The Astros have acquired left-handed hitting outfielder Jesús Sánchez from the Marlins. In exchange, Miami has received right-hander Ryan Gusto, infield prospect Chase Jaworsky, and outfield prospect Esmil Valencia. Both teams have announced the trade.
Houston was known to be seeking a left-handed bat ahead of the deadline, to help balance out a lineup that is sorely missing star slugger Yordan Alvarez. Sánchez is no Alvarez, but he has provided the Marlins with above-average power throughout his career, particularly against right-handed pitching. He has hit double-digit home runs in each of the past five seasons, while his career .184 isolated power (ISO) is about 15% better than league average. Mediocre on-base skills and a typically high strikeout rate mean his overall numbers are closer to average (career 100 wRC+), but he has been consistently productive with the platoon advantage. Sánchez has hit 60 of his 69 home runs against right-handers, with a .203 ISO and a 115 wRC+. He has been particularly effective against righties this year, with a career-best 125 wRC+ and a 19.4% strikeout rate. While his 27.6% strikeout rate against southpaws is still quite high, his overall 20.8% strikeout rate is easily the lowest of his career; this is the first year he has ever had a strikeout rate better than the league average.
Sánchez is strictly a platoon bat, with a .178/.226/.284 career slash line against lefties, but that shouldn’t be a problem for the Astros, who rank second in MLB in OPS and wRC+ against left-handed pitching and have enough right-handed hitters that they shouldn’t have any trouble shielding Sánchez from southpaws. However, the only lefties on their active roster right now are Taylor Trammell and Jacob Melton, as well as the switch-hitting Victor Caratini and Cooper Hummel, and they rank among the bottom half of teams in OPS and wRC+ against right-handers. So, it’s not hard to see how Sánchez slots in and improves the lineup. He can take outfield playing time that’s been going to Hummel, Melton, and Trammell, and/or DH reps that have been going to Caratini against right-handed pitching.
In exchange for Sánchez, who is making $4.5MM this year and remains under team control through arbitration through 2027, the Marlins receive a rookie hurler and two position player prospects. According to MLB Pipeline, Jaworsky, 21, is the headliner; they have him ranked as Houston’s no. 13 prospect, while Valencia is no longer on the organizational top 30. Similarly, Baseball America put Jaworsky at no. 22 and did not rank Valencia in their latest update. Most sources agree that Jaworsky projects as a utility infielder with good speed, but a lack of power means he’ll need to improve his plate discipline in order to get enough out of his hit tool. FanGraphs, interestingly, is higher on Valencia (Astros no. 20) than Jaworsky (no. 26). The 19-year-old outfielder seems to have a higher offensive ceiling but carries more risk, in large part due to poor swing decisions. Ultimately, both players project as role players; that’s not too surprising considering Sánchez himself isn’t an everyday player.
As for Gusto, he wasn’t a name that many had an eye on entering the season, but the 26-year-old has been surprisingly effective in his first big league campaign. Through 24 games (14 starts), he has a 4.92 ERA and a much more impressive 3.92 SIERA over 86 innings pitched. He helped the Astros survive a great number of pitching injuries over the first four months of the season, but with Houston looking to add pitching today and hoping to reinstate some arms from the IL soon, Gusto was expendable. He will now be able to help the Marlins fill innings over the remainder of the season, and they’ll have him under team control (with three option years remaining) for another five seasons.
Sánchez heading to the Marlins was first reported by Michael Schwab. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand added that the Marlins would receive Gusto in the deal. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported the Marlins would also get back two prospects in exchange for Sánchez. Isaac Azout of Fish on First identified one of the prospects as Jaworsky, while Craig Mish of Sportsgrid identified the other as Valencia.
STOP! CEASE AT THIS MOMENT
What’s that? You want the Astros to get Cease too?
If Astros get Cease their trying to start the Cold War with the mariners
Unstoppable force vs immovable object
Very underrated move!
Is it fancy hat day?
Gonna be a wild final 90 minutes.
Yeah some of these guys have to be traded. Kelly and Gallen gotta go. Astros have to be looking for more pitching.
What about Ozuna and Iglesias from the Braves?
