I had a few questions from some of you baseball experts here. Should we expect to see any movement from this group? I believe as it currently stands, Houston has the fourth worse record as it stands. I notice the majority of trades that take place are teams trying to position themselves for the post season and teams that are trying to unload large contracts for assets. As we look at this team, I can't say Houston falls in this category. Is it too early for Luhnow to start trying to acquire players that could have immediate impact on this team? You have to figure at some point they'll have to start looking to make a deal. I know Crane said they plan to use that money that didn't get used for their draft picks else where.
Could see us moving Feldman, who has been pretty good lately. Not sure what kind of market there really is though. He does make some money though, and at some point rotations spots gonna need to open for some of the young arms Certainly shouldn't expect to see us add any salary.
I don't think you'll see much movement. Maybe someone like Sipp. I don't think anyone signed to a multi-year contract gets moved, although Qualls would likely be the guy if that happens. TA longer shot may be someone like Cater, who is cheap and under club-control but is older and likely isn't viewed as a long-term piece. It's possible, but probably not likely, that you could see a fowler-type trade (trading prospects for an established vet). That probably waits for the off-season though. They certainly wouldn't get a rental if they do get a vet, he would need to have club control. Prospects for prospects trades don't happen very often but that's also a possibility I guess.
Chad Qualls & Tony Sipp seem the most likely to be moved. And I don't think either is even 50% likely to be moved. Fowler & Corporan could be moved if you get a great price. I'd love to see the team move Feldman, but I'm not sure there's a good market for a guy who is no more than a #4 starter (and perhaps a #5), and who is owed $18M for the next 2 seasons.
Yeah, Stros are kinda lacking in spare parts performing at a decent level. If Guzman had hit LHP at anywhere near his career norm, he'd be gone to a contender (not for much). Anything interesting they do will get done in the offseason.
Qualls has a contract where it would be advantageous to hold on to him (3 mil next year and 3.5 the next on a team option). At the same time, I could see that being a great opportunity to move him. Regardless, I think it ensures that we will not just move him for the sake of moving him (Jose Veras a la 2013).
Funny. A caller from KNBR in San Francisco had the same idea. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>"And what about Altuve? Give 'em some minor leaguers ... and some money ... ummm, give Altuve some money ... he'd want a lot of money."</p>— LOL KNBR (@LOLKNBR) <a href="https://twitter.com/LOLKNBR/statuses/491443695015583744">July 22, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
We would definitely need a better return on Qualls to move him this season. Even though his WAR is only 1.2, I'd guess he's really been worth 4-5 wins given the struggles the bullpen has had outside of him and Sipp. If we knew Albers & Crain would be back 100%, it would make moving Qualls easier.
I hope: That we move Feldman, Obie, Sipp, Peacock, Corporan, Carter It's gonna be tough to move some of these guys that won't bring back highly ranked prospects though, because we don't need "depth" type of prospects, our system is loaded with those kind of guys. Would be great to see a deal like Feldman/Obie and a prospect or two, for one prospect that is better than either of the ones we move. Open up a spot for Folty. Not sure what guys like Sipp and Peacock could fetch, but Sipp has been pretty good and a lot of teams will take a chance on a guy like Peacock, even though the results haven't been good. As for Corporan, I like him, but if someone wanted him as a good backup I wouldn't be opposed to seeing us move him and bring up Stassi, bad year and all. I expect: That we move Feldman, Qualls, Marwin Feldman having a good start today would help a lot, he has been pretty good lately though, for a team looking for a back of the rotation starter. Would love to see Qualls stay around, but I gotta believe the plan all along for him, Albers and Crain was to build value and move them. Obviously hasn't worked out for Albers or Crain, but I do think Qualls could bring something decent back, although I hope it doesn't happen. Same with Marwin, like him a lot. Not a huge part of the future i'm sure, but he could certainly upgrade some contenders bench
Man, I'd really like to make a move for Joc Pederson out of the Dodgers organization. They've got Kemp, Ethier, Crawford and Puig. Granted, all of those guys except for Puig aren't quite the players they used to be, but they still have a logjam. I wouldn't mind a deal involving Appel, Santana and either Feldman or one of our better relievers in a deal centered around Pederson. He's putting up a monster season at AAA. Maybe not enough to get him though.
Biggest problem there is Kemp has made no secret that he wants out of there. I would think the Dodgers see Puig and Pederson as the top two, long term, of those 5
Kemp is difficult for them to move, as he's owed over $100M. I still don't understand why we don't see prospects attached to bad contracts in order to facilitate a trade in baseball. I'll assume it is because teams can pay the contract of the outgoing player. I'd trade for Kemp if the price was right.
For an athletic guy Matt Kemp is truly a terrible fielder, and isn't gonna get better. Over the last 5 seasons he has -84 fielding runs. On top of his injuries and his average production offensively he seems like a huge risk. With 100 mill over 5 seasons the Dodgers would need to pay a massive chunk for me to consider that.
He could DH, plus we have a tiny LF, though part of the problem with Kemp is that he considers himself a CF, which he isn't. If they agree to pay $60M of his contract (aproximately 1/2 of what he's owed for the next 5.5 years), a team needs to consider it.
If they paid half, then I would certainly consider it If we can hide him defensively he is still a decent hitter, and there is the chance that a change of scenery might get him back to his earlier levels offensively. He's only 29, so age shouldn't be a problem.