Loading ...The March trade that sent infielder Jeff Keppinger to the Astros was completed on Thursday when the Reds received infielder Drew Sutton as the player to be named.
Sutton, 25, will report to Triple-A Louisville. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, Danny Richar was sent outright to Louisville.
Last season with Double-A Corpus Christi, Sutton batted .317 with 20 home runs and 69 RBIs and was his team’s Most Valuable Player. He led all Astros Minor Leaguers in batting average, hits (165), runs (102), walks (76), doubles (39) and extra-base hits (63).
With Triple-A Round Rock, Sutton was batting .267 (4-for-15) with a .389 on-base percentage in five games. He was the 15th-round selection by the Astros in the June 2004 First-Year Player Draft.
Here’s what Baseball Prospectus
Sutton gave a nice enough performance, but it came from a player way too old to still be at Double-A. Sutton is willing and able to play anywhere on the field, but his range and arm are both weak; for any lengthy usage, he’s limited to second base. Houston’s roster moves do seem to imply a competition between him and Chris Johnson for a major league spot; Sutton has a good chance of winning that.
Thoughts? Would you rather have Keppinger?
Sounds great to me! He sounds like Keppinger, except…
–younger
–taller
–more power
–more patience
–OK, less hitting for average
But still… I’m surprised and impressed that Keppinger brought someone w/ this kind of value.
Now I really wish the Reds would try Phillips at SS!! (Really, I wish they had tried it last August and September, or at least in spring training), so that, if it works, we can let all these other guys duke it out for 2B! Rosales, Valaika, Sutton… sounds like we’ve got a fleet of guys who won’t stick at SS but who could play 2B.
But I’m dreaming…
Anyway… strikes me as a good trade. Nice job, Walt.
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Yeah, the bat sounds okay but how many of these mid-20s infielders with no real position is Jocketty going to keep accumulating?
I Agree with Dan, they should have tried to move phillips over to SS the end of last year or this year…I mentioned that before, but like Dan said…Daydreaming
I mentioned that move with Phillips too. Last year down the stretch, why not? We needed to experiment with this roster especially knowing we had AGON on the books again for 09. Instead they pitched Volquez and Cueto like we were in the playoff hunt or something. I still don’t understand what this organization was doing last year philosophically.
I’d add to Dan’s list…
-switch hitting
-more speed
-higher upside? Those 63 extra base hits last year are pretty impressive if he can do it again this year.
Doesn’t seem that Jocketty has acquired an abnormally high number of infielders. If anything, he’s seemed to be a little OFer happy this offseason. They’ll need someone to fill the shoes of guys like Keppinger, Freel and eventually Hairston. They’ll need one or two of Sutton, Castillo or Richar to come through so they don’t have to pay millions for individual bench players.
1) Richar was outrighted; so nobody wanted him; so much for the public relations slant on the Griffey trade
2) Sutton is a useful player…but we need a shortstop; problem is Houston doesn’t have any either
3) Oh, Keppinger can play shortstop
4) How many pitchers do we need again?
5) He repeated AA last year at age 25, which is why his stats improved so much from the previous year
6) Keppinger is a couple of years away from making big money
>>5) He repeated AA last year at age 25, which is why his stats improved so much from the previous year
Agreed. I don’t think there is such a think as a 25 year old guy in AA that is very useful.
>>6) Keppinger is a couple of years away from making big money
huh? Kidding right? He’s 29
he’s a couple years away from making big money as a McDonalds managers
I don’t think Sutton is going to see the big leagues much… maybe as a bench player but he’s way too old to be repeating AA. I don’t think we were really trying to get too much value for Keppinger… er rather, this is probably the best we could have gotten.
It’s worked out well for Keppinger though, had a game winning hit and has been able to get a little more playing time than he would have here.
1) Richar was outrighted; so nobody wanted him
–Yeah, I was just trying to figure out who Redlegs was talking about when he said “but how many of these mid-20s infielders with no real position is Jocketty going to keep accumulating”. Richar and Castillo were the only two I could figure.
2) Sutton is a useful player…but we need a shortstop; problem is Houston doesn’t have any either
–If you’re getting a SS for Keppinger, he’s likely a backup or he’s a difficult-to-project A-ball player that’s at least 3 years away.
3) Oh, Keppinger can play shortstop
–Depends on what the definition of “play” is.
5) He repeated AA last year at age 25, which is why his stats improved so much from the previous year
–He turned 25 midseason, is still 25 (until June 30) and is currently playing in AAA. He would seem to be a utility player at this point, and utility guys tend to break into the league later.
On paper, Hudson looks like he could be a useful player. However, I’d sure like to see the team start aquiring some outfielders and catchers.