Astros Call Up Manzella, Chris Johnson, Billy Sadler RHP and DFA Matt Kata

Actually, the Astros DFA'd Kata a couple of days ago and somehow I missed it. Gee what a shame - this means that the possibility exists that Maysonet just might could actually get a few ABs no matter how much Cooper hates to have to do it. Us Astros fans should, I guess, just be glad we don't have to suffer through any more Jason Smith. AAA season just ended - I was hoping that a LOT more young guys would get called up and Old Guys get benched, but noooooooooo. I was especially hoping to see Bogusevic, Locke, Klemens and even Abercrombie, but it is too important to get to .500 so that we pick lower in the draft and have to lose picks if we sign a Type A. grrrrrrrrrrr Anyway, Sadler is another one of Wade's picks off the scrap heap, this time from San Fran. He signed a minor league contract with the caveat that he would get a September callup, and here he is. He's a righty reliever, a college closer, who was picked in the 6th round of the 03 draft, and actually has a bit of ML experience. He had 4 lousy innings in 07, then 44 innings in 08 over 33 games - 6 HR, 27 BB, 42 K, 8 WP. Yeh, control issues. He was lousy at AAA in 07 - 5.34 ERA, then was awesome in 08 over 33 innings - 1.09 ERA, although he STILL gave up a ton of walks, 22 over 33 IP. For some reason this year, San Fran decided to convert him to a starter after starting a grand total of 3 games in 04. He didn't do well, 13 GS over 55 IP (barely 4 IP/GS) with 4 HR, 31 BB, 57 K - 5.34 ERA, 1.67 WHIP. He did worse at Round Rock - 16 GS over 63 IP (not EVEN 4 IP/GS) with the same lousy ERA/WHIP and 5 BB/9 IP, 8.5 K/9 IP. I heard some noise about maybe he is getting a start and all I can say is - you can agree to start a minor league pitcher THAT bad, but you insist on benching Maysonet? Tommy Manzella is 26, kind of young to be playing in the majors, but hey, try to overlook that. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 05 draft and has a reputation as a great glove man. He doesn't hit for much power - 31 doubles, 5 triples, 9 HR over 524 AB, but it was a great improvement over his AAA numbers in 08. He won't bat over .300 and hopefully, he'll hit into fewer DPs than Miggy, even though he GIDP 17 times this year and 14 times the year before. And unlike Miggy, he won't cost 14 mill a year. He also strikes out a lot more than Miggy does - a record 97 times this year, but then again, I don't swoon over lack of Ks. He isn't much of a walker, only 40 this year, but for some reason, the Astros Organization seems to heavily discourage walks; either that or they refuse to select players or develop players with good strike zone judgement. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if he struggles badly next year as he always struggles a LOT his first year at each new level. He improves significantly the next year, so I hope he'll get more than the 5 weeks that Towles got. If Drayton absolutely refuses to rebuild next year, then poor Manzella is sunk, unless he just happens to come out starting well AND unless he has a manager who doesn't hate young players. Meaning I hope HOPE Cooper is gone. Chris Johnson was apparently hurt a good deal of the year, but came on strong over the past 3 weeks. Chris Johnson, 3B, was a 4th round pick of the Astros in 06, and he's only 24, which means he should be spending the next 3 years rotting away at AAA. Or something. This year, at AAA, he went .277/.310/.414/.724 over 324 AB with 104 H, 18 2B, 5 3B, 13 HR, 20 BB, 89 K. Not exactly spectacular, unfortunately. But I don't care - I'd like to see what he can do over these remaining 3 weeks, as the Astros aren't going anywhere anyway.