In some ways it is difficult for the Astros to make moves because the financial and trade cost for going from cheap and solid (Meyer/McCormick/Pena/half the rotation) production under team control to better but expensive in trade costs (Laureano/Mullins) players. At some point something has to give if they are going to play Maldonado a lot and Gurriel fails to hit - but I don't know what that move will be. So far Click has been very cautious with younger players and by in large that has paid off for him and the Astros..... Valdez, Garcia, Pena, McCormick, and Meyers all are young players that Click held onto and they cost very little financially when compared to some of the possible players fans wanted to trade them for.
In theory, a guy like Soto would require something more like what Donaldson trade looked like many years ago. A potential star already playing at a good level in MLB. Though Lawrie didn't end up being any good, that limits the number of high level prospects you have to throw in. We do t really have the ability to do that in the middle of a pennant race, so it would have to be the top 6 prospects you got and that may not even be enough. Soto is not one of the best hitters. He has been THE best hitter over the last 3 years. Maybe Meyers can come back and rake and be that guy that eats up a bigger chunk of the necessary return needed.
One of the things about being a great team that has talent spread out across a bunch of positions is that it is hard to improve. Plus side is that it takes a lot of injuries to derail a team like the Astros.
Javier would be so tough for me to see go, personally, as I'm super high on him, and also believe Whitley is going to be really good. If LMJ comes back looking good (and I'd want to see what an in season extension for Verlander might look like)- this trade would make more sense, even as hard as it is to do. 2023 I want to see a starting rotation of JV, LMJ, Framber, Javier and winner of Brown/Whitley with loser going to bullpen to be the swing man, injury replacement. That leaves you Bielak and Solomon in the minors as insurance for pitchers 7/8 in case of emergency. So, that would have me parting with Urquidy and Garcia. Urquidy, Garcia, Meyers and Barber- is that package as strong as yours? Any chance that is interesting to them? It would sure be something that would make me swallow hard as an Astros fan. But Tucker, Soto, Alvarez and a Brantley/Chaz platoon at OF and DH just made me feel funny in my pants in all the right ways. Then, you better hope that Leon is a dude going forward or be ready to hit the FA market.
This is true. Which is what makes it crazy how involved Goodrum and Diaz have been so far for this team. Diaz maybe coming out of it? Maybe? You would have expected him to be a league average or better bat but it was ugly all year until Sunday. Goodrum makes me want to see us bring in an olympic level sprinter for the 26th spot on the roster. Someone that has some sort of unique skill set that will never see the field but for that set, instead of Goodrum being a net negative.
Goodrum and Diaz are playing a lot better than Justin Turner despite the Dodgers spending $60M more than the Astros.
39 OPS plus. Woof. Diaz 80 OPS plus ***** all over that. Niko Goodrum, however, of the 7 OPS plus finds Turners OPS plus of 39 to be aspirational. Wow- that's funny to see that guy that low. I hate all things Dodgers instinctively but hate him more than most. Unfortunately Cody Bellinger has recovered to the point where he is slightly above league average.
Get me Tyler Stephenson and we do the Hinch method of who plays on any given night between Maldy and Stephenson. Draw straws. I'd also like a CF if Meyers isn't coming back. What say you, Pirates? I'm willing to give up Korey Lee, Whitley, and any other non Cuban in our system except Hunter Brown.
Not really that excited about Sean Murphy. He projects for a .314 wOBA which isn’t really that great, and possibly even less than what Lee would do as early as next season. If Houston is looking to upgrade at C it’s for offense in which case Contreras is the guy unless the Rangers make Garver available. If Gurriel gets on track and everything else stays relatively stable then Contreras makes a lot of sense. No holes in the pitching staff and no other holes in the lineup. And for the remainder of the season they could shift Maldy to backup C and have Castro as the 13th position player where he can pinch hit and backup 1B (along with of course serving as the emergency C). The projected wOBA would be: 2B Altuve .342 LF Brantley .334 3B Bregman .364 DH Alvarez .385 C Contreras .331 RF Tucker .357 1B Gurriel .320 SS Pena .320 (with upside) CF Meyers .303 (with upside) Also, if they’re going to try to upgrade 1B I feel pretty strongly they’d go after a LHB.
Verlander is going to get paid a lot of money next season also. Nerf balls probably helps Verlander more than any pitcher in the league.
That is a little much. Tucker had a great season last year (Even if not quite on Soto's levels), and Javier has been a great pitcher as both a starter and long reliever. Not to mention Meyers is also a solid player with upside who the FO likes. Personally, I'd upgrade 1B and C, plus add either a starter or reliever.
But he only has 2 seasons of control remaining, which are going to be pretty expensive considering he’s already making $17M this year. After the 2024 season he will be a free agent likely demanding $400M+. A Soto trade is acquiring an estimated ~17 fwar (over 2.5 seasons) that would pay him ~$60M. So there’s a LOT of surplus value there but considering Kyle Tucker is a 5 win player with 3.5 years of control remaining he basically is worth as much as Soto by himself. In fact I would not trade Tucker for Soto straight up. Soto can be argued to have $100M in surplus value so the package he gets will be massive. But Tucker is just a bridge too far.
I was thinking that I might not trade Tucker straight up for Soto bc of the year of extra control and the bigger financial commitment. I’d probably do it but I’d think long and hard ( that’s what she said) and not love it.
