Trade Poll

[barzilla]

As I'm watching the Astros not quite get back to .500 allow me to setup this informal poll here are your voting options.

The Astros should.....

1) Trade for Adam Dunn for some combination of Chris Burke, Ezekiel Astacio, and/or Fernando Nieve.

2) Acquire either Jason Kendall or Jason LaRue to give us an offensive boost at catcher.

3) Acquire a starter to lengthen the rotation and provide insurance in case Pettitte's elbow continues to act up.

4) Acquire a relief pitcher that can stem the tide to Wheeler and Lidge.

5) Do nothing, we should ride out the season with what we have and wait and see what we need in the off-season.

Let me begin by giving positives and negatives for each one.

Dunn

Advantages

Adam Dunn would definitely be a huge upgrade over Burke in left and would give this team three excellent run producers to accompany two pretty decent ones. He is arbitration tied for another year so he would be a part of the long-term nuclues as well.

Disads

It would cost us at least two good prospects and maybe a third....Dunn will earn a lot of money next year after back to back 40+ home run seasons.

Kendall or LaRue

Advantages

Both are significant offensive upgrades that are also solid offensively. Kendall has another year on his contract, so he would fit the "not a rental" guideline. LaRue is fairly affordable at this point and could be acquired with Dunn in a blockbuster.

Disads

Kendall has a huge contract (only one year left though) while LaRue can be a free agent.

Starter

Ads

As they say, you can never have enough good pitching. If Pettitte is healthy beyond the all-star break you could have four very good starters. That gives you a chance to win almost every time out.

Disads

Everyone wants pitching and that's the one thing you got. You wouldn't exactly be shoring up a weakness and it would cost more to pad a strength.

Reliever

Ads

Y'all have seen it just like me. Giving the ball to Springer or Harville in the 6th or 7th inning makes me want to chain smoke. Getting another reliever (setup quality) would make this pitching staff nasty.

Disads

Again, everyone wants this.

Do Nothing

Ads

You don't give up any prospects and you get to see how the kids perform in a pennant race. All of us are eagar to see what Taveras, Lane, Burke, and Rodriguez do down the stretch in a pennant race.

Disads

"Do nothing" sounds so negative doesn't it? With Clemens, Pettitte, Biggio, and Bagwell all getting older don't we owe it to them to give it everything we have?

I'll place my own vote in the poll

[barzilla]

I'm voting for the Dunn option. I think Biggio will be here beyond next year, so trading a Chris Burke in such a deal guarantees you get something for him and you give the team the best impact player available to us. The sincher is that he wants to play for us so he would likely sign a long-term deal.

[Toy Cannon]

I agree with the Dunn deal. Burke is a middle infielder and that's where he needs to play. It ain't gonna happen in Houston. The first rumor I heard about this deal involved 3 minor league pitchers and I didn't like it. I also wouldn't mind if the Reds wanted Lane instead of Burke. I just don't understand the picture everyone paints of Lane. He has a long ways to go to prove to me that he is the answer everyone says he is. Personally, I think Burke has a bigger upside, unfortunately for him he has a future HOF'er in his path.

The stupidest thing they could do is trade for Kendall. A ton of money for a declining skills catcher. A bat at the bottom of the order is not what Houston needs to put them over the top. I'd love an upgrade at catcher as much as anyone, but if it happens, it'll be in the off season...not now.

[barzilla]

Dale,

Good points on Kendall. He seems to be making a comeback, but his power numbers have declined which make him an Ausmus with a higher BA and OBP. The thing with Lane is that he is on pace to hit 25 HRs. That's nothing to sneeze at. I don't like looking at players through a snapshot lense. Since this is his first season as a regular this is the first time he has had to make adjustments mid-stream. Now, if he's sitting on October 1st with a .240/.300/.450 bat I would be inclined to agree that we might consider upgrading him. In fact, in the likelihood (hoping) of Bagwell's return, if we made the deal for Dunn then Lane would be the odd man out.

That being said, if the Reds want Lane instead of Burke it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. However, looking at their roster, they are stacked in the outfield, so I would think they would want pitching and middle infield help. They dumped D'Angelo Jimenez at the beginning of the season, so I would think a second baseman would come in handy for them.

[PopTop]

I went the "acquire a reliever" route. I think that will be cheaper for Houston to go after than one of the position players discussed, and I think the benefit of having one more solid setup arm would do just as much for the WIN column as adding a bat to the lineup right now.

[bagger]

i voted for the dunn option, especially given the market. while i know there's a strong push to improve ausmus and/or everett, i don't think there are any trade partners to achieve that. dunn replaces lamb/burke in the outfield and, assuming lane isn't shipped in the deal, reduces pressure on lane. lane has always been streaky, but he needs to revert to his command of the strikezone that's been completely absent the last two seasons.

i don't think burke will be dealt in a dunn deal. the reds don't seem to have a need for a middle infielder. what the reds are going to want is as much pitching as they can get. i'd expect to lose one of our best (nieve or astacio) and mid-level pitching prospects with a hitter, maybe lane or a minor leaguer.

i could see burke being shipped in a deal for a reliever.