With Jed Lowrie joining the fray, Gregorio Petit was DFA'd, meaning that the Astros now have 10 days to trade him, or else he becomes a free agent. This was a predictable move, and probably means that no catcher-related or Fowler-related trade is on the horizon, else the Lowrie signing merely would have been delayed.
Petit enjoyed somewhat of a career resurgence with the Astros in 2014, appearing in the Majors for the first time since 2009. He posted a pleasant .278/.300/.423 line in 100 plate appearances, with two home runs and 8 doubles. He walked once against 25 strikeouts. He was versatile defensively, appearing at second, third and short. He also possesses a reputation as a great clubhouse guy.
At this stage of the Astros rebuild/upswing, there probably isn't room for both him and Marwin Gonzalez on the roster. Gonzalez also had a great 2014, posting a similar .277/.327/.400 triple slash in 310 plate appearances. Gonzalez also logged time at first base and the corner outfield positions - read into that what you want. Regardless, Gonzalez's career .248/.291/.354 line in 750-odd PA's isn't that much different from Petit's .278/.301/.391 career line in 156 PA's on the surface (with the standard small sample-size caveat).
So, with Petit's future with the Astros uncertain, it makes sense to re-live a couple of Gregorio Petit special moments for 2014. I recall two - this awesome bit of base-running against the Bo Sox that left Christian Vazquez and Burke Badenhop flummoxed (and Cockroach unable to even describe it), and this three-run jack (on a great pitch) to snap the Angels' 10-game win streak and support a Dallas Keuchal gem. Feel free to discuss - or add other moments - in the comments.
And here is Petit's MLB highlight archive. Some fun viewing there!
So whatever happens, best of luck Gregorio, and I hope your ML career continues somewhere. One-fifty career plate appearances doesn't seem enough to me.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
