Also I think that would be dumb of Pittsburg not to do (in a vacuum I mean). Maybe someone else gives you better players but that plenty enough that they should be happy to do that. Cruz isn’t the difference between them contending or not on the skenes tineline.
At what cost? I'd rather have a solid vet who can get on base for the next few years than take up a spot with an unproven, swing happy slugger who'll find his way out of the league soon. There's a reason why Cruz would be available for a discount if we got him that way because these guys are not rare.
He's a total disaster on defense no matter where you put him. Pitt has already bailed on him as a SS, and he's awkward as **** in CF. He's a K machine at the plate. He is very athletic though.
I wouldn't give up that much for Cruz. Only way I would give up that much for Cruz is if I thought he could become a star level player, which I dont think that's going to happen.
He'd be a complete disaster at 2B, c'mon don't play around His ideal positions are "batter's box" and "temporarily standing on 1B"
He hasn’t even been a bad CF…what are y’all talking about? Dude has a cannon and has 3 OAA this season I agree I wouldn’t put him at 2B though
Anyone can play LF that’s ambulatory. Sort of. I’m not worried about a world class athlete playing LF especially at the ice box.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/oneil-cruz-665833?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb You’re telling me that’s the profile of someone who “can’t play LF” at Daikin…
@Snake Diggit what would be a trade package for both Mitch Keller and Edward Cabrera? Keller has team control for another couple of years at a reasonable cost for low end #2/high end #3 SP.
I think somebody is gonna overpay for Keller. But for Houston I think it would cost something like Matthews, Melton, and Ullola. I would not want Houston to make that trade. Cabrera’s value is harder to peg. On paper his value is not that high. Something like Ullola, Matthews, and a couple of lesser prospects would be reasonable.
I don't want the Astros to trade Ullola. Of all the AAA/current MLB fill in starters, he is really the only one who has a postseason starter ceiling. I would much rather any of them get traded first. Ranking them least sad to most sad if traded. Alexander Blubaugh Gordon Gusto Walter Ullola
If the Astros are going to make a trade that significantly improves the big league roster, I am pretty sure one of Ullola or Matthews (if not both) will be included. Houston just simply doesn’t have any other valuable trade assets right now. Arrighetti, Dezenzo, and Melton could be valuable assets but not while they’re hurt, and it’s almost impossible for any of them to show they’re fully healthy before the deadline. Guys like Anderson Brito and Kevin Alvarez could be valuable but they I think they will be discounted because they’re so far from the majors. I think guys like Joseph Sullivan, Bryce Mayer, Walker Janek, AJ Blubaugh, and a few others all have trade value and will be asked about by other teams, but they don’t have enough value to get significant trades over the finish line. For me, Gordon, Gusto, and Walter are too important to the big league roster with Arrighetti, Javier, and Garcia not coming back for the deadline. I think Houston can either have an underwhelming trade deadline where they add 1-2 3rd tier complementary big leaguers, in which case they can hang on to Matthews and Ullola, or they can make a major trade, in which case they’ll bite the bullet and let one (or both) of those guys go.
They can trade one of the guys from the law firm. Arrighetti has a broken thumb. There’s absolutely no reason it should be difficult to determine where he’s at during the entirety of his rehab- it’s just spring training build up at that time.
I agree with this assessment. I have no problem with them trading Matthews as long as they get a lefty 2B with control remaining. With Diaz, Walker, Pena, Paredes, Altuve, and Smith all hitting RH and locked into primary starting roles in 2026, Matthews doesn't fit. Even if Melton wins the primary CF job, the team would still be too RH heavy. And, at this point I would say it's at least 50/50 that Meyers is the favorite for that spot. This team needs a LH 2B very very badly even if its an underwhelming one like Lux.
