December 09, 2004
Houston, Goodbye
Houston has lost one piece of its Wild Card team, and may soon lose another. Jeff Kent signed today with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers got a pretty good deal, as home town native Kent signed for $17 million over two years.
On the surface, 2nd base doesn't appear to be a problem for LA. In 2004, LA pivot men had an .813 OPS, third in the NL. But that was based on exceptional seasons from Alex Cora and Jose Hernandez, both have OBA's way above their norms. DePodesta likely doesn't trust those numbers, so he's filling a hole that's likely to develop.
The other piece of the puzzle that may go missing is Roger Clemens, who is thinking of retiring again.
"If I had to decide today, I'd say I'm not playing," Clemens said Thursday. "But I'm not saying that. My wife and family want me to wait until after I take a vacation before I make a decision."
"Three of my sons say there's no way they want me to come back and one of them wants me to. But I think he just likes the buffets they have at the games. So we'll have to see," he said.
There's a young man after my own heart. :-) Clemens' departure would leave a hole in the rotation, but it would also free more money to sign Carlos Beltran.
Actually, it's quite possible that Kent won't be playing 2nd. Assuming nothin else in the infield changes (ha!), the infield could be Kent-Cora-Izturis-Beltre, with Green moving back to RF, Werth in Left, Bradley in center on the days he isn't suspended, and, Lord help us, somebody to replace the Mayne-Ross dynamic duo behind the plate. Choi was a complete bust in LA last year; unless he comes alive in Spring Training, he should be either on the bench or in Las Vegas next year. Of course, everything depends on further personnel moves... there's even talk that Kent could move to third if Beltre doesn't return. 203
