"With the upcoming MLB trade deadline fast approaching us, is there any position or player you personally feel Astros management should target?"
What a great question. Instead of just responding to Chad I decided that I would go a little further and coerce the fine writers at Astros County to contribute their comments.
Personally, I think the Astros need to address the rotation depth. I'm comfortable with Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh, and even Scott Feldman. I would love four Keuchels in the rotation, but that just isn't possible and would cost a pretty price in future talent. At the moment, the following names have been connected to the Astros:
- Johnny Cueto - Reds
- Mike Leake - Reds
- Scott Kazmir - A's
- Cole Hamels - Phillies
- Jeff Samardzija - White Sox
- Andrew Cashner - Padres
- Tyson Ross - Padres
Cashner and Ross have also run into a little bit of a luck issue with BABIPs above their career norms. I would expect them to improve upon their first halfs, which have been good but not great. Leake is also an intriguing name because his groundball rate is in the %50 range, which would fit right in with the shift happyness Astros.
All the pitchers above would provide an upgrade for the rotation. It's just a question of, "At what cost?" I'll take someone cheap like Leake or controllable like Cashner and Ross.
First base is an issue, but I have confidence Chris Carter will have a much better second half. I also think Jon Singleton could make an impact if necessary. I wouldn't be upset if the Astros acquired someone more reliable, but I'm comfortable with the talent they currently. Ditto to the outfield, which has been struck by injury. George Springer will be back in September and there are other options like L.J. Hoes, Domingo Santana, and Tony Kemp.
Bullpens can always use another arm, so look for that to be an area. Aroldis Chapman is the sexy name, but will come with a hefty price.
Here are the thoughts of other AC writers.
BatGuy
I'm going back and forth on my feelings for this. On one hand, we've heard for a few years now that there is a #plan and #process to get Houston to the point where they can sustain success for several seasons. This year's surprising results so far are evidence that the plan is coming together, so why deviate from that now? That line of thinking would lead me to say the Astros should stand pat or maybe make some small moves, like a second or even third tier starter simply because relying on McCullers and Velasquez will definitely lead to an innings crunch at the end of the season.
On the other hand,
success is never guaranteed. We hope this is just the start of a great
run but who,knows what injuries or developmental collapses are around
the corner. This would lead me to say we need to strike now while we can
and acquire a front line starter, another bullpen ace, and a solid
corner infield bat. The Astros certainly have the resources, both
financial and prospect-wise, to go for it, but does that slow or even
derail the long-term plan?
Masked Marvel
BatGuy talked about #plan and #process, and acknowledging what the
Astros have done so far seems like a great way to begin. Certainly, the
plan - when Luhnow et al took over - was to trade for whatever
they could get. Because of what they were trading away - guys like the
Wand-man and J.A. Happ - it was a quantity of B- and C-grade guys,
rather than a smaller number of high-ceiling prospects in return. The
high ceiling guys in the Astros system have been accumulated mostly via
the draft - think Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers.
So
the easy part of the plan was getting any talent they could. Now comes
the next stage - concentrating the talent they have into the available
positions on the diamond. The Astros only have one major-league team,
so they don’t have unlimited places to stash the talent that they have.
They could fill three outfields with Springer-Marisnick-Tucker in one,
then Santana-Rasmus-Hoes in another, then Grossman-Villar-Presley in a
third. All of those guys have played in the majors in the outfield this
year. And that is without mentioning the Astros’ best prospect - Brett
Phillips - and another couple of guys that could bust out in the
future.
I wrote after the Dexter Fowler
acquisition that I was happy to see two players go to Colorado in
exchange for one. The Astros did it again this year with the Gattis
trade, sending three players (but only one on the 40-man) to gain one in
return. This signalled a transition to the next logical stage of the
plan is to concentrate the available talent, because after all, the
Astros can only have nine players on the field at one time. This will
probably continue, and will be the plan for this summer and offseason.
So,
Astros fans, don’t get too attached to the guys close to or in the
major-leagues. Any of them - aside from perhaps a couple of players
like Correa and McCullers - could be playing for another club by the end
of the month. The next stage of the process is to acquire some elite
talent by trading a group of players, which would create space on the
40-man and would fill a hole for the Astros. I imagine they would be
particularly interested in a high-OBP/low-K corner infielder or
outfielder which they could control after this year; or a starting
pitcher, either as a pure rental or as someone controllable after this
season. The trades will probably hurt the farm, and we will get an idea
of what the Astros think of Mark Appel, Tony Kemp, Brett Phillips and
the abovementioned outfielders. Selling a bunch of prospects for an
elite player is probably the next part of the plan.
