Hard to say. Depends on how healthy the roster is, how bunched up the other contending teams are, and buyer/seller market prices in late July. But I would probably lean towards buying.
No, actually when it comes to acquiring prospects, there are definite limits You have a pool of money to pay draft picks (Luhnow was a master at manipulating this) and a pool for international prospects The only self imposed limits are paying for players declared free agents and acquiring players in trade
Camilo Diaz, Jeron Williams and Ethan Pecko or Pete Alonso and possible cash. I read the Mets prefer high upside youngsters to more certain AAA/AA guys. Probably other teams who could offer more nationally known higher ranked prospects who end up outbidding the Astros on this.
I am starting to ... see if we can get Luis G and Mccullers back and healthy and see if Ronel and Arighetti can hold it together and see if we can be ready to roll for 2025. 2025 is personally going to be my year and year of the Stros. Altuve, Tucker, Yordan lead the way!
Astros get: 1B Josh Bell 3B Jake Burger SP Trevor Rogers Marlins get: OF Pedro Leon P Miguel Ullola OF Kenedy Corona 1B Jon Singleton 1B Jose Abreu $10M
LOL, yes I know these things. As I may have mentioned before, me not always read good. Somehow I thought you were talking about payroll in general.
Clears up the 1B issue and the bulk of Abreu’s salary. Bell is a switch hitter. Burger represents a potential longer term 3B solution; he can be optioned and fixed. Rogers is a high ceiling starting pitcher who can eat innings this season; if he doesn’t improve, he also can be optioned to work things out. The package I listed is probably an overpay.
Yeah, it's *something*, I just don't see how that helps the Astros this year. Burger is also a terrible defensive 3B. I'd wait until the offseason for a trade like that, and aim higher.
The AAA hitters seem to have improved pretty much across the board. Leon, Whitcomb, Loperfido, Cabbage, Salazar, Bastidas, and Wagner all have taken steps to improve their hitting this season.
Would you rather have Josh Bell at 1B, or Abreu/Singleton? Would you rather call up Trevor Rogers if another SP gets hurt, or Eric Lauer?
Bell's on his FA year, iirc. If you want him, get him, you don't need a 14 player trade to do it. Rogers has been dogsh!t terrible this year, not sure about your fascination with him.
According to Baseball Prospectus, the Astros are about $3.4M below the 2nd tier of the CBT. It's very unrealistic to think they can get below the 1st tier. Based on penalties and the current state of the farm, it would be detrimental to go over the 2nd tier. If they want to add a veteran 1B they will need to get creative in reducing salary. Avisail Garcia was DFA'd 5 days ago, so any deal would need to be done fast, but it is an opportunity to drop 2024 payroll. Garcia is owed about $7M this year, $12M next, and a $5M buyout in 2026. Garcia for Jose Abreu and Shay Whitcomb. Why the Astros do it: It solves the Abreu issue that is killing their season while saving $4.4M in 2024 and $6.8M overall. It gives them almost $8M to find a veteran 1B. Why the Marlins do it: They are on the cusp of losing Garcia for nothing but still paying him. Abreu is an icon in the Cuban community, which is very populous in Miami. Abreu could add a (small) bit of attendance and revenue. While it adds $7.5M to 2025 payroll, it saves $5M in 2026. They are betting Abreu's recent (modest) improvement continues. They get a bat first infield prospect when they are always looking for hitting and run production. Astros release Garcia.
I would prefer the Astros just stay the course and not trade away any of our good prospects. Solve the Abreu issue by bringing up Loperfido or move Diaz to first. We have the offense to compete if you just solve 1b. Pitching wise we have Verlander, Framber, Brown, Garcia, Blanco, maybe McCullers, and Arrighetti. That is a very competitive rotation. Our farm system is showing great progress and our GM seems to excel at finding high ceiling talent. Let him do his thing for a few years. I think we end up winning the division and can be a force in the playoffs with healthy pitching. We don’t have the salary room to add a big bat or a big time pitcher. There are huge ramifications to move up into the 2nd tier of tax paying teams that could affect the farm system for years to come, not to mention that Tucker is probably gone after next year.
I definitely think the Astros should be very careful about trading any of their high ceiling prospects, especially the ones in the lower levels of their system. They will definitely make an addition or two of some level, because not doing so would very likely have a negative impact on the team morale. But ideally they will trade from the fringe pool in their upper levels and make marginal additions. A Mancini-esque bat and Maton-esque RP seem to be reasonable.
Why in the name of God would we want to go after a veteran first baseman? That is how we got into this mess in the first place. We went out and got the very definition of a successful veteran along with the accompanying rate of pay and predictable end of career issues. It was a stupid move that will cost the Astros in more ways than have been envisioned up til now. To double down on that stupid mistake by repeating it would confirm the end of the era of winning baseball in Houston.
This was actually not a bad trade idea. I would probably have wanted Miami to toss in a PTBNL or $2M-$3M. But the Marlins already released Garcia so that ship has sailed.
Adding a guy a guy like Vlad jr for the rest of this year and next year wouldn't be the end of the window. IMHO
