But Caratini is stuck on the bench. You are not considering the player(s) who are acquired in the trade. Is THIS team better off spending $6M for a player who adds 1 WAR of value while sitting on the bench 2/3 of the time, or by having equivalent value of player(s) at 2b and/or cf who fills a hole and can play twice as much, or even more?
What trade did Luhnow send a quality MLB player out for a similar value player at another position? Most of his trades were MLB players for minor leaguers early on and then minor leaguers/young MLB players with control for better players. The Astros had a lot non-stars because Luhnow drafted a bunch of talent and those guys (not counting the stars) filled those roles or were traded for them. Luhnow did not fill the bench by swapping out MLB veterans at one position for another. The closest I can think of is the 2nd Maldy trade, but Kemp still had 3-5 years left of service time. Maybe the pu pu platter for domestic violence. White for Scrubb.
I was thinking of Sandoval for Maldy off of the top of my head. The Fiers/ Gomez trade even if that didn't workout.
1 WAR in 600 PAs and 1 WAR in 300 PAs is still 1 WAR. Even assuming Caratini would fetch a player as if he were a 450 PA catcher only yields 1.5 WAR. The Astros already have better value in CF using your choice of WAR. So I definitely would not trade Caratini for an equivalent value CF to warm the beach for Chas who is warming the bench for Meyers. For 2B, I think the Astros will get 0.5 WAR from 2B even if they have to move Altuve back such that getting a 1.5 WAR 2B probably doesn't help (-1 WAR from C + 0.5 from 2B = 1.5 WAR from 2B). Chas and Dezenzo can be utilized in LF and are probably the value of player that Caratini can get. Personally, I think Dubon would fetch 1 WAR from 2B even though he's been slumping (bWAR doesn't like him) and think he'd be the type of player one could get for Caratini. On the 2B, I would consider it, but it is likely just swapping wins from one position to another. Maybe you can get a 50% chance at an extra win if a good trade is found. I don't think Granted, I don't believe Cesar is more than replacement level, and I think Caratini has situational value as a PH and can fill in for injuries as Diaz can slide to bat-first positions. Caveat: This is usually bWAR and making decisions as if bWAR pace was absolutely correct except for Dubon who I called out. OVerall though, I don't think Caratini can get a better CF than what the Astros have. 2B, maybe, but likely not a big deal one way or the other as I expect equivalent value in a trade and the Astros to have positive WAR from 2B even if it is a small number.
Sandoval was still a minor leaguer. Hader, Houser, Phillips and Santana were all young players with a ton of control. Trading a MLB player with a year left for a MLB player of similar value at a different position with a year left is just something most teams don't do very often. If the Astros trade Caratini, it will likely be that the Astros are punting this year to get something for the future.
We are just going round and round. First, Caratini may get 1 WAR playing 1 out of every 3 games, but that's not a 1 WAR player - because he's getting 1 WAR only playing 1/3 of the time. Secondly, my point is that catcher is filled by a reasonably good player which is why Caratini is only playing 1/3 of the time. You can not tell me this team does not have holes. This team would be better if Caratini was exactly as he is, but was a 2b instead of a catcher.
We’ll see how the rest of the day goes but reading “pupu platter for domestic violence” is probably the hardest I will laugh today.
If we're out of contention, and assuming the A's keep overachieving, they would be a perfect trade partner for Framber. That franchise gets maybe one playoff shot every decade and they will likely go all in, they have a ton of young talent to trade, and they have zero shot of re-signing him so trading him within the division won't matter.
Aging players would be Walker and Altuve. Free agents lost would be Fedde, Caratini, and Framber. So yes, there wouldn’t be many holes to fill. I have confidence in Salazar to replace Caratini and the existing pitching depth to replace Fedde. Javier, Garcia, and McCullers health would determine whether they need to go out into the market t replace Framber. If the Astros stay under the tax and avoid signing QO free agents next offseason, they’d stand to add a 2nd round pick for Framber, so that is an incentive to keep him (or demand more for him in trade at the deadline).
Yes. An extra 1st rounder (for Brown finishing Top 3 CY) and an extra 2nd rounder (Framber QO comp) would likely give Houston 5 of the top ~110 picks in the 2026 draft. That kind of draft capital can dramatically improve a farm system in one shot. We could fast forward to July of 2026 (14 months from now) and have Houston with an entirely different org top 10 prospects than what they have now, between the 2025 draft (likely to add 2 really good prospects), the 2026 draft (potentially adding 4-5 really good prospects), FCL/DSL bubble ups (like Forcucci and Kevin Alvarez), potential sell-side trades (maybe McCormick), and any existing prospects who break out unexpectedly.
Well, if this is any indication of what Dana Brown was being offered for Framber during the offseason, I can see why Framber is still in an Astros' uniform. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ml...&cvid=e655322ecd144f5ea3c3a01cf4437da2&ei=322 Yankees Get: SP Framber Valdez Astros Get: SP Clayton Beeter (NYY #20 Prospect; 26 y/o) OF Everson Periera (NYY #12 Prospect; 24 y/o)
It would be much more than that. The Yankees #1 prospect is #96 overall in baseball. It would be two of their top five prospects for sure and then one more top ten guy. I don't think the Yankees are a good fit at all. Framber is worth a top 50 prospect in all of baseball as a starting point.
Absolutely! It's gonna take more than the #12 and #20 prospect to get Framber. Of course, he's only worth what someone is willing to pay for in prospects.
Yeah that hypothetical is a casual yankee fan spitballing. Firstly, Framber isn’t going to the Yankees unless the Astros are completely out of contention. And if he does, the price will be high. My guess would be something like: Yankees get: SP Framber Valdez Astros get: SS Roderick Arias P Ben Hess P Griffin Herring That’s the Yankees #2 and #3 prospect (per mlb.com) plus a high upside big bonus arm. NY’s farm is not very good, Lombard is probably untouchable, and Spencer Jones’s stock is falling, so this deal would be getting their 2 best available prospects. I wouldn’t necessarily like this trade much for Houston, but I don’t really see much to like in the Yankees system.
I mean if we take the return the Jays got for kikuchi from us, with bloss, loperfido and Wagner. Those three are already a better return than the Yankees fan proposal and Framber is two levels above Kikuchi. Orioles need pitching bad.
I still think the Mets are a good trade partner for a starting pitcher. They are absolutely in a position to contend, but probably want to maximize those chances since they are competing in the insanely stacked Nationally League. Their rotation has been very good, but they must be concerned about it as the season gets later. Every one of their starters have some kind of workload concern and/or injury risk/history. Luisangel Acuna looks like he could fill the Astros hole at 2b. The Mets can afford to give him up because Jeff McNeil is there this year, and Jett Williams ( and Francisco Lindor) look to have him blocked long term. Arrighetti for Acuna? Edit: I meant it to be "Arrighetti + a good SP prospect" for Acuna. Brandon Sproat? Blaze Tidwell? Spencer alone is ludicrous- my bad.
