What This Means for the Astros

Lidge lost his job as closer at one point during the 2007 season, and although he finished with respectable numbers, the Astros didn’t seem to have a lot of confidence in him. Among other things, this means that Houston’s closer situation is unsettled, but for a team coming off a 73-win season, anointing a closer probably shouldn’t be top priority.

Bourn is a youngish (turns 25 in December) center fielder who owns a career .377 OBP and 85% stolen-base rate in just under 1800 minor-league plate appearances. Baseball America ranked Bourn as the Phillies’ #7 prospect coming into 2007, likening him to Juan Pierre “with better plate discipline and a stronger arm.” Well, when you put it like that, the Dodgers’ signing of Pierre seems downright ridiculous.

Sorry, where was I?

Geary is a generic middle reliever who spells his first name the right way. Costanzo is a former pitcher who was the Phillies’ #12 prospect headed into the season. He is basically the new Russell Branyan.

What This Means for the Phillies

His 2005 playoff implosion notwithstanding, Lidge has been a top-flight reliever over most of the past five seasons. He is not as dominant as he was in ‘04 and ‘05, but his K/9 of 11.82 last season is a number most pitchers in any league would be happy to own. Lidge should give the Phillies the “proven closer” they’ve been seeking for a long time and, perhaps more importantly, allow them to return Brett Myers to the rotation, where he should be much more valuable to the team.

Bruntlett can play just about anywhere. Although he’s been used mostly at shortstop and second base in his big-league career, he has seen action at every position but pitcher and catcher. Bruntlett has decent on-base skills and very little power. On a team with Adam Everett and Chris Burke, he didn’t make a lot of sense; Philly, though, doesn’t need much offensive help from its backup middle infielders.

With Bourn out of the picture, and Aaron Rowand a free agent, perhaps Shane Victorino shifts to center field. Or the Phillies could decide to throw oodles of cash at Rowand, who is coming off a career year. They did it with J.C. Romero, why not Rowand as well?

Other Voices

• Philliesflow
• Shallow Center
• Transaction Oracle

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Post from: Knuckle Curve

Wheeler has been one of the better relievers in the National League the past couple years, and I’m sure he’ll do a fine job closing games for Houston. That said, folks who are writing off Lidge might want to bear this quote from Garner in mind:

Two games in this season is not a sample to say he’s done as the closer. I don’t feel like that at all. What I feel like is that there’s a little bit of a carryover from last year. I think he’s not been as sharp as he should be. I want to give him, first and foremost, more consistent work. And secondly what I’m looking for out of this is that he again approaches where I think he feels like when he comes out of the bullpen that the game is done.

What happens in the first week of April does not necessarily represent how things are going to be all season long. Garner knows this, as do Lidge and Wheeler. Conditions constantly change. People adapt to these changes.

Wheeler is the closer in Houston right now. Good for him; I hope he excels in the role. But don’t think we’ve heard the last from Lidge.

Post from: Knuckle Curve