They need to make Fowler-like trades, but get quality players in return, rather than more Fowler-like players! And preferably not trade away guys who suddenly become stars like Lyles.
Also, Domingo had 4 hits last night (a double, 3 singles, 3 runs, a RBI with 2 K's) and Singleton walked 4 times... June cannot come soon enough. I don't expect Santana to make the jump quickly, but I see no reason for Singleton not to. Krauss is even pushing the label of "place holder" too far for my taste.
The tradeable SPs are the one with major league experience (and the top prospects in the minors who are untouchables) The following pitchers have started for the Astros this season: Feldman McHugh Cosart Keuchel Peacock Oberholtzer (now in AAA) <strike>Harrell</strike> All have some trade value. Feldman and Cosart are likely untouchable. That leaves McHugh, Keuchel, Peacock and Oberholtzer.
You think Feldman's untouchable? I'd think he'd be valuable trade bait come the deadline. It seems we have an abundance of starting pitching and could use some additional bats...
True. But the guys in the minors aren't proven. Feldman at worst apparently, is a good 3rd to 4th starter on a great pitching staff.
Why are Cosart and Feldman untouchable and Keuchel isn't? I know Keuchel doesn't have the long history these guys have, but he hasn't had a slider for that long either. He's basically a guy that doesn't walk many, doesn't give up many homers (granted last season he did) who has found a pitch in the last two years that has turned him from awful in regards to strikeouts to above average. His slider has been missing bats nearly 20% of the time the past two seasons and he has used it to replace his curve that was missing bats around 6% of the time. MLB batters have had nearly 210 innings to figure it out, but if anything, Keuchel is getting more swings and misses on it lately. Among guys currently at MLB, Keuchel probably will be the best of the bunch going forward.
Tara the Hero Cat was in Bakersfield last night to, uh... throw out the first pitch before the JetHawks took on the Blaze. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Hero Cat has trouble throwing a baseball on account of being a cat. <a href="http://t.co/7QhZ6DJDuT">http://t.co/7QhZ6DJDuT</a></p>— SB Nation (@SBNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNation/statuses/469126165417168896">May 21, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
First of all, I like Keuchel a lot. He has always been a joy to watch. Keuchel until recently has at best been consider a BoR prospect, who would be a spot holder in the rotation, waiting for the next wave of top prospects (Appel, Folty, Valesquez, McCullers) to take his job. Keuchel recent work suggests that he may be more than that; he might be in the long term plans now. This could be a sell high situation. If Luhnow and his deep reasoning staff think Keuchel will at some point regress hard, a Keuchel trade would not surprise.
Dallas being arbitration eligible in 2016 and a FA in 2019 are convincing reasons why he would be more untouchable than most. I do, though, think that Luhnow will always field offers.
I suspect Luhnow will always field offers as boozle said. Feldman is more likely a sell high situation as he is older and his peripherals this season suggest his ERA should be closer to his career ERA. I can't speak for Luhnow, but information available to the public and watching MLB hitters suggests Keuchel is a legitimate starting pitcher with a floor of a BoR pitcher. Keuchel's xFIP through a quarter of a season is the fifth best in baseball. It would take a lot more to acquire Keuchel than Feldman. I suspect Keuchel will regress some, but fully expect him to be the best pitcher going forward that is currently an Astro.
So, other than Jake Buchanan's complete game shutout, what else happened last night? Astros affiliates swept their opponents, outscoring them 27-5 and outhitting them 44-18. Teoscar Hernandez hit 2 homers (8) in Lancaster's 8-4 win over Bakersfield. Carlos Perdomo went 3-4 with an RBI double and an RBI single. Adrian Houser won his 3rd straight decision in Quad Cities as he allowed a run on 5 hits and struck out 4 in 6 innings. Tyler Brunnemann's stellar season continued as he finished it off with 3 scoreless. He allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 3 in QC's 7-1 win.
Haven't heard anything on Correa in a while. He's still playing now that he has come back, right? Any reports on how he has looked since returning?
I don't think anyone is untouchable pitching wise. The only player in the entire organization I consider untouchable is Correa. The fact is we're not going carry 10+ starting pitchers on a roster, nor do we need 5 high upside pitching prospects in the rotation. It sounds great but in all practicality there's zero chance the rotation in 2 years is going to be Rodon, Appel, Cosart, LMJ, Folty. We should be considering trading top-50 prospects like Appel, LMJ, and Folty because it takes talent to get talent. The great thing is we have nearly 10+ starting pitching prospects that project to BOR/MOR.
Hasn't set the world on fire down in HiA but he's having a solid season at Lancaster. The manager Rodney Linares thinks Correa is ready for double-A ball. Link
MILB.com has Jon Singleton as trending upward in their weekly Stock Watch I took a look at his advanced stats by month in Fangraphs. He's not hitting nearly as well in May but his strikeout and walk percentages look gorgeous this month:
By the way, Happy Wojo Day! He made his season debut at AAA today against New Orleans and put up a 4ip,4h,1r,1er,1bb,5k line.
Also, Thomas Shirley is too old for prospect status but the dude has been straight dealing all year. He needs to be bumped up to OKC.
