It's a long shot for any pitcher to be a 200 innings/year 8-10 year starter without injury. Lance McCullers threw 125 innings last year and ALREADY has been out injured. Your line of demarcation for Velasquez seems to be if he's not one of the best, most reliable pitchers in all of baseball over the next 10 years then it was a great trade. I mean seriously, you're just talking nonsense.
And you've already written off the trade after less than 50 games which is the most absurd. People declaring it the worst trade in franchise history is even more asinine. It's a calculated risk that still has a decent probability of working out given VV's injury history, Giles youth and club controlled years, and this team's expectations/nucleus built to win now. Or it works out for both teams. Or the Astros ended up letting go a career dominant starter, in which case they do lose the trade. Hell, the Randy Johnson trade ended up looking pretty horrible for the Astros in hindsight...yet I bet they would make that trade again and again in order to maximize that 98 nucleus to give them the best chance to win. Yes, VV would have to go on to have similar to the success I described for it to be a truly disaster of a trade. So far, he's well on his way. He's got a helluva long way to go.
And you've already written off the trade after less than 50 games which is the most absurd. People declaring it the worst trade in franchise history is even more asinine. It's a calculated risk that still has a decent probability of working out given VV's injury history, Giles youth and club controlled years, and this team's expectations/nucleus built to win now. Or it works out for both teams. Or the Astros ended up letting go a career dominant starter, in which case they do lose the trade. Hell, the Randy Johnson trade ended up looking pretty horrible for the Astros in hindsight...yet I bet they would make that trade again and again in order to maximize that 98 nucleus to give them the best chance to win. Yes, VV would have to go on to have similar to the success I described for it to be a truly disaster of a trade. So far, he's well on his way. He's got a helluva long way to go.
The Astros could continue completely tanking this year, make next year a rebuilding year, re-enter contention the year after that, and STILL have Giles under contract for two additional seasons. THAT is why his price tag was so high and that's why it is impossible to judge this trade to this point. Yes, VV is kicking ass. But we still have a long way to go.
VV ripped tonight by Detroit For the record, I hope he does well. Seems like a good guy and has great stuff. These guys we traded away doing good doesn't somehow make us worse, nor does them doing poorly make us better
Crazy, this is his 6th year in the majors. He's posted a sub 5 ERA only once. He's also still only 25.
oh stfu. Going back 2 years now? Completely ignores the roster crunch we were going to face...that trade cut 1 off the 40 man while (in theory) addressing a need. Those aren't easy things to accomplish. Not to mention the "great season" comes with a 4.77 FIP. He's being held up right now by a 90% LOB%. Let's see what happens before anointing him.
Not even joking when I say it was worth it to get the Conger robot dances all of last year. He perfectly embodied the attitude of our team last year.
Well, since this is the only appropriate spot to put this... <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dear Astros Fans, thank you. <a href="https://t.co/P6X8IzbJql">https://t.co/P6X8IzbJql</a> <a href="https://t.co/To8WRJnv5W">pic.twitter.com/To8WRJnv5W</a></p>— Mark Appel (@MAppel26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MAppel26/status/735196821081837569">May 24, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Vince Velasquez: 5-1, 3.25 FIP, 10.49 k/9 When you trade away someone who would currently be the best pitcher on your staff, that makes you worse.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Triple-A RHP Mark Appel placed on DL this morning with a right shoulder strain. Fastball velo had been down. Was part of Ken Giles trade.</p>— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) <a href="https://twitter.com/matt_breen/status/736195285991456768">May 27, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Velasquez has had a very good start to this season, but we don't know how he would have fared with the Astros. Also, he has had 9 starts this year. Whether or not anyone gives credence to the "quality start" statistic, only 4 of his 9 starts fall into that category.
In terms of runs scored, in his wins, he has faced the teams that are 9th, 13th, 20th, 23rd and 28th. In terms of OPS, in his wins, he has faced the teams that are 10th, 12th, 15th, 16th and 29th. No doubt that he has the ability to be a good major league pitcher, but anyone lamenting this trade is overreacting at this point.
Oh, so if he starts getting ripped, we will be a better team? Didn't realize that, I thought it was about how well Giles does for us Thanks for clearing it up smart one