Agree with all... just that a starter, while it may cost more, can potentially fix both problems. Another relief pitcher will replace whatever Feliz/Sipp/Gregerson/Guadan/Hoyt are failing to provide... to supplement what they will still need from Devo/Harris/Giles... but won't do anything to improve what's ailing them in the starting pitching dept.
The quality of relievers/starters and what is traded would be what determine all-in. Still expecting at least 1 reliever, but I'm not expecting the Astros to part with more than 1 of their Top 5 prospects (if even 1) based on who appears available. Hoping for Gray, but seems a long shot at this point. I'm expecting sellers to select best offer today even if below asking price or to hold on to players. Buyers may offer slightly more, but doesn't seem like enough time to be making big changes to offers when buyers should have been doing it before today if they were willing to pay more.
Agreed entirely... Nobody should be taking this year or team for granted as something that will just be automatic for years to come. This year is better than 1998 was. Much better than 2001, 2004, 2005, 2015 were. Years like 2000 and 2016 can happen regardless of how good of a team you have on paper. Teams disappoint more than they impress (like they are this year).
Despite how well they've played this year they do have areas that need to be strengthened in order to win a WS (I think we can all agree on this). So throw out the "making a trade just to make a trade". They NEED to fix the bullpen!!! Opportunities to win it all are VERY rare. There's no way they can keep this core in tact so you better damn well strike now. I'll repeat what I said a few weeks ago. Michael Corleone to Tom Hagen in "The Godfather", "you're out....you're not a wartime consigliere". Is Luhnow a "wartime consigliere"? I guess we'll find out!!
Luhnow must show that he has guts to build a contender. Whitley and one of Fisher/Tucker should be untradeable. The flipside of sacrificing the future for the present is sacrificing the present players for future players. Springer, Altuve, Marwin, Keuchel--it took time for them to get to this stage. You can't ask them to wait some more to get to the WS. This is the year. Otherwise we will start losing street cred with them. Keeping my fingers crossed that a good deal goes down ...
I know Chris Sale isn't available, but we said no to Bregman for Sale and most of us regret that now. He was MLB talent and we didn't think it was worth it. Now we could have Gray for top PROSPECTS not MLB talent yet. I don't want to regret this later when Tucker comes up and fails. It amazes me how much you guys value what a player could be instead of what is needed and out there.
Its a tremendous psychological study... Frankly, I wouldn't have traded Bregman then, and I'm not going to trade him for 50 cents on the dollar now. He's a pretty important part of the offense, especially if there are injuries, and I'll take his consistency both offensively and defensively (even at a lesser ceiling) for the foreseeable future. Guys in A ball, however, are just too far away for me to be too concerned about losing them now... or the opportunity cost of not having them later.
Our years in the desert converted a large portion of our die-hard fanbase into prospect worshipers. Analyzing minor league box scores was all we had to look forward to during the dark years, and many have been unable to properly redirect their focus back to the pro team.
Agree in retrospect, but the package would have been more than Bregman alone. Gray is no Sale, but get your point. Its not just what us guys think, but what the brass thinks (had thought) as well. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Retrospective analysis is flawed by nature. But one thing that should have been seen is that position players are more easily replaced than TOR pitching. Sale for Bregman (and parts) should have happened.
Given how tight lipped this front office is, it'd be surprising if it came from the Astros side. Sounds like idle speculation to me. The problem at the current moment is Fisher is actually needed on the big league club, or we're going to see a lot of Marisnick and Aoki at the same time. I'd move him in a Gray or Britton deal, though. My hope is this Wilson deal sets the bar a little lower for Britton. No point in judging Luhnow for his trade deadline moves (or lack thereof) until the deadline is actually over.
I'd venture that some prefer it... The big league club will almost always let you down... only one team can win it all every year, and short of having a dynasty, it won't be the Astros. Meanwhile, prospects are limitless/untapped potential. There are few things as satisfying in sports-life as tracking a fresh prospect from his early days, to his high minor league levels, to his big league career... unfortunately, the amount that actually happens for each team is pretty rare. The Astros already have 4 KEY players that have accomplished it... with 2 more possibilities on the horizon in Bregman and Fisher. They have promoted long-shots or afterthought minor leaguers into all-stars (Altuve, Keuchel)... they have promoted highly touted first round picks into all-stars (Springer, Correa). They've already exceeded the average promotion rate. They've already proved that you can build a winner with almost all homegrown players. They've also yet to trade a future all-star away in terms of prospects let go. At some point, short of a championship, the mindset will likely shift.
I'm not worried about the offense come playoff time unless Springer/Correa aren't back. Unfortunately, they're going to have to continue to hit Beltran and hope that his veteran savvy kicks in when the stakes go up. At that point, Fisher becomes simply either a valuable bat off the bench or insurance against another injury. But yeah, I agree that its doubtful this came directly from the Astros. Luhnow won't be afraid after the deadline to say what guys were being asked for. Last year, he stated that every deal discussion started/ended with being asked about Bregman and Musgrove.
I agree on the bullpen - they could use some extra arms, and based on trades so far, I imagine you could get cheap ones. I don't know that they need to get a shut-down Britton type - just some generally reliable arms to add depth across the pen.
