Houston Astros: The minor league touchables and untouchables in a trade

Derek Fisher – Touchable

This is such a tough call, but if we have to choose between Tucker and Fisher, like I said previously, I’d sell Fisher.

His power is for real. In his times in the minor leagues, he hit over 20 home runs each year in his first two full seasons of pro ball and this year if you include his two major league home runs he’s already at 21 for the season.

The main reason I sell Fisher is he is not as complete a player as Tucker is. While he does have pop in his bat, up until this year he has really struggled with strikeouts and making consistent contact. Last year he struggled to the tune of a .255 batting average.

Now the issue and what makes him so hard to sell is that this year he is having a career year. He’s doing everything right, from hitting for the power as he usually does, but now his batting average and walks are up, his strikeouts are down, and he’s hitting both lefties and righties equally well.

In his (Derek Fisher) times in the minor leagues, he hit over 20 home runs each year in his first two full seasons of pro ball…

Perhaps he has figured it all out and his swing and miss struggles are behind him and we are trading away major league ready talent that we should keep, especially with a left field hole opening up as Norichika Aoki most likely won’t be tendered a contract next year and Jake Marisnick is better suited to a fourth outfielder role.

It is a hard pill to swallow seeing Fisher go if we do end up selling him, but if I had to project the potential careers of both players, I would say that Fisher is more of a .260-.270 hitter with a lot of power and above average defense. Whereas Kyle Tucker should be closer to a .300 hitter with similar power, better defensive prowess and comparable ability on the base paths as well.

It really is a coin flip between the two and what they’re capable of in the big leagues, but like I said, if it comes down to one being sold, I sell Fisher.