#Astros and #Phillies recently discussed Ken Giles. #Phillies brought up Lance McCullers and Vincent Velasquez, sources say.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 2, 2015
And so of course they want McCullers/Velasquez. The question I have is, "is that 'and' an 'and' or is it an 'or?'"
Another question might be, "Who is Ken Giles that the Phillies would demand such a return?" He's a 6'2" 205lb 25-year old righty reliever - the Phillies' 7th Round pick in 2011. In 2014 he threw 45.2IP, allowing 25H/6ER, 64K:11BB, finishing 4th in the NL Rookie of the Year award race for his 1.18 ERA/1.34 FIP/0.79 WHIP.
Dismissing that it was an entire fluke, Giles followed that up with 70IP in 2016, allowing 59H/14ER, 87K:25BB - a 1.80 ERA/2.13 FIP/1.20 WHIP. So he has faced 464 batters in the majors, and struck out 151 of them. His 11.19 K/9 rate in 2015 was 13th among relievers with at least 50IP thrown and his 2.13 FIP was 6th.
Giles also fits the bill of the "hard-throwing reliever" the Chronicle thinks the Astros so badly want. Giles throws a 96.5mph four-seamer with an 86mph slider.
He's under team control until 2021, so you can see why the Phillies would be throwing around names like McCullers and Velasquez.
Crasnick went on to add:
#Astros have also been engaged with #Rays on Boxberger and McGee. Houston likes relievers with control years.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 2, 2015
and
I've been told that #Astros owner Jim Crane is a big Aroldis Chapman fan. Not sure how that enters into the equation.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 2, 2015
That last tweet goes along with what Jon Heyman tweeted on July 31 regarding Crane and Chapman:
word is, houston ownership is interested in chapman. they also are on kimbrel. seek back-end pen help.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) July 31, 2015
As late as 1:09pm on July 31 the Astros were rumored to be talking to the Reds about Chapman.
