Houston Astros: Three strategies to fill the 500 inning void in the rotation
By T.A. Mock
Trade options
The Houston Astros have seen first hand of the impact a stud pitcher can have on a team through a trade, as they saw with the acquisition of Cole a little less than a year ago. We looked at Cole’s impact earlier and because of that, the team may be interested in dipping back into the trade market this offseason.
Trades are always tricky because there is really no way to truly tell who is available. Then, teams also have to evaluate prospects, both on their team and the team they’re seeking to trade with. Those values also are never guaranteed to match up. After that comes the player’s compensation, will the new team be on the hook for the full salary or will his old team pick some of it up?
That being said, trades happen all the time and the Astros are no stranger to them. So, they very well could, and probably will, reach out to other teams regarding starting pitchers, especially after this McCullers surgery.
So, there are a few options that are either rumored to be on the trading block or guys that I could see being available for the right price. One of those names is Zack Greinke from Arizona. The Diamondbacks appear ready to shed some salary with a lot of guys getting ready to hit the free agent market.
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Greinke has an enormous contract that the Diamondbacks would have to pick up in order to make any deal happen for him. However, he could be had at a pretty reasonable price because he hasn’t played like he’s being paid. Kicking the tires could be worth it as Greinke has been very good for a long time.
Another guy that could potentially be available is Marcus Stroman. The Blue Jays have been selling off a lot of guys the past couple of years and are nearly in full rebuild mode. If they traded Stroman this offseason they’d likely be selling low after a down, injury-riddled season. However, they might want to capitalize on his value now as he still has two years of control left.
These are the two biggest names the Astros should take a look at this year but other guys they could target are the Giants trio of Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, and Jeff Samardzija. Dan Straily from Miami and Dylan Bundy are also options to look at via trade.