Astros - Acquired Tejada

I have to give credit where credit is due and I thought that the Orioles would get a lot less than they did for Tejada. As long as teams were concerned about Tejada's ability to play SS, the Orioles had no chance to get a huge sack of prospects because after a down season (relatively), he's a little better than average at 3rd rather than a star shortstop. No, Tejada's not a Gold Glover, but he's just as mediocre at he's been for years, not a Jeteresque sieve. It's a better trade for the Astros if they do decide to non-tender Everett. I have to admit being pretty worried when I saw those Tejada-for-Everett-and-Burke rumors a few weeks ago.

Patton should probably spend most of the year at Norfolk and with Tejada being nowhere near as popular as Roberts in Baltimore, the Orioles won't feel quite the same pressure to show off what they got as they would have if this was a Roberts trade. Luke Scott instantly becomes one of the team's best hitters (his 119 OPS+ in 2007 would have been 2nd on the O's) and the other three mainly provide depth. Costanzo's a whiffy power 3B with a decent glove who's at least a year or two away from being a role player, Albers probably isn't the worst #5 starter in the world and still young enough to improve somewhat and Sarfate actually might be a useful swing man when injuries hit.

For the Astros, the good news is that they get Miguel Tejada. He'll be a plus over Wigginton at 3rd or a plus over Everett at SS. The bad news for the Astros is that they're still not really in contention and poor Miguel Tejada goes from the AL Astros to the NL Orioles. The depth issue is pretty serious now as Chris Burke is essentially Plans B-through-E at every position or role the Astros have. Hell, if a pitcher goes down, Burke might have to be Plan B there also. And when a lot of the Plan A's are less than ideal, it's a serious concern.

2008 ZiPS Projection - Miguel Tejada
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              AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG   OPS+
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Projection   584  77  177  31  2  19  89  43  72   3  .303  .359  .461   111
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Opt. (15%)   608  95  200  38  3  24 102  56  68   7  .329  .394  .520   135
Pes. (15%)   536  59  149  24  0  13  65  30  75   0  .278  .320  .396    85
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Top Comps:  Rich Aurilia, Alan Trammell

2008 ZiPS Projection - Mike Costanzo
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              AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG   OPS+
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Projection   475  38  103  21  1  13  52  43 144   0  .218  .292  .346    67 
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Opt. (15%)   531  58  127  29  2  20  77  53 161   4  .239  .317  .414    91
Pes. (15%)   456  36   92  19  0  11  49  36 153   0  .202  .264  .316    52    
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Top Comps:  Clete Boyer, Dave Roberts


2008 ZiPS Projection - Luke Scott
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              AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG   OPS+
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Projection   431  60  109  26  4  20  98  54  97   3  .252  .340  .471   111   
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Opt. (15%)   473  72  139  33  5  25 113  71  84   5  .294  .392  .543   143
Pes. (15%)   390  42   93  19  2  12  52  48  91   0  .238  .324  .390    87 
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Top Comps:  Trot Nixon, Jeromy Burnitz


2008 ZiPS Projection - Troy Patton
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            W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA   ERA+
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Projection  7  13  27  26  152  176   98  25  66  85  5.80    79 
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Opt. (15%) 10  13  30  29  175  185   94  24  61 113  4.83    95 
Pes. (15%)  4  13  23  23  121  159   97  26  61  49  7.21    63
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Top Comps:  Bob Kipper, Slick Castleman


2008 ZiPS Projection - Matt Albers
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            W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA   ERA+
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Projection  6  12  31  25  155  182  100  23  74  83  5.81    79
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Opt. (15%) 10  11  39  29  185  194   96  19  82 116  4.67    98
Pes. (15%)  4  13  30  23  129  167  100  24  75  57  6.98    65 
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Top Comps:  Losing Pitcher Mulcahy, Jim Slaton


2008 ZiPS Projection - Dennis Sarfate
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            W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA   ERA+
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Projection  6   9  44  14  119  129   71  15  64  75  5.37    85
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Opt. (15%)  9   7  48  15  135  131   63  12  62 106  4.20   109
Pes. (15%)  3   9  36  11   94  115   67  15  55  54  6.41    71
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Top Comps: Pete Broberg, Eli Grba


  


Dan Szymborski
Posted: December 12, 2007 at 03:01 PM | 18 comment(s) 

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