It was not a given that they would be the odds-on favorite to represent the AL in the WS prior to this year... just like its not a given they will for sure be weaker next year. I don't see anything set in regards to future possible re-signings or contracts... and yes, them winning it all (or having a deep playoff run) certainly augments the potential $$$ that Crane will consider giving out. This is a very calculating yet flexible team and it starts/ends with the owners' no bullshit mentality. He's not pretending to "be a champion" while trying to be cheap at every step of the way (from the draft to signing free agents). He's not taking a cowboy mentality of mortgaging every possible prospect every year for a marginal improvement, or demanding his GM make moves that his GM doesn't necessarily agree with. He's kept the promise of raising payroll when needed, extending guys who are cornerstones... and currently will go over the tax should the best opportunity to win present itself. The depth they currently have to withstand injuries, the youth they have throughout the starting rotation, and some of the potential stars that are already breaking out at AA should gain a little bit of faith/leverage that this ownership will do what it takes to keep this team competitive... and a contender.
Pittsburgh’s Richard Rodriguez, Seattle’s Kendall Graveman, and Ian Kennedy of the Rangers are among the best relievers who are likely to be traded this summer. https://franchisesports.co.uk/astros-trade-rumors-2021/
Since Atlanta lost Acuna I have a new idea... Bring back Charlie Morton last 7 games for Morton 2.79 ERA, .86 WHIP, 42 IP, 47k
The braves just traded for Joc Pederson. They could still decide to sell some guys… but I’m willing to bet the Cubs are getting ready to basically firesale
Fangraphs has the Cubs with a 4% chance of making the playoffs. With their pending free agents and mediocre farm, they should be in full tear-down mode. Happ, Hoerner, and Alzolay are the only players on their big league roster they should want to keep. They will have some decent depth prospects ready to root thru next season and with their payroll capacity they could be good again by 2023. Cleveland and Atlanta have some tough choices, looks like Atlanta is going for it (for now).
Braves have a 5 game series @ the Mets that ends the day before the deadline. That's probably why they think they have a chance to get back in it, but their schedule sucks. Here is the Braves schedule up to the trade deadline.... 3 vs Tampa 3 vs San Diego 4 @ Philadelphia 5 @ Mets I'd bet on them being sellers.
Any ideas ? Scherzer or Morton would be a dream. Berrios, Duffy, Hendricks??? Any other names I'm forgetting?
Either would be good. Also remembered Wheeler if Phillies wants to dump his contract. Kikuchi although not sure if he's on the block. Also although I want as many Japanese players on Houston, I'm not sure how I feel about him, even if he's doing well this season. Also Hamels is having a showcase. Any idea if the Astros are attending? Or if he wasn't interested in a trade to Houston a couple of years ago, probably not interested now as a free agent?
I'm starting to think Scherzer might be realistic. Any extension would hit the books next season after Verlander, Greinke, and Correa come off the books. The Astros seem to have one of the better relationships with Boras. Lunhow filled in for Keuchel and Cole leaving by adding Verlander and Greinke at the deadline previously. My biggest question would be whether or not Washington would actually trade him.
Marquez, Scherzer, Duffy, and Boyd are very likely to be shopped. Morton, Berrios, and maybe Cleveland’s guys (Bieber) are unlikely but possible. Scherzer is kind of the obvious one; if Houston is gonna add a SP is needs to be a high impact guy.
Astros get: SP German Marquez RP Mychal Givens $2M Rockies get: SP Jose Urquidy RHP Hunter Brown RHP Bryan Abreu OF Jake Meyers RHP Josh James Resulting Astros pitching staff: SP: Marquez, Greinke, Valdez, McCullers, Odorizzi RP: Garcia, Pruitt, Stanek, Raley, Javier, Givens, Baez, Pressly Smith would have to be traded separately to hopefully dump his salary and keep them under the tax. The Rockies would have to value most of those young players at the upper end of their range for this to be a fair/acceptable deal. Brown is tough to let go but when you have a chance to get a controllable borderline ace SP you have to go for it. Garcia would slide in for Greinke and next season’s rotation is set. Taylor/Paredes could slide into the bullpen to replace Raley/Givens, so the only need in the offseason would be addressing the hole at SS.
Rockies said they are not trading Marquez... could be posturing but they are weird so I bet they hold on to him even if moving him makes sense. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/rockies-trade-rumors-german-marquez.html
I know the Rockies have a new GM now but the Arenado trade was just horrific from their side(weak return, ate a massive amount of salary). I bet the Rockies are a bit shell shocked based off of the outrage from their fans and criticism of the trade as a whole. That being said it wouldn’t hurt to try to make a sucker out of em once again.
