Quote:
Burke, and the Astros to give him some time at SS in winter ball


Burke is not slated to play winter ball this year, and as it is right now how much of a offensive boost do you get with Burke over AE? Is it enough to overcome the big loss in range and arm strength? How many plays this season did Everett make that beat the runner by a half of step? With Burke those are outs that could be given away. Not to mention the times that Everett was able to get to balls up the middle behind second base, or even on the first base side of the IF.

Adam Everett will be the SS next year. The Astros are not going to put Buke there, and they are not going to pay $8-$11 million a year to Furcal who hit .254/.310/.393 before the AS break this year. He had 70 errors over his past 438 games at SS. Everett has had 46 over his last 411 games. Everett has a Zone Rating that's 39 points higer than Furcal's (.872 vs. .833). Zone rating is the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone". Is Furcal worth ~$8 million more than Adam Everett in 2006 to the Houston Astros? Is the increased offense that he brings worth that much? Could that money be better spent elsewhere? I think the Houston Astros believe that it could.