Folty has been impressive this season. Just pitched a complete game shutout, 2 hit 1 walk and 11Ks. Era is down to 2.22
Folty and JD Martinez are probably the best on the list as of now. Folty is becoming an ace. Something I had always thought he had it in him (maybe not this good but all-star good). JD Martinez is a Monster offensively, who may hit 60+ HR this season. Regarding Folty, it sucks it's not with the Astros but I like our rotation as it stands. He finally figured it out and he is better than most thought he could be (but he needed time). Gattis was instrumental to our success, hitting key HR's in our 2017 WS title. So even though on paper this trade is going to look lopsided in 5 years, it was a trade that helped the Astros get a title out Of it.
Martinez, Mengden, Folty, Hader, Santana, Moran, Velasquez, Villar, Fields, quite a few former prospects of ours seem to be carving out big league careers for themselves with varying levels of performance. As much prospect talent as we had flowing through the system from 2011-2016, it was inevitable we were gonna give away some quality players. Ultimately we achieved our goal, so it's pretty easy to see these guys succeed without having any real regret.
this is why teams should just accept any offer from our GM. They shouldn't even question it as you will get a better quality player from this organization's pipeline than what any other team has to offer.
Other than Martinez Hader is the guy that at the time I hated to lose the most. A lefty with Mid-high 90's stuff and that delivery, there goes the closer that most on this MB are craving for.
That’s what is amazing. Of all the prospects Houston has shipped out, many of whom are productive major leaguers, only Hader and Martinez would have an impact on the current Astros roster.
Hader threw a no hitter in A Ball with Quad Cities, I thought he was better than Appel in Double AA. Hader had around a 3.00 era, Appel a 5.00 era. When the trade happened I knew losing Hader would hurt the most. We still don't have a hard throwing lefty in the Bullpen. Mengdan and Foltynewicz are having a breakout season, this year. Both of them struggled a lot, in the beginning of their careers.
John Heyman has an article about how Houston had a deal in place to trade Mike Fiers to the Marlins for Luis Castillo in 2016, but Giancarlo Stanton nixed it because of bad blood from Fiers beaning Stanton and breaking his face the previous year. Castillo ended up being traded to the Reds (for former Astro Dan Straily) and has been pretty good for them so far, posting 2.0 fWAR in 156 IP in the majors.
Shane Reynolds's kid, Ryan, the 3Bman for the Horns, just blasted a 2-out 2-run double to put the Horns up 2-0 in the bottom of the 2nd in a "go to Omaha or go home" game vs. Tennessee Tech.
Bo Porter was pretty much put in a situation where losing was all but guaranteed...even desired. But in my years as an Astros fan, he's the only manager that I actually thought was noticeably bad at making decisions. Not all calls work out, I tend to give managers the benefit of that (without actually knowing how they carry themselves in the locker room) but Porter constantly seemed to make mystifying choices. Jerome Williams coming in to close a game and Tony Sipp in the outfield will be things I remember 30 years from now. Or Hector Ambriz the gas can extraordinaire, being our high leverage guy. Those are just the most memorable, but WTF moments were regular happenings.
It’s actually a GOOD thing when our prospects thrive on other teams following a trade. Teams know to trust our front office, trust our development process and be more willing to give us major league talent in exchange for a guy we’ve got who’s thriving in the minors. And following a World Series championship I don’t think anyone should have a problem with the results. Aside from the Gomez trade (because he was an ******* even before coming here) and letting JD walk, I would do all of those trades over again. Even the Ken Giles one. Compare this to NBA GM’s dealing with Danny Ainge or Daryl Morey. Most of the time you have to be wary of a complete hoodwinking coming your way, and that probably hinders further dealings with other teams.
My memory has it about the same. Those years had an entirely different focus than now (as you point out). But even more so, experimentation was allowed, even encouraged. So Bo did, and sometimes to the detriment to winning.
J.D. Martinez numbers in the minors were great, Injuries to his knee on a swing. Bad Batting Stance, Hand, Elbow Posture. Change of Scenery, Confidence. Losing Seasons. Jeff Luhnow releasing him looks really bad. Credit to the Tigers Hitting Coach, Miguel Cabrera I think really influenced and taught him How to hit breaking balls. Miguel is really a teacher to hitters. Jose Altuve Calls Miguel Cabrera on the phone for hitting advice.
