We’ve heard plenty of chatter over the last few months about the Astros’ interest in adding at the back of their pen. It appears from the latest notes that the club is still casting a wide net:
- Houston recently discussed power righty Ken Giles with the Phillies, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Philadelphia “brought up” young starters Lance McCullers Jr. and Vince Velasquez in the talks, per the report. That obviously indicates what kind of return Philadelphia seeks. From my perspective, it would be somewhat surprising to see the ’Stros part with controllable, MLB-level arms such as those, given that they not only have the possibility of being long-term rotation pieces but might be expected to be dominant relievers themselves if shifted to such a role.
- The Astros have also “been engaged” with the Rays on their high-leverage arms, Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee, Crasnick tweets. It appears that GM Jeff Luhnow is looking for ways to add controllable pieces at the back of the pen, Crasnick suggests.
- Having a preference for long-term control, though, doesn’t appear to mean that the club isn’t seriously interested in otherworldly Reds closer Aroldis Chapman, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that he sits “on top of the list” for Houston. Interestingly, Crasnick notes on Twitter that Astros owner Jim Crane is reputedly a “big fan” of the Cuban sensation.
Jake Mcgee would be a great fit for the astros
Agreed, but I wonder what the price would be. He’s proven that he can close before, but he’s not the Rays current closer. He doesn’t have as much team control as Giles, but more than a one year guy. Tough to gauge.
Agreed and I wonder what he’d cost. He has closing experience, but is the Rays setup man now. He has less team control than Giles, but he’s more than a one year guy. Tough to gauge his price.
Still like Melancon or Chapman to the ‘Stros
No way do I think the Astros part with McCullers for Giles, but call me crazy, I don’t think asking for Velasquez is unreasonable.
Totally unreasonable. The solution is to break off talks with the Phillies and focus on Reds/Chapman.
McGee and Giles, yes if the price is right. Chapman’s tag isn’t worth it.
Comeon Astros, you know you want Chapman, now get a deal done!
Wow, please make the trade Phillies!
What about Ken Giles for Appel, Tony Kemp and Mike Feliz?
Pretty sure the Phillies would jump all over that. Appel is ready to fill out the back of a rotation right now. Can’t see the Astros offering more than Appel and some other minor piece.
No way, Appel and Feliz have extremely high ceilings. They just haven’t had the exposure in the majors to continue to mature and raise their floors. At the current price they’re asking for with Giles I think I would prefer a one year deal with chapman and utilize one of the multitude of pitching prospects they can put in the bullpen when he’s gone. One ideal scenario would be to get Chapman and Frazier. I wonder if something like musgrove, kemp, jd Davis, and Chris devenski could get the job done
Look, at the end of the day, the Phillies are in the driver seat, they don’t have to trade him, this is even more so true than their recent Hamels scenario. Giles, is an outstanding, young, controllable talent for your prime playoff window. If the Astros want him, they are going to have to give up some pieces that hurt, no doubt about that. Is that the right move? Well, I can see the Astros going in a different direction, but the price is the price. The market has been set, and if the Phillies do move Giles, he brings back a haul. I hope they do, becuase by the time the philles should be ready to compete again, they will have plenty of time to replace a Ken Giles… Can the Astros say the same?
Look at the Dodgers… you think they would have like Cole Hamels for their recent playoff run? What if Grienke bolts for SF? or a sleeper team? At somepoint teams need to shift from the rebuilding phase, to the sustaining/future phase …. to we are going to go for it/willing to be wrong.. if not you are constantly stuck in the sustaiing phase. Is it the right time for the Astro to go for it? Maybe not… but it certainly was for the dodgers IMO>. Now they have “woulda/coulda/Shoudla syndrome.
With all due respect, I disagree with you on several of your points. I tend to consider Houston as the ones in the drivers seat. They’re a team who has an average age of 26 and are way above schedule at the major league level and was voted the best minor league system in baseball by the end of the year. I think the Phillies should be the ones looking to move this guy more than anything imo bc they’re the ones in rebuilding mode. That being said it doesn’t have to be this season due to the years of control.
All in all, luhnow came from St. Louis and has basically remade what he created with the cards but now he’s doing it in Houston. And that kind of success starts through having a solid farm system. If they have to give up their number 1 pick from a couple years back and a top prospect like Feliz then I view it as them not having faith in their own scouting reports on their guys. I think the time will come where they eventually depart with 1 top quality prospect and 2 more solid ones to complete a deal that fulfills their needs this offseason but I think it’s naive to think simple supply demand will corner the Astros into giving up a monumental package like McCullers and vv or Appel and Feliz. McCullers had extremely comparable stats to Synderguard in the majors last year and all four of those guys have the raw abilities to eventually be a top of the rotation guy on day