That’s right. Hot Stove season is starting up, and trades are already flying. This involved “the vulture” being traded for yet another CF. Not even really experienced, but this is what Dave O’Brien at the AJC had to say about it:
The Braves traded relief pitcher Oscar Villarreal to the Houston Astros for outfielder Josh Anderson on Friday.
Anderson, 25, appeared in 25 games for the Astros last season where he hit .358 (24-for-67) and played all three outfield positions. The left-handed hitter spent most of the year at Class AAA Round Rock and batted .273 (140-for-513) with 17 doubles and 64 runs scored. He ranked third in the Pacific Coast League with 41 stolen bases.
Villarreal, 26, went 2-2 with a 4.24 ERA in 51 games for the Braves last season.Anderson, a 2003 fourth-round draft pick, was the MVP of the 2006 Texas League All-Star game and in that same year he led the league for the second consecutive season in stolen bases and he ranked first with 173 hits.
In 2004 Anderson led all of minor-league baseball with 78 stolen bases and in 2005 he was rated as the best defensive outfielder and the fastest base runner by Baseball America.
However, Rotoworld’s analysis was a little different:
Anderson had a surprisingly strong September after being called up, hitting .358/.413/.403 in 67 at-bats, but that came after a .273/.325/.340 season in Triple-A. Nothing else the 25-year-old has done lately suggests that he’d be adequate as a major league regular. As a left-handed hitter with great speed on the basepaths and in center field, he could have value as a bench player. However, the Braves didn’t just fill the hole opened up by Andruw Jones’ departure. All they really acquired was another Willie Harris.
Who to believe? I’ll go with the Braves expert, DOB.
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