Astros Trade for Oscar Villarreal

by Charlie Wilmoth on Nov 16, 2007 8:02 PM EST in News

The Astros have traded minor-league outfielder Josh Anderson to the Braves for reliever Oscar Villarreal.

Villarreal's not a great reliever, but he's reasonably young and can keep the ball in the park and not embarrass you. In short, he's useful. As such, this is a great deal for Houston, who only give up an outfielder who's already 25 and put up a .666 OPS in Class AAA last year. But - wait for it - he's fast! He can't play, but he's fast!

As much as I like this deal for the Astros - they're basically getting a decent reliever for a guy who'll be a fifth outfielder if everything breaks right - I'm not sure I understand it. A couple weeks ago they traded Brad Lidge for three players, the best of whom is a fast outfielder who really isn't very good (Michael Bourn). I guess they must have figured they now have too many fast outfielders who weren't very good. And not enough relievers. Which makes one wonder why they made the Lidge trade in the first place.

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It's easy

The Astro talent evaluators, rightly or wrongly, view Anderson as a spare part and Bourn as a potential stud. Time will tell if they are overrating Bourn.

They've added Geary and Villareal for Lidge, adding quantity over quality and saving many millions in the process.

These moves may not work out, but I think Ed Wade has had a decent start to the offseason. At least he's trading for middle relievers instead of giving them J.C. Romero-type contracts.

by bolton on Nov 16, 2007 10:14 PM EST reply actions