Houston Astros: Team to acquire Francisco Liriano
The Houston Astros have reportedly made a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays to acquire starting pitcher Francisco Liriano for outfielders Nori Aoki and Teoscar Hernandez.
The Houston Astros have been connected to other big name pitchers, from Sonny Gray to Yu Darvish to Justin Verlander, so this one is a bit of a head scratcher as there was no buzz leading up to it prior to today. Francisco Liriano has been a starter for the Blue Jays but will most likely end up in the bullpen filling our need for a second left handed reliever alongside Tony Sipp.
Adding Liriano was a cheaper cost than some of the other left handed options at reliever the Astros were tied to such as Zach Britton, Brad Hand and Justin Wilson. Francisco Liriano is a decent addition, but this is also a way to get Nori Aoki out of the way of up and coming prospect Derek Fisher.
This could also signal a trade of Kyle Tucker forthcoming and officially declaring Derek Fisher their left fielder of the future to put alongside George Springer and Josh Reddick. The news came from a combination of tweets from Shi Davidi of sportsnet and Brian McTaggert of Astros.com:
Source: Astros are sending OF Nori Aoki and a Minor League player to the Blue Jays.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) July 31, 2017
#BlueJays and #Astros deal for Francisco Liriano is pending a physical. Sounds like an outfielder in coming back in return
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) July 31, 2017
Minor-leaguer #BlueJays getting from #Astros is OF Teoscar Hernandez, per source
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) July 31, 2017
Francisco Liriano is 6-5 with a 5.88 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 82.2 innings pitched and is a free agent at season’s end. The Astros are sending Nori Aoki who is hitting .272 with two home runs and 19 RBIs this year. He has one year of arbitation left and hits free agency in 2019 if tendered a contract next year.
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Teoscar Hernandez is who the Blue Jays were pining after though. He has major league experience with a .230 batting average, four home runs, and 11 RBIs in 100 at bats in the big leagues, but was hitting .279 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs in 301 at bats in triple-A this year.
The Astros most likely are not done dealing and as stated earlier, I think this is a signal that Fisher will be our left fielder for the remainder of the season (and potentially the future) platooning with Jake Marisnick and the occasional Marwin Gonzalez/Carlos Beltran left field spot start. Fisher has also played center field and has been filling that void in the absence of George Springer.
Next: Week 16 Round-up: Bumps in the road
This trade was a cheap way to fill our need for a second left handed reliever without giving up much of anything in the way of prospects. It also further strengthens the Astros stable of long relievers who can pitch multiple innings with starter experience such as Brad Peacock, Chris Devenski, Francis Martes and Joe Musgrove. More deals should be coming. Stay tuned.