Frankly I think the two-year $10.5m deal the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped up shortstop Clint Barmes on was an absolute steal. Before the free agency bonanza started, I said two-years $12m would get a deal done and maybe it would.
↵Barmes said on record he would not mind staying, but I have the feeling he knew the Astros would not even bother negotiating. Or maybe Bobby Heck really wanted that compensatory pick in next year's draft. Having the pick is nice, and with the Astros having the first overall pick, it is a chance to go conservative on a higher floor guy, when the first pick will be consumed, we would think, with a player with by far the highest ceiling.
↵It is an interesting concept, even if the Astros could scrimp and scrape the money to lock up Barmes, would the pick be
↵Still, I enjoyed watching Barmes play for 2/3 of a season, and it probably will rank as one of Ed Wade's better moves.
↵↵↵"It was one of those things they had a few others guys lined up behind me, and the way it was explained to me, I was the first in line as far as who they wanted. They threw a great offer."
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And the McTaggart money quote on what the Astros do next:
↵↵↵The Astros could choose to find a shortstop through a trade or free agency or fill the void internally with Angel Sanchez.....
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Then the Ed Wade facepalm.
↵↵↵"We'll have to explore different options to find a front-line shortstop or someone to share time with Sanchez," Wade said.
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Why, just why?