The AP is reporting that the San Diego Padres have traded starting pitcher Randy Wolf for minor league pitcher Chad Reineke.
Wolf, 6-10 with a 4.74 ERA will be a free agent at the end of the year and had a limited no trade clause which limited San Diego's options when seeking trading partners. Houston, however, is not on that list and needed a starter after ace Roy Oswalt hit the DL earlier this week.
Obviously the Astros are trying to compete this year, however, I don't really see that happening with the three strongest teams in the NL at least 10 games ahead of them in the division.
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This is Ed Wade’s first full season as Astros GM, and I must say he is a complete punk. As an Astros fan and native Houstonian, I can speak for the Astros when I say that the void of Biggio and Bagwell (along w/ Clemens and Pettite) has a huge role to play in the struggles of this ball club, but I would be far more excited to see the Astros trade their high priced, high profile players for a refreshing new look to the farm system. While the trade for Randy Wolf is not a bad one, it sends the wrong message to the fans that, “hey we’re not that far off.” Uh, from a pitching stand point, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I see no reason to have Valverde on this roster considering we are not competitive, nor do I see much more reason for Tejada, Ty Wiggington, or Kaz Matsui. Ed Wade wants a “middle relief” guy now…WHAT? Is he serious? We don’t need bullpen help before finding some young arms to fix our rotation. Wandy’s been plagued w/ injuries and is very inconsistent, Backe is a major dissapointment, Roy-O is showing some wear and tear, and the rest of our rotation is laughable. Ed Wade, sir, you must leave.