Here’s some news.

Astros have agreed to terms on a three-year contract with free agent shortstop/infielder Jed Lowrie

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 15, 2014

And maybe we should have seen this coming. After all, this is what the Astros shortstop depth chart currently looks like.

#28 Astros

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Name	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	Bat	BsR	Fld	WAR
Jonathan Villar	420	.230	.298	.349	.290	-7.5	1.1	-6.9	0.5
Marwin Gonzalez	175	.244	.288	.350	.284	-3.9	-0.2	-1.2	0.2
Gregorio Petit	105	.245	.287	.348	.282	-2.5	0.0	-0.2	0.2
Total	700	.236	.294	.349	.287	-14.0	0.9	-8.4	1.0

And here’s their third base depth chart.

#29 Astros

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Name	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	Bat	BsR	Fld	WAR
Matt Dominguez	595	.233	.282	.382	.293	-9.0	-1.4	-2.6	0.9
Gregorio Petit	70	.245	.287	.348	.282	-1.7	0.0	-0.1	0.1
Marwin Gonzalez	35	.244	.288	.350	.284	-0.8	0.0	-0.2	0.0
Total	700	.235	.283	.377	.292	-11.5	-1.4	-2.9	1.0

The big numbers in the upper left corners represent where the Astros ranked in our positional depth charts, with data from the Steamer forecasts for 2015. At both shortstop and third base, the Astros looked to be about as bad as any team in baseball. Jed Lowrie has primarily played shortstop to this point in his career, but his defense is declining to where a move off the position seems inevitable at some point, and perhaps he profiles better at second or third base.

Second base is taken in Houston, but third base clearly is not, so the Astros are free to let Lowrie try to prove he can still play shortstop in 2015, and if it doesn’t work, they have an alternative position open as well. And that seems to be the plan.

The Jed Lowrie deal is worth more than $20 million guaranteed, source says. He’s there to play shortstop, not third base.

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) December 15, 2014

Drelich clarifies that the deal is for $23 million over three years, with a fourth year option that could bring it to $28 million over four. That’s a bit less than both the crowd and myself expected, as I had Lowrie at 2/$22M and the crowd guessed 3/$30M. As a roughly average player, this seems like one of the nicer bargains of the winter so far, given what other average players have been signing for.

Of course, Lowrie isn’t any kind of star, and his health issues make this a bit of a risk for the Astros, but even if he declines or misses a bit of time, he’ll still be a significant improvement over the in-house alternatives, and that will be true whether he plays shortstop or third base going forward.