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2024 Hypothetical Astros Trades Thread

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by Snake Diggit, Apr 23, 2024.

  1. Kemahkeith

    Kemahkeith Member
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    Trade Tuck, trade Pressley if he waives his no trade, don't re sign Verlander. trade Montero for some cash to offset his contract anchor.

    Use that money to sign SOTO. Even if he sucks, he won't be the Astros kryptonite.
     
  2. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    The comments in the other thread about trading Tucker got me thinking about what a realistic trade might look like. Here’s what I came up with:

    Astros get:
    3B Brett Baty
    SS/CF Jett Williams
    IF Ronny Mauricio
    OF Starling Marte
    $8M

    Mets get:
    RF Kyle Tucker
    CF Jake Meyers

    Houston gets an elite prospect in Williams who probably slots at the top of their prospect list. They also get a big league ready high upside 3B and a high upside/risk young infielder with an option remaining. Finally, they add Marte to offset some salary and give Houston another big league outfielder to replace Tucker. The Mets add a superstar hitter in Tucker and one of the 5 best defensive CF in the league; their everyday OF of Tucker/Meyers/Nimmo would be the best defensive OF in baseball and one of the 5 best overall. The Mets also get first crack at signing Tucker. Keep in mind Stearns is a Luhnow era alumni so he probably is fond of both Tucker and Meyers.

    If Houston took Mauricio and added him to a package of McCormick and Caratini to get Lowe from Tampa (Mauricio is the exact kind of player they acquire and turn into a good player), Houston’s lineup would look like this:

    RF Marte
    2B Altuve
    DH Alvarez
    LF Lowe
    C Diaz
    3B Baty
    1B Singleton (with Whitcomb or Dezenzo taking games against lefties)
    SS Pena
    CF Dubon
    Bench: Salazar, Whitcomb, Kessinger, Cabbage

    The crux of that deal and revised lineup would be Baty; if he’s not a good big league hitter then the lineup is much worse than 2024 and the team probably isn’t a playoff team. But if he hits, the lineup is very deep and the longer term outlook is dramatically improved. AAA would have a large group of position player prospects with legitimate star upside: Dezenzo, Matthews, Melton, Jett Williams, Leon, Mauricio, and Corona all have 20/20 potential with defensive value.

    I don’t think that’s a good idea for Houston to pursue and I definitely don’t think it will happen. But if Houston were to trade Tucker, that’s about the best type of deal we could hope for, and that’s a lot less than he would have brought back last offseason.
     
  3. SamCassell

    SamCassell Member

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    I'm assuming you are referring to Josh Lowe (the outfielder) and not Brandon Lowe (the 2B) in that scenario. If so, you're adding league average bats in Marte and Lowe to the lineup and Baty, who was bad in 2024 but is still young. Your only above-average bats in that lineup are Altuve, Diaz, and Yordan. Not exactly a contending roster.

    So I'm with you, I wouldn't make those moves. Not a contending lineup.
     
  4. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    Brandon Lowe

    The lineup would project like:
    Above average
    Star
    Superstar
    Star
    Star
    Baty
    Above average (platoon)
    Average
    Below average
     
  5. IdStrosfan

    IdStrosfan Member

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    Delete

    Stats were off.

    Will research and repost.
     
  6. SamCassell

    SamCassell Member

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    I like Brandon Lowe a lot, I agree with that rating. He hasn't played any OF in 3 years, though. He may be the 2B in your scenario, Altuve at DH, and Yordan as a full time LF, if he was up to it.

    You've overrated Marte, though. He turned 36 today. He's a part time player for the Mets and had a 104 OPS+ this season after being terrible in 2023. Doesn't hit righties well anymore. He's not above average at this stage of his career.
     
    Astrofan59 likes this.
  7. raining threes

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    I'm not looking for this type of lineup and I'm not sure this lineup would be better than last years lineup.

    Give me a lineup that looks something like this.

