The Rockies traded Jason Jennings to the Astros for a package of players:

The Astros exchanged Hirsh, right-hander Taylor Buchholz and center fielder Willy Taveras for Jennings and right-hander Miguel Asencio -- a steep price, considering that Jennings is a free agent after this season.

"I wouldn't have traded Hirsh for Jennings straight up," one executive said.

Jennings, 28, will replace left-hander Andy Pettitte, who left the Astros for a two-year, $32 million free-agent contract with the Yankees last Friday. The Astros still could re-sign free-agent right-hander Roger Clemens to join right-hander Roy Oswalt, who will earn $5.5 million next season.

There's a huge problem trying to evaluate Jason Jennings, and it's called Coors Field. However, we can look just at his road record. Even taken out of Coors, it's not pretty. Still the Astros can live with his 0.83 home runs per nine, and hope that at age 28 he's finally coming into his own as a pitcher.

I'm not a Willy Taveras fan, but Coors will help his offense and Willy's defense will help the Rockies pitchers. I must be missing something about Hirsh. While his minor league numbers are good, they don't scream superstar. Maybe the Rockies really like his low home run rate. But his K and BB rates are good, not great.

If the Astros can sign Jennings long term, I think it's a fair trade for both teams.