I'm down to four guys I'm interested in striking a deal four in this order Justin Wilson Sonny Gray Brad Hand Zach Britton Not sold on Verlander being an upgrade and Astros have enough quality arms who can eat innings at the backend of the rotation or in the long relief role out of the pen (McHugh, Morton, Peacock, Fiers, Devo, Feliz, Martes, etc) Darvish is a lateral move and I don't want to send good talent to Texas.
To me, every prospect should be available except Kyle Tucker. I'd rather have any of the talked about pitchers that are out there than keep Martes or whoever else.
You guys are crazy with your long term. Our starting core is long term! Seasons like this don't come around often. I would keep one of Tucker and Fisher for depth and Moran will be back eventually. The rest of the farm should be sold for the best SP and best RP available. I have a LOT more faith that Lunhow will replace this prospect list by the time anybody's contract is up/these prospects would be ready for the majors than I do that our current arms will get us to and through the WS.
Agree with this Also, this time last year AJ Reed and Musgrove were "off limits" I hope Tucker and the rest turn out awesome, but we simply don't know.... The time to go all in is right now
Disagree, heavily. Edit: I initially read this as standing pat. I guess I can sign off on appreciating Luhnow's reluctance to overpay, but I do think we have a farm system deep enough to survive a slight overpayment for a difference-maker.
All I'm saying is, if we do nothing, during this literally historic season, then what did we suffer through those years of 100+ loss building years for? Just do it, overpay, this is literally what we have been building for. You guys remember 2015 when we surprised everyone, then what happened in 2016? Injuries and we fell apart. Don't act like this season is just going to be the norm now. Unlike most other teams recently, we will not just fall off after winning the WS this year, we will still have every member of the team back for at leaset 1-2 more years. Hoarding prospects is just not the way to go right now. We are at the top of that list of buyers, we should be buying.
I can see it both ways... If you're a Royals fan right now, seemingly past your window but still within striking distance of making the playoffs 2 years after a WS title... are you really all that frustrated? Of course not. The satisfaction of winning that WS title in 2015 after 30 years of not winning one is going to last a long time. Same for the Cubs fans. Hell, Giants fans are still peachy. My mindset has always been that not all of these top 5-6 prospects are going to make it, let alone make it big. Yes, its frustrating to not have a crystal ball and know which ones for sure aren't... but its also frustrating to hang on to all of them and watch some of them lose value. Also, there isn't anybody out there right now that really moves the needle... but they still would help, and its a year that is a virtual lock for the Astros to have home field for the AL playoffs (which has never happened in franchise history). Any other year, if there was a David Price-type or a Jon Lester-type, Luhnow would probably be ready to deal more... this year, not so much (at least yet... which this still could be posturing to get somebody to blink).
It appears that we are in an interesting conundrum. I don't think one side one side is necessarily "right." I think most fans make it a black and white issue: either go all in and trade any and all prospects if necessary to add impact pieces to improve our chances to win it all this year, or the other side is stand pat, as overpaying right now will have detrimental domino effects down the road in subsequent years. The reality is that the truth is somewhere in that middle, gray area. We have to weigh all potential deals against the acquisition cost. For example, as much as I would love Sonny Gray, I've been reading the A's demands on MLBTR, and they are throwing around some big names (i.e. Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier from the Yankees, Victor Robles from the Nationals, etc.). That is Kyle Tucker territory, and I am simply not comfortable with dealing Kyle Tucker for Sonny Gray. I would do Francis Martes as the centerpiece, because all though we are trading pitching talent, it is getting offset by adding pitching talent. But if the A's are insisting on Tucker, and get an offer from another team that gets an equivalent prospect, I don't blame them for taking that better offer, and I don't blame our front office for bowing out of those trade talks. I would love adding Sonny Gray and Zach Britton or Brad Hand at the deadline. Those pieces not only help us this season, but the next as well. I would be ready to trade any prospects other than Kyle Tucker and Forrest Whitley. And I think we have the depth and talent in our farm system to make that happen. I just don't want this to be another Washington Nationals situation, when they shut down Strasburg for the playoffs. As others have mentioned, baseball is a fickle game, and a season like this is never guaranteed for any team, so there should be a sense of urgency to strike while the iron is hot. How big is that sense of urgency, I'm not sure, that's the aforementioned gray area. Reports/rumors are that our front office has been very active, and have discussed different ideas with different teams. I am sure we have a best case scenario outcome, along with several contingencies in place. I have faith in our regime to strike a nice balance between being prudent and being aggressive. I am going to sit back this weekend and enjoy the ride. Wise words have never been truer..."hold onto your butts!"
I have no problem going all in. The problem is that at this point there is no one worth going all in for. Perhaps as the deadline gets near Luhnow makes a really strong offer to someone not being discussed, like Toronto for Stroman and Osuna. As it is, there is a #2-3ish starter in Gray that quite frankly hasn't pitched better than Brad Peacock, a rental in Darvish Yu that was recently blasted and has always had health issues......... a good but not great middle reliever (Wilson) and a stud closer (Britton) that hasn't pitched all that well this year.
I keep seeing "a world series is worth it", well no s**t. No price will have been too high if we win a chip. I would trade the entire farm for a guy that guaranteed us just one world series. Making the 2017 team ever so slightly better should not be Luhnow's only concern.
There isn't anyone available on the trade market that warrants "selling the farm" for. Britton is the one guy I might overpay for. Luhnow should definitely stand pat if the price is too high. If the Giants make Madison Bumgarner available I would definitely sell the farm for him, but he is supposedly untouchable.
I don't think there's a top rotation or top pen guy out there, but we have a very real depth issue both in the starting rotation and pen. I don't trust Keuchel being a reliable difference maker with his constant injuries. McCullers seems to have recurring mental slides and trouble with pressure and who knows what we'll get from the rest of our starters. Our pen needs Peacock. Devo is looking increasingly human and Harris is dealing with injury. Some people have a problem overpaying for a Gray, but he's gives you multiple years at a 3-5 level at least and is no more injury prone than most of our starters. Our bats are getting fat off a very weak western division. If we're going to make a run, I don't have a lot of faith in where we are right now. But...there may not even be depth worthing overpaying for. It's turned into a free-for-all for pitching this season.
