To appease Buck.... I'd like Mike Yastrzemski. He kills RHP and would actually fit with Chas and/or Meyers to give the Astros more flexibility. Not sure the cost, but it should be within the Astros price range. It would also free up either Chas or Meyers as a trade chip.
I think it’s too early to tell. Let’s see how the offense looks like a month from now…. Brantley and McCormick will be back. Altuve will have just comeback. We will also see where Abreu is- if he is struggling the same, then we look for a bat there as well.
It’s going to be really hard to guess early who Houston will target. There are so many unknowns on all 3 sides of the equation (what are Houston’s true needs, how valuable are Houston’s prospects, and which players on other teams are available). Potential needs for Houston: C (Maldy sucks and Diaz is unproven) 1B (Abreu is the worst player in baseball) 2B (Altuve has been hurt and Dubon has cooled off) LF (Brantley and McCormick have been hurt and Julks has cooled off) UT (Hensley has been awful) SP (Garcia is out for the season, Urquidy and McCullers are hurt, Brown is a rookie and may have innings limits) RP (Montero, Stanek, Blanco, and Martinez have sucked, no proven lefty in the pen) Prospects overview: Drew Gilbert is probably pretty valuable, likely fits in the 40-80 range of the Top 100. Houston has a dozen other prospects that a team might want but none that are surefire core pieces of a major trade. Like last year Houston has plenty to acquire 2nd and 3rd tier pieces but would have to get extremely creative to acquire a star player. Players available: White Sox, Tigers, Royals, A’s, Nationals, Reds, and Rockies are already out of it and will be sellers. Cardinals and Marlins will likely join them. Then there’s a large group of teams (including, frankly, the Astros) whose deadline stance is TBD. C: Yasmani Grandal*, Salvador Perez*, Elias Diaz*, Willson Contreras (LOL) 1B: Kris Bryant*, CJ Cron, Yuli Gurriel, Garrett Cooper, Paul Goldschmidt* 2B/UT: Yoan Moncada, Matt Duffy, Jean Segura, Paul DeJong OF: Ramon Laureano, Randal Grichuk, Charlie Blackmon, Jurickson Profar, Jorge Soler, Avisail Garcia, Victor Robles, Tyler O’Neill SP: Lucas Giolito*, Mike Clevenger, Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease, Eduardo Rodriguez, Matthew Boyd*, Zack Greinke, Kyle Freeland, Trevor Rogers*, Jesus Luzardo, Patrick Corbin, Jordan Montgomery* RP: Keynan Middleton, Aaron Bummer, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo Lopez, Liam Hendricks, Aroldis Chapman*, Scott Barlow*, Amir Garrett, Brent Suter, Brad Hand*, Pierce Johnson, AJ Puk*, Matt Barnes, HuntervHarvey, Chris Stratton, Genesis Cabrera*, Giovanny Gallegos*, Lucas Sims I asterisked the guys I think Houston should/will be interested in. Obviously if the Angels sell then Ohtani would be the belle of the ball but I don’t expect Houston to be serious contenders for him. Cleveland could end up selling in which case their pitching would be interesting. If Colorado were willing to eat significant money then I think Kris Bryant could be a really good fit for this roster. Offers insurance at 5 spots (all 4 corners plus DH, and can even play CF in a pinch) and has a truly high ceiling. I also think Giolito is a good SP target if Houston deems it a need. A creative incredibly unlikely hypothetical: Astros get: OF/1B Kris Bryant RP Brad Hand C Elias Diaz Rockies get: OF Pedro Leon C Yainer Diaz OF Chas McCormick RHP Forrest Whitley 1B Jose Abreu Astros address all their holes, Rockies add 4 potential long term core pieces and swap Bryant’s contract for Abreu’s shorter contract. Resulting Astros roster: 2B Altuve LF Brantley 3B Bregman DH Alvarez 1B Bryant RF Tucker SS Pena C E Diaz CF Meyers Bench: Dubon, Maldy, Julks, Hensley Rotation: Valdez, Brown, Javier, McCullers, Urquidy/France BP: Pressly, Hand, Neris, Abreu, Maton, Montero, Stanek, Bielak/Blanco What’s funny is that looking at projections, CF, SS, and LHRP would be the needs, as every where else looks set.
