I'd like to Ullola actually throw strikes at some point in his career before we annoint him a starter. His best BB/9 at any level is 5.16. Dubin might be as likely to be a starter as Ullola right now. Pecko probably has a better chance.
Where is Wesneski on your list? Don’t we have him under team control for a few more years ? I believe there is some hope for him to be a middle rotation guy ?
There's a lot of hope and wishes thrown out with these 2026 pitching tier projections. Every season, posters here talk about an excess of SP and it not being a priority and every year we've seen the guys who were part of those projections get injured or otherwise not produce. What I know if that Framber produces every year, and is probably gone next year. I know that Hunter has become one of the absolute best starters in baseball. Everything else is a hopefully or maybe. The Arrighetti hope is based on an exceptional month of August last year where he pitched at a level he never approached before, or since. I'll hold off on anointing him a blue blood type until I'm sure of his health and his ability to avoid walks. That's not going to work in the postseason. He's got a tier 1 ceiling and a tier 5 floor.
I think it's more likely that Dana goes and gets someone that NONE of us are talking about right now than it is that he goes and gets the obvious candidate. Kind of like Kikuchi last year. Our biggest need is obviously a bat that can crush RHP, but that's also a need that pretty much every playoff contender needs even if it isn't as pressing of a need as it is for us. That still means competition from organizations that have more prospect capital than we do. One guy I would love to see us take a shot on is Mike Soroka. Yes, our SP depth has been better than any of us expected and with the injured guys possibly returning, it doesn't seem like a Huge Need...But I see Soroka as a guy that has pretty elite stuff and pretty poor results. The kind of guy our pitching coaches have turned into studs in the past. Soroka had the one great year early (19) then missed a couple years with injuries. Since he has come back his results haven't been good. BUT, his K% this year is over 26, his BB% is 6.4, both of which are really good. He has also been excellent against the first 18 guys he faces in games, giving up less than a baserunner per inning and 65 K's in 53 innings. As a rental with an ERA north of 5 after his last blow up start, it wouldn't take much to get him away from Washington and he could be a guy our pitching staff has great results with
Tier 4 floor. 5 is exaggeration. We saw him pitch and hold his own and that’s likely the worst version we will ever see.
Jim Bowden did a Q & A on the trade deadline. Here are the Astros relevant questions he responded to: 21. What would the Astros have to give up to the Rays for Brandon Lowe? Great fit for us as a left-handed bat who plays second base and is (under team control) through 2026. Do you think Tampa Bay would take Chas McCormick and one of either Walker Janek or Brice Matthews? — Todd L. I think you could get Lowe for either Janek or Matthews. The Rays have been looking for a long-term solution at catcher, and Janek, a first-round pick last year out of Sam Houston, could end up being the answer for them. It would be a steep price to pay for the often-injured Lowe. But the Astros can win the World Series this year, and that type of trade could put them over the top. 22. Hey Jim. I’m a huge Astros fan. Here’s my trade proposal: Houston trades 2B/IF Brice Matthews, SP AJ Blubaugh and OF Jacob Melton to the Marlins for COF Jesús Sánchez and SP Edward Cabrera — Jon M I think this one makes a lot of sense for both teams. Great trade idea!
I would do Janek for Lowe in a heartbeat. And that other trade seems fair, but only if Miller/Murphy think Cabrera is an ace.
seems like a very fair trade if Tampa is selling, but I don't think they will until the offseason since they have have one more option year for him at a really low price.
The resulting playoff roster from making both of these trades would be amazing: SS Pena 3B Paredes DH Alvarez LF Altuve 2B Lowe 1B Walker RF Smith C Diaz CF Meyers Bench: Dubon, Caratini, Sanchez, Hummel SP: Brown, Valdez, Cabrera, McCullers RP: Hader, Abreu, King, Sousa, Okert, Javier, Garcia, Arrighetti, Walter The farm would be pretty decimated at the top, particularly on the position player side. Top 10 prospects would be (in no particular order): Ullola, Brito, Forcucci, Pecko, Nezuh, K Alvarez, Joseph Sullivan, their 2025 1st round pick, Luis Baez, and Chase Jaworsky. Farm would still be plenty deep in 2nd and 3rd tier prospects.
