Then what do you do with Yuli/Bregman? Bregman I do not give up unless it's for a comparable young gamechanger who happens to be a pitcher. They need a LF next year...at least until Tucker is ready or Fisher decides to make contact.
Houston has 9 hitters under control for next year who would be in most lineups everyday: Altuve Correa Springer Bregman Reddick Gattis Gurriel Marwin McCann Marisnick makes 10 guys who have roster spots locked up. So they have "holes" for 2 guys, and with the versatility of Bregman/Yuli/Marwin they can really play any position. That said, they have at least 6 young players who have an argument to be on the roster: Fisher White Moran Davis Reed Stassi And that doesn't include Kemp, P Tucker, Kemmer, and others. So they can probably fill at least one of those holes internally. It depends on the market and their payroll capacity, but their best bet is to wait out the market and grab a guy who is a legit middle of the Order bat and will only require a 1 year deal. Jay Bruce is a guy I have my eye on.
Why are we talking trades when the Astros are about to go into the playoffs with 100 wins amongst them? You guys need to learn how to enjoy the present!
I would leave Bregman at 3rd and let Yuli DH and occasionally play 1st. Yuli was bad at 1st this year. If he shows improvement or the ability to play a corner outfield spot some, great... otherwise he is getting a lot of the Beltran at bats. As for the corner outfield spot, I think they bargain hunt for someone that doesn't get the contract they hope for... they can do the same at 1st or give Moran a shot to win the job. I just don't think we will have much of a budget after Verlander is figured in, but we certainly have spare parts that are useful players under contract at low money we can move for help at 1st/OF.
Only thing the Astros need to do is let Beltran walk and call up Tucket and Whitley some point next season. Teams already stacked.
Hadn't though about Yuli as a full-ish time DH. He's gotten miles and miles better at 1st since earlier in the year, he's not great, but.... It works though, but then what do you do with Gattis? Who ya thinking about at 1B?
Trying to take my mind off of tonight’s game, had an idea for a trade this offseason: Astros get: RP Zach Britton RP Brad Brach PTBNL Orioles get: SP Collin McHugh SP Mike Fiers RP Tony Sipp 3B Colin Moran
Without even looking at what the Astros would get... When the centerpiece of a deal is Colin Moran, you’re not going to get a lot of teams attention.
Uh...the centerpiece is McHugh, who has been the 26th most valuable pitcher in baseball (fWAR) since 2014 and is under cheap control through 2019.
The trade still smacks of packaging our surplus fringe players for decent level talent, not sure the Orioles bite unless we add a more enticing prospect.
Ok... lets just say the Astros were trying to acquire a player like McHugh. A 30+ year old late bloomer coming off a year of shoulder issues, hence deemed expendable. What would you give up? You sure he's the 'centerpiece'?
Houston’s major league roster is at the point where the excess players aren’t necessarily “fringe”. Guys like Fiers, Sipp, and Preston Tucker are fringe guys who wouldn’t bring back much of anything in return. McHugh has a track record as an extremely good MoR SP and he has 2 years of control left; admittedly his injuries this year complicate things. Moran is Houston’s current #5 prospect, a former top 5 overall pick and MLB Top 100 Prospect. Not sure why anyone is labeling him as worthless.
Not sure why you say that. Britton is a rental reliever coming off a down year in which he was hurt. Brach is also a rental reliever, although he is coming off of a great year. Those two players in exchange for Houston’s 5th best prospect and a solid #3 SP with 2 years of control remaining (although with his own injury history to match Brittons) seems like a pretty fair deal. If Peacock hadn’t emerged this season you would all be saying Luhnow would be an idiot to make that trade.
Agree that Britton's value is down due to injuries. Brach's is up, though. I'd imagine they can get a better prospect package for just him at the deadline--esp if he closes during the 1st half. And they'd probably rather look for a solid set of prospects for Brach. Unless someone bowls them over, I don't expect him to get moved in the offseason. Britton on his own for the type of package you suggested (minus some value of course), maybe..
McHugh and Moran is not enough imo. Fiers has some value, but not much. Sipp has none. Maybe McHugh, Moran & a higher end guy like Paulino or Hector Perez would be enough. I don't see the Orioles having much interest in Fiers (I do think the Astros will trade or non tender him) or Sipp and his $6m salary.
I wouldn't trade Mroran. He looked like a different guy this season. In fact I've never seen someone look so awful and look the exact opposite the next year.
The Orioles have a desperate need of starting pitching, and they have no money and no prospects. This is a creative way they can use an area of relative strength to fill their needs and improve their overall roster. In terms of projected value/war, the deal is a no brained for Baltimore. McHugh alone is extremely likely to produce more than Brach and Britton combined. The high value currently being placed on quality relievers and the injury history of Britton/McHugh makes this a difficult hypothetical trade to evaluate.
