Plenty of room for emotion as it drives even a front office to want to win. Granted, I think never trading with someone is probably too much.
The more negative posts I read about Gray and Britton, the more making a big push for them makes sense. Any player we trade for, the only real thing that matters is "how is player x going to perform for our Houston Astros?" Obviously a player coming off a serious injury like Britton makes it harder to project their future performance. But that's where becoming an opportunistic buyer becomes key. Both Britton and Gray are opportunistic buys. Do we absolutely need them? Probably not. But could we hit the jackpot with both players, and both become part of the foundation of a fantastic team for the next year-plus? Yes, the possibility is there. Are we really dissecting Britton's lack of control, only a few appearances from basically being out the whole year? This is basically like his spring training. Can Britton knock the rust off and be a viable force in our pen come September, and extending into the playoffs? Hell yes. And by viable force, I mean the most talented arm, THE stabilizing figure in a very talented, but at times an up-and-down bullpen? Again, hell yes. I will concede that the injury complicates things, but without the injury, and without the O's under-performing, he's not evenly remotely available. And once again,, this is when we need to be opportunistic buyers. I am at the point that I would do Martes for Britton straight up (and once again, I am a big fan of Martes). Both come with risk; Britton's is more injury, Martes' is more the unknown (before his callup, he wasn't exactly setting the world on fire, but I do concede the front office could have been asking him to work on specific things, so that could be a moot point). Although we aren't sure how they both will perform for the next several years, I'll roll the dice with Britton, who was quietly the best reliever on the planet for the last two seasons. My thought process is similar with Gray. I don't want to get caught in the label wars, but at the top of his game, he's most definitely a guy we would call upon within the first 3 starts of a playoff series. Going into a playoff series with [hopefully] Keuchel, McCullers, and Gray is really, really strong. And all of our starters going into a start that we need just 5 or 6 strong innings before we hand it off to a bullpen with Devo, Harris, Giles, and Britton? That's damn impressive. And if there is a remote possibility that we can acquire both Britton and Gray while keeping Kyle Tucker and Forrest Whitley, then both moves becomes no-brainers. TLDR; our front office has the luxury of being opportunistic buyers. If we capitalize on this luxury, I think we materially improve our overall roster, and better our odds of winning it all within the next few years (current year included), which is everyone's goal.
If darvish wouldn't command a king's ransom from those dbags up north you HAVE to kick tires. He is an elite pitcher and would make our rotation scary good. Imagine adding darvish, keuchel and mchugh to this staff as we enter the latter half of the season? You'd automatically bolster the bullpen with a combo of fiers, peacock, and Morton or mchugh. That's dangerous.
Don't want to put words in your mouth but I largely agree. I feel like some are putting too much stock into current form. Form is temporary but class is permanent is the old saying. Britton has been rough lately? Well he has been really good the last couple of years... just because he hasn't been great in small sample size doesn't mean he is un-redeemable. Same with the starters like Gray. Our fill in guys/back of the rotation guys have been doing great but it is a small sample size and Gray has proven to be a big time major league starter over his career. I put more stock in a careers worth of samples than a couple of months worth. I'd feel more comfortable with Gray than Fiers/Peacock/McHugh/Morton.
Darvish would be a huge gamble but a gamble I would be willing to make. How many world series opportunities do you get? He would make us a favorite with 3 legit aces on the squad. Unfortunately, he could just be a half season rental since he is a FA in the off-season and he will get PAID.
I guess the best offer is the best offer. But if we traded Keuchel to the Rangers and he helped them win a World Series, I would probably kill myself. If we were to trade for Darvish, I imagine our offer would have to be so far beyond what anybody else was offering, it would practically be impossible.
I am the same way. I'm not sure if it my own personal bias that makes me think Rangers would be that stupid as removing a potential bidder hurts them or if they are just that stupid.
If Astros traded Keuchel to Rangers, Luhnow would only have done it so he could pull the Diggstown con.
The emergence of Peacock and Fiers has made BoR options like Jaime Garcia useless to Houston. If they can't get a guy who obviously would be ahead of Fiers, Morton, and Peacock in the rotation then they should focus on the bullpen.
