Brad Lidge Traded for Michael Bourn

Anyway, Nate Silver had an article in BP's unfiltered section on the trade(here) which surprisingly(IMO at least) says that Houston got the better end of the deal. The gist of it is that Lidge is good and will probably be good, but one year of him, plus about 4 million dollars saved from not going after Cordero, isn't worth the two prospects, both of whom are projected to be solid major leagues.

I don't generally agree with BP on much, and I'm kinda iffy on this one. I do think Houston did well, but I also don't think the Phillies did that bad either. Both teams got what they wanted without giving up too much, and like I said, it seems fair to me. Silver seemed to ignore the benefits of moving Myers back to the bullpen, and I think he's overvaluing Bourn and Costanzo a little bit. He did have a follow-up (article), addressing those and other criticisms, though obviously most of that's about the Phillies side of the deal.

1. I have heard a lot about the Wade factor. Dealing with the Phills in his first is probably not coincidental. I am sure the familiarity(from both sides) made it easier to sit down to the table. Both thinking that the other guy won't knowingly rape him. But who did it help?
2. Costanzo: He is not a throw in. He is definitely a player that was bartered about. He was among the top college hitters coming out for the draft. He had a little let down in his junior season after a monster sophomore campaign. Did very good in his first shot at pro ball except for his Ks. And his second year was not as good as people would have thought and he was still putting up big K numbers. So his stock dropped a ton. And this year he really mashed and K-ed. So he is coming off a big letdown then a spike.

He is probably the 2nd best POS player prospect the Astros have now and I would grade him a B.

3. From hearing wade it sounds like the Phils wanted Lidge and said that Bourn is available. Bourn was talked about in the season before the deadline. Then they hammered out how to make that work. So now we at least know how that went down.

Long time no post (I know...just going through some Astro withdrawal). Anyway, when I first heard of this trade...I was kind of surprised Lidge was traded but maybe it was just time. Like Stros Bro said, I liked him as well and there is no denying his stuff but seemed like everytime he came in, you didn't know which Lidge you'd get on that given day.

Anyway, I went to some Philly boards to guage the reactions there and even though they are happy about acquiring Lidge, most of the fans were high on Bourne and it seemed to me at least that they were really high on Costanzo! He really put up some good numbers in the minors like Shamus mentioned and they were projecting him to make it to the Majors in 2009!

For now it seems that the Astros got a fair return but time will tell I guess. It can't be as bad as the Jennings-Hirsch/WillyT trade can it?! Can it? (Gulp!)

Go Stros!

SeoulStro

If Bourn starts at least 2 full seasons in CF, playing around average, the Astros are to the good, no? They have a position covered beyond Lidge's one year and money to go after other missing pieces.

I love Lidge the person, or at least what I know of him through the media. Seems smart, and obviously lots of guts and class facing up to his adversities. But we were probably going to say goodbye to him in a year, anyway. Bruntlett may have been wasted talent, but that wasn't Wade's fault, and he's probably approaching arbitration.

Please keep in mind, when I post, I just say what seems to make sense to me. I don't have the numbers to back up what I say like you guys. But the 'Bro asked for our thoughts.  

It should be nothing less than a standing ovation, but you never know.