In
return, I would imagine that the Astros are taking a close look at the
Padres starters, and anyone the Reds have. They match up well with the
Mets, if a young starter was to be traded for, but I can’t imagine that
anyone is leaving the Mets anytime soon. I am guessing that the Astros’
approach is to trade anyone who they think can’t contribute at a high
level on the diamond in 2017.
The Constable
I can talk myself in and out of making an impact trade within about ten seconds of the initial thought. And I've said on Twitter that I am automatically going to hate any trade the Astros make for the first 24 hours, because I have Prospect Attachment Syndrome. This is a debilitating disease whereupon one cannot function as a fan because whichever prospect the Astros trades is automatically considered to be a perennial Cy Young or MVP winner. Why do I have this debilitating syndrome (I'm waiting on the creepy advertisements, with a creepy-yet-sort-of-hot cougar lounges on a chaise and seductively tells you to see a doctor)? Because the Prospects are where the hope was for the better part of five years. I've been an Astros fan for a long time, but five years of being told Prospects! Prospects! can take it's toll.
And we are living in an era in baseball where teams have Prospect Attachment Syndrome, as well. In the documents where the Cardinals broke federal law and then leaked the Astros files to the world, we found out that Luhnow tried to get Lucas Giolito for Lucas Harrell. Lucas Freaking Harrell. No, my friends, the price for any Impact piece - be it arm or bat - will be high.
Of course, the Astros have depth. When you preach Prospects! Prospects! for the better part of five years, you're going to have some to trade, and they can't all play on the field at the same time, so you either move the prospects, or you try to find a loophole that allows you to play 46 guys in one game.
I hated the Gattis trade immediately, but it's hard to argue that Rio Ruiz has a .618 OPS in Double-A and Mike Foltynewicz is a flyball pitcher with a high BABIP on a shuttle between Atlanta and Gwinnett (which is more of a long commute than a shuttle, but whatever). I still am not sure about the Gattis trade, but Mike Foltynewicz isn't Billy Wagner (yet) and Rio Ruiz isn't Chipper Jones (yet). I was sure about the latter two things immediately. Likewise Jarred Cosart and Enrique Hernandez.
So I guess this is where we have to trust the #process that everyone preceding has discussed. We have to trust that whomever the Astros send away isn't going to fit into the overall picture. But I don't like doing that. I liked it better when the front office looked incompetent, it made for hotter takes.
The Constable
I can talk myself in and out of making an impact trade within about ten seconds of the initial thought. And I've said on Twitter that I am automatically going to hate any trade the Astros make for the first 24 hours, because I have Prospect Attachment Syndrome. This is a debilitating disease whereupon one cannot function as a fan because whichever prospect the Astros trades is automatically considered to be a perennial Cy Young or MVP winner. Why do I have this debilitating syndrome (I'm waiting on the creepy advertisements, with a creepy-yet-sort-of-hot cougar lounges on a chaise and seductively tells you to see a doctor)? Because the Prospects are where the hope was for the better part of five years. I've been an Astros fan for a long time, but five years of being told Prospects! Prospects! can take it's toll.
And we are living in an era in baseball where teams have Prospect Attachment Syndrome, as well. In the documents where the Cardinals broke federal law and then leaked the Astros files to the world, we found out that Luhnow tried to get Lucas Giolito for Lucas Harrell. Lucas Freaking Harrell. No, my friends, the price for any Impact piece - be it arm or bat - will be high.
Of course, the Astros have depth. When you preach Prospects! Prospects! for the better part of five years, you're going to have some to trade, and they can't all play on the field at the same time, so you either move the prospects, or you try to find a loophole that allows you to play 46 guys in one game.
I hated the Gattis trade immediately, but it's hard to argue that Rio Ruiz has a .618 OPS in Double-A and Mike Foltynewicz is a flyball pitcher with a high BABIP on a shuttle between Atlanta and Gwinnett (which is more of a long commute than a shuttle, but whatever). I still am not sure about the Gattis trade, but Mike Foltynewicz isn't Billy Wagner (yet) and Rio Ruiz isn't Chipper Jones (yet). I was sure about the latter two things immediately. Likewise Jarred Cosart and Enrique Hernandez.
So I guess this is where we have to trust the #process that everyone preceding has discussed. We have to trust that whomever the Astros send away isn't going to fit into the overall picture. But I don't like doing that. I liked it better when the front office looked incompetent, it made for hotter takes.
