Houston Astros: Team needs to make a trade for Ervin Santana

As the waiver trade deadline nears, the Houston Astros need to consider this arm to improve the depth of their pitching rotation.

The arm that I speak of for the Houston Astros?  I’m talking about Ervin Santana, currently of the Minnesota Twins.  The ultimate trade deadline of Aug. 31 is quickly approaching and I still think the team needs to make a move to ensure that they have the weapons they need going into the playoffs.  If the Twins decide to put Santana on revocable waivers again, he would be a great candidate for such a feat and he’s not too expensive moving forward.

He’d certainly be a better candidate than Justin Verlander, who is owed about $28 million over the remainder of his contract.  The pickings are a lot slimmer after the non-waiver deadline but deals can still be made by the end of this month to ensure teams can carry them onto the playoff roster.  This is an incredible opportunity for the Houston Astros to pounce on a solid starter and just adding him alone would provide tremendous depth to our pitchers which is something that’s badly needed at the moment.

Santana cleared waivers last season and the Twins ultimately decided to keep him on the roster.  But with team needs being different and with the race for the respective Wild Cards being a lot closer this year, there’s a strong possibility the Twins could get a deal done for their starter.  The Houston Astros certainly need to be one of those teams in on this.

How much will he cost?  Santana signed a four-year, $55 million deal back in late 2014 and is due to earn $13.5 million this season and $13.5 million in 2018, $14 million in 2019, his last season before he hits free agency in 2020.  With all of that guaranteed money tied up into one person, the Houston Astros may be reluctant to commit but if they should feel that this is the best time for the team to contend, I think a deal has to be made.  The window of opportunity is incredibly small in the majors and eventually there will be radical changes to this roster as guys become free agents.

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So the time to pounce is now and I don’t think that the Astros would regret such a move for the veteran pitcher.  We could use his 93-mph four-seam fastball or mid-80s slider on the mound to continue to deceive opponents left and right, especially when this team gets going in the playoffs.

What would we have to give up for him?  Of course they’re going to want Kyle Tucker, Derek Fisher and Francis Martes first.  And you know what?  They can’t have them!  Unless they’re sending a significant return, those guys are off limits.  But when one starts talking about Cionel Perez, Garrett Stubbs or even Tony Kemp, I’d certainly consider parting with them.  But because Santana was an All-Star this year, one top prospect may be all that’s needing to get the wheels turning.  He just pitched his fifth career complete game just a couple of days ago.

Franklin Perez‘s stock continues to rise and I’d put him up close to the “untouchable” category.  All in all, I’d only consider giving them one of our prospects ranked between 10 and 20 to make this deal happen.  Will the Twins balk at my offer?  I’m sure they will but if they want to unload his contract, there’s going to have be some give and take.

The bottom line is that we must fulfill this need in order to compete as the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles have loaded up providing a notable threat and they could be teams that we’ll face in the playoffs, especially is the Orioles’ push for a Wild Card slot is successful.  We’ll have to see about that.

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Santana, 34, has a 12-7 record, posted a 3.28 ERA, has tossed 113 strikeouts, allowed 53 earned runs with a horrible 4.81 FIP but stellar 1.11 WHIP through 145.1 innings pitched in 22 starts.

Go Astros.