There are additional benefits to having an hitter stand in the lefty batter's box besides straight production. Pitchers throw different pitches to lefties than righties. Not all pitches are always on. Pitchers have to focus differently, as they are looking at a player to the left of the plate rather than the right if the plate. Lefty hitters generally have different "hot spots" than righty hitters. Pitchers must throw to different windows. Anytime you can force a pitcher to think and adjust and keep him out of routine it is a positive.
Agree. Rays are in the playoff race. They aren't giving up a top contributor without getting 2025 help back. It would be like the Astros trading Framber for prospects.
That's why we are sending them Chas too. Just need their GM to think like a couple people on this board lol
While this is very likely true, the Rays do not typically operate like that. They tend to almost always go for maximum total value even when it comes at the expense of an immediate contender. They also have a lot of positional versatility and offensive depth in their roster that would mitigate losing Lowe; Morel, Mead, Caballero, and Carson Williams could all play 2B. I’m not saying Lowe will be traded, but I do think he is available for the right return despite the fact that Tampa is contending.
I feel like this year's deadline is shaping up to be similar to 2022 for the Astros (hopefully with the same season result). The farm system doesn't have a lot breakthrough players who look like they could headline an impact deal. Their most valuable expendable assets are likely the young backend starters or maybe a bullpen arm, but the Astros might not want to part with pitching depth, and rebuilding teams probably would perfer more upside than MLB ready 5th starters. Injuries (Melton, Pecko, Nezuh, Dezenzo) and performances ranging from mediocre (Ullola, Jaworsky, Janek, Brito, Treadwell) to poor (Baez, Blubaugh, Gomez) took the wind out of the sails for some the higher upside prospects the Astros have. Cam Smith and the lawfirm of rookie pitchers clearly have provided a ton of value this season, so it's not like the minor league system has failed them, but if I'm the Marlins/Pirates/Nats, I'm not sure who in the system I'm really excited to acquire. Even Brice Matthews is whiffing at a frightening amount of pitches in the zone for as good of a season as he's having. The biggest breakouts on the hitting side are Will Bush and Joseph Sullivan, and they still are more likely role players than building blocks. Bryce Mayer is probably one of their most valuable prospects, and he was a 16th round pick a year ago. Caden Powell has a high ceiling, but is a long way from hitting major league pitching. It's hard to imagine Kevin Alvarez being dealt from the DSL. I think Mayer, Sullivan, Powell, Santa, Bush, and Whitcomb are the most likely prospects to be traded, but I'm not sure a combination of them gets you a middle of the order bat or a rock solid playoff starter.
It would have to be a ransom in return since they would get a fair amount for him in the off season also. We would have to give them prospects and something they could use now.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id...ffer-paul-skenes-ronald-acuna-jr-byron-buxton Interesting article on espn that aligns with the theme of this thread, although none of their hypotheticals involve the Astros. The Tigers/Pirates Skenes trade did intrigue me. Man Pittsburgh could build an absolute juggernaut if they were willing to deal Skenes, Keller, Cruz, Heaney, Bednar, and Reynolds this year. If Detroit was willing to do McConigle, Clark, Rainer, and Jobe, that’s the core of a contender. Add in another 4-6 elite prospects they could get from those other 4 guys, plus existing young players like Horwitz, Gonzales, Hayes, Falter, Chandler, Jones, their other prospects and their 2025 draft picks, and they might finally be positioned to actually contend. But of course they won’t do it. The article after that one on espn is stories from GMs about crazy stuff that has happened when making trades. Theres several Astros references in there and it’s an interesting read.
If Pittsburgh just kept Skenes and actually spent some damn money they could build an absolute juggernaut lol but of course they won't do that either
