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July 30, 2007

Prospectus Today

Roster Rejumble Recaps

by Joe Sheehan

There were lots of minor deals over the past four or five days, but nothing major, and on Sunday, the action ground to a complete halt. Calm before the storm, or harbinger of the future? This might be time to bust out the winter meetings theorem: as the ratio of newsmakers to newsgatherers drops, so does the amount of news being made. The same may now apply to the trade deadline, which peaked close to a decade ago.

Anyway, here are some reactions to the transactions that did happen, in rough order of significance:

• Astros trade Dan Wheeler to the Devil Rays for Ty Wigginton; subsequently designate Morgan Ensberg for assignment. You got me. Rumors persist that Ensberg will be traded before his DFA period ends, but even if he is, the return won’t be much. So for Wheeler and Ensberg, the Astros get a 29-year-old infielder who runs a below-average OBP with good power and so-so defense. Mildly impressive at second base, Wigginton is just a guy at third base, and this is the first season since 2004 in which he’s outhitting Ensberg. At that, the difference this year is just 17 points of EqA. This looks more like a tantrum by the Astros than a baseball decision, their frustration with Ensberg’s injury woes and power outage getting the better of them.

  It’s a little surprising to see the Devil Rays trading up in age, but their bullpen has just been a disaster for three years running. Getting Wheeler, who was very good for 2 ½ years in Houston, looks like a decent buy-low play that doesn’t cost them much. On the other hand, as discussed below in the Scott Linebrink trade comments, he may just be another reliever who flamed out after 150 good innings.

  Wigginton was a pretty good candidate to be non-tendered by the Rays in the offseason, as his production would generate a salary ill-suited for his projected production. The Rays can fill second base with Ben Zobrist, then perhaps Reid Brignac as early as next year, and they should be better in the late innings with Wheeler joining a now-healthy Al Reyes. The competition is Shawn Camp, Gary Glover, and Brian Stokes, so even the current version of Wheeler is an upgrade.

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