Pena is quickly approaching 1000 MLB PAs. His career OPS is >.700. And he's actually been worse offensively this year than he was last year when he was fairly average. You're vastly overrating a hot streak. It was certainly a well-timed, fortuitous hot streak. But he's given no indication he can even remotely approach that offensive level with any consistency.
Why another High leverage reliever will do all we need to do for pitching. Starters #1 F Valdez* #2 C Javier #3 J Urquidy #4 H Brown #5 JP France #6 B Bielak Multi inning & middle relief #7 R Blanco #6 S Dubin Single Inning Relievers #5 Middle P Maton #4 High Leverage Acquisition #3 Set up B Abreu #2 Set up H Neris #1 Closer Presley Option Staneck, Montero, & Martinez and DFA any that turn down the option. Done. Nothing wrong with improving on this but this is a real one addition solution. and today we add 2 all stars to the offense. Even better.
There's not really a role for "long relief" in the postseason - outside of extraordinary circumstances (blow out or extra innings). The goal for the postseason should be building a pen that can routinely turn games into 5-6 innings, and then having enough of a rotation to get you through those first 5-6 innings. Almost every other pitcher is (mostly) superfluous.
There is a very real chance the Rangers miss the playoffs. They are just 24-23 since June 1st. .500 ball the rest of the way lands them squarely on 89 wins, which may not be enough for a wild card.
If we were reording the starting rotation going foward: 1. Framber 2. JP 3. Brown 4. Urquidi 5/Long Relief. Javier 5/Long Relief. Bielak Ideally, we can slot a stud number 2 into a six man roation next week and push someone out of the rotation for a while. JP has, in my book, saved the season this year and might be our most valuable starting pitcher. In a world of inconsistency, he provides long outings and low ERA. When his name pops up on the schedule, I'm not worried like I am with anyone else (even Framber this past month).
I actually think Nolan Jones would be good. He plays primarily RF but can play all 4 corner positions. Hits RHP ( 122 wRC+ away from Coors) and has an absolute gun - 100th percentile 99.2 mph average per baseball savant. Problem is he has 5 years of control remaining so would be expensive. - maybe Meyers + 2 other top 10 prospects?
I would be happy with Lorenzo as an add. While I would love Cease or Verlander, the reality is that it is less than 50% either is dealt, and then it is no guarantee it is the Astros. The Astros need a reputable starter that can win more than he loses, and can save the pen some - and possibly become a reliever in the playoffs. At this point the Astros need to be really aggressive getting a couple capable relievers, ideally at least one that can pitch in the playoffs.
You have a couple of things going on. First, no one knows what the actual market will be. Is San Diego bluffing? The Cubs? The Cardinals? The point being the pool of available players isn't really known. Second, Brown with the Braves was very much go big or go home - what I mean by that is he and the GM would trade really good prospects, but it had to be the right player. They did not tend to overpay for rentals. So that means he isn't going to overpay for a rental starter - that doesn't mean the Astros won't get a starter though. Brown is well aware that he needs at least one leverage arm and another one that is solid out of the pen. If you listen, over the last month, he has given direct answers about the deadline, but he now has covered just about every need .... so he isn't telegraphing anything to the rest of the league = not that it is a secret anyway. i expect a middling starter for the rotation to eat innings if the cost is low - a pretty good reliever, another okay reliever and possibly a bat.
Ok. This is officially my newest- non pitcher trade want. I know baseball trade values is totally whack in most circumstances, but it should be a good indicator of value between 2 very similar players. Jones and Meyers each are exactly the same - $13.7M trade value. He has 0.8 fWAR in 171 PA now and Fangraphs projects him for 2 fWAR the next 2 years leading up to his arbitration. Meyers has 1.5 fWAR in 258 PA now and Fangraphs projects him for 3.4 fWAR the next 2 seasons, with 2025 being his 1st arb year. The fact that CF is a more rare and valuable position, and Jake's better projection should offset the extra year of control. 1 for 1 trade. Astros get a platoon partner for Julks in LF, a backup at 1st, RF, and 3B, and a legitimate LH bat off the bench. Much better and more balanced roster for the Astros.
He wears a cup because it make him forget that he hasn't seen his penis since the Obama administration. Seriously, he has every resource in the world - lose 20-30 lbs.... and I say that as a man pushing 300 lbs - I'm not THAT fat.
Who do the Astros have to trade that would bring interest and we are willing to give up? Javier, Peña, Diaz, Chas, Julks, Dubon would be names on the major league team. Minor league talent would be… OF Drew Gilbert OF Ryan Clifford OF Jacob Melton 3B Zach Dezenzo RHP Spencer Arrighetti SS Brice Matthews
Not looking at every team, it looks okay for most players.ToR starters likely get more in a trade than their estimated value. The guys that I'd say it has the most problems with are the ones in which future performance is a guess, and role/playing time may wildly vary from previous use. Hunter Brown prior to the season was way undervalued because projections were splitting his time between reliever and starter. I'd say Diaz, Chas, and Meyers may be undervalued similarly depending on whether they are viewed as a starting catcher/starting CF or will be used like they have been used..
Long reliever in playoffs is your 5th starter. And... weird things happen in the postseason... we don't bulldoze through the postseason without Garcia or Urquidy being the bail outs for Verlander and LMJ.
