Suarez is a rental so wouldn't matter about next year. The cost will likely be too high but he would be the best acquisition this team could make. In the playoffs, assuming Paredes and Yordan do make it back, you could just roll with Paredes at DH with Yordan in LF. It would probably make sense to play him at DH anyway. Just as a hypothetical, what would you guys give up for Suarez?
And a coin flip might be all we got. We could use him for sure. And some good news in our favor as well.
I am going to state a very unpopular personal opinion. I do not think the Astros should go after anyone before the trading deadline. Why? because we have so many players coming back. So many think this will cure our ills, but to me especially with pitchers, there is a long period of adjustment to get back to previous form and I think Yordan is damaged goods moving forward. I think there are still way too many question marks for this team to further deplete the farm for a rental. This season just needs to be what it is. but why trade for a rental when there are sooooo many unknows moving forward. I wish the team well and they have been punching above their weight, but good pitching will expose these guys come playoffs. Why not ride with what you got this year. Montero off the books end of season I believe Jose Abreu off the books end of season. I believe that's 31 mil off the books. Thats some nice pieces or a big piece you can get with that scratch. I know the prevailing thought is to put all of your chips in and go for it. I just think there are too many unknowns' injury wise to commit to trade 4 players for a decent rental. I know its unpopular and I love these guys. If they got the chip, It would be one of the greatest sports stories in a while. But winning World series is tough in the best of years.
It’s a valid opinion. If Houston expects all of their injured players to come back healthy by September and perform at their peak levels, the Astros have a stacked roster: SS Pena 3B Paredes DH Alvarez LF/2B Altuve RF Smith 1B Walker CF Meyers 2B/LF Matthews/Melton C Diaz Bench: Dubon, Caratini, McCormick SP: Framber, Brown, Javier/Arrighetti, Walter RP: Hader, Abreu, King, Sousa, Okert, McCullers, Garcia, 1 of Gusto/Gordon/Ort/Neris There are no weak spots on that roster if you think everyone will be healthy and believe in top prospects Matthews and Melton forming a solid tandem in 2B/LF. That said, it’s just not realistic to expect everyone back healthy. We know by now we cannot trust the information the Astros put out regarding the status of their injured players; it is comical how often Houston starts out saying a player will be out a few days (which they’ve said about both Pena and Alvarez) and they end up being out months. We can hope Houston’s front office and medical staff are liars instead of incompetent (those are the only 2 possibilities), and that they have a pretty good idea of which guys they can count on for the playoffs. If that’s the case they know a lot better than we do what the needs are. I do think with Arrighetti and Javier on rehab assignments and Walter pitching so well, pitching help is not as much of a need unless they trade from that depth to add a bat. But with so much uncertainty around literally every hitter on the roster, it sure seems like they need to add at least one big bat if not two or 3. Think about the questions we all still have about the hitters: injury concerns: Paredes, Pena, Alvarez, Meyers, Melton, Leon, Rodgers Guys who have slumped this season: Walker, Diaz, Altuve, McCormick Rookies: Smith, Matthews, Whitcomb, Corona, Salazar Guys who have never been good hitters: Dubon, Caratini, Hummel, Trammell, Guillorme, Short There’s not one player on the roster (Altuve and Smith are inching close tho) that you can look at with any confidence and expect them to be a top performer come playoffs. The future in MLB is always very uncertain. Especially with an aging roster, maxed out payroll, and weak farm system, it is critical to capitalize on seasons where making the playoffs is very likely going into the deadline. Of course every trade should be about value, so the market may dictate that Houston stand pat, but in any kind of normal deadline market, Houston would be very foolish not to make an impact move this month.
I actually think rentals is where their focus should be. The only meaningful pending free agents are Caratini and Framber. Matthews and Melton and Walter and Ullola and maybe a few other P will warrant long looks next season. We can assume that Pena, Paredes, Alvarez, Javier, Garcia, McCullers, and Meyers will be back healthy next year. So they don’t really have glaring needs for the future. They need help now to make up for the rash of injuries they have. Add in the fact that the Astros are very short on tradeable prospects and cash and it seems like if they are going to add any really good players, it’s going to need to be a rental.
