More pitching stuff

MLB Trade Rumors (which is usually wrong, so take it for what you will) has an interesting post up about two Astros, current and former: Hawkins and Pettitte.

Hawkins would be a decent pick up, provided he comes cheap enough. His performance in Houston has been absolutely ridiculous. Of course, that's probably helped by a small (17.0 IP) sample size and a healthy dose of luck. But he's struck out better than one an inning while in the Houston uniform, and he's had spectacular control. Whatever it is, he's been nails since he came over. And I say that as a guy who thought he was going to be awful. I thought he would show up, give up plenty of runs, and then get released next season. As long as he isn't signed to a long term or expensive contract, Hawkins should be in the pen next year. And he seems plenty comfortable here (he made up those retarded "Bud killed us" shirts), so maybe he'd like to stay.

Pettitte is an interesting choice. We're all fond of the guy, no doubt. He was like a less horrific version of Roger. But the issues that faced him in Houston - primarily injury concerns - are only worse now. If it's any good news, he'll probably still give us the discount he gave us in 2004, and his worsening ERA and W-L total will make him a little easier on Uncle Drayton's pocketbook.

Looking at his FanGraphs stats, I think he might be the victim of poor luck this season. His K/9 IP (never really his forte, but still historically decent) has actually increased, while his walk rate is down. The main concern is that his HR/9 has increased slightly (though it's still well below average). His BABIP has risen at roughly the same rate as his BAA, so it may just be that having the poor Yankees defense behind him has hurt him slightly.

He's not going to be the Andy Pettitte that he was in 2005, but that's not really what's neccesary. What's needed is a #3 guy to hold up the rotation. And if Pettitte can stay healthy and eat innings at a good rate, then that's all we really need. He'd be a specatacular improvement over Backe or Wandy or Moehler.

Wolf is an intriguing case. I'd say that his supplemental pick is worth quite a bit to the Astros, particularly if they are going for more FAs over the winter. And while he's been good in Houston (108 ERA+), I'm not really sure if he can do that again next year. If the Astros have a Oswalt-Sheets-Pettitte-Wolf-Wandy rotation, things are looking really good. Hell, we could trade Moehler to some sucker at that point. Whatever they give us is too much.

Wait and see.