Speaking of excitement, I think this future Cy Young is excited to being a Houstonian, “Flat-out elated,” Cole said by phone Saturday night. “It’s just an unbelievable opportunity.”
With the Cole trade, the Stros just leapfrogged the Indians and Nationals in terms of starting rotation. Fangraphs still has the Yankees ahead by a tiny margin but I can't imagine Tanaka, Severino, CC and that gang really getting the best of the 2018 lineup on any consistent basis. http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=SP
Looks like Dodgers from that link. Even then, Dodgers are in NL and likely get a bump based on weaker competition.
Unless CC has done some cardio over the offseason I can’t see him being much of a factor, at some point this season he will fall off. The dude was sweating bacon grease.
It was that he finally looked like the 6th pick in the draft. Teams are swayed by his huge improvement in AAA and I think those MLB PAs did leave room for optimism. Certainly rebuilt his value.
Thanks, that's what I get for reading Fangraphs at the end of the workday. Dodgers, Yankees, they all bleed together.
I was confusing the starting rotation table with the relievers table, which has the Yankees on top: http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=RP If Sipp continues to look a bust in spring training and gets replaced with an Iglesias/Hand/Colome/Osuna type, that probably puts the Astros pen in second place behind NYY.
The minor league resurgence, sure. Then again, he was that bad in 2016... on the verge of being DFA’d last year without a bounce back. But I highly doubt those watching the 2 games worth of AB’s (which was during the midst of the trade deadline) were completely aware of what he was going through, and how far he’d actually fallen. It is that amazing that Luhnow was able to flip him just one year later. I agree with @Joe Joe... what’s next, AJ Reed for Archer?
In regards to 2016,It could be the Astros were working with his swing to inject more power to his repertoire. It’s common practice in the minors to sacrifice numbers to correct an error the coaches noted. I’ve heard GMs state continuously that the prospects are working on an aspect of their game, and the coaches aren’t concerned with the numbers. I don’t know if that happened with Moran, but his 2017 improved numbers were a welcomed addition, and a result of hard work.
Could have been plenty of things. IN addition to what you mentioned, maybe he wasn't getting laid... or maybe he was. Maybe his eyelids were jammed. Who knows? The Astros are fortunate he went from prospect, to almost being DFA'd, to back to being a prospect... because now they have Cole.
I’d never heard the rumor he was about to be DFA’d. But if that were the case, kudos to him for making that much sooner the adjustments to make his myself relevant.
If he repeated his 2016 in 2017, it would have made zero sense to keep him on the 40 man roster. He would have gotten the Singleton treatment.
Haha... I was right there with you. Jared Cosart trade leads to..... Justin Verlander (via Daz Cameron), Gerrit Cole (via Colin Moran), and Frankie Tuesday who may be a future stud starter or closer (or may be traded for yet another all-star). I know Luhnow was crediting the Gattis signing as the "start" of the MLB rebuild... but the Cosart trade may darn well be the keystone.
