I’m happy with our catcher situation. Sure not giving up Cam for a catcher we won’t be able to retain long term.
Obviously trading is a negotiation. How do people feel if it's bryce Matthews instead ? I really like both Smith and Matthews , so I probably wouldn't do it . I suppose that could be tabled for off-season . If Dana brown has his eye on any elite minor league catchers that are blocked on contenders I'd want to know the price . I don't actually hate or blame yainer . I think he's a hard worker who has a good natural bat to ball tool , but he doesn't have a great approach and/or struggles to pick up pitches. Baseball is hard . There is more to say he's going to be a below avg hitting catcher than above average given his trend. If move on . Maybe we can find a better complement to Vasquez Diaz Mayer Sullivan Does Baltimore need a CF ? LMAO can do jake meyers .
I’m pretty close to out on Yainer as a starting catcher until he shows he can get his bat back. He needs to be sent down if he doesn’t mash during his rehab assignment. I’d absolutely be down to extend Vazquez. I’m also interested to see how Schiavone does over the 2nd half of the season. He might be in position to be up early next year.
I would not consider .238 without power and without walks "can hit". I was a big fan when he was hitting well as it covered his defense plus a lot more.
Astros get: C Hunter Goodman OF Mickey Moniak RP Antonio Senzatela Rockies get: P Bryce Mayer P Ethan Pecko P Cole Hertzler P Miguel Ullola C Yainer Diaz
Current Top 5 LH OF Trade Targets: Mickey Moniak COL: rental having a monster year; Houston has had interest in the past Trevor Larnach MIN: middling hitter with 1 more year of control, might be the most affordable option Jung Hoo Lee SF: Having a great year and can opt out after 2027 but is otherwise controlled thru 2029 JJ Bleday CIN: Controlled thru 2028 and having a monster year Kerry Carpenter DET: Controlled thru 2028 so Detroit may have a high price on him but he's a career wRC+ 126 hitter HM: Wilyer Abreu, Jake McCarthy, Jarren Duran
I can't trust COL guys . That's too much of our next group of pitching talent to give up . Moniak is a stud , but I think LH OF is not as big of a need as Dana says it is ...and when does he ever lie. Plus we are so deep. Meyers , trammell , smith , Matthews , wade , loperfido. If you move all those guys it's for a top tier pitcher. Offensively I think unless we trade for a top tier C , we are as good as we are gonna get . I don't love Meyers , but he's affordable and especially if we can keep him rested can be a really good player. Idk how the yainer/Vasquez question turns out But I think we've got enough on offense. I believe in smith and Matthews to keep getting better . Hopefully lamont wade comes back and is good . Yordan is having a great year . Paredes and walker and pena are doing good . I don't like hunter brown as much as most here so I still want another ace . Frankly , everyone always wants another ace. Pitching is always expensive too. We've got some guys throwing well right now , but adding more to the mix is nice . Realistically speaking we are handicapped by lance and javier . But maybe they end up throwing well and it helps us win. I do have one concern and it's SS , with allen out we are thin if pena goes down . And pena needs a day off every now and then too . Get Brice some reps ?
I like this one a lot. I'm not sure if it's enough. If I were the Rockies GM I would separate my pieces into individual 3 to 1 trades Yainer could be a monster DH in Colorado.
How much would Anthony bender from MIA cost? I don't know anything about him , but he's a right handed reliever who's having a very good season and is 31 .
I think the Astros have very very little room to work under the budget constraints. They also have little to offer in deals without continuing to plunder a weak farm system or weakening the MLB roster further. I'm expecting a very underwhelming trade deadline. The priority has to be a LH everyday LF or CF who can hit 6th or 7th and lengthen the lineup. I can't see the Astros using bullets in the bullpen.
Yes, this trade is not very realistic because it is very unlikely that the Rockies would want to package up their trade chips like that, especially if the return didn't include a marquee player. Setting Goodman aside, Diaz and one of pitching prospects for Senzatela and Moniak is probably a more realistic trade. It'll be interesting to see how well Wade plays (or long he's hurt). If he is effective then it really limits Houston to searching for CF (unless they're willing to move Smith to CF in the middle of the season which seems like a bad idea). At CF there's a lot fewer LH options. I know it's probably not going to happen but I think Jung-Hoo Lee would be an awesome addition to Houston's lineup. A really good buy-side deadline for me would leave Houston with a playoff roster of: CF Lee* SS Pena DH Alvarez 3B Paredes 1B Walker 2B Altuve LF Wade RF Smith C Vazquez Bench: Meyers, Diaz, Shewmake, Matthews SP: Brown, Imai, Arrighetti, Lambert RP: Hader, Senzatela*, King, Abreu, De Los Santos, Santa, Okert, Teng, Javier Some might say that rotation is severely lacking but if Houston is going to be in position to buy, it probably means that those guys have pitched really well. And I just don't think Houston has the trade chips to go out and get a ToR SP this year.
Maybe they put a deal together surrounding a talented lotto ticket like Matthews or Cole, Cole and Nezuh for Moniak
His value is hard to gauge because of his opt out. After this season he either has $22.8M/1yr or $65.4M/3yrs. So either he plays well and you get ~$10M in surplus value (plus whatever value there is in any kind of QO rule in the new CBA), or he plays poorly or gets hurt and there’s big time negative value. Hes playing well enough that it’s almost certain that SF isn’t looking for a salary dump. If (big if) the Giants really wanted to clear his contract, I could see them going for something like Cole and Pecko, with SF maybe paying down some of Lee’s 2026 and 2027 money (not a ton). Given Houston’s situation I would actually really like that deal. Houston is going to have to take a risk like that if they’re going to acquire a difference-making player in spite of their poor farm system.
Lee is one I was looking at. He is a bit of a commitment and has enough warts to help keep the cost down. His strengths do line up well with what this team needs, though. The Giants may want to move on from him in order reshape the roster but they are similar to the Astros in they will be looking for immediate help rather than rebuilding for 2+ years down the road. Those are the type players the Astros won't want to deal away.
Justin Thomas, an 11th round pick out last year of Arkansas, is putting together a really solid season thus far in Asheville. Hitting .291 with 9 homers, 18 steals, and a .980 OPS primarily out of the leadoff spot. He’s 22. I’m guessing he was a college senior last year. But I’d expect him to be promoted to Corpus pretty damn soon.