    Altuve 2b
    Yordan DH
    Tucker RF
    Diaz C
    Lowe 1B Trade McCormick/Gusto/Melendez/Cole
    Robert CF trade Gordon/Ulolla/Melton/Leon/Nezuh
    Comforto LF
    Dezenzo/Baty 3B
    Pena SS
     
  8. IdStrosfan

    IdStrosfan Member

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    I would take this roster.

    I'm not sure if Brown brings in that many veterans, or trades away that many prospects.

    Lowe hits lefty, so playing him at 1b negates the solid platoon production they get from Singleton. I think if they bring him in, it's to play LF not 1b.

    For 1b I think they either bring in a guy like Walker or Yandy Diaz to start full time, or they use Singleton in a platoon - either Dezenzo/Whitcomb or bringing in a veteran like Solano or Santana.

    If they bring in Lowe and/or Robert they will be above Diaz in the lineup. Yainer's swing early, ground ball approach is better suited lower in the order.
     
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  9. raining threes

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    I dont want Singleton in a platoon situation, a bench bat sure, getting regular AB's, no.

    I dont know about your last sentence. Although true, he did a great job of driving in runs in the cleanup position last year.
     
    everyday eddie likes this.
  10. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    Ryan Pressly for Ryan O’Hearn and a PTBNL, who says no?
     
    raining threes likes this.
  11. SamCassell

    SamCassell Member

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    You seem to be in on a lot of platoon guys. O'Hearn never ever faces lefties anymore, that's why his #s look good. He's basically Jon Singleton. If you want that in LF, OK.
     
    raining threes and Snake Diggit like this.
  12. Kemahkeith

    Kemahkeith Member
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    Ryan Pressley.
     
    Snake Diggit likes this.
  13. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    A Singleton/Dubon 1B platoon and O’Hearn/McCormick LF platoon could be a really cheap high quality solution in the 6-7 holes, with Pena 8th. They’d still need a 3B or CF who could bat in the top 5.
     
  14. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    Twins owners just announced they’re selling. Often times teams will shed payroll before selling. In that spirit:

    Astros get:
    SS Carlos Correa
    CF Byron Buxton
    $8M (2025)

    Twins get:
    OF Jacob Melton
    IF Zach Dezenzo
    IF/OF Brice Matthews
    P AJ Blubaugh
    CF Jake Meyers

    CF Buxton
    2B Altuve
    DH Alvarez
    RF Tucker
    3B Correa
    C Diaz
    1B Singleton/Dubon
    SS Pena
    LF Whitcomb/McCormick
     
    Jags, everyday eddie and AKdaDawg like this.
  15. IdStrosfan

    IdStrosfan Member

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    The Astros ABSOLUTELY should be looking at platoon players.

    1) they have a huge payroll issue and platoon players are cheaper than everyday players.

    2) They have a 1b who, while not great, is perfectly acceptable vs RHP, along w/ a CF, 4th OF, and util man who hit (generally and historically) LHP very well. This makes platoon players very viable.

    I don't think people realize just how bad the 2025 payroll looks.

    1. Crane just paid about $4.5M in penalties for going over the CBT in 2024.
    2. The team is not getting a big playoff share from a deep playoff run this year.
    3. Crane has partners who will expect $$$ even if his priority is winning over $$$.
    4. The penalty for being over the CBT for a 2nd year is 30%/42%/75%/90% for the different tiers.
    I don't see anyway to avoid going into the CBT for a 2nd year but that means they absolutely won't must stay below it in 2026 and they will do everything they can to stay as low as possible in 2025. I do not see anyway they go into the 3rd tier, which limits them to about $36M to spend total for 2025.
     
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  16. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    I agree with your overall point but my understanding is that most of the partners who were in it for the money have been paid off/bought out.
     
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  17. IdStrosfan

    IdStrosfan Member

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    That's great. I have no knowledge. It was simply an assumption.
     
  18. raining threes

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    I'm on board with this

    A professional hitter, OF.
     
  19. raining threes

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    I didn't know this
     
  20. raining threes

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    I like this, but I wouldn't put both Blubaugh and Matthews in the deal.
     

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