Provided he looks fine after MLB cracks down on sticky stuff, Sborz, the guy Correa took yard last night, would be a good trade target. He's got plenty of club control, but is already 27. Nice fastball slider combo. Pressly, Javier, Odorizzi, and him would be a nice postseason pen. I'm not sure how fast he warms up, but he may be able to take the fireman role. Having Taylor in the fireman role is not ideal as he's better suited to come in clean.
Love Sborz but I doubt the Rangers would trade with the Stros. Agreed on Taylor, he can be an important part of the pen but he's not a high leverage type guy. IMHO Although he did fairly well in that role last year before getting injured.
Health and consistency (possibly Dusty) are the only things keeping Taylor from being a high leverage guy. I think his inconsistency has been health related. His stuff has looked great since coming off the IL (maybe even better than prior to his injury last year). Putting him in a situation that he can't challenge a hitter forces him to nibble. Nibbling is not his strong suit.
"and their bullpen has been solid all season"? Hmm... this guy used to be a MLB general manager, and now does fantasy sports and writes for The Athletic. But the names might be interesting https://theathletic.com/2653349/202...uld-go-either-way/?source=user_shared_article
I was looking at Richard Rodriguez and noticed he was originally signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Camp and was traded away.
I do NOT expect this to happen, but it's a fantasy acquisition. Add Trout. I have no clue how. BO R/L/S POS Name OPS+ 1 R 2B Altuve 144 2 L LF Brantley 146 3 R CF Trout 194 4 R 1B Gurriel 152 5 L DH Alvarez 137 6 R SS Correa 147 7 L RF Tucker 127 8 R 3B Bregman 118 9a R C Maldenado 55 9b L C Castro 143
Current top 6 RP targets: Scott Barlow, Jose Cisnero, Raisel Iglesias, Taylor Rogers, Michael Fulmer, Ian Kennedy
Well that's something you don't read every day about a pitcher. Wow, Cisnero is another Houston-developed pitcher who prospered somewhere else.... a lot later. I look forward to Reymin Guduan making a Snake trade target list in 2027.
Another STRONG outing by Garcia against one of the top teams in baseball. Are there people on here still considering trading him for a CF or bullpen help??
I wouldn't mind trading a starter if we can get an elite relief pitcher. We have enough starting pitching.
The Astros should go after some Marlins’ relievers before the trade deadline Dylan Floro, Yimi García, Richard Bleier, and John Curtiss are attractive pieces that would address Houston’s needs. https://www.crawfishboxes.com/2021/...e-marlins-relievers-before-the-trade-deadline
Here’s a hypothetical: Astros get: RP Michael Fulmer RP Jose Cisnero $2M Tigers get: IF Freudis Nova RHP Peter Solomon RHP Shawn Dubin PTBNL (Tigers pick one from Bryan Abreu, Enoli Paredes, or Tyler Ivey after this season ends) Astros would add 2 very effective relief arms to the back end of their bullpen without giving up any major pieces. Both guys come with additional years of control which dramatically reduces their offseason shopping list. Neither guy comes with a big salary. Nova is one of their highest ceiling prospects but his stock is down and they have other good prospects at his potential positions. The arms are 2nd tier prospects who could be guys they regret trading but that is their area of depth. This trade also comes with a net gain of 1 40 man spot. The Tigers get Nova, who would immediately become their best middle infield prospect. He is a buy low opportunity for them. The pitchers all have ceilings to be better than the guys they are trading away and will give them more big league ready arms to fill their bullpen as a supplement to their emerging starting pitching. Astros resulting pitching staff: SP: Greinke, Valdez, McCullers, Odorizzi, Garcia, Urquidy RP: Pressly, Cisnero, Javier, Fulmer, Stanek, Raley,Smith/Taylor If Baez or Verlander get healthy, Smith would likely have to be DFA. James and Pruitt would need to really show well on rehab to justify a spot over Smith/Taylor.
So now that the season has played out a bit Clicks "terrible' offseason doesn't look quite so terrible. Now I'm not ready to crown him the GOAT or anything, but given his likely financial restraints, it's hard to say he could have played it too much better than he has. Let Springer walk, and he's pretty much had a non season thus far. Retained Brantley (which was his move no matter what somebody tries to say) Signed Castro, who has been outstanding Signed Odorizzi, who looks better every start Extended Yuli at a low rate, which looks like a stroke of brilliance. Signed Stanek, while not great he has been solid overall. In regard to CF, Pillar has been a little better than Straw, but not much, and at precious extra dollars. Bradley has been a disaster. Marisnick had a great start, but got hurt and he's been coming back to his normal offensive levels in June. Not ready to call that a win, but if given a chance to immediately trade Straw for any of these guys, I don't think I would, and if we did it would feel like a lateral move, or very small improvement. I, like many others, never liked the Baez deal. It seemed like a gross overpay, and now that he's been hurt it looks even worse. Even if he comes back and pitches well, I have a hard time seeing that becoming a good deal. Right now his inability to forsee struggles and decline in our bullpen options seem to be his biggest failure. Even still, the bullpen is slowly starting to come together over the last few weeks with Taylor and Javier. If Baez comes back and helps even that terrible signing won't look so bad.
One note about Baez is that he did not seem to depend on spin rate for his past success, so it’s possible that Click anticipated the crack down on sticky and overpaid Baez as a result. Regardless, if signing a proven setup man to a $12.5M/2yr deal ends up being the worst move of James Click’s tenure, he will likely end up as the greatest GM of all time.