I’ll take the other side of this argument because why not. The 2021 Braves had lost Acuña and Ozuna that season and they went out and got Soler, Rosario, Pederson, and Duvall. You should know what happened next as we watched them celebrate on our field. I don’t know what it is but this team has a certain magic about them. With Javier, Arrighetti, and Garcia returning soon, we are going to have a WS caliber pitching staff. I don’t think the cost to acquire a couple players like Willi Castro is going to break the farm. Those players could be the difference between an early exit and a deep run in the playoffs.
I'm not sure what Jose Altuve, of all people, would have to do to convince you he's going to be a productive player in the postseason. Dude is one of the greatest postseason players in MLB history. If you think he's slumping, I think your sights are set too high. He's settled into an .800 OPS type in his mid 30s. He's not a 900 OPS guy, but that's to be expected. I also think you should take Caratini off your bad hitters list. He's 111 OPS+ this season after 112 OPS+ last year. He's a good (but not great) hitter, full stop. And perhaps should be given more credit given he does that while catching. He's somehow one of our top 3 healthy hitters, which speaks quite a bit about the rest of the roster. And I absolutely agree with you that we have to grab the opportunity we have this year by making a move for an impact bat. This season, like every season going forward, could be the last year of the Altuve-era dynasty.
Mets get: RP David Bednar Pirates get: SP AJ Blubaugh, IF/OF Shay Whitcomb Astros get: IF Brett Baty, IF Collin Houck
If we are giving a lottery ticket lower prospect package, I'm all good, but the 8 ball is very fuzzy for the rest of this season. My question is who is going to move the needle more than the guys we supposedly have coming back that is not going to cost us upper tier prospects?
I don’t think we will be trading for upper tier bats (like Suarez) that will cost a lot of capital. And I agree with you that we shouldn’t do that. We should be targeting the mid level bats. The example I gave for the Braves - none of those guys they traded for were superstars either. If everyone comes back, awesome we have good depth then. There’s a very good chance at least one Yordan, Paredes, and Meyers aren’t going to return for whatever reason. We should make sure we have a legit MLB bat to replace them if that happens.
With 9 days left: All-in Buyers (12): Blue Jays, Yankees, Tigers, Astros, Mariners, Phillies, Mets, Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers, Padres, Giants Net Buyers (5): Red Sox, Rays, Rangers, Cardinals, Reds; these teams are likely to trade to improve this year’s roster but may be willing to deal controllable big leaguers to do so. Net Sellers (7): Orioles, Twins, Guardians, Royals, Angels, Braves, Diamondbacks; these teams are likely to make trades that improve the future at the expense of this year’s team, but will be looking for ready or near-ready players and will likely only be looking to trade rentals. Any controllable players they trade will have to be a clear win for them. All-in Sellers (6): White Sox, A’s, Marlins, Nats, Pirates, Rockies Unfortunately outside of a few long shot players (Oneil Cruz, Marlins SP, Luis Robert Jr.), the all-in sellers don’t have a lot that meets Houston’s needs. Rentals from that next tier (Willi Castro, Cedric Mullins, Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna) are probably where it makes the most sense for Houston to shop. The next tier of teams have some interesting controllable players (Jarren Duran, Gavin Lux, Brandon Lowe, Nolan Gorman) that might be available, but my guess is that those teams will require an overpay and I’m not sure Houston has the big league pieces those teams will be looking for. I don’t think it makes much sense for Houston to trade with any of the all-in buyer teams except maybe one of the NL teams in a perfect scenario (where a deal comes with a secondary bat like Bret Baty or a SP like Dylan Cease).
I don't know about Baty man. He's a good kid, but not someone I think fits this team. I know him personally and have seen him play at all levels of baseball since he was about 10/11. While he's had a good run lately, he's hasn't ever been more than he is right now - a guy that bashes balls into the ground most of the time (hard) and hits dingers every now and then.
It’s reasonable to argue Altuve is someone you can be confident will produce in the playoffs; like you said, he’s a still-productive Hall of Fame player. However, he’s enduring his 3rd straight season of declining overall production, and from April 1st thru June 30th he was barely a league average bat (he has been badass in July), so there’s reason to wonder if he’s going to be his normal playoff self. He certainly will instill a lot more confidence if he keeps producing thru August. I’ll concede the point on Caratini; he is solid, although still below average for his career and not someone you want in the heart of your order in a playoff game. But yeah if he’s batting in the 7-9 holes, he’s great.
