Not that I want them to trade for them, but Yuli and Vasquez would help a lot. Yes, I know Vasquez numbers.
Wonder if miami regrets the lebron signing cause they only won 2 titles and he only won a couple mvps
Yes they need another dominant reliever if they want the type of pen they had last yr. Put Stanek in the trade if need be. It's unlikely they will be able to dump Montero's contract.
Updated expected availability list: C: Yasmani Grandal*, Sal Perez*, Luke Maile, Elias Diaz* IF: Tim Anderson, Javy Baez, Matt Duffy*, Jeimer Candelario, Jonathan India*, Nick Senzel, Thairo Estrada*, JD Davis*, Wilmer Flores*, Brandon Crawford OF: Eloy Jimenez, Ramon Laureano, Victor Robles, Lane Thomas, Jake Fraley, Lamonte Wade, Mike Yaz*, Joc Pederson*, Michael Conforto*, Mitch Haniger, Charlie Blackmon, Jurickson Profar SP: Lucas Giolito*, Dylan Cease*, Lance Lynn*, Michael Lorenzen, Matt Boyd*, Zach Greinke, Brad Keller, Patrick Corbin*, Alex Cobb*, Anthony DeSclafani*, Alex Wood*, Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling RP: Joe Kelly, Keynan Middleton, Kendall Graveman*, Liam Hendricks*, Reynaldo Lopez, Aroldis Chapman*, Scott Barlow*, Amir Garrett, Hunter Harvey*, Buck Farmer, Lucas Sims, Alex Young, Tyler Rogers, Taylor Rogers*, Brad Hand*, Brent Suter*, Daniel Bard Plenty of relief arms, BoR guys, and bench bats. I asterisked the guys I think could help Houston. No major stars although I think Yaz and India would be impact players for Houston. JD Davis seems like a good fit too as guy who can provide insurance in 1B, 3B, and LF and serve effectively as the backup at 6 lineup spots. The Giants aren’t guaranteed sellers but they are trending that way.
What would everybody think about a bad salary swap of Jose Abreu for Javier Baez? Abreu is probably more dead but Baez has $50M more left on his deal. Maybe Abreu, Dubon, and Whitley for Baez and $20M? Baez takes over Dubon’s (super)utility role and Houston washes their hands of Abreu and goes out and shops for a new 1B (or plays Baez at 1B). Tigers get out from under Baez’s contract (saving about $40M), gets a complementary piece in Dubon, and adds a high risk/reward arm in Whitley. Extremely unlikely but I like to fantasize about ways Abreu can be cut loose without a total write off.
I agree Vasquez would likely help, but stunts Diaz. Yuli causes a bigger problem unless Abreu gets (is?) hurt that ship has sailed.
Maybe in the offseason after Baez doesn't opt out and Miggy is retired. I can't see Abreu as a fit for Detroit with Miggy and Torkelson on the roster and if Detroit has any prayer Baez ops out they will wait.
Wait ... what? So because of 40 games of sucking, you want to trade $60MM of salary at a position of need for $120MM of salary for a player that has no particular position on this team and has been bad for longer? And you want to trade other players to facilitate it?
I don't think Yuli could play the Hensley role. He is old and no longer a good 1B much less 3B or 2B. And I understand have the best player right now and not worrying about stunting, but it's 50-50 that Diaz would be as good as Vasquez if he just plates consistently
My Current top 5 Astros trade targets: 1. C Salvador Perez: not only clearly upgrades the projected weakest lineup spot and also provides insurance against continued poor performance from Abreu (assuming Diaz isn’t traded). Perez also appears to be a good clubhouse fit. An older player with a substantial contract who should fit within Houston’s prospect means. 2. OF Mike Yastrzemski: a proven Star caliber LHH OF who comes with multiple years of control. This assumes Brantley is toast and the FO doesn’t think Gilbert is ready to be a star this season. It also assumes Yaz can be had without giving up Gilbert, which might not be realistic. 3. IF/OF JD Davis: a proven middle of the order bat who essentially provides insurance/backup at 5 lineup positions; sort of a poor man’s Kris Bryant. Prospect cost shouldn’t be too high given his defensive limitations. 4. SP Dylan Cease: SP with ace potential and multiple years of control. This depends on the price being anywhere near reasonable. 5. RP Scott Barlow: when in doubt, deepen the pen. Only has 1 more year of control so he shouldn’t be too expensive. Let’s imagine they acquire Perez (for Lee, Whitley, and Taylor), Davis (for Leon and Blanco), and Barlow (for Kessinger, Macuare, and Paredes) without giving up Gilbert. Let’s also imagine Gilbert keeps raking and is ready to come up. Let’s even imagine Abreu and Brantley are both toast. Playoff roster: CF Gilbert 2B Altuve DH Alvarez 3B Bregman RF Tucker 1B Davis C Perez SS Pena LF McCormick Bench: Maldonado, Meyers, Dubon, Diaz Rotation: Framber, Brown, Javier, McCullers Bullpen: France, Urquidy, Stanek, Montero, Maton, Neris, Barlow, Abreu, Pressly (yes, that means leaving Abreu off the playoff roster in favor of Diaz)
I think that the most pressing needs are: 1) starting pitcher 2) starting pitcher 3) starting pitcher 4) nobody - if you can't get a starting pitcher this might as well be 2020 - they ain't winning anything. I also feel that every other aspect of this team is unable to be improved. In my opinion: There is no catcher available who will play enough to make any meaningful impact more than Diaz. There is no 1B available who will hit better than Abreu in the 2nd half. The top 4-5 relief pitchers now are plenty good enough to win. Whether they do is a crap shoot but you roll the same dice with any reliever you bring in. With Altuve healthy, Dubon will take up much of the playing time any new DH/OF would get so it would be a wasted roster spot and throwing away trade assets. The only thing that makes sense is bring in a starter who can take Garcia's spot and keep the bullpen from getting gassed before the playoffs
The need in the rotation depends on how you feel about McCullers and France, and what kind of inning restrictions Brown needs to be on. France has looked extremely capable to this point and the cost to bring in any pitcher that would project to be any better than he’s been will be prohibitive. McCullers is a ToR pitcher…when healthy. You don’t want to go out and pay for a ToR pitcher if you think McCullers will be healthy and France will maintain anything close to what he’s shown so far.
Everything you say is correct. And I do not have much confidence in either 1) I love McCullers and HOPE he returns healthy for the 2nd half. It's just impossible to count on that. 2) I do not see France as a MLB starting pitcher. His story is cool and I hope he keeps pitching well. I would be very happy if he was in this bullpen full time buy less happy if he is still starting games in August and September. I just feel once the league sees him and makes adjustments he has a ceiling of a bottom of the rotation arm on a middling team or a 5-7 inning man on a contending team. 3) I think Hunter Brown will be a solid #3 starter next year which will make this rotation great if Lance is healthy. This year they should limit his innings which is another reason to bring in a starting pitcher. I think they could use the outfield depth and maybe even Luis Garcia to bring in a starter. TJS recovery is so consistent now that it's reasonable to expect him to have value for 2025-2026 and most of 2024 for a team that expects to compete but not this year and has a starter who is a FA this year or next.
Last night Valdez was pulled after 4 innings. It happens. I believe a long reliever who could go 3-4 innings or play as an opener to keep him active when necessary would be my #1a priority. Getting Dusty to use him correctly might be a fight worth engaging in.
