It was announced on Tuesday that the Astros had traded Jeff Keppinger to the San Francisco Giants for a couple of relievers. I'll admit that Kepp wasn't someone that I had projected to be seeing the door out of Houston before the July 31st trade deadline, and I am rather sad that he is gone. However, I find that when looking at this trade, I can only glean positives.
The relievers aren't really worth mentioning. Henry Sosa and Jason Stoffel have put up mediocre numbers in AA ball for San Francisco, and should do the same in Corpus Christi. (Of course, I wasn't exactly praising Ed Wade when he traded Pedro Feliz for David Carpenter...how interesting...).
Two things are clear to me now after this deal was done:
The Astros are ready and willing to go young.
It's true. Keppinger was a proven veteran with a competent glove and a .307 batting average when he left Houston. He was the best pure hitter on the club in 2010, and yet Wade was still content with dealing him to another NL club to make room for a hungry prospect waiting in the pipeline, Jose Altuve (more on him later). Let's face it folks, on this sad sack baseball team, Keppinger was one of the best players we had. He may have gotten overlooked in the box scores, but he was that dude who went 2 for 4 every night with an RBI and two runs scored. Kepp never struck out, and you could always count on him to put the ball in play. Think of him as the anti-Bill Hall. I'm not criticizing Wade on this deal, indeed, if Altuve lives up to his .389 clip, this may be a very smart trade in retrospect, but I see it as a symbolic move more than anything else. Whether the order is being passed down by Jim Crane or not, Wade and Co. are willing to go young and build from the ground up. Just think about this: if no other personnel changes are made this year, and the 'Stros roll out the exact same eight guys in 2012, the diamond would read as follows...Jason Castro, Brett Wallace, Jose Altuve, Clint Barmes, Chris Johnson, Carlos Lee, Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence. With Jordan Lyles on the mound, that is one heckuva young team. I like it. If the infielders pan out, three or four seasons from now, Houston could be an elite team.
I also liked this trade because, in a way, it liberated Jeff Keppinger. Sure, he said he wanted to stay in Houston, but what else is he going to say? Actually, I really hate it here. It does kinda suck to be on the worst team in baseball, ya know? A scrap heap utility man resurrected his career in this town, and now he's moved on to bigger and better things, specifically those of the defending world champs. I'll miss Keppinger, but I'm glad he's in a better situation now.
Lastly, I'm excited to see Altuve take over the second base job. Assuming that Brad Mills doesn't try to force in his seemingly favorite clanker, Angel Sanchez, into the 4 spot, Altuve should get the bulk of the playing time there. He may be 5'7", and it may be a bit premature to be bringing him up to the Show, but this club could do with some more young talent. At this point, it's all about preparing for the future, and dealing a veteran to promote a hot prospect is an essential step in that process.
No comments:
Post a Comment