I wonder why Drew Sutton isn’t given more consideration. It seems like the Boone signing has limited the Astros thinking to “we need a pure shortstop.”

As for the “pipe dream” part, I think some teams are going to end up getting some very good deals before spring training on an Eckstein or Grudzelanek type infielder.

By the way, did you get a hoot out of McLane’s quote in McTaggert’s column? He thinks the team will be good because the Astros did such a good job “making adustments and additions” this offseason.

by clack on Dec 28, 2008 1:06 PM CST up reply actions  

I just rolled my eyes

And wished Tag had the balls to insert: “(read: tight-assed penny pinching and spinning b/s)”.

The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.

by Stephen Higdon on Dec 28, 2008 1:37 PM CST up reply actions  

I think so

The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.

by Stephen Higdon on Dec 28, 2008 7:44 PM CST up reply actions  

Does that translate as unlikely?

by ol Pete on Dec 28, 2008 10:16 PM CST up reply actions  

well, less likely, I suppose.

The Astros don’t have a lot of trading material. If Hu is out of options are something like that, then maybe he would be affordable.

by clack on Dec 29, 2008 7:41 AM CST up reply actions  

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