Abreu is a solid pickup, and I'm also glad they grabble Lidle. Not that he will set the world on fire, but at this point, I'd take any starters I can get. Ponson and Chacon are unreliable, and Lidle should at least give us some help getting that rotation set (btw - someone should call Roger Clemens on the phone and work out a monster deal for the rest of the year - because he's getting no love in Houston without any semblance of run support).
I think that the concerns over Abreu's work ethic are relatively mild considering we've seen Sheffield make some lazy underhand catches and drop them as a Yankee...not sure how much worse you can get. He's a Gold Glove RF and a major upgrade over stop-leaks like Guiel and Kevin Reese (though Guiel has contributed nicely and should stay on the bench if at all possible). Really a great pickup.
The only bad think is that we got rid of Matt Smith, who imho was one of the most solid relievers we had this year, and they sent him back down to AAA. Grr. I would have rather dealt Kris Wilson or some other soda-jerk-to-be. C.J. Henry was also a big name prospect but I've seen very little of him.
This team looks like, if we can get Matsui and Cano back (and possibly Sheff, though I tend to agree with Plaw that we may have seen his last game in pinstripes), this lineup could be scary good with some great defense as well.
