Jason Lane

Yesterday's Houston Chronicle carried the news that Astros manager Phil Garner took Jason Lane aside and informed him he'd see some more time on the bench in favor of Orlando Palmeiro, the .349 singles-hitting OF.

As someone who has had Jason Lane for years, first as a minor leaguer taken 4th overall then for the entire 2004 season where he barely surpassed the ROY ABs requirement in a full-season, I was disappointed. I had thought Houston had moved on to retarding the development of another top prospect, Chris Burke.
Not only disappointed but wrong too.

I decided to read the Garner quotes directly despite my now-budding disgust. (Orlando Palmeiro should not be in the majors much less playing ahead of any player with 5-HR capability! Garner thinks I've forgotten the 10+ years of his demonstrated managerial skill in MLW because of a hot three months in 2005?)

What I read surprised me. I had the dinstinct impression that Garner is only going to give Lane a little time to get himself back on track. My spirits were uplifted!

To quote:

"Palmeiro is doing such a good job (that) I think he needs to play a little bit more, and Jason's not in his groove yet," Garner said. "I'll mix and match them a little bit more. Am I going to play Palmeiro three days in a row and Jason one? Maybe not. Maybe Palmeiro a day or two and Jason a day or two.

"I expect Jason to be our right fielder. I like it when I can insert Palmeiro in key situations (late in games). He (Lane) doesn't have to get hits to play. When I can see his groove coming back, he'll be back in there the majority of the time."

As the past couple season's have made everyone leery of Astros prospects not named Adam Everett, this recent news would offer the discerning Roto player the opportunity to grab Lane on the cheap. Remember, only two weeks ago, Lane looked like a sleeper 20/20 OF, and, with the leverage of 3/4 of the season remaining, he'll only need a couple good games to be right back on that pace.