Houston Astros: Addressing The Yoenis Cespedes Rumors
The rumor mill has produced its first Houston surprise. The Houston Astros have had a relatively quiet offseason, with the trade for Ken Giles being the sole splash. Everybody knew GM Jeff Luhnow and company were in the market for a closer, so that didn’t come as a surprise. However, Peter Gammons of MLB Network dropped this bomb yesterday:
Once Colby Rasmus accepted the Astros $15M qualifying offer back in November, Houston seemed to be out of the outfield market, as Rasmus was slotted to start in left with Carlos Gomez and George Springer flanking him. Jake Marisnick and Preston Tucker are still on the roster as well, providing ample depth.
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So why the sudden interest in Yoenis Cespedes? The outfield market has moved much slower than anticipated, as many of the big outfield names have either signed in the last week or are still available. Cespedes is also a perfect fit for Minute Maid Park. He’s a power bat with his power being generated primarily to the pull side, giving him the ability to take advantage of the Crawford Boxes.
Cespedes is also a great fit defensively. He has the strongest arm in the MLB and he is rangy for a left fielder. He’s had to cover some of the larger yards in his career in Oakland, Detroit, and New York, so Minute Maid would be easy for him to cover.
What would the chain reaction to a Cespedes signing be? The outfield is already log-jammed as is, so who would be moved? The leading candidate seems to be Carlos Gomez. Gomez is a year away from free agency, so naturally he’s a trade candidate. If Gomez is traded either Colby Rasmus, Jake Marisnick, or George Springer can play center field.
Gomez will probably be shopped for a starting pitcher, as that is the Astros next most pressing need. The Indians, Orioles, Mets, Rays, and White Sox are all in the market for an outfielder. The Orioles don’t have the pitching depth to make a deal, so that rules them out. The White Sox aren’t trading Sale, Rodon, or Quintana, and Gomez is too good for the rest of their rotation options. That leaves the Mets, Indians, and Rays as possible suitors.
The Mets have all the pitching depth in the world and would have an outfield void if they lost Cespedes to the Astros. New York infamously traded for Gomez at the deadline before nixing it over concerns with his physical, so there’s some interest there. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard are all untouchables, leaving Steven Matz, and Zach Wheeler as options.
Matz was successful in his short stint in the majors last year and is considered a big part of the Mets future. Wheeler missed the 2015 season with Tommy John surgery, but he pitched to the tune of a 3.50 ERA in 2014 in his first full big league season. Wheeler seems like a classic Jeff Luhnow trade target, as he still has four years of club control remaining and is young with some upside.
The Indians are a natural fit as they have lots of pitching and a huge need for outfield help. MVP caliber outfielder, Michael Brantley, is out with an injury until late May, leaving Rajai Davis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Abraham Almonte as their outfield until Brantley comes back. Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco are both able to be had. Salazar still has four years of club control remaining and is 26 years old. He had a 3.45 ERA last year in 185 innings. Carrasco isn’t as highly thought of as Salazar, but has produced two straight solid seasons. He would be closer to a back of the rotation arm than Salazar would be.
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The Rays have the least need for an outfielder of all these teams, but have been looking to deal from their stable of arms. Alex Cobb and Jake Odorizzi are both available through trade. Cobb is famous for being an Astros killer, so getting him out of the competitions arms may be worth it regardless. He also has two years of club control remaining and has pitched to sub-3.00 ERA’s the past two seasons. Odorizzi still has four years of club control remaining. He had the best year of his career last year and will only improve as he’s entering his age-25 season.
Whatever may happen, I’m a huge proponent of adding Cespedes to the fold. He’ll add some more thump to an already thumping lineup and will give the Astros the depth to improve the starting rotation.
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