If we get 2 prospects for each of em in return and one of those prospects is a topper then talk about filling up the farm in a hurry, mercy me!
The Brewers aren’t trading Chourio. Misiorowski could be part of a package. But I really don’t see the Brewers as a fit for Tucker unless they have OF get hurt worse than they already are. When healthy, Valdez is a legit cy young candidate. The trade market is always hard to predict but playoff caliber SP with addl years of control are the most valuable trade chips there are.
Where do you see a possible bregman/tucker trade going if it happens? I hope we turn it around but the worst thing is being average. If we're not contenders we should rebuild the farm and retool for a year and then come back strong with a loaded farm. Would hate for us to be. 500 while we get nothing for our stars.....
Astros have used more pitchers than any MLB team this season Team Pitchers Used American League Houston Astros 22 New York Yankees 18 Minnesota Twins 17 Texas Rangers 17 Toronto Blue Jays 17 Seattle Mariners 16 Chicago White Sox 16 Los Angeles Angels 16 Cleveland Guardians 16 Detroit Tigers 15 Baltimore Orioles 15 Tampa Bay Rays 15 Chicago Red Sox 15 Oakland A's 13 Kansas City Royals 13 National League Los Angeles Dodgers 20 New York Mets 19 Miami Marlins 18 Milwaukee Brewers 17 Chicago Cubs 16 San Francisco Giants 16 Atlanta Braves 16 Philadelphia Phillies 16 Washington Nationals 15 Pittsburgh Pirates 15 Cincinnati Reds 15 St. Louis Cardinals 15 San Diego Padres 15 Arizona Diamondbacks 13 Colorado Rockies 13 https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/astros-pitching-stats-19405073.php
Hypotheticals: Dodgers get: RF Kyle Tucker Astros get: SP River Ryan C/1B Dalton Rushing OF Kendall George Twins get: 3B Alex Bregman Astros get: OF/IF Austin Martin RP Matt Canterino
What's amazing is that the season isn't lost yet. About 1/8 of the way done, but only 4.5 games out of first place. This year has been an absolute disaster, but if they can get healthy and put any kind of a run together they can get back into the race pretty fast. But will they? I'm not so sure. They look awful.
Yep. The next 4 series will be big. If they go under .400 over those 11 games that will turn the yellow flag red imho. If they go .400-.550 then it’s more wait and see but with a shorter leash. .550 or better and we can all probably breathe a sigh of relief and all should be well. The goal should be to head into that series with Seattle in early May with a full healthy rotation and be less than 3 games back in the division. The Astros are still favored to win the division, they’re the 3rd highest odds to make the playoffs in the AL, and have the 2nd highest odds to make the World Series in the AL.
An optimist's perspective...1) the brutal part of the schedule happened first and is now over, and it wont be this hard for the rest of the season; 2) Hader, Abreu, and Pressly will not keep sucking like this; 3) JV and Framber will be back soon and the revolving door of baby face Sugar Land kids will end; 4) Espada is a quick study, has now gotten a handle on things, and will show he is as smart as we all thought he would be; 5) Bregman will inevitably get hot; 6) we will start getting production from 1B, one way or another; 7) the Division has been quite weak, so far.
How do the Astros juggle Brown, France, Blanco, Arrighetti, and Blubaugh with JV and eventually Framber and Garcia getting healthy? They might have too much starting pitching pretty soon. Dubin also probably belongs in Houston...
Forrest Whitley's Stuff+ numbers are back and he grades out at 121 for his sinker, 114 on his cutter, and a 201! on his new splitter.
That’s the funny thing is that pretty soon they should have an absolute glut of pitching. Of all the dudes they’ve called up, only Henley showed he clearly wasn’t ready. Dubin, Whitley, Suero, Kuhnel, Diaz, Mushinski, and Coleman all showed signs they could contribute, with Dubin looking like he might actually be very good. And Bielak, Martinez, and Scott all showed they pretty clearly deserve to be on a major league roster, with Martinez showing he might be a 2016/2017 Devenski-level weapon this year. We’ve also seen Montero get somewhat reestablished as a viable 7th inning leverage arm and Ronel Blanco emerge as a potential MoR or even ToR arm and Arrighetti show well in his 2nd start. And for those not paying attention, Sugar Land is 12-5 and has a good group of non-40 man relievers throwing really well (Gaither, VanWey, King) along with AJ Blubaugh suddenly looking like an elite pitching prospect. Here’s the tiers I would place all their pitching in: Guaranteed roster spots if healthy: Playoff caliber SP (3): Valdez, Verlander, Javier High Leverage RP (3): Hader, Pressly, Abreu High Variance MoR SP (4): McCullers, Garcia, Brown, Blanco Remaining options for the last 3 spots: Low variance BoR SP (2): France, Urquidy Established low leverage RP (3): Martinez, Bielak, Scott High variance RP (4): Montero, Dubin, Whitley, Coleman Potential core prospects (2): Arrighetti, Blubaugh Guys who are more likely just depth or waiting until next year: AAAA RP (5): Mushinski, Suero, Kuhnel, Diaz, Greene AAAA SP (1): Henley TBD SP Prospects (4): Gusto, Tamarez, Kouba, Robaina TBD RP Prospects (7): McDonald, Gaither, VanWey, Contreras, Gordon, King, Strotman Out for the year (4): Ortega, Murfee, Sousa, Graveman
Too much starting pitching? Have you been watching the past 12 months? Seriously though, I get what you are saying and you can look back and read many posts I made pleading to trade France for this guy or Urquidy for that guy because the Astros "have too much starting pitching" The bottom line is that teams must stock pile arms. In MLB 2024, injuries to pitchers are inevitable. As for the guys you mentioned: if/when everyone is healthy they can go to a 6 man rotation and park guys like France and Arrighetti in AAA. Guys like Brown, Blanco, Garcia, and Dubin can be very good relievers. In fact, I no longer consider Dubin a starter. Injuries would need to get much much worse for Blubaugh to enter the conversation in 2024 IMO. There are 5-6 rotation spots in Houston and 5-6 more in Sugar Land. You fill those up before you trade anyone away. I learned my lesson. However, if everyone does get healthy and perform well and the team has 8+ great-solid starters and 2-3 more prospects ready for a shot this off season, then identify 2-3 who are least important to team plans and/or have best trade value and trade for potential Bregman, Tucker, J.Abreu replacements and/or more younger pitching depth.
