Baseball - 2nd "major" trade of the season

Phillies receive - (RP) Brad Lidge, (SS) Eric Brunlett
Astros receive - (LF) Michael Bourn, (RP) Geoff Geary, (3B) Mike Costanzo

Here's my take on this trade:

Phillies - The Phillies received a solid closer in Lidge and yes, Lidge is still a solid closer. He's not a premium closer, but still a solid 2nd-tier closer. 2006 was a fluke season and no, it was not because of Pujols' impact on Lidge. Compared to Myers, having Lidge close down the game is a major upgrade to the Phillies overall pitching staff. Myers belongs in the starting rotation and boosts it tremendously even though it is still the weakest part of the Phillies. I guess taking on Lidge's 5MM contract was worth it enough so that Myers can move into (most likely) the #2 spot. This move is more about Myers getting back into the starting role than it is about obtaining one of the "premier closers" in the game as stated by the Asst GM for the Phillies. Obviously the AGM has no idea what he is talking about and is trying to justify the high cost of Lidge. Eric Brunlett is just a toss in, who cares ( no offense to Brunlett or his fans/friends/etc).

* 1/2 (out of 5) because the Phillies essentially "boost" their starting rotation with Myers and replace Myers with Lidge as the closer with, what I think, is an improvement. However, they gave up some decent prospects to obtain Lidge.


Astros - The key player that the Astros received was Michael Bourn. Now Bourn was never considered a "cream of the crop" prospect for the Phillies, but he was definitely one of the more well known names in the Phillies farm system. Bourn is almost guaranteed to get a starting job in the OF and is almost guaranteed to bat leadoff. If speed is what you want, Bourn is your man. The Astros was probably frustrated to the point that they felt anyone in their bullpen, namely Chad Qualls, could match or better what Lidge had done the past 2 seasons. In return, they received a leadoff man. Re: Geoff Geary, with the exception of an awful June in 2007, Geary performed up to the standards of his superb 2006 season. He will certainly help the Astros' bullpen. Lastly, Mike Costanzo is a hit or miss just like any other prospect at AA or below. He played at the AA level in 2007 and might get promoted to AAA for 2008 or spend another 1/2 season at AA. His numbers were solid during his 1st year at the AA level (.270, 27, 86), but his "eye" is still very raw. Costanzo is still young (23) and has time to develop. It's too difficult to judge prospects that are lower than the AAA level so this is a hit or miss. If he and Bourn pan out, then that's awesome; if one or the other pans out, then great, the Astros took a chance and broke even.

** (out of 5) because the Astros got rid of a closer who they probably got frustrated with the past 2 seasons. They obviously felt that a couple other relievers, namely Qualls, could adequately fill the role. In return they boosted the confidence of the relief corps by letting Qualls take a shot and for everyone to most likely move up a notch on the Relief pitching chart and also got a legit, typical, speedy OF.

Astros come out on top in this trade. Even if only one of the 2 prospects pan out, Astros broke even yet saved millions of dollars.