Do you know the single-most infuriating fact about the Astros in 2012? Angel Sanchez got 328 plate appearances.
Sure, half of those came in April and May when Clint Barmes was recovering from a broken hand suffered during spring training. But, Sanches still played a whole heck of a lot in 2011 and wasn't very good. He about as close to a replacement-level shortstop as you can get, both defensively and overall.
Brad Mills seemed to have an affinity for Sanchez and his empty batting average. He played him in 110 games last season and 65 more games in 2010 after Tommy Manzella proved incapable of holding down the position. For those keeping track, that's 175 games in two seasons. Sanchez totaled nine career games with two different teams before that point.
When Houston acquired Jed Lowrie from Boston, many of us on the TCB podcast joked that Mills finally wouldn't have an excuse to play Sanchez as the everyday shortstop, which we all dreaded. And yet, he sat on the team, taunting us with the possibility of more plate appearances in 2012.
Not anymore, however, as Houston designated him for assignment on Tuesday to create room on the roster for catcher Chris Snyder. All in all, I'll trade a mediocre shortstop for an offensive-minded catcher every day of the week.
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