Thanks….

Yes, a lot of changes, it really is the end of an era… Post Bagwell/Biggio…. It will be interesting. I like Blum coming back. I always liked him.

I see they’ve now brought Geoff Blum back, too. That probably means Loretta’s gone. Could be that Berkman, Everett and Lee are going to be the only three starters from last year that the Astros will have back for next year.

The club never was totally sold on Anderson.

Don’t forget, Our GM knows Bourn. Ed Wade once was the Phillies GM.

Doesn’t make us a playoff team, but again, what is a playoff team in the NLC.

The Braves see Anderson as a possible replacement for possible replacement for Andruw Jones, who is about to walk as a free agent.

That’s what I found interesting about the deal. The Astros apparently didn’t see Anderson as a starting CF and traded for Bourn instead. The Braves seem to disagree, and have obtained Anderson to inherit the ground Jones formerly walked on.

FWIW, Anderson was defensive player of the year in the minors in 2005. He also led all of minor league baseball in steals that year, victimizing opposing batteries to the tune of 78 bags.

Beyond that, Villareal should help the Astros’ bullpen. He’s 23-12 with a 3.71 ERA in five major league seasons, and set an NL rookie record in 2003 by pitching in 86 games for the Diamondbacks.

The Astros also signed OF Yordany Ramirez, who had been in the Padres’ farm system, and hit .315 with 4 HR and 18 RBIs in 30 games at Class-AAA Portland.

Apparently the Astros think more highly of Bourn than the Phillies did. For the coming year, the Phillies were considering moving Victorino to center and having Bourn platoon with Werth in right if Rowand walks as a free agent. The Astros will make Bourn their starter in CF and their leadoff hitter, and moving Pence to RF solves what was a problem position for the ‘Strohs last year – if Bourn can handle CF. If not, I suppose they can move him to RF and put Pence back in CF and still be better off than they were in 2007, when half a dozen different guys got significant time in RF.

But, the Astros lack a closer, having officially given up on Lidge. It will be interesting to see if they plan to just move Qualls from setup to closer or if they’ll make a free agent run at Cordero from the Brewers, or Rivera from the Yankees (hmm, no wonder they want Clemens to work for them).

The Phillies obtain the closer that allows them to move Myers back into the rotation. This is a team with Kyle Lohse in its rotation so anything that helps their starting pitching is good for them. But what happens in the outfield if they don’t resign Rowand? And if Lidge didn’t cut it as the closer in Houston, how’s he going to make out in Citizens’ Bank Park, which is a GABP-class homer-happy ballpark?

This could be a trade that ultimately ends up helping both teams equally – i.e., not one bit.

HMZ