Yeah exactly. Lot of guys basically have to be dealt here soon. Lot of guys. Cardinals have Maton he has to go.
Griffin Jax. Pete Fairbanks. Felxi Bautista.
All 3 of those guys dont have to be traded. I think Jax will and Fairbanks too but at least they dont have to trade them.
Someone like Merril Kelly has to be dealt. Or the White Sox starter Houser hes gotta go.
They don’t have to be traded, but they may have to be acquired. Lots of teams are looking to win in October.
The rentals have to go. Thats what i dont get is why there are so many rentals from non contending teams still available with 80 minutes to go.
Ozuna got traded but got a DUI on the way to the airport, so they voided the trade.
Stros are awakening!
Crane getting the band back together.
Disregard, I got confused.
If by band you mean the Trash Can Philharmonic, the you’re not wrong.
These cheating motherf***ers won’t stop buying to keep winning their garbage division I’m so sick of it
lol. Be sick! It’s awesome
Our “dog” is coming back home.
Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh LOL~~
Living rent free in your head for about a decade now. What a puss 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Seek help, you are sounding really pathetic right now.
LOUD NOISES!!!
Divinely inspired!
Thanks for everything Jeezy. You’re a great guy to have around a clubhouse!
Astros get Sanchez, Marlins go for the Gusto…
And 2 A ball speedsters
sad day for Marlins fans…. again. Could be brought back if they keep Sandy but they have been the hottest team in baseball since the beginning of June… why screw that up? Why?
Um, there are almost no Marlins that are sad today, We kept Sandy and Cabrera. We even kept what seemed like an obvious selloff piece in Anthony Bender, but keeping him shows they’re going to see what they do for the rest of the season.
check the time stamp and read what I said next time
Thats a fleecing by the Astros.
Um, the Marlins got a potential backend SP/long reliever and two other prospects – one being okay to decent…for Jesus Sanchez. How is this a fleece? Did Sanchez become better than he is since last night’s game?
A Miami. Nice athlete. MLB arm. Lotto. Has it all. Or B. Not that exciting but I like.
C Houston. Paid price. Didn’t give up anything to lose sleep over.
I like it for the Marlins too. Sanchez was an obvious trade piece because he wasn’t going to have a place on the team next year, and very likely would’ve been non-tendered this offseason.
Sanchez just a guy. Easily replaced. Build that farm.
He’s less than just a guy. Basically a AAA player who just happened to hang around since he’s in a bad team.
@Father Theresa
Have you not paid attention to the Marlins season – particularly the last several weeks?
What makes you think he would’ve been non tendered in the offseason?
@ChazzyB
We knew Marsee (LH bat in CF) was ready. Also, we have LH bat Griffin Conine (a legacy player) coming back. Heriberto Hernandez is also part of the plan as a RH bat which we need balance. Stowers (anotehr LH bat) is not going anywhere. With Sanchez out of options and less control than the other options while not being a standout player, and up for another raise, he was most likely being non-tendered because I’m not sure anyone would trade for him after the season when they know that he would not be kept by the Marlins – even if they had to non-tender him.
That’s fair & makes sense @BannedMarlinsFanBase, I appreciate the response. Just a tad surprising since Sanchez is a pretty good player, but I get it with the Marlins maybe having some payroll restrictions.
@ChazzyB
It wouldn’t be really a payroll decision so much. It’s more of a numbers game. Too many guys at a spot, so you’re most likely to drop the guy who has the less control and higher paycheck, when you have younger, cheaper, more controllable players.
They traded Sanchez more for these reasons, and did so at the right time instead of having to do a desperation move to have a team bite after the season, before the contract tenders and arbitration deadlines.
There are several other available left-handed bats that I would’ve preferred, but this guy does fill a void
Yeah, he’s a decent bat. I think being in the Astros lineup and around some of the veterans on your team will do wonders for Sanchez.
Jesus another quality former Ray with lots of upside-good luck Jesus!
He’s about to be 28 now. We’ve seen him in Miami for a few years now. He’s okay, but the upside has dropped a bit. He’s pretty much a platoon player until he proves otherwise.
“Interestingly” has to START the sentence, not come in its middle, between commas.