Jesus christ. 1. The Astros have a 15.5 game lead in their division 2. There is two weeks until the Deadline 3. They have no significant weakness
1. Thanks bruh I noticed that... my concern isn't the division but the world series 2. Yes, but the options available are starting to go off the market. 3. We could definitely strengthen the pitching staff.
We are. We just traded nothing for Colin McHugh, and we're about to trade nothing gfor an ace in Dallas Keuchel next week. They seem like great deals for the Astros.
In a perfect world, both will come back and stay healthy and pitch at their highest level from here on out. Unfortunately, not a perfect world. Whether its injury, rust, or just ineffectiveness (McHugh was regressing prior to the injury)... some degree of insurance to bolster the entire staff (whether its plus starter or plus reliever) would be preferred.
Sure - but you could say that about anyone you get. You add Sonny Gray and he could get hurt too. We're adding 2 pitchers who haven't been with the best team in the league for nearly 2 months and 4 months respectively. Whether we're trading prospects for guys on other teams or getting new pitchers from the DL, it's the same improvement for the team - except we don't have to give anything up for it.
Keuchel has an overuse injury that can flare up at any time. McHugh has a rotator cuff injury notorious for guys who rely on the curveball. You have to admit that those are nowhere close to guarantees... and any sort of insurance in the form of guys who are pitching well now, in a year where anything short of a WS is a dissapointment, would be desirable/preferred.
Thanks for pointing it out . Even with a fully healthy staff we should be gearing up to face off against the best staffs in baseball including teams such as the Red Sox. I look over at their staff and back at ours and feel significantly under gunned. If you're happy to go in with this staff good for you but I see a staff that could definitely use some upgrades. Most contenders, even ones with great records look to refine and improve their roster heading into the post-season. We could definitely use a top of the rotation guy and an arm or two in the pen. We don't have an unlimited window and I'd like to see us strike while the iron is hot. Who knows when we will have another opportunity like this.
And yet we're 10 games better than them despite not having our ace pitcher for 2 months or our #3 pitcher for the entire season (not to mention our #2 missing a couple of weeks and our #4 missing 6 weeks or so). And the Red Sox haven't made any moves either. They don't seem desperate to make a move to catch us, and we shouldn't be desperate to make a move to stay substantially better than them. At the end of the day, our inferior and absurdly-injured pitching staff has given up the same number of runs as the vaunted Red Sox, while our offense has scored 100 more runs. Rotation = Keuchel and McHugh. Pen = Peacock or Morton. If we don't trade top prospects for marginal upgrades, hopefully we'll have these opportunities for a long time.
Hopefully team avoids anymore serious injuries and CC makes a strong comeback in Sept. As for pitching, I think team would benefit from another starter and bullpen arm. I'd prefer an ace like degrom but Gray would do (but not at price you'd pay for degrom). Have to take a chance. Rather swing and miss on a trade than strikeout looking. Can't end this season asking what if.
They should look to upgrade their lefty relief core. They should also operate with a mindset that one of Keuchel, McHugh, LMJ, and Morton will either be ineffective or re-injured to the point that they won't be reliable in a playoff/WS game. The Cubs made significant moves last year while being well ahead of the pack... and it ultimately won them the WS. And while making a move won't guarantee success (and would hardly be faulted)... failing to win it all, while not making any moves this year, will always be questioned (sorta like how the 2001 Mariners went into the post-season with a rotation consisting of Aaron Sale and Jaime Moyer).
Valid points. But there are two weeks left till the trade deadline. I'm willing to bet Luhnow sees team bolstering pitching staffs for a postseason run and realizes we have to make the win now move. I will be very disappointed if by Aug 1st, we didn't make any deals for another ace and/or elite bullpen help. We have the juice to acquire any pitcher we want (with years remaining on contracts). Keuchel and McCullers health aren't guaranteed. McHugh can get roughed up (remember his 1st inning struggles?) and I don't trust him as a #3 or even #2 if someone goes down. Do you really trust Fiers or Peacock in a game 3 (if someone went down) against a Clevinger/Bauer/Carrasco (guys with high upside) or a Porcello/Price? Ask yourself these questions... Point being. Teams are making moves because nothing is guaranteed. We can't afford to waste this opportunity we've worked hard for. We have the prospects and it's time to cash them in for guys who have the upside to perform well in the postseason. This isn't a time to get complacent.
