Devil Rays send Huff to Astros
The Houston Astros acquired third baseman Aubrey Huff from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for two minor league prospects Wednesday, hoping Huff can help revive the Astros’ struggling offense.
The Astros, who also got some cash in the deal, are tied for last in the National League in batting average.
“This will give us an offensive boost which we sorely need,” Astros general manager Tim Purpura said.
The 30-year-old Huff, who went to high school and junior college in Texas, hit .283 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs in 63 games for the Devil Rays this season. He hit safely in 20 of his last 23 games with Tampa Bay, batting .433 with 13 doubles, five homers and 16 RBIs during the stretch.
In his sixth major league season, Huff has a career average of .287 with 128 home runs and 449 RBIs.
Houston will pay $1.4 million of the $3 million that remains on the final year of Huff’s contract. Tampa Bay will pay the rest, Purpura said. The Devil Rays get right-hander Mitch Talbot and infielder Ben Zobrist from the Astros’ system.
Huff is Tampa Bay’s career leader in games (798), at-bats (3,016), runs (399), hits (868), doubles (173), home runs (128), extra-base hits (307) and RBIs (449). He’s hit 20 or more home runs four times and is one of five left-handed hitters – along with David Ortiz, Carlos Delgado, Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu – to average 100-plus RBIs the past three seasons.
The Astros also fired hitting coach Gary Gaetti, promoting minor league hitting coordinator Sean Berry to replace him.
Purpura said Berry would be the hitting coach for the rest of this season.
All-Star game ratings up
Television ratings for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game on Fox were up 15 percent over last season’s contest, the largest increase in 24 years.
The game itself had a 9.3 rating and 16 share with an average of 14.4 million viewers. Last year’s game got an 8.1 rating and a 14 share, the second year in a row that the game had plummeted to an all-time low.
The Home Run Derby on Monday, televised by ESPN, had a 10 percent increase. The contest had a 5.4 rating compared to 4.9 last year.
Cubs deny Baker rumors
Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry vehemently denied that he said he would use the All-Star break to determine the future of manager Dusty Baker.
“My stance has never changed,” Hendry said. “Jim Hendry is operating under the same situation all along. There was never any comment by me that there would be a decision over the All-Star break. … Nothing has changed.”
Speculation that Baker or some of his coaches would be fired over the break has been raging. Not so, said Hendry.
“People can write and say what they want,” he added.
The Cubs are 34-54 after sweeping Milwaukee in their final three games. Baker is in the fourth and final year of his contract, and will be on the bench when the Cubs open the second half of the season against the New York Mets on Friday.