I still really like these potential trades. To up the ante I would change the White Sox trade to include Dezenzo and remove Meyers and Hicks (and maybe have the white Sox include more money). Astros could then flip McCormick for a lotto prospect. So: Arenado and money for Fleury. Robert Jr. and money for Melton and Dezenzo. The Astros resulting position player roster would be utterly stacked: LF Altuve 2B Paredes DH Alvarez 1B Walker CF Robert C Diaz RF Smith 3B Arenado SS Pena Bench: Dubon, Meyers, Caratini, Guillorme
Probably not, but that also means he’s probably not getting traded. At this point he’s a very high risk rental player who has a lot of upside if he has a good season because of his 2 relatively affordable team options. But the reality is he is coming off of a replacement level season where he hit worse than Jake Meyers. If the White Sox want a better return than 2 fringe Top 100 MLB-ready prospects, they’re going to have to hang on to him and bank on him having a huge 1st half.
Yeah, which is why I don’t see him being traded until the deadline. There’s too much talent there to risk trading him now IMO unless a team is willing to overpay based on his current stock. Based on their GM’s comments about MVP votes, seems like that’s his thinking as well. Obviously, they are taking a risk as he could suck or get injured resulting in getting nothing for him. As a GM, you’re probably less likely to get canned for this though than you are for trading him for this type of package and then he bounces back to 2023 numbers…or even worse he flourishes because he’s off the White Sox.
Nobody should be overpaying for a guy who hit .224/.278/.379 last year. He's a depressed asset. If the White Sox are selling at his nadir, they shouldn't expect to get top value. He may rebound and the team is going to suck, regardless. But there's a value in moving on from players who want no part of your organization. He contributed to the toxicity of the team last season.
I also think you might be underselling the 2 prospects. Melton is flawed but both he and Dezenzo have plenty of ceiling to be star players. There’s risk trading those 2 for Robert could end up being a huge mistake for the Astros. Both guys post elite exit velos and have defensive and baserunning value. Melton has strikeout and platoon risk and Dezenzo has risk of being a corner position player who only hits doubles and isn’t great on defense, but both guys are pretty valuable imho.
Yeah, I’m not a fan of Melton. I like Dezenzo and think he ends up being a solid contributor but he’s pretty much MLB ready. Don’t know if he makes much sense for their timeline since are going to suck for at least 2 more seasons. Regardless, like I said if Robert starts this season like he did 2023, the package they will get at the deadline will be significantly better.
I’m just telling you what’s going to happen. I don’t see him getting moved until the deadline. Wouldn’t give up more than Dezenzo and Melton right now either.
Mets need SP and just lost their starting catcher to hamate surgery. Framber Valdez and Victor Caratini For Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams, and Brett Baty.
Dezenzo and Melton are far closer to the JD Davis career projection than being star players. They’ll likely have a peak year around 26-27. Theres a huge gaping gap between having a JD Davis MLB career and being truly a star player/anchor of a team…. And yet we seem to still have that concern of trading advanced-age ‘prospects’ (that are advanced age for a reason… mainly for being flawed in some way/shape/form). Good guys to have as depth however, and they’ll carve out a MLB career based solely on that… being able to be ready to fill-in.
[QiUOTE="Nick, post: 15637850, member: 263"]Dezenzo and Melton are far closer to the JD Davis career projection than being star players. They’ll likely have a peak year around 26-27. Theres a huge gaping gap between having a JD Davis MLB career and being truly a star player/anchor of a team…. And yet we seem to still have that concern of trading advanced-age ‘prospects’ (that are advanced age for a reason… mainly for being flawed in some way/shape/form). Good guys to have as depth however, and they’ll carve out a MLB career based solely on that… being able to be ready to fill-in.[/QUOTE] I agree with this post However I see Dezenzo having a Phil Garner type career. Dezenzo isn't an older prospect, particularly when you take out the time he missed because of injury.
Doesn’t matter how you get there. When you’re turning 25 and have yet to play a full mlb season, you’re older for a possible “star”… (unless your name is George Springer). unfortunately the Astros fandom hasn’t seen a true bust out/rise fast prospect since Tucker/Bregman were drafted in 2015!!!… and scores of the Chas/Jake/Davis/Reed/White/Lee “glimmers”…. So everybody may be lacking in context here and I don’t blame em. (But it is also a huge reason why this era is coming to an end unless the pitching can continue to carry them).
