Here’s the latest from the Lone Star State’s two MLB clubs…
- The Rangers’ decision to extend Adrian Beltre was “probably one of the easiest” of Jon Daniels’ tenure with the club, the GM told reporters (including T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com) yesterday during the official press conference to announce Beltre’s new two-year, $36MM contract. There was a great deal of speculation and, in fact, assumption that the two sides would work out a new deal this offseason, and Beltre joked that the negotiations weren’t settled until two weeks into the season since “I wanted Giancarlo Stanton money, 13 years and $400MM.”
- Keeping Beltre through the 2018 season won’t have any impact on top prospect Joey Gallo’s future with the Rangers, Daniels said, aside from a probable position shift. “Joey has a ton of talent and a ton of ability. He has played the outfield and played first base. Those may be options down the line. We’re not making that decision today,” Daniels said. Mitch Moreland is a free agent this winter, so first base could be Gallo’s best option given that Nomar Mazara and Shin-Soo Choo look to have the corner outfield spots spoken for in 2017 and beyond. It’s also not out of the question that Gallo could play around the diamond until Beltre’s extension is up, and then take over as the regular third baseman.
- Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram likes the Beltre extension for the Rangers, as Beltre is still producing at a high level despite just turning 37 years old. The $18MM average annual value is the cost of doing business, in terms of keeping Beltre off the open market and keeping his contract status from becoming a greater distraction throughout the rest of the year.
- Though the season is only two weeks old, the early returns on the Ken Giles trade aren’t great from the Astros’ perspective, CBSSports.com’s R.J. Anderson writes. Houston dealt a hefty package of prospects and young players to the Phillies for Giles and Jonathan Arauz in December, and one of those five players (Vincent Velasquez) has already emerged as an early star of the 2016 season. Giles, meanwhile, has a 9.64 ERA through 4 2/3 innings and has already allowed as many homers (three) as he did in the entire 2014-15 seasons combined. As Anderson notes, however, Giles has maintained his velocity and is actually striking batters out at a higher rate, so his early-season homer issues could simply be a fluke.
- In other Astros news from earlier today, Lance McCullers got through a throwing session with no problems.
Giles is just putting unnecessary pressure on himself because of the haul it took to acquire him. It’s no different than a guy that gets a big contract and struggles initially because he is trying to do to much. Once he settles in and realizes he is just one of the bullpen guys he will get back to form.
Phillies fleeced the Astros regardless of the way you break it down
Bottom Line
The Phillies got 3 potential front line starters in Velazquez, Appel and Eshlemen (taking into account the draft position of the latter 2), a reliever to fill a void for a bit and a low level minor leaguer in exchange for a reliever and a low level minor leaguer. Albeit a potentially solid reliever, but still a reliever. I applaud Klentak on the deal
I guess you dont remember Astros Getting LOADS of players for Oswalt, Pence. Id say Astros Win in the Long run. My opinion will change next Year if valazquez does the same. Hitters havent had time to see what he has
You’re discussing two completely separate trades and acting as if they’re tightly related. Lol
How can you possibly pass final judgement on this trade at this point? Velazquez has one good game with the Phillies and you are saying trade of the century already. Your position is based purely on speculation and conjecture as complete data is not yet available.
I’m not gonna act like I am super familiar on how this minor league stuff works. But I think Houston was at a point where they had to move some guys.
Also, consider what was given up for kimbrel (multiple times), look at Giles upside, cost, and control. Pair that with that while, yes, some nice prospects went that way, Velazquez was probably the only one that really hurts. It’s way too early to call this the trade of the century.
Giles is gonna be a real good reliever. And should they decide to move him this deadline (considering he returns to form) they can probably match the return they gave up.
Plus, he’s what they wanted and what they needed. Good trade, in my book.
While I understand the narrative doesn’t look great regarding the Ken Giles trade – and it’s perfectly fine for journo’s to grab headlines while they can..people just need to step back and realize it’s a 4 2/3 inning sample size. That’s next to nothing in the grand scheme of things – ie, 6.6% of his innings total last year alone.
Plenty of time to go, chaps.
Bottom line is No smart GM trades that much top talent for a Bullpen guy. Astros over reacted to how 2015 playoffs went and got desperate. The Astros pretty much made over the Phillies farm system in one fell swoop. The Phillies are now set up for success in the NL East for years to come thanks in large part to one of the Stupidest trades I’ve ever seen!!!
Appel had lost his luster in Houston. Oberholtzer is a decent back of the rotation guy or swing man, Velazquez has a great arm, but a big question mark when it comes to health.
Both San Diego and Boston gave up a better prospect than Houston did (Manuel Margot, Matt Wisler).
Late inning bullpen arms aren’t cheap, and Houston had to pay for theirs. The trade could go either way. When you give up a lot of young arms, all it takes is one reaching or exceeding full potential to make the trade look bad.
If it was Derek Fisher instead of Appel (as originally reported), I would agree on the trade being pretty ugly. But giving up a high upside pitcher with injury risk, a number one pick who has been a bust in the minors, a back of the rotation arm, and Eshelman. Eshelman is a high floor, low ceiling guy in my book. Relatively low velocity, good control, but was also worked hard in college. Every arm only has so many pitches in it, and his threw a lot in his college days.
Arauz was a sneaky good return piece, but is far away and may never pan out.