We gave up Wilyer Abreu for Vazquez. So how about that type of return? The hilarious thing is Abreu would be a good fit on this team right now. Personally I wouldn't trade him though. Having a quality backup catcher has a lot value, and he's probably more valuable at the deadline when a playoff team has lost a catcher due to injury (or they just suck).
I'm not expecting a Tucker like return, but something like Vazquez's return does not sound unreasonable. 2 prospects that Brown chooses from an organization's #20-40 rankings. They would be 11-25 in Astros organization.
I’d rather have a serviceable backup catcher than a couple of prospects that will likely amount to nothing
Yeah that’s not something I’d classify as “an injection of talent.” If it’s a secondary benefit to clearing money to add a more impactful player elsewhere on the roster, great. But trading Caratini solely to try and add prospects would be foolish. And I say that as a guy who loves prospects.
I think the Astros weighed Framber’s propensity to fall back into his mentality and the type of return they were getting a feel for in trade talks with other teams. My assumption is that other teams are concerned about Framber’s mental makeup too. Because when he begins to doubt himself, he isn’t very good. But when he’s on top of his game he is nails! And on top of that if he is pitching like an ace, the 200 plus million contract he would be due. However I guess the Astros would rather go with Framber and risk losing him as a free agent after the season, than to give him away for quarters on the dollar in a trade. Shoot even the Astros have given up a bounty of prospects for leas than half season rentals.
Caratini Is a backup. The Astros need a full time RF/OF. The play is move Caratini’s salary and use that to pick up a FA RF and stay under a salary cap or some such.
I would rather have 6 mil to invest in FA or trade and 2 prospects than Caratini and I like Caratini.
1. Hunter Brown 2. Ronel Blanco 3. [Pitcher acquired in Framber trade] 4. Spencer Arrighetti 5. Luis Garcia / LMJ / Wesneski (whoever is health & pitching decently)
I think the bigger reason for keeping Framber is that he's the only pitcher on the team without any questionmarks. You can generally pencil in what you will get from him - a lot of innings and consistent performance. Every other pitcher on the team has a pretty high degree of uncertainty since none of them have any sort of extended track record and/or are coming off major injuries. If you had the same collection pitchers with 3 or 4 years of known performance, I think the Astros are happy to trade Framber. But given that every one of the other pitchers is a bit of an unknown, I don't think Framber is expendable. There's a good chance they'd be looking to trade for a Framber when the July trade deadline rolls around.
Man the pitching injuries are just so impactful. Can you imagine if all 3 of McCullers, Javier, and Garcia had been healthy and productive to end last season? All 3 of those guys are Game 3 caliber SP with multiple years of control remaining. If they’re healthy and good to go then trading Framber doesn’t just seem viable, it’s downright needed in order to clear room and balance resources. **** luck for the stros in that arena. Fwar in last relatively healthy season: McCullers 3.2 Garcia 2.0 Javier 2.0