Brantley taking time at 1B might possibly (but probably not) make taking a run at Ohtani slightly more sensical. Ohtani becomes the DH, Alvarez the LF, Brantley the 1B, and Abreu goes to the bench to backup 1B/DH/LF. Having lost Garcia for the season makes Ohtani make a bit more sense on the pitching side. I would find it impossible to imagine the Astros could be involved in Ohtani discussions without Gilbert being offered as the start of the package. But boy this lineup: RF Tucker 2B Altuve LF Alvarez 3B Bregman DH Ohtani SS Pena 1B Brantley/Abreu CF McCormick/Meyers C Diaz/Maldy UT Dubon SP Valdez, Ohtani, Brown, Javier, McCullers RP Urquidy, Martinez/TBD, Gage/TBD, Stanek, Montero, Neris, Maton, Abreu, Pressly
Any trade for Ohtani is a hail Mary. It's a very risky short term play that will set the team back substantially in 2024-2026 or possibly longer. The Astros have very few prospects that project or even have potential to be impact MLBers. It would take 3 or more of them to get Ohtani with ZERO chance of him being more than a 2 month rental. I would be terribly disappointed in that trade.
A trade like that can make sense if an owner is resigned to paying his way out of the hole it digs. By that I mean that it might be ok for Brown to trade away Gilbert, Whitley, Clifford, Barber, and whoever else it takes, if Crane tells him he can go over the tax in the next 2-3 years to buy free agents to fill in roster gaps that otherwise would have been filled by prospects. I don’t expect Crane to do that, and I do expect there will be several other owners who will be willing to do that, but it is one way I can see justifying a trade like that. It’s why I don’t really view any of the Mets signings as all that bad, even though many of them were dramatic overpays. Cohen has so much money that the payroll won’t be a burden on him no matter what; he will very very likely always be able to buy a good team.
I think the Abreu deal will make Crane think even harder about signing a player into his mid to late 30s. And with the direction the market is going that means even fewer impact free agents will be options in Houston. Like it or not, I do not see another top free agent signing in Houston. Ever or until Crane sells the team. Any trade will be like Big Unit or Beltran where there is no doubt he will never resign or extend. It's time to start the trade away top talent before FA game
Why would Crane base all his future decisions on how Abreu might work out, while ignoring how Verlander did work out?
The only time the Astros ever did this in their history was when they were effectively non competitive... but even then, they had already signed Oswalt/Berkman to extensions that bought out arb and some FA years.
I'm no meteorologist, but it would give me pause too. I'm not signing another ****ing 36+ year old again if I'm Crane. Unless that person has a massive track record like JV and is durable/healthy. Verlander had already shown us a lot in an Astros uniform before he went down with TJ. Abreu hasn't shown **** so far except he has his CWS track record, which wasn't as good as Verlanders.
I thought Abreu had like number three in RBIs over the last 3 or 4 years. And a MVP. Before the Verlander trade there were many that thought he was done being Elite. He had a 10 and 8 record in 28 starts with a whip of 1.279 and an era of 3.82 in Detroit. There was a risk bringing him over now obviously it went absolutely perfect.
I would have Gilbert, Y Diaz, and Loperfido off limits for anything except a cheap controllable star player. I would be very hesitant to trade Barber, Leon, Whitley, or Clifford for a rental. I expect Kessinger, Dirden, Wagner, Melton, Lee, Whitcomb, Gordon, and Arrighetti to be the group that we actually see get moved. They should be more than enough to add an elite reliever and maybe a rental bat.
But do they really need another reliever? All but the top 5% of relievers are close to a crap shoot or coin flip anyway Pressly, Abreu, Neris, Maton ( 2023 Maton anyway) are likely to be the best 4 whoever else gets brought in.
