A-Z Reviews: V

Oscar Villarreal
-Villy was pretty solid in 2006, posting good numbers both in traditional and sabermetric categories, but really fell back to Earth last year. Though his ERA of 4.24 isn't that bad, he pitched worse. His DERA hit 4.66. He did get a bit more K's, but walked more hitters which is rarely a good trade. The Vulture didn't make a run on ten wins, but I refuse to think he would have been any worse than some of the guys Bobby turned to as a starter. I was surprised Villy didn't get any chances there.

2008 Outlook: Frank Wren's latest move was to send Villy to Houston for outfielder Josh Anderson. Good deal for the Braves because Villy was arbitration-eligible, likely to be non-tendered, and not that good. Villy will likely make the 'Stros bullpen and be a decent long reliever. I honestly expect him to begin to bounce from team-to-team pretty soon.