This morning the Astros announced that offseason signing Aaron Boone is out for the year after doctor’s told him that he needed surgery on his heart. According to Boone, the condition is not a serious one and shouldn’t impair his life in any way. The condition is also one that has existed, according to Boone, “since he was in college.” Boone’s season is without doubt and, for all intensive purposes, his tenure with the Astros, over. Whether he returns to baseball at all is not known by Boone either, who said he would wait “ to cross that bridge when [he] gets there.”

Thus, the Astros have an unexpected opening in the 25 man roster. Astros management has acknowledged in the past that the Astros would go with a Blum and Boone platoon at third base this season. That plan is, obviously, irrelevant as of today. There is not a single person in the world that thinks Geoff Blum is capable of handling 140+ starts. In other words, the Astros are going to have to figure out how the replace the 80+ starts they just lost with Boone done. The most exciting option would be to award Chris Johnson, the 24 year old prospect, a roster spot. Johnson has been a solid hitter in the minor leagues the past few seasons, including a .324 average with 12 HR in 84 games with Corpus Christi (AA) in 2008. The knock on Johnson has been his defensive play, though Astros coaches have praised him for improving significantly in that department. Another option would be to sign a non-roster invitee to a contract and assume the role of backup. Guys like Matt Kata and Jason Smith have played the position in the past. However, the solution could very well not be in the organization at this time. Wade will likely, at the least, sniff around the trade market, but more realistically Wade could find the answer in the free agent market. Wade reminded reporters today of something he was advocating this winter; many free agents will become available in the coming weeks after many players signed to minor league deals are able to opted out of their contracts and therefore become free agents.

Cecil Cooper claimed that Johnson will get “every opportunity” to earn his spot, and it is plausible that Johnson wins the spot. However, I think it’s more likely that they want Johnson to get some time in Round Rock before becoming a midseason or September call-up. Ed Wade has made it known in his short tenure with the Astros that he is at no point reluctant to explore outside the organization for acquisitions, and I think ultimately Wade will find Boone’s replacement in this way. With such news unexpected the Astros are justly in no position to fill the void at this time. However, the situation should clear up in the next week or two, and I expect that within a week we’ll find out who will receive Boone’s spot; whether it’s in-house or outside the organization

By: Adam Herman on Mar 18th, 2009
Tagged as: Injuries

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