| Douglas Benton. 13th July, 2006 - 11:07 pm
 After watching his National League All-Stars fall to the American League Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, it didn’t take long until Phil Garner and the Houston Astros decided to add another bat for their stretch run. They did this by acquiring Tampa Bay’s Aubrey Huff in exchange for two Double-A prospects in righthanded pitcher Mitch Talbot and shortstop Ben Zobrist. Tampa Bay also agreed to pay more than half of the remaining money left on Huff’s contract.
On the year, Huff has mostly been used at third base, but he has also seen time at first base and the outfield in his career. Huff has batted .283 this season with eight home runs with 28 RBI in 63 games of action. Talbot on the other hand has gone 6-4 with a 3.39 ERA, while tallying 96 strikeouts in 90 innings. Zobrist was batting .327 with three home runs and 30 RBI in 83 games. Both players were at Double-A Corpus Christi and have since been reassigned to Double-A Montgomery.
Breaking Down the Deal:
In Houston, they must be singing in the streets as they finally were able to acquire a proven hitter to match the quality arms they have amassed. Huff, while not an upper echelon hitter, still provides the Astros with a very capable bat from the left side and gives manager Phil Garner options now when filling out his line-up card. Since they didn’t give up much talent in return, Houston should be feeling pretty good right now as they kick off the second half of the season.
Tampa Bay on the other hand fell prey to holding onto an asset for too long. Huff has been talked about for two seasons now, but former general manager Chuck LaMar held out too much and their asset began to lose value. The spin the Devil Rays are sending out is that this opens up room for B.J. Upton, but this deal still should raise question marks in Tampa Bay.
Overall Grades:
Houston Astros: [A] A great deal for Houston that netted a hitter and didn’t force them to give up much. A big win for general manager Tim Purpura.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: [D] This grade has to be split with the previous regime for hanging onto Huff for too long. There asset was depreciating fast, so they had to deal, which resulted in a loss on this deal. |
