As if we needed his help figuring that out.
Heyman, on Oswalt:
"The issue is that there may not be as much to gain as they'd like...One GM said he has heard the Astros would be willing to pay some of the contract, depending on the return they get.
On Berkman:
Could help someone once he drops any notion that an acquiring team would have to exercise his too-high $15-million option for next year, but as one GM said flat out of Berkman, who's hitting just .245 with only seven home runs, "he's having a bad year."
Again, stellar analysis.
On anybody else:
Word from another baseball exec is that "just about everyone but Hunter Pence" is available -- though Michael Bourn is probably also someone they want to keep. The issue for Houston remains whether they possess much that will bring the prospects they need. Carlos Lee is yet another whose contract, which includes two more guaranteed years at $37 million total, exceeds his value. "Nobody's going to take Lee." one GM said.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
