By Jeff Brown
Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com on December 19, 2000.
Several national pundits have pounded the Astros recent trade with the Tigers. Most notable among these (at least to me) was ESPN.com columnist Rob Neyer, who I usually agree with on just about everything. These “experts” give the Tigers an easy “win” on the trade, mostly based on the Stros giving up Mitch Meluskey. I disagree.
Yes, the players the Tigers got have the most potential upside. Meluskey will quite likely become one of the best hitting catchers in the game (if he isn’t already), but he will never be more than adequate as a backstop. In the AL, he can stay in the line-up as a DH if any Tiger pitcher chooses a different “personal catcher,” so that makes him more valuable to an AL team like the Tigers than to the Astros.
In Chris Holt, the Tigers get a guy who always seemed on the brink of putting it all together. I personally am a Holt fan, and I applauded Dierker for giving him so many chances. However, I have no problems trading him; hopefully it will work out better for him in Detroit. Maybe the new location (plus being in a great pitcher’s park) will be the difference he needs to turn it around.
And Roger Cedeno? The biggest question around Cedeno is why the Astros ever dealt for him in the first place. It was painfully onvious to everyone by the end of the season that he was a spare part in Houston, so trading him is not a problem, either. I look forward to seeing Alou, Hidalgo and Berkman patrolling the Enron outfield in 2001, with Glen Barker as a great (and cheap) back-up who can provide great defense in the late innings.
You have to give the Astros some benefit of the doubt in making this trade, because you have to think they know what they are getting, since Brad Ausmus and Doug Brocail were Astros just a couple of years ago.
I can’t help but think that Ausmus’ return will help improve the pitching from last season’s dreadful state. Perhaps it’s overblown to some degree, but his reputation is that he is a pitcher’s catcher. That reputation, as much as anything, may help with head case Jose Lima. His stick, while nothing special, is not particularly necessary in the Astros’ juggernaut line-up.
Brocail has proven himself as a solid, if unspectacular, middle reliever/set-up guy. That is exactly what the Astros need to bridge from starter to closer (whether it be Billy Wagner or Octavio Dotel).
Nelson Cruz, while something of an unknown property, looks to have some promise of at least becoming something similar to Brocail.
Really what you have here is one of those rare trades where both teams improve themselves. The Astros get rid of a hard-luck pitcher, an unnecessary outfielder, and a catcher who doesn’t call a great game but is a cancer in the clubhouse. In return, they get a catcher who will help the pitching staff (and is good friends with potential free agent Jeff Bagwell — don’t miss that one) and two solid relievers to fill that hole.
The Tigers give up a reliever to get a starter (or at least a guy who could fill his spot in the bullpen), an offensive-minded catcher (adding pop to a weak line-up), and a solid leadoff hitter to patrol the expanses of Comerica Park’s centerfield. They give up a catcher (who is replaced in the trade), a middle-aged reliever, and a mid-range prospect.
Perhaps there is something weird when you look at how many trades Tal and Randy Smith have made, but this trade, at least, has more merit than most give it credit for.