FanPost

Second Base


There is no Astros' game to help me procrastinate doing something more productive as I sit in a Starbucks today. It's a fantastic day in Seoul; it's cool, and the sun is shining. The things on my to do list for today: write a letter of recommendation for myself, work on a novel that will probably never get published, write a resume and create an acting portfolio for an igneous rock (long story), and try to avoid getting drunk and playing darts with a Yankees fan. As you can see it's a tough day for me, and naturally whenever there's a something I don't want to do I start thinking of baseball. So no more about me! What the hell are the Astros going to do at second base?

I know Kaz Matsui set the bar pretty high for Astros' second basemen, but I get the feeling folks around Houston aren't too satisfied with the play of Bill Hall. To be honest, I have only caught a hand full of Hall at-bats, and I think he's about 0-9 with 9Ks on 27 pitches. I know he's better than this, but my life is short. I could die any day, and the lord knows I will die a lot faster watching that bat fly around. I feel like he might hit me through my computer screen before he hits a ball. During the off-season I was mostly indifferent about Hall's signing. I saw what the Astros were trying to do and thought it was worth the money they spent, but right about now I'm glad that Keppinger got dinged-up in the winter and couldn't be traded. (Guess who went 2-5 in his rehab game.)

Pretty soon the Astros are going to have Kepp, Hall, Sanchez, and Downs which seems like a pretty crowded second base because I think you're only allowed to field one second baseman per game. What to do? Since Timmy, doing his part to fill my Astros-less day, declared that Sanchez is the most deserving of faith, I can't see him going anywhere at the moment. I don't know if Downs has any options left and can be sent down, but I would rather CJ get sent down before Downs. Other than CJ, Hall is the only other infielder that hasn't been living up to expectations. Does Hall have trade value? I would guess he doesn't have very much, but Ed Wade did use a Jedi mind trick to get the Cardinals to take Pedro Feliz off our hands last season. (One of my favorite trades ever.) I hope Ed calls St Louis and says, "Ya'll are thin up the middle, I got this power bat at second that I'm willing to part with."

What do you Crawfishbox readers think? Do you want to see Kepp starting at second in the near future? Or starting at third? What do you do with Hall? Slide him to third? Cut him? Trade him? Keep him?

Personally I would try to trade him and his negative WAR to a division rival and bring them down to our level, start Kepp at second again, and if CJ isn't showing good signs at the plate when Bourgeois comes back, I'd demote him in hopes of getting his groove back. I know an infield minus CJ and Hall lacks "power potential" but let's face it, it doesn't matter how far they can hit a ball in batting practice if they can't square up major league pitching.

Maybe it's not worth worrying about since this season is pretty much done as far as the playoffs go. All these guys are hopefully just filler until Paredes or Altuve can make a run at the job next spring or summer. But a decision is coming, and I fear I might throw my laptop out the window while watching Hall bat. I know I don't have that reaction to Keppinger, and I'm between jobs, so I can't go wasting money on new computers.