He's swinging at less breaking ball low and away. He couldn't lay off of those at all in prior years. That is really all that has changed. I think he has lost some power.
His change of approach coming into the season is well documented... getting rid of him would be reminiscent of waiving JD Martinez...
We lost JD for nothing and we didn't get anything by doing it. It was weird. If we trade Pena, it would be for the similar haul we got for Tucker. Two starters and a top 50 prospect.
He basically hit like Chas is hitting now, and was a horrible defender when he was cut. It is weird that he turned into a good player. Sometimes a players needs a change in scenery. Getting cut by the Astros forced him to rethink his approach. No way to know if he would have performed as well as he did if he didn't get cut at that time.
He actually changed his swing prior to spring training and we cut him before the season even started. Still weird. It's water under the bridge.
He changed his approach ahead of spring training, and Bo Porter's approach with JD was a contributing factor to his dismissal. This is in Ben Reiter's book. I remember when we were championing the return from the Lance Berkman, Billy Wagner, and Hunter Pence deals.... and panicked about what we gave up for Verlander and Greinke... and it was what we gave up for Cole that actually hurt.
He also sucked for his first month with Detroit so whether he would have lasted with the Astros was in question regardless. Did it really hurt? Moran was a fringe major leaguer for a few years. Feliz and Martin were nobodies. The only player of note was Musgrove and he wasn't very good for the first 3 years after the trade - who knows if he would have even stuck in the Astros rotation. And 2 of those 3 years, the Astros had an upgrade in Cole. So really 2 years of Cole cost you 2 years of good-Musgrove (2021, 2022) and 3 years of mediocre Musgrove (2018-2020).
My mistake on when the swing change was made. That said, I would not categorize it as weird. Guys who struggle in the first three seasons in the majors sometimes get cut. The only unusual aspect is how well he performed after being cut.
One of the reasons he got cut was that he did not take pitches like the coaching staff wanted him to ... you know ... work the counts. There are not too many jobs where you can do whatever you damn well please and not have consequences.
Why in the hell would the Astros want to trade Pena? He is the one Astro they should be looking to extend. this off season.
Because they think they can overall get better getting multiple pieces for Pena? Doesn't mean they are going to do it, but it is something they are likely to explore. It could backfire on them or work out, depending on the players they would get in return and how well Pena plays. If a team is willing to offer them a king's ransom for Pena, they would be foolish not to do it. The question is what would that package be? Likely a #3 type starter under team control for multiple seasons, a top-level prospect and a reliever under team control. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
There are no everyday SS available in free agency. Nor are there any among the Astros minor league players. Who do you propose the Astros play at SS for the upcoming seasons?
Career wRC+: Jeremy Pena 105 Ramon Urias 104 They also profile pretty similarly defensively. I’m not saying Urias will be as good next season as Pena has been this season, but over the larger sample they have been very similar quality players, and Urias is a viable option to play SS most days next season, provided the rest of the lineup and pitching staff is stacked.
Luhnow is on record saying that was the dumbest decision of his career ...but that was before the trash cans
