Houston Astros: Three reasons to target Francisco Cervelli in a trade

The Houston Astros have a void that needs to be filled at the catcher position. Francisco Cervelli can get the job done. Whom should they trade? Let’s look.

The Houston Astros are working their off season magic to hopefully field a team that has the same contending status as it has had over the past two seasons.  With the Houston Astros having nine free agents on the docket for this season, Jeff Luhnow will be challenged to deliver a winning combination of talent on the roster for 2019.

The good news is that the core offensive players are still under contract and will be back into the fold.  Yes, Jose Altuve, George Springer, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa with a spirited Yuli Gurriel on the fringe will be available to ensure this team is among the best in the majors for the upcoming season.

But the void filled by Brian McCann‘s and Martin Maldonado‘s — who traded for to help with the team’s postseason success hopes — leaves Max Stassi as their only catcher capable of starting that’s under contract.

Obviously, the Houston Astros can certainly improve upon the depth to complement Stassi and there are a lot of options the team could undergo to ensure that have that position solidified for awhile.

At this juncture, to acquire the best talent, the Houston Astros will have to trade for catcher because the free agent list isn’t one that necessarily invokes a sense of confidence that the position will solidified for an extended period of time.

We would all love for the Houston Astros to strike a deal with the Miami Marlins to land J.T. Realmuto — it actually is a feasible pact — but just in case he’s not going to be available, the team needs to check in on Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, who had the best season of career with his team.

Cervelli was a huge factor into the reasoning why the Pirates were so successful early into last season and I think his contributions could be exponential if he were to land with a team like the Houston Astros.

So why Cervelli?  Let’s take a look at three reasons as to why he should be traded for.