Lowe is a former #1 pick of the Rays and a top 50 prospect in baseball going into this year. He is capable of playing a solid centerfield and is an excellent base runner. So there are a lot of tools there, and he has hit for power as well in the minors. Click is very familiar with him from his time in Tampa. There is a chance they view him as a long term centerfield option. He has like 5 more years of control, so if he plays well in Houston he is a massive addition. He has struggled in Tampa this year as a rookie, largely because of strike outs.
It all comes down to Astros scouting and player development at this point. Siri has the better raw tools, he has the raw tools of a super star, but he is terrible at pitch recognition. Click is very familiar with Lowe, and he is a guy with a high upside.... he could hit 20-25 homers, be a good base runner and solid center fielder... and has a lot of team control left. What is pretty clear is that whoever our long term outfielders are going to be, they are going to be really good defensively.... we have almost all centerfielders.
Your Houston Astros Starting lineup for Thursday August 4 at Cleveland: 2b-Altuve 1b-Josh Bell 3b-Alex Bregman DH-Alvarez LF-Diaz RF-Tucker CF-Mullins SS-Pena C-Maldonado Of course Dusty will rest at least 3 mentioned above, scheduled days off. Pay me Shirley!!
Yuli actually hit .289 for the month of July (25 gms + 90 AB). So he's been picking things up before being put in the two hole. Only one Hr in July but he did have eight doubles.
My last hypothetical trade post of the 2022 season: Astros get: 1B Josh Bell Nats get: RHP Forrest Whitley RHP Spencer Arrighetti RHP Misael Tamarez Astros get: OF Cedric Mullins Orioles get: OF Jose Siri RHP Jose Urquidy Astros get: LHP Tanner Scott Marlins get: 2B Enmanuel Valdez OF Corey Julks Astros get: C Christian Vazquez Red Sox get: LHP Parker Mushinski OF Wilyer Abreu CF Mullins 2B Altuve DH Alvarez 3B Bregman RF Tucker SS Pena 1B Bell LF McCormick/Brantley C Maldonado Bench: Vazquez, Gurriel, Diaz, Dubon Rotation: Verlander, Framber, Javier, Garcia, Odorizzi, McCullers Bullpen: Maton, Abreu, Stanek, Scott, Montero, Neris, Pressly
And the Nats want 125% of value at a minimum. Wait and acquire him as a FA if they want to be obstinate. It doesn't help this year, but we still have Yuli and Brantley who MIGHT be gone next year.
I like Martinez too but the complicating factor is his defense. He has not played the field at all this year. If he is a DH only then that means committing to playing Yordan in the field every day which carries risk.
I don't really have a problem with your trade possibilities. I am very reluctant to trade away Urquidy. There's no guarantee that JV comes back next yr. Jury still out on LMJ as well. Odo probably gone so there's a chance they could be looking at only having Framber, Javier, Garcia and possibly Brown next year (this is if they trade away Urquidy). An unproven Brown as well. If it's me I hold on to Urquidy (knowing I control him for 3 more yrs) until I know I have JV signed for a few more yrs and I know LMJ is healed and back to old form.
It makes sense to me because they have players who can step in at DH at the same level. It helps them avoid the Tax, and helps their rotation for a playoff push. And all we're getting are rentals. But valuations are a very irrational thing at times.
That Castillo trade may have altered expectations of the sellers on the trade market. While there is never a good time to be a bad team in baseball, it is better to be bad right now than it was a 3-5 years ago.
He would be similar to what they have out there right now from a performance perspective. Getting him would largely be about extending the competitive window..... which isn't shocking considering they are also very interested in Murphy and Laureano with the A's, because they have years of team control left as well.
