At this point I think you're just debating just to debate... By no measure did Wandy ever have a year as bad as Harrell had last year. Wandy also continued to improve and eventually put up much better numbers than Harrell has ever done (both minors and majors). Looking at Harrell's career stats, he has always been below the league average in K/BB ratio, and always been above the league average in BB/9. Basically, he has control issues. When his control is "better", he looks better... but his control has now been bad for over a full year. He's not a lefty, he doesn't have swing/miss stuff, and he has to pitch to contact. If you take away his control/location, he has NOTHING. Harrell is likely just another in a long line of pitchers who's "best" year was their first full year. Nothing totally off-base about that... pitchers develop tendencies that get picked up on, or they simply "lose it" and "regress" as they consistently face tougher competition. On the contrary, Wandy was a pitcher who got better with more experience... another likelihood to happen when pitchers get their first taste of the big leagues. I understand asset management... I'm saying Harrell is NOT an asset. He wouldn't have been picked up/signed by anybody had he been DFA'd. Hell, he shouldn't have even gotten the 22 starts he did last year after he had noticeably "lost it". The real assets are losing opportunities right now because of the "hope/wish" that the front office has that he can turn it around. I'm not in favor of this guess/check strategy... and I don't think anybody would be too broken up, or any rebuild plan set-back at all if they simply had moved on.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Astros have scored 9 runs in the first inning this season. They’ve scored 6 in all others combined</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/452876606621511680">April 6, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Astros first inning line entering day: .304/.385/.609. They’re hitting below .200 in six of the other innings, though.</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/statuses/452877003117457408">April 6, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I can't wait until he's the third/fourth best pitcher in the rotation due to improved talent around him. What makes it more appealing is that his contract is written to where he makes less money in years 2 and 3 of his 3-year deal (link).
Fair enough--I've heard a lot of talk about Feldman potentially being the #3 or #4 SP in our rotation. I wouldn't mind trading him given that he is 31.
I think they'd trade him in a heartbeat if they got two top prospects for him but he's got a $30million deal and I doubt anyone would be desperate enough to trade for him without considerable money being added.
I do think we're about to quit doing this routine. We're so stocked with young talent in the minors, we shouldn't really be in this mode anymore.
If he's pitching well, you will hear multiple "sources say teams are inquiring about Astros pitcher Scott Feldman" quotes after the ASB, they won't trade him. Then it'll get louder next year, and they won't trade him.