I'm all for bolstering the bullpen instead of the rotation as it looks as though Fulmer, Gray, etc. might be too expensive or just unavailable. Shorten games, have multiple guys who can stretch it out to two innings, and profit in the postseason.
I don't understand your complacency. Regular season success is great but the play-offs is not the regular season. (if everything goes right which is a huge if) We will be sending out a rotation of 1. Keuchel 2. McCullers 3. McHugh/Morton/Fiers For me, that is not a dominant or compelling ToR. The health is extremely questionsable 2. McHugh is a big question mark at this point 3. McCullers has not pitched well lately and his health is questionable. When I look over and see 1. Sale 2. Price 3. Pomeranz I can't help but think we do not match up that well. (even with Pomeranz struggles and Prices play-off curse) Add in flame throwers out of the pen like Kelly, Barnes and Kimbrel. I don't like our 3 compared to that 3.
Yanks pulled the trigger tonight on Todd Frazier, David Robertson, and Tommy Khanle. They gave up Rutherford who is a top notch prospect but the other guys they gave up aren't so hot. I think Derek Fisher and change may have returned us Robertson and Khanle. That would have been a great get.
There's no one on the trade market better than Peacock's 8-1, 2.47 era, The Verlander/Samardzja types will be on point or worse than Colin Mc Hugh's numbers, Fiers has been outstanding outside of a brief bad stint. Keuchel McCullers Morton McHugh Peacock Fiers Martes/Musgrove There's enough arms that can get through the season and put up quality starts that I'm not concerned with Spending a ton on comparable talent. Go for Britton, Hand, Justin Wilson. And a quality IF for the time Correa will miss then setup the postseason 25 accordingly. Whether it's 12 or 13 position players vs 9/8 bullpen guys (with a four man rotation)
We don't have a pitching staff to stand up to playoff Boston or Cleveland. We have a very fragile, relatively inexperienced and inconsistent starting rotation. If we don't add help, I think you are gambling a lot on bad odds. The playoffs are a different animal. I don't think we're currently built for a strong run, regardless of our regular season record.
Ken Rosenthal THE ASTROS’ UNUSUAL TRADE CALCULUS What if the Astros fail to land Gray? They then might need to decide if the addition of a potential free agent such as Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn would be enough of an upgrade over Charlie Morton and Collin McHugh to justify the acquisition cost. Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow drafted Lynn for the Cardinals with the 39th pick of the 2008 draft. It’s an open question whether the two teams would trade after the Cardinals’ hacking of the Astros’ database, but the same question would apply if the ’Stros wanted Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada, Padres righty Trevor Cahill or any other available rental. The Astros might stand a better chance of getting a difference-maker if they acquire a left-handed reliever, which is perhaps a bigger need for them than even a starter, anyway. Either way, Luhnow cannot simply stand pat, even though his club holds a 15½-game lead in the AL West entering Tuesday. Players on contending teams often think at the deadline, “We’ve done our job. Now the front office needs to do its job.” The Astros, like the Dodgers, might face a mini-revolt if they do nothing — particularly when this might be Carlos Beltran’s last chance to win a World Series.
The Astros need to make some trades (They have to go all in this year) They Yankees just traded for 3 players and are still in the mix for Sonny Gray) it feels like we are not being aggressive enough.. Hope they suprise us
so we trust Mike Fiers in a Game 3 ? Hell no- we need to get some starting pitchers and be agressive this is our year. We need to make the moves
This is honestly something that I hadn't thought about, but it makes sense. When a team is watching most of the other contending teams improve, it would only be human nature to be a little let down if your GM didn't do anything.
