Well, looks like we have ourselves a baseball team here boys and girls. As we move forward, the one thing that we will probably HAVE to do is find another very solid starter if we want to stay in as one of the best teams in the AL. Most trade talk the last several years has been about picking up prospects, gonna be fun to talk about trading for guys to help us in Houston now!! I'll start it off with a Cole Hamels idea. In actuality, I don't think we will be the ones to get Cole for a couple of different reasons, BUT if we offered this deal what do you think Philly would say? Astros get: Cole Hamels Phillies get: Mark Appel, Lance McCullers, Jon Singleton and Andrew Aplin They get two high quality prospect arms, a potential impact bat and another depth type prospect which they have almost none of. We get a guy who could slot nicely between Dallas and Collin, pushing Feldman into the 4th spot in the rotation and giving us the best 1-2-3 starters in the AL
i think i'd rather look at an offseason FA than trade for a #1 mid-season. We have the money to get one, and guys are going to come available...seems like a waste to burn the elite prospects (Appel or Correa) when there's another viable option.
Then there won't be one, cause I a world that has very few things that are for sure, one of them is the Astros won't be trading Carlos Correa Short of the Angels calling and saying "yea we're really tired of this Trout guy do yall want him".....Correa, Altuve, Springer, Keuchel won't be in any conversations
I think it depends on the situation. If we still have one of the best records in the game come mid June, I think you would have to explore the options. I do think it is much more likely we would go after a solid mid rotation type than an Ace, dealing from our depth of good solid prospects. Luhnow has already said to expect more prospect package type of deals. I would be fine with going after Hamels, what I would NOT want and don't think we see, is going after an Ace type of pitcher who will be a free agent this year. Prospects for "now" trades are great if the guy you are getting is on a good contract for multiple years. Prospects for a 3 month rental trades are what kill you long term
Trading prospects for low to nonexistent surplus value kills you. Cheap rental is preferable to Phillies wanting two high level prospects without paying a cent of his deal.
You do realize that Phiily traded Singleton to us, and thus why would they want him back in a trade where he's shown he can't hit MLB pitching so far AND we went ahead and jumped the gun and guaranteed him Ten million $$$. Yeah Philly would be all over that.
Cheap rental yes, giving up really good prospects for rentals is a terrible idea for long term success I would much rather give up good prospects for a guy like Hamels who would be around for more than a couple of months It's very very unlikely anyway as they will likely find someone to take on Papelbon and his contract in a Hamels deal, and we won't be that team in that scenario for sure
Yes I do realize that. The sample size of him "showing he can't hit mlb hitting" is very small. In any case the two pitchers are obviously the two key pieces to what I threw out there.
The only untouchables are Correa and Appel. Everyone else is tradable for an asset with multiple years like Hamels. The problem with dealing with Philly is that are looking for a deal that no one is going to give them, and it also hurts that Hamels is pitching like **** right now.
I would aim for a starting pitcher on the nationals. 6 starters and only 5 spots to fill. I would love to see Tanner Roark on this team and he's a starter in the bullpen so his value probably isn't as high now?
If this team is still in contention by July, the temptation will be great to pull the trigger on a deal to sure up this rotation. Having said that, Luhnow has been pragmatic and disciplined throughout this whole rebuild. He won't pull the trigger on any deal that he thinks will hurt us long term to go all in on this year. Correa isn't going anywhere, I can certainly see Appel moved under the right circumstances. Any move he makes will either be a fairly cheap add (I.E. not elite prospects) or a guy he fully intends to keep around for a few years. Hamels could be an interesting target in that regard, but if they seriously want Correa, that's simply not gonna happen. Appel, and another couple of top 10 guys is the most I offer for a 31 year old.
I like the Roark idea a lot, but with Zimmerman a free agent at the end of the year I'm not so sure they would move Roark unless they were blown away.
I doubt the Nats would trade away their depth without getting either a legit big leaguer or God-father level deal (e.g. Appel for Roark). They're still the presumptive favorite in the NL East and a legitimate WS contender. I'd go the other way and offer the Brewers a mid-level prospect for Kyle Lohse.
Aim higher. It's ok for us to do so. These aren't the same Stros that we're accustomed to. Our payroll is like 2nd to last in the league. We are going to be in play for the biggest available arms. It's the clear spot for us to spend some big mulah. Luhnow even said preseason that this was the next planned move.