Heyman's column last night breaks down the Most Likely To Get Traded section of the MLB 2009 Yearbook, and three Astros are on it. Who(m)?
19. Pudge:
Houston never likes to give up. But if they do, they'd be more apt to trade the alltime games caught leader then, say, Roy Oswalt or Lance Berkman.
28. Valverde:
Talented and expensive ($9.5 mil), he seems like a candidate for trade. Except the 'Stros don't like to sell.
30. Miggs:
As has been stated many times, Houston likes to try to hang in there. So star pitcher Roy Oswalt almost surely stays, too.
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There would be a clear void in the 9th inning spot if Valverde got traded. When Sampson blows up (which is rare), he blows up spectacularly. LaHawk could step in, but would be a clear stopgap until someone was ready for a closer role down in Round Rock. Pudge...who knows? Why in the hell did the Astros claim Coste off waivers if Pudge or Quintero weren't going anywhere? Of course there is much-heralded C1 Jason Castro down in Corpus, and if he keeps raking, he could be C1 in 2010. And then there's Miggs. Unless Saccomanno or Maysonet are ready to step up (and Maysonet played most of his time at 2B in his cup of coffee), Miggs probably won't be going anywhere...until the off-season.
Underlying all of this is what Heyman decided to include three times in three players: The Astros don't sell.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
