It may be too early for this thread, but I got to thinking about the deadline, and while it looks like Houston will focus on starting pitching (and the market should be robust, with a dozen or so quality arms, most of whom have been talked about extensively), I found myself looking on the other side of the ball. Houston is off to an excellent start, and their lineup has been extremely productive. That said, the 2 "holes" that were identified coming out of the offseason (1B and LF) appear to still be weak spots. Both Aoki and Gurriel are doing just about what was expected; hitting for average while providing no power and below average defense. Neither is an embarrassment but replacing them in the everyday lineup with another stellar bat might take this team to another level, not to mention provide insurance against injury to another bat. Looking at the teams who profile to be sellers at the deadline, there were 3 names I landed on that might make sense as under-the-radar trade candidates: Khris Davis, A's: a perennial borderline star bat (120 career wRC+) under control thru 2019. He was acquired by Oakland for Jake Nottingham and a C+ grade pitching prospect. Hes more expensive and closer to free agency now, so maybe something like JD Davis and Elieser Hernandez would get it done. Marcell Ozuna, Marlins: not quite as good a bat as Davis (but still above average), but a much better defender. Also under control thru 2019. I suspect the cost would be a little higher. And Miami would likely be looking for near ready prospects. Would David Paulino and Ramon Laureano be enough? Hunter Pence, Giants: he's been a star for years, but has declined and/or been injured the last 2 seasons. He is owed $18.5M next season. AND, SF may not even want to sell. However, they might be willing to deal if they feel he's regressing and they can both get an OF in return and have money to spend this offseason. Not only would it be neat to see Pence back in Houston, he would likely fit in the clubhouse and has been all the way with the Giants. Given his recent woes and salary, he may not cost much in terms of prospects. But SF may be willing to pay down some of the contract to increase the return. So I think Houston sending Teoscar or Derek Fisher plus an upside pitcher (Hector Perez or Jorge Alcala?), with the Giants picking up $5-10M of Pences contract, might be a good deal for both sides. Any of those deals would mean trading or releasing Aoki. Miami or San Fran may be willing to take him back as part of the deal. I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts on these or other players that might be available that haven't been talked about much (ahem, no Quintana).
I've loved that guy since he was a rookie. Why would they trade him? Don't they have a couple of great bullpen guys?
They are old and unlikely to contend this year or with current core in near future with Yankees and Red Sox. They still have a couple of really nice pieces that they could trade to jumpstart rebuild.
I don't understand why you're wanting to target OFers? Our OF is awesome, and we potentially have another good one in the minors that's ready to come up (Fisher). Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching. Starting pitching.
Right on. I haven't started to start to pay attention to trade-level relievers, yet. I want a starter first. I know I'm a greedy b!tch.
Martes ******** the bed so far in AAA doesn't help when it comes to trying to trade for guys like Archer. They will want Tucker as the headliner. I would do Fisher, Whitley, Franklin Perez, and Martes for Archer. Do they bite?
Justin Wilson is a good lefty on a middling Tigers team. Astros had interest in him over the offseason. He averages 96 on his fastball which is nice. He's also under control through 2018.
In general, rest of team. Meant to only respond on why they would trade him and not on bullpen. He's great, but too much of team is on wrong side of peak years/out of club control years making it unlikely they can use him during good years.
Ervin Santana, he has been pitching good since last year and might not be as expensive as other starters out there.
Vargas as well. Both of these guys will probably come falling back to earth though. But that's still much better than Fiers.
I would love Votto but I think he's getting 25 million dollars a year until he's 40. Freddie Freeman is another 1B who has been on the radar for a while who probably isn't on the trading block anymore with the Braves in their new stadium with a top farm system in place. I should mention Goldschmidt too but DBacks are actually playing decent ball so far. Greinke? Huge contract and old though just like Votto. They are all pipe dreams probably. Chris Sale would have given me a raging boner. Archer is that guy now.
