Houston Astros Could Pursue Outside Help At Second Base
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The Houston Astros must come up with a plan to replace second baseman Jose Altuve's at-bats in the lineup and his presence on the field after suffering a broken right thumb. Altuve recently underwent surgery after being hit by a pitch in the World Baseball Classic when facing Team USA.
While his surgery went well, Altuve is expected to miss over two months of playing time as he recovers.
That has prompted many, including Inside the Astros, to postulate that David Hensley, or even Mauricio Dubon, would be tabbed to fill in during the interim.
However, Astros General Manager Dana Brown recently spoke about the potential of going outside the organization to fill the hole according to MLB.com.
“We’re going to look internally first. We have a good, core group of guys here,” Brown said. “We’ll exhaust what we have here in the organization because we do have some good players and we’ve always been interested in depth, (but) sometimes to acquire that depth you have to go outside the organization.”
MLB Trade Rumors postulates that a trade for New York Yankees middle infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa could be a potential trade target, even if it is unlikely. Kiner-Falefa played Gold Glove defense when he was with the Texas Rangers and can be a solid contact hitter.
Another option that was proposed was Jonathan Villar, who we have already mentioned as a possibility.
Either way, it appears Houston is not particularly comfortable entering a season in which they hope to win another World Series without a veteran presence at the keystone.
It'll be interesting to keep tabs on which way the Astros organization chooses to go as Opening Day is rapidly approaching.
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