Current deadline hope: Out: McCormick, 3 pitchers from this group: Arrighetti, Blubaugh, Ullola, Gusto, Blanco, Abreu In: an all-star LH bat who can play CF or 2B and has multiple years of control, 2 good infield prospects
Seems like a lot of pitching to give up. Looking at the all star rosters from the last few years, its hard to find that dude unless it's Arraez or Riley Greene. Maybe Reynolds? I do it if it's Carrol (pipe dream) or Robert, Jr.
And who is this all-star LH outfield with years of control that's out there to trade for? Better be good player with all those pitchers you put out.
I actually think if an all-star level CF is brought in then it makes more sense to trade Meyers than McCormick. I also would put Arrighetti among the players I would be least willing to trade, but would. Brown is the only untouchable pitcher.
Orioles needs pitching. Cedric Mullins??? But he's injury prone and would be a rental(sign and trade?). Also would they trade him?? Ryan O hearn said when he's locked in, he can carry them. I know he can keep it up and carry the team on his back. Seems like if they make the playoffs, it would be him leading the charge. What about Heston Kjerstad. Not a CF so would need to move Smith to CF or see if Kjerstad can play CF. Still young and unproven so don't know if he'll be an all star.
It’s tough. It’s way too early know who might be available and playing well. And All-Star might be a bad label, but it doesn’t feel specific enough to just say “good”. Here’s a hypothetical I would like: Astros get: OF Lars Nootbaar 2B Brendan Donovan Cardinals get: P Spencer Arrighetti OF Zach Dezenzo P Miguel Ullola P Jose Fleury Astros get 2 good LH bats who can fill the weakest spots in their lineup, and both are controlled through 2027. Cardinals get a young SP with very high ceiling and relatively established floor, 2 2nd tier pitching prospects (one with an extremely high ceiling in Ullola), and an upside bat with value on par with a fringe top 100 prospect. Casual Cardinals fans would probably scoff at that return, knowledgeable Astros fans probably scoff at if from the other side. The Cardinals front office would have to like those Astros pieces more than the industry public consensus, but I feel it’s a fair trade. The deadline market is very hard to predict. The Astros resulting lineup would be stacked, and they’d still have plenty of SP depth (6 deep, with Blubaugh, Gordon, and Walter in AAA and Garcia potentially coming back). 2B Donovan 3B Paredes DH Alvarez LF Altuve CF Nootbaar 1B Walker RF Smith SS Pena C Diaz Bench: Dubon, Meyers, Caratini, Rodgers Rotation: Framber, Brown, McCullers, Blanco, Gusto, Wesneski Bullpen: Hader, Abreu, King, Okert, Whitley, Ort, Scott
I’d probably do this one, although I really think Dezenzo is going to be very good and would be hard to part with.
If they’re willing to move Smith to CF this season, they could leave Nootbaar and Dezenzo out of the deal; Arrighetti and Ullola should be enough for Donovan. It’s less R/L balance and more risk with Dezenzo, but still potentially the 2nd or 3rd deepest lineup the Astros have had since 2006.
I would feel like someone sawed off my arm if it was Arrighetti, blubaugh and Ullola. Those better be some really good prospects and the 2B/CF. Better have 2.5 years left.
I think Arrighetti is a dude. Like/ happy to have him start game 2 or 3 of a playoff series dude. I think Ullola has cy young upside. I would so much rather fill holes trading Framber than those guys. And I’d rather 5 or 6 years of club control coming back as opposed to 2.5. So- I’d rather market Framber to contenders making win now trades and hope to get something they don’t need or is blocked for a good little bit. And it’s got to be at 3B, 2B or CF or it doesn’t do us too much good. I’d also like to hang on to Dezenzo. I felt he would hit from the first moment I saw him. if Cam can play CF the. That means you only have one spot to film and that’s 2B. That starts getting really interesting for the future and if so then you could trade Framber for best prospects available. I agree the deadline is going to be super expensive. That’s why I’d be ready to be a seller from depth even if we were in first place. I believe in the young pitchers way more than most.
Definitely a reasonable take. But a lot of us probably saw Loperfido the same way you see Dezenzo, and there were some who saw Bloss as a dude too, although admittedly he wasn’t on par with Arrighetti given the flashes Spencer has shown in his big league appearances. I don’t want to give anything away. But I see Arrighetti with a lot of risk and if another team places an extremely high value on him, I’m comfortable letting him go given how much pitching depth Houston has (I am very high on Blubaugh and Pecko, and Gusto has been a revelation).
I never saw Loperfido that way and was pissed at the kikuchi trade because I felt like Wagner absolutely shouldn’t have needed to be included, AND we should have gotten back an interesting prospect headed our way for what we gave up for kikichi, who was pretty spare everywhere in his career outside houston.
I think Arrighetti and Dezenzo ate head and shoulders above Bloss and Loperfido. Our obsession with Bloss was based on lots of scouts talking and a small sample of actual success. Even in college, he made a quick rise in metrics/performance at an ideal time but became an actual prospect late. I was all-in like most, but got fooled by the hype. Arrighetti has shown the ability to K legitimate MLB hitters and done it. That is a very valuable ability that not everyone can do. He has also shown an advanced ability/willingness to work mentally on his game. That along with his general lack of injury risk makes him much better than Bloss. Loperfido and Dezenzo may end up being very similar. It's possible. The biggest difference I see is that Loperfido went through 118 PAs with the Astros and then 144 with the Blue Jays starting strong both times but then regressing and not showing any improvement at the end. Dezenzo is showing development and improvement already in less than half as many PAs.
You were ( are?) just captivated by Wagner's hit tool because it's such a rare ability in the Astros system. I am very sentimental and would have loved for Billy's son to be an Astro fixture, Even if it's on the bench, but he doesn't have any other carrying tool. He has Mauricio Dubon's bat but from the left side and without any of the defensive versatility or ability.
That’s an accurate description of Wagner. I believe he’d be a decent platoon bat for us at 2B. You could hit him 8th or 9th and have an average offensive player there that helped turn the lineup over. It would be nice to have another Astro with a decent hit tool and would be nice to have another LHH that could give you a professional AB other than Caratini. He’s not great as a prospect or anything but he could have (imo) been helpful to us last year as a bench bat and this year as a 2B platoon guy. Hated him being a throw in and thought we should have been the one to get that throw in, since kikuchi was so average before coming to houston.
I don't disagree with you. I just don't have any feelings about him being included in a trade. No major loss. As for Kikuchi, I don't think Brown gave up anything that he didn't have to. They were up against the Clock, limited impact options, many teams were looking for pitching, and several recently traded Astro prospects haven't exactly popped for their new teams. I think Brown had to overpay. I am actually happy better guys still in the Astros system weren't included instead.
I'm down with your wants But I wouldn't trade Abreu. I know we have some bullpen guys who are having some success, but none have the kind of "end game playoff" stuff that Abreu has. If we get it all together and make the playoffs, i'd really like to add a high end arm to Abreu/Hader Also would HURT to give up Arrighetti, but if you are getting an all star with multiple years control obviously the players going out will have to hurt
Yea I would try to get it done without Dezenzo in it, simply because we have so little offensive potential on the farm as it is
