The title pretty much says it all; according to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros are likely to trade Ty Wigginton in the next few weeks to cut payroll.
It seems that Wigginton wouldn't necessarily command much in a trade, but I think he could be a useful and bargain pickup by the Jays. The Astros aren't impressed by Wigginton's defense at third, but the Jays would only be using him there as a backup plan. Wigginton would essentially be a better version of Jose Bautista, able to backup at 2nd and third and start at first base or leftfield against lefty pitchers, and offering the same power as Bautista, if not more, while maintaining a respectable on-base percentage (which Jose does not do). Best of all, Wigginton absolutely mashed lefty pitching in 2008 to the tune of .340/.424/.631 and wasn't so bad against righties either, hitting .265/.322/.488 for a fine 126 OPS+ all told. He has always pretty much trashed lefty pitching and he has a respectable lifetime .790 career OPS against righties and lefties. Not the answer to our everyday DH spot, but a big upgrade over Jose Bautista (career .722 OPS and unmashing, though still very good, .885 OPS against lefties last season) And unlike Baustista (from the limited amount we saw, at least), Wigginton can competently play first base, making him a better platoon partner for Overbay, whose line against lefties was horrendous .215/.285/.255 over 167 offense-sucking plate appearances.
Even if Lind discovers and Overbay rediscovers his stroke against lefties and the infield stays totally healthy, we still might end up with a left-hand hitting DH. All this is to say I wouldn't mind Ty becoming a Jay if the price were right. Wigginton is arbitration-eligible this season and is likely to make between $4.5-5 million, a bit of a turnoff, but he had a good year last season and so we could net some nice picks in 2010 when he becomes a free agent, an added bonus. Any thoughts?