The Astros have spoken to the Cubs about Kris Bryant among others. Please don't shoot the messenger.... they have had a couple of conversations.
Replacing Straw with Bryant would give the Astros one of the top 10 lineups in the history of baseball.
Prediction: Astros add Kimbrel and Bryant in the biggest trade of the deadline early Saturday and lose out on Scherzer to the Padres. Everybody is pretty satisfied but mildly disappointed, then at the 12th hour they swing a deal for Charlie Morton.
I will say when this thread started, I wasn't expecting Click to be able to do much as I didn't expect him to have much to deal with too many guys hurt, and he would get blamed for not making any moves. While Astros Farm System isn't one of the best, it has a few of guys that have stepped up into the good enough to be traded, but not so good that it is hard to let them go. I don't see many Top 100 prospects getting traded. I see Click's big talk being that he's probably going to move one or more of Straw, Chas, and Meyers who probably can get more in return than most rental relievers except for Kimbrel. If Lee is moved, it will likely be for an ace or a near ace.
I wasn't told a price so it would only be my speculation. What I can tell you is that Click is extremely flexible in who he will target depending on the price. Realistically, Bryant is going to be a free agent and he is a 2.1 WAR player in nearly 300 at bats. That is very good but it isn't great. He does have a pedigree and can play multiple spots.... but the reality is that he is a rental and hasn't been the most productive. The Cubs won't give him away but he shouldn't require a huge haul either..... the appeal of Bryant is the possibility of playing him all over the field and adding another Cub to fill a hole. I would be excited adding Bryant for sure but it really comes down to cost IMO.
Can we trade Managers? Baker is a horrible in game manager. I hope the rumors are true that AJ has an opt-out clause in his contract.
The Astros farm system has been under rated for years (after being over rated). I have continuously heard that the Astros farm system isn't that good, yet is continues to produce good players that were not highly thought of... and we are seeing it with some of the projects emerging right now. The Astros system is under rated... that can change at any point but it is good now. The fact that the Astros lack a top 10-20 player in the minors is really being over stressed when they produce so many useful players. Straw, McCormick, Javier, Garcia, Valdez and Abreu just in the last year plus....... and Leon and Lee both are underrated prospects... I'm not singling you out as this is a position held by a lot of fans, and it uses standard conventional thinking... but I do believe that it isn't accurate. The Astros have also shown an ability to have their prospects out perform their expected impact and that needs to be considered as well.
If the Braves are within 5 games of the Mets are the deadline the Braves aren't going to trade him. I would love it if they could get him but let's see how it plays out.
