Oh, that's right. Because VV and Appel have been amazing for us. To make this better... we took out a guy with pop in Phillips. People should be applauding this now move.... Giles is proven, controllable, and arguably a top 5-10 closer in the game .... and getting better.
Don't forget who chose Appel. It was Luhnow!!! He picked a guy in the first spot of the draft, that by his third year lost most of his value aside from being a former # 1 pick. Where is the accountability. Where is the outrage?
Hasn't Appel been a huge disappointment so far in the minors? I think we all need to let go of the justifications we made to make us feel better about Appel's development and finally accept the reality. His scouting report said he was one of the most major league ready arms out of the draft. Turns out, he's barely minor league average.
On top of that... his 5+ ERA might net him a 50 million dollar contract in todays baseball *cough* Giants new arm....
It seems like you are freaking out on both sides of this, was Appel a bust of a first overall pick or was it a big deal that he was tossed into this trade? It really can't be both. Baseball isn't the same as other sports when it comes to the draft, even when it comes to top picks in the draft, it's still a crapshoot that they'll ever be worth a damn.
Astros are pretty thin with starting pitching in the minors. Losing three more arms in this deal stings but ultimately Giles for 5 seasons is worth it. I'd say this is the last big trade Luhnow is going to pull off for a while. Probably need a couple drafts just to get the farm back to where it was before the Kazmir & Gomez deals.
I think the outrage dissipates when you take a dumpster fire and build one of the best teams in baseball while also building one of the deepest minor league systems in the league.
Did the Astros mishandle Appels development. Did they do a crappy job of scouting him? Did they sit on their previous year coup of Correa and McCullers, and think we're the smartest guys in the room. I say this was a disaster. Getting three number 1 picks in a row and botching two of them like they did. Appel was a college stud, not a HS pitching prospect. Do the Astros even know how to scout? I guess they are trying to save face from their incompetence, by getting something for him. And here we have posters trying to do damage control, spinning this from the reality of who is to blame. To those of y'all, I say I hope you are aware of where the outrage is.
Correa, McCullers, ? Way too early too call Bregmann, Eschelman, Cameron, K Tucker, Thurman anything either way. Appel hasn't lost velocity and is commanding his pitches. No one can figure out why he's been knocked around at times. I wouldn't give up on him turning it around just yet.
He was a consensus top 3 pick. Apparently no one knows how to scout. Have you ever considered that the draft is an inexact science and lots of players don't pan out?
Look at the history of the mlb draft and players bust out more often than actually make it. The bust rate is even higher for pitching prospects. Luhnow absolutely nailed the previous draft where everyone though they were getting Appel and he landed Correa and McCullers. That's a future MVP and top of the rotation starter there. Drafted Appel which looks like a bust, and then drafted the top pitching prospect in Aiken the following year. The Astros are not allowed to conduct physicals until after the draft and they discovered an elbow UCL abnormality so Luhnow astutely lowball him. He then goes out and blows out his elbow the first game he pitches for another team and we end up with Alex Bregman the following year as compensation. I've been very happy with Lunhow's drafts though also landing Kris Bryant would have been the dream scenario.
I kept reading that they were working on his other pitches. Kind of like they did with McCullers. Don't forget that number in the minor can be misleading, because teams take a higher ERA in order to perfect a 2nd or 3rd pitch in an arsenol. I guess Luhnw was blowing smoke and nobody in the MLB bought it but some of us dumb Luhnow apologists.
Or maybe McCullers was able to learn those 2nd and 3rd pitches well an Appel wasn't. You can't seem to decide whether you think Appel was a good pick or a bad one; whether they scouted him wrong or he was mismanaged; whether he holds lots or little value.
I still dont think the Astros botched the #1 a year ago. The Astros were not allowed to see Aiken's physicals until after he was signed. Then they did the right thing and lowballed him, took the heat, and had what some people considered an epic draft last year with the extra pick and bonus money. Too early to tell, everyone take a breather. Appel has seemed....bad. I wish we could have kept VV, but losing Appel doesnt really irk me.
Going back to that draft at that time I'd still take Appel 100/100 times. He was the consensus #1 from everyone who mattered like Callis & Law
Meh. Frankly i'm surprised the Astros didn't part with Appel in the original trade. I ain't trippin. But they better sign Cueto or somebody.
