For what it is worth, Jeff Passan just said that he believes Verlander will be dealt on 670 the score in Chicago. He didn't say where to, but said there is someone that needs him and is motivated.
I am pretty sure I read that Blevins was blocked on waivers. He can't go anywhere for the rest of this season.
Please, please be us!! #TeamVerlander Another thing I neglected to point out -- He has been better for longer than "his last seven starts" or whatever the number is. He had one blip vs. CLE but has been pitching well for almost two months now.
Before Cleveland game, it looks like a blip (greater than league average ERA or xFIP) almost every other game.
We must have different definitions, good sir. In the five full games (he left one due to injury) before CLE, he didn't give up more than 3 ER in any contest.
Wow. The only team besides Houston that makes any sense to me would be Boston. The Angels have a need and could probably afford him, but they don't have any prospects and he probably would not go there. The Nats and Yankees would be a long shot. No other teams that are contending and could afford his contract (Chicago, LA) appear to have the room in their rotation for him. I could definitely see Verlander agreeing to go to Houston given that they are the AL favorites and he will have an option to be a free agent at the end of the season. And Houston has the prospects. It's all about the compromise both sides are willing to make when it comes to prospects and money.
3 ERs in 6 innings or less is above league average. His ERA in that 5 game stretch is slightly higher than league average. Being slightly higher than league average in ERA is not like what he has been doing lately. Add in the Cleveland game and his ERA is above 6. Stats by xFIP look slightly better over that 5-6 game span, but Musgrove has had a better xFIP for his entire season.
If advanced stats lead you to the conclusion that Musgrove is better, it's time to abandon those stats. I think anyone here who would turn down a pitcher consistently going 6+ innings and only giving up 3 ER at best is lying to themselves. The bigger point is Verlander has been pitching better for longer than his last seven or whatever starts. Not as dominant as his last seven mind you, but still well enough to be a boost to our rotation.
I still don't get the potato head reference...(although I also haven't tried to dig through that thread and find out).
Verlander was going 6 and giving up 3 ERs or less in about every other game prior to the last 7. The 6 games prior to his last 7, his ERA was over 6. Average xFIP and ERA over 6 is Musgrove while he was starting. Now if you want to take out one really bad game, Musgrove has an ERA of 3.6 since May 23 with that method. Musgrove is king of the really bad games that make up a large percentage of his ERs. Question is whether the 7 games or not is the true talent level of Verlander. I'm thinking with his history, he's better than he was earlier in the season and could be valuable. If you want to try to say he has been good for longer than 7 games, those numbers aren't better than league average even with removing the Cleveland blip and are much closer to Musgrove than the last 7 games of Verlander.
Melo rumors from a guy on twitter who either looks like Mr. Potato Head or had Mr. Potato Head as an avatar.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017...r-the-astros.html?fv-home=true&post-id=100307 Thought this was a pretty good post on our possibilities for a lefty.
My one problem with him (aside from his contract) is his recent history against Cleveland. Still a very good chance we see them in the playoffs. Granted that would be in the ALCS and we need to get to the ALCS for that to be a problem. Still, we need the arm in the rotation and I hope the "motivated team" is us.
Thought I saw that too. Putz might just Cole Hamels us. Course that would make whipping his a$$ in the playoffs sweeter. Come on bats. WAKE UP
Was it a mistake to not sell high on Fisher at the trade deadline? Per reports, several/all teams asked about him. His production/hype seemed to peak at the perfect time. Unfortunately, that also makes the decision to trade him away that much harder. I personally felt that this was the most opportune time to flip him to help bolster other aspects of the team, mainly pitching talent. Part of this rationale is because although I didn't view Aoki as a huge asset, I also didn't view him as a liability. And with the emergence of Marisnick, I would have felt comfortable rotation a 4 man rotation of Aoki/Marisnick, Springer, and Reddick for the rest of the season. I understand that timing-wise, Springer was hurt at the time, but I'd like to think the front office understanding that this was going to be a short-term thing, and would let that immediate, temporarily need cloud their judgement both long-term and overall. Having that big division lead should have mitigated that aspect as well, so I think it should have been a complete non-factor. The question then becomes, what could we have received in return if Fisher was the centerpiece of a deal? Would a straight up Fisher for Britton deal have been a viable option? Is that something we should have considered? Does Fisher's potential, and next 5+ years of cheap team control heavily outweigh adding Britton for a year and a half? I think several, if not most here would say that is an easy hard no. I'm personally not so sure. I think I'd lean with the combination of Britton/Aoki over the combinaion of Liriano/Fisher. Britton and Aoki are much older, more expensive, and have much less team control over, but I think that *for the next two years*, this most definitely increases our chances of winning it all. This assumes a lot. For all we know, maybe the Orioles laughed at that package, and said, "listen, Aroldis Chapman netted Gleyber Torres just last year. Andrew Miller netted Clint Frazier just last year. The market has been set, it's Kyle Tucker or bust for us if you are serious about Britton." But even if we move past Britton, I think it's a fun exercise to do this hypothetical opportunity cost exercise. You could also do something similar with Sonny Gray. Would Fisher plus an intriguing pitching prospect (i.e. Cionel Perez or similar, but perhaps not Martes or Whitley) pique the A's interest? There is obviously no conclusion we can reach just yet. And this post isn't meant to knock Fisher at all. I just feel like we would have maximized his value to the Astros by trading him away in order to bolster a weaker part of our roster. It will be fun to look back on this in 5 years and see how this all plays out.
Stanton clear e waiver. With the way our offense been slumping I would not be oppose to trade for him.
