Is it really that bad? Kikuchi and Tucker were both good trades. Burrows hasn't worked out - but he still has 4 or 5 years left to contribute value. Dubon was a salary dump but was a definite downgrade. Loperfido/Sanchez was a salary dump but has worked out well enough. Correa worked out while healthy but that's an incomplete. Has anyone he traded away really blossomed into anything special?
Brown was thrust into a difficult position. High payroll, veterans reaching FA, weaker farm system, and a desire to still win. Burrows sadly wasn't signed, but traded for, giving up Melton (who would be in CF for us right now) and Brito, so it is a massively terrible deal. 2023 Draft: He went high upside, so there is certainly a lot of risk. Brice Matthews is in the MLB and at least showing he can play at this level, which isn't a terrible pick. Sadly Tredwell can't stay healthy, but when he was, showed tons of potential. Bloss was an integral part of a great deal for Kikuchi. I think I'd grade it as average draft. 2024 Draft: Looks like a total and complete disaster so far. Spence is looking like the surprise star of the class as an UDFA. A couple other guys look like they will play, but their first 3 picks look completely useless right now. 2025 Draft: Actually great early returns I'm not sure Brown survives the offseason if we miss the playoffs, but I wouldn't mind keeping him one more year (though this deadline could go a long way towards changing that). I'm not keen to keep Espada.
If Joe didn’t let this clown Burrows pitch we might be at the top of the division already. Teng, De Los Santos and Burrows all have 5+ ERAs the last month. Impossible to win if we our pitching is getting crushed every other night.
He had a short stint in MLB last year with an impressive 0.419 OPS. And now he's a minor leaguer. Would he be any better than Meyers or Cole or Matthews or just add to the collection of unknowns? Brito is a single-A pitcher who's gotten worse in each of his 3 minor league years and is sporting a 1.50+ WHIP right now. Burrows, obviously, sucks right now but they also have 4-5 more years of him to get value. I don't think it's clear which side ends up with more value as of now - it depends if any of the 3 actually become functional MLB players.
Taking first game logically, Burrows sucked and Espada's hook was late, but Astros really lost on an error leading to 5 runs (2-run L). Wade's DP lineout didn't help. Astros might simply need not being unlucky these next 2 games. We should know if Imai is Bad/Good in the first inning. Let's get the W.
Imai and Burrows really are the story of the season in terms of offseason choices. If we had just gotten run of the mill bad production from those spots we probably have 4-6 more wins pretty easily. Dubon is looking like a big whiff too. I get why he did it, I probably would have done the same, but given he can play a perfectly adequate CF letting him go looks bad right now.
Appears James Wood is who we hope Cam to be -- same age, similar size, same position, and speed. The "only" difference is about 250 OPS points.. plus Wood never really struggled in the majors. Cam might have the defensive advantage.
Yeah. Melton currently batting below the Mendoza line in the minors. I’m not really sweating that trade. Burrows has options left and should be sent down and let Javier have a go or try some tandems. I don’t really know how people can expect Brown to hit home runs with trades with what he has to work with.
No guarantee Melton would be better, just that he would be in CF right now. You couldn't trade Burrows straight up for Brito or Melton now, which is why the deal is a disaster. I disagree that they have 4-5 more years to get value. He's negative value right now. They can option him to the minors right now, but then it is produce early in 2027 or DFA.
Melton is hitting .287/.393/.540 for a .933 OPS in AAA this season. Burrows doesn't have multiple options remaining, he has 1 option year remaining.
That doesn't make it a disaster. If none of these 3 players end up being quality MLB players, then it's just shuffling around no value for other forms of no value. It's like saying trading Nick Allen for a worse version of Nick Allen is a disaster. It's really just a bunch of nothing.
He has a 34% k rate and a .440 BABIP. His slash line in AAA is nowhere near sustainable. He would not be playing in Houston above Trammell. Brito is an undersized pitcher in High A walking 5.9 batters per 9. That trade didn’t work out for anybody but the Pirates (so far).
Burrows isn’t zero value, he’s at a staggering -1.2 WAR so far this season. The guys he was traded for have had greater value to the 2026 Astros than he has, as zeros. Heck, you’ve got more value since you haven’t actively hurt the team. Burrows has a long way to go to make it to zero value.
