Moving On Up

Some players will get the chance to move up in baseball. Their teams were in last place, but now they have the chance to reach the playoffs.

Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate were part of a big trade last night. The Dodgers will receive the 2 players stated in exchange for Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. Hanley Ramirez is hitting .246/.322/.430 this season with 47 RBI and 14 stolen bases. Randy Choate has been sporting a 2.49 ERA over 25.1 innings pitched. The lineup for the Dodgers when everyone is healthy would look like the following: Gordon SS, Abreu LF, Kemp CF, Ethier RF, Ramirez 3B, Loney 1B, M. Ellis 2B, A. Ellis C


Wandy Rodriguez will join playoff contention with the Pirates. He was acquired by the Pirates in exchange for the following minor league players: Rudy Owens, Robbie Grossman, and Colton Cain. Rodriguez will join a rotation with James McDonald, AJ Burnett, Eric Bedard and Kevin Correia. Rodriguez has a 3.79 ERA in 21 games started this season. Over his past 5 seasons Rodriguez has a 3.45 ERA and the Pirates will take that. Their next mission is to find a bat to add to their lineup. 


Cole Hamels is moving on up in the bank as he signed a contract extension for 144 million dollars over 6 years. That is the second most expensive contract given to a pitcher ever. Only CC Sabathias contract is greater. 

The Houston Astros

The Houston Astros had the worst record in 2011, only winning 56 games. The Astros are in a rebuilding phase, because they have traded away their big stars. In the past few seasons the Astros had traded Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, and assorted other players.

Although The Astros seem to be the local market for the other 29 teams, they have kept a few key players. The Astros still have Carlos Lee and Wandy Rodriguez. It does seem very likely for these two players to be traded in the 2012 season. Carlos Lee is 35 and can play first base and the outfield. He carries an average OPS+ of 109 over the past 3 seasons. He has played over 155 games the past three seasons. Perhaps he can be a valuable player to another team in the National League, because there is a deficiency of first basemen in the NL. As for Wandy Rodriguez he is a left handed starter who can pitch close to 200 innings and can keep his ERA below 4. In 2011 his ERA was 3.49 and he pitched 191 innings. Wandy is 33 years old.

Believe it or not the above is all that The Astros have to look forward too. They have a surplus of prospects, but they wont help them in the 2012 season.