Spoiler http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/20111921/where-sonny-gray-other-players-august-1 What uniform will Sonny Gray be wearing on Aug. 1? Verdict: Brewers (2); Indians (1); Astros (1); A's (1) Brad Doolittle: Brewers. Milwaukee has the depth of prospects to get a deal done, and Gray can front its rotation beyond this season. Mark Simon: A's. He's looked so much like his old self lately that the Athletics will decide he's worth keeping and trying to build around for the next two seasons. Scott Lauber: Indians. A strong starting rotation gets even stronger. Jerry Crasnick: Astros. Houston is intent on adding a starter, and barring a late addition to the market, Gray is the best one out there. What uniform will Zach Britton be wearing on Aug. 1? Verdict: Orioles (2); Dodgers (2); Red Sox (1) Matz: Orioles. Britton stays in Baltimore while Brad Brach, who earns less and has stayed healthier, leaves the Birds nest. Simon: Red Sox. The Red Sox try to match the Yankees super-bullpen by building one of their own with the help of a bold trade with a division rival. Lauber: Dodgers. Just when you think the best team in the majors can't possibly get any better. Crasnick: Dodgers. He definitely fits as part of a two-headed bullpen monster with Kenley Jansen. The biggest questions are whether: a) the Orioles will deal him; and b) the Dodgers are convinced that he's healthy enough to handle the late-season grind. What uniform will Justin Verlander be wearing on Aug. 1? Verdict: Tigers (5) Matz: Tigers. His age (34), walk rate (nearly double last year), and salary (infinite, give or take) will keep him right where he is. Simon: Tigers. I think teams will be tempted, but those who are sabermetrically inclined will say no because they'll be scared off by his walk rate (and salary), so he stays with the Tigers. Lauber: Tigers. Sorry, not going to move that contract. What uniform will Jeff Samardzija be wearing on Aug. 1? Verdict: Giants (3); Astros (2) Doolittle: Astros. Houston is smart enough to see the underlying performance behind Samardzija's iffy superficial stats. Simon: Giants. I don't think any team will take on the three years and $54 million, even though Samardzija is better than his ERA indicates, so he stay with the Giants. Crasnick: That 135-to-14 strikeout to walk ratio is impressive, but the three years and $54 million owed him from 2018-2020 are turnoff to potential suitors. Unless the Giants are prepared to eat a significant chunk of what remains, he's staying put.
Do you guys think the big unit stays with the astros should the team get past the Padres? I have a bad feeling about rentals. There should be a rule, if the rental decides to leave you should get %50 of what you gave up.
No...I think Randy went to Arizona because he and his wife wanted to live in Arizona. I don't believe winning that series would have changed his mind.
I don't see it either. However if we give the them the best package, like a one of our top prospects, they would have to think about it. Right?
you're probably right. i just don't think they'd ever pull the trigger. their fans would throw a fit.
Teams today don't pay in prospects for more than the remainder of the contract. If a team overpays for a rental assuming they can sign him, that is its own fault. It shouldn't get anything back.
We're looking to beef up the pen, in large part, because of overuse, right? Saving those innings now WILL impact the postseason and it's something the Astros should be considering, IMO. So I disagree Verlander ONLY impacts the regular season. I'm not comparing him to anyone... I'm merely pointing out that he has had two bad starts that are, given his track record, far greater outliers than his great starts. *That's* the justification for removing them; they are uncharacteristically bad and might very well be more random/unlucky than a truly meaningful gauge of his season. As I said, I'd rather they look elsewhere... I just disagreed that he's been "terrible." And if they dealt for Verlander today, he'd be ahead of Keuchel and McHugh, who are not currently on the roster, and ahead of McCullers, who has been awful since his return from the DL. And given that he can consistently pitch into, and past, the 6th inning.... Well, we don't have too many guys who can currently do that. Again, I'm looking elsewhere - but this team DOES need a reliable (read: healthy) starter to eat innings the final two months of the season, and you could do A LOT worse than Verlander (who, again, I'd rather they not acquire - but I'd understand the thinking behind it if they did...)
