UPDATE, 10-31-07: A few more notes on the Astros’ interest in Hunter and Rowand. According to Wade, the Astros are looking to add either a center fielder or a right fielder – keeping Hunter Pence in center is an option. Also, he calls the contact with Hunter and Rowand "procedural," noting that the Astros will talk to roughly a third of all free agents.
FROM 10-30-07:
Looks like Ed Wade and the Astros will make a play for a free agent center fielder this winter. They’ve already made initial contact with the agents for Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand.
That didn’t strike me as a major need given the current outfield of Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence, and Luke Scott. I agree with RotoWorld on this – Scott could be a great acquisition if the Astros push him out of the picture. An awful April obscured Scott’s stats – he hit .267/.360/.534 from May forward. Same thing happened with Kevin Kouzmanoff.
On the other hand, Pence is better suited for right field than center. So as long as Wade gets full value in the form of a starting pitcher for Scott. Unfortunately they are not on Curt Schilling’s list but three other NL Central teams are.
