1. The Astros now need a first baseman. Because, and I have no information to back this up, but I'm guessing this is not a 2-week injury - which is the soonest McTaggart says he can come back. So Blum could be seeing a lot more time in the lineup. And this could impact the IF6 spot, as well.
2. This impacts the possibility of the Astros picking up Berkman's option in 2011. $2m is a lot more attractive than $15m if Berkman has a dodgy knee.
What do you think?
3 comments:
Try not to overreact too much. It's just arthroscopic knee surgery to clear out some debris, the same thing Moehler had in the off-season; the estimate of 2-4 weeks is probably a little optimistic, but not too much so. I expect Berkman to miss the first week of the season, maybe two; all of April (22 games) at the very most. It's about as non-invasive as a surgery can get.
As for getting another first baseman--we should be fine with Chris Shelton (.909 triple-A OPS in 2009, .979 in 2008). He's having a nice Spring Training, too.
What I'd like to see them do: for the duration of Berkman's injury, move Lee to 1st and try out someone like Locke or Bogusevic in LF. That allows us to see a) if Lee can play a passable 1st, which would add to his trade value if they want to explore that in the off-season, and b) evaluate one of the farmhand OFs and see if they can contribute at a ML level
What they will do: slot Shelton in a 1st, which would not necessarily be a bad thing, though it would be less interesting.
Berman gets mysterious injuries every spring. Not saying he's being lazy or entitled, but a pattern has developed, as it does with many star players.
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