if that is luhnow's mentality, he must have actually liked the haul wade got for bourn. i'd also much prefer quality over quantity at this point, esp with norris being our last major trade piece for the foreseeable future (assuming they aren't moving altuve). enough quantity was acquired last couple years plus through these drafts. come out of a norris trade with somebody high-end and who could be a major piece when we are competitive in the next couple years.
Maybe more, that is what I'd say is the minimum. OKC: Cosart Villar Oberholtzer Singleton Perez Springer Grossman Peacock (if qualifying) Woj CC: Folty NiTro Stassi Santana Lancaster: Tucker Fontana Aplin DDJ QC: Correa McCullers Ruiz Phillips Velasquez A handful of other guys would be near C+, and probably depends on who you ask (Rodgers, West, Ballew, Stoffel, Lo, etc). Generally relief pitchers don't receive high prospect grades, even if Lo & Ballew have shown flashes that say they could be great.
Just because we are looking for multiple prospects doesn't necessarily mean low end. In the Happ trade we managed to get 5 prospects, none of them even close to top 100, but 2 of which (Comer and Musgrove) were potentially high ceiling high schoolers. Not to mention Wojo and Rollins who are both having breakout seasons. Ideally you would like a top 25 prospect, but Luhnow realizes thats probably not in the cards, so grabbing multiples give you a better chance of getting a breakout prospect.
I agree with this. He probably wants a quantity of high ceiling guys instead of low ceiling, high floor guy. Getting high ceiling, high floor is costly.
High grade players are usually extremely high ceiling (all-star potential) and/or very close to contributing (AA or higher). I don't see Luhnow recognizing an absolute need for either right now. The road has been paved with several B-/C+ players returned in trades that may be productive players in Houston. Some are higher ceiling (Villar, Santana, Comer, Musgrove), some have middling ceilings and floors (Wojo, Perez, etc...) and some are pure organizational fodder that you hope contributes some WAR to the big league club (Rollins etc...) I think Luhnow's talent acquisition strategy is appropriate: create a steady and continuous pipeline of WAR to the big league club with a few high-ceiling/high-risk players and a big number of low/middle WAR contributors. Besides I'm also in the group that thinks Bud Norris ain't bringing back a top 50 prospect.
Maybe he liked the Hunter Pence haul. We got 4 prospects in that one, all of whom still project to the big leagues (though Zeid is borderline, and Santana is high-risk high-reward). That's quantity, right?
seems like norris' overall value at this deadline should be a couple notches higher than wandy's at the point that he was traded, no?
Yes. I thought we got hosed on the Wandy deal and pulled one over on Toronto in the Happ deal. I'm hoping for a deal like we got for Happ.
I would've thought other way around. Comer and Musgrove were high school arms drafted high, Perez was a fairly high upside catcher, and Asher Woj was another recent first rounder who hadn't yet put things together. In the Wandy trade, Cain was high upside, but I'd categorize Grossman as high floor.
yeah, obviously. my comment about the bourn trade wasn't intended as a slight on luhnow, i was just thinking aloud. we all knock the bourn trade, but it brought it quantity that doesn't seem too far off from the types of trades we have watched luhnow make, and the type of haul that we are conjecturing he is looking for in return for bud.
Definitely want more Happ like trades and less Wandy like trades. Ludhow does seem interested in more than just the 9 starters and 5 rotation spots from the minor league level than I've seen from previous Astros GMs. Ludhow seems to want to develop utility guys that can play multiple positions. The tandem system seems to very good at seeing how guys handle long relief as well as starting. Guys like Robbie Grossman who may never be a fulltime starter look to be useful as a 4th outfielder. Granted it could just be that the Astros are really bad and I spend much more time following the lower levels than I do the MLB squad these days.
Yep. That is how I spelled his name the first time I heard about him. I can't seem to get my fingers to break the habit.
I think this sums it up. Its not like we are trying to unload Miguel Cabrera So high ceiling low floor multi player scenarios fit what we are offering I suppose. Still not sure I agree with it. But at least I understand Luhnow's possible strategy now. It might just be he knows baseball better than I :grin:
I agree with the posts above, and think it would be nice if we could bring back a haul of 3-5 prospects and hope to catch lightning in a bottle with one of them. At the very least, odds are that one of them will turn into a major league contributor in some capacity. Ideally though you'd like to snag a team's #15 prospect and hope he turns into something special (kind of like Greg Blanco and Tyler Glasnow are doing in the Pirates organization this year). Another thing we've seen Luhnow do is take on a lot of reclamation projects. Bobby Borchering, Alex White, and Matt Dominguez were all former 1st rounders who lost their prospect status. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone like that thrown into a deal.
We should not move Bud unless we get some good high ceiling guys, Bud himself is already a very quality major league guy himself, don't move him unless we get a good chance to get someone who could end up better in my opinion.
