Just for grins, if Purp has the choice and can sign either Lamb OR Loretta after the season, who does he take? A month ago, I would have leaned toward Loretta, but I don't feel that way now. Of course, I'm not Purp.
With the signing of Wiggy, I would have to go with Loretta.
Absolutely Loretta. Bruntlett is the uber-sub, and he can surely step in for Burke if (as i expect) Burke fumbles the ball when given the everyday 2B job, but having Loretta to step in every day gives me a much nicer feeling. It would be nice to replace OP with Lamb as the lefty off the bench, but following the rules of the game set out here, Loretta wins by a lambslide.
except most signs point to Burke getting the starting job at 2nd next season. Meaning both Lamb and Loretta would be backups, in which case Lamb is more valuable.
I would prefer Loretta to be the starting 2B and Burke to be somewhere else.
Last year with Boston, Loretta's hitting tailed off considerably the last 5-6 weeks of the season, seemingly due to nagging injuries (he played through them all because Youkilis, Ortiz, etc. were all hurt more). I'm wondering if he has similar problems of late or if he's just hit a wall. Not that I'm expecting a whole lot from Burke, but let's be honest, it looks as though the Astros have every intention of handing him the job next year.I love Mike Lamb but it's hard to see him not getting a bigger contract/role elsewhere. He, A-Rod, and Mike Lowell are basically it for FA third basemen I believe.
The way I remember it, Lamb was a part-time player with the Astros. Ensberg made him a full-time player.
Absolutely, he got more opportunities than he might've expected due to Ensberg's slumps ('04, '06, '07) or injuries ('05). But it seems like other teams have now started to notice. I hope I'm wrong and JimR's right. Lamb does seem to have less ego about it than most. I guess the fact that Wigginton can play 2nd would create more wiggle-room for Lamb to get AB's next year too.
I would think that most teams who are contenders will already have a solution at third or first base. Maybe the Yankees at first base, but even then, I doubt they'll think of Lamb right away as a solution. They'll exhaust all other options first. But then again, they did have Mankeiwosajklasjdaksdjalask at first for a while too. So if we're not talking contenders, Lamb is looking at teams who need a solution at third or first that is a good cost for them and may help them play better. So Lamb is looking for trade off of regular playing time with teams that are trying to contend but are not necessarily a contender to being on the Astros and definitely not starting and knowing that they will contend only if the right parts are there in pitching.So Lamb won't want to go to a team like Pittsburgh (who actually have solutions at third and first already in LaRoche and Sanchez), but I can see him going to teams like San Diego or Cleveland or Seattle. But he's kidding himself if those teams don't have other options available to them as well. Geoff Blum and Mike Lamb are great guys to have on a team, because they'll play. But starters? I don't see it unless it's a non-contending, lower rung team that just wants to plug a hole more than anything else.
