The Astros have designated outfielder Travis Buck for assignment, the club announced via press release.
Buck, 28, was a reserve player and occasional starter this season, his first in the Astros' organization, although he had been on the disabled list since late May due to a heel injury. The left-handed hitter owns a .216/.284/.311 line in 81 plate appearances in 2012 and .243/.316/.399 line for his career.
Formerly a well-regarded prospect with the Athletics, Buck's best performance to date came as a rookie with Oakland in 2007, when he hit .288/.377/.474 in 334 plate appearances, though he's battled injuries and ineffectiveness since then. Buck spent 2011 in the Indians organization.
Buck was DFA'd to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for infielder Scott Moore, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
One 4A guy for another 4A guy. Does this signal the end for Chris Johnson? Man I hope so…
What are you talking about ? Chris Johnson is hitting .280 + ? What’s so bad about that . . . Especially considering he’s 3rd on the team in average .
He’s not a good defender, has crap for plate discipline, and I don’t think he’s going to keep this pace up for a whole season. I think he’s more of what he was last year, when he got sent down. Plus, for a corner infielder, he doesn’t have that much pop.
Gotta sell high (look what happened when Houston held onto Morgan Ensberg for too long).
some think johnson could take over at first when Lee is moved, and brett wallace takes over at third, or johnson stays at 3B and wallace stays at 1B.
johnson has six home runs in twelve weeks this year, which is paltry for a corner infielder. i would hope luhnow would be shopping his modest bat to an AL team that needs a DH/1B/3B type. of course, you are trying to market Lee to the same teams.
johnson isn’t thought of as a trade candidate by the Astros, but he should be. maybe Luhnow could get a Lowrie-type return, like he did for Melancon.
Neither Johnson nor Wallace are great at 3B. I wanted to say Johnson has more pop, but he sure isn’t showing it. Wallace has a better bat, but he’ll be obsolete at 1B when Singleton arrives.
Lowrie-for-Melancon is what has to be done. Make it happen!
Agreed on CJ. His approach and D have improved but not substantially. He had 0 HRs in April and has 1 in June. No reason to have him and Downs on the same squad.
Congrats to Scott Moore, but Hessman has to get some big league ABs sometime this year. Depth is one thing, but keeping a guy in AAA that’s slugging .600 just seems criminal no matter how old he is.
the buck stops here.
Moore bang for your Buck?
Moore is having a pretty great season at AAA, even though he is 28. It’s possible he is better than Chris Johnson.