Houston Astros: Re-examining the Yordan Alvarez trade

Yordan Alvarez has made his presence felt in two games for the Houston Astros so far. Let’s re-examine the trade that brought him to the franchise. Look.

While it’s been two games, Yordan Alvarez has already made an impact so far. If he continues to perform the way he has been, then the Houston Astros would have already put themselves as the winner of the trade.

Houston Astros fans, it has only been a few games. But we have to be excited knowing that the recent call up of Alvarez is something Houston needs in order to keep their team in a good position without their injured stars. We’ve been begging for Jeff Luhnow to call Alvarez up. The more we followed the Round Rock Express and see that he hit another homer, the more we sought out a way to bring him up.

Sure, we like the other players that were called up in Garrett Stubbs, Jack Mayfield, and Myles Straw. But there isn’t a minor leaguer that was making airwaves with what he was doing than Alvarez. Now that he’s in the big leagues right now, he’s been making history already.

Against the Orioles in his debut, he did this.

https://twitter.com/astros/status/1137801220838514689

And with that, Air Yordan has taken off. I think Geoff Blum should shout that out every time he homers. Because of that, Alvarez was the seventh Astro to homer in his major league debut. It wasn’t like Dava Matranga back in 2003. But that was a laser of a homer to center.

Then last night, Alvarez went up against the Brewers. After a few strikeouts, history was made again:

And again:

Is it too late to add Alvarez to the all-star ballot MLB?

Who the heck is this guy?

Yes, it’s been a few games and Alvarez is still a rookie who might struggle. But we can only hope and expect that he could be an incredible asset for us in our quest to take it back. Yet, there are those of y’all that are still wondering who this guy is. Don’t worry! I happen to have the answer to your question right here. You’re going to love it because it involves a familiar team.

You know how we made the unfortunate mistake of letting J.D Martinez go to Detroit and he got his way with us even last year? Well, this particular might be starting to fret about being on the losing end of this trade.

Three years ago

Alvarez, a Cuban-born player with Las Tunas, a team in the Cuban National Series,  wasn’t drafted by any MLB team in the 2016 draft. Yet, he did sign as an international free agent with this team in June 2016. However, two months later, just before he got a chance to play in the minor leagues, this team made a trade with the Houston Astros in return for a pitcher in their minor league system.

It wasn’t a major trade, but with how things played, it’s one that could continue to alter the course in the direction of the Houston Astros. After all, when the trade was made, the Houston Astros Director of Pro Scouting Kevin Goldstein said this.

"Alvarez is a player with exciting offensive upside. He has excellent power for a teenager, as well as a feel to hit. He has also demonstrated great athleticism for a player of his size."

At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, Alvarez has worked his way up through the minor leagues hitting .343 with 23 home runs, 16 doubles and 71 RBIs in just 56 games. He was the minor league version of Christian Yelich, who has 25 homers so far, just two ahead of what Alvarez had in the minors. Now, Alvarez is on the current Houston Astros roster.

Meanwhile, the former Houston Astros pitcher was now part of the organization and would be called up to contribute to a playoff run. The team didn’t win in 2016, but he did have a decent postseason.

The next year, however, the pitcher struggled with his command and was sent down to begin the season. But after one of the starting pitchers was placed on the disabled list, he returned and managed 57 games with a 5-0 record an 2.84 ERA. Then in the playoffs, he pitched sparingly but yielded zero runs and the team went to the World Series.

By now, you probably can guess that the team we’re talking about are the Los Angeles Dodgers and the pitcher is none other than Josh Fields. So how has the trade gone for the Dodgers?

2017 World Series Game 2

It’s sad that Fields would face three batters and give up three hits in his only World Series appearance. The next season, he pitched decently well with a 2.20 ERA but didn’t make the postseason.

Where we’re at now?

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Well, Fields signed a minor league contract with the Brewers in March. All of a sudden, a month

later, he opted out of his contract and is now part of the Rangers’ minor league system with the Triple-A’s Nashville Sounds. So there is a chance that the Rangers might call him up to the majors and we might see him again.

As for Alvarez, it’s still early in his career. But there is a feeling that this a trade we won already. In no way is this like 2017 when the Dodgers traded for Yu Darvish only for the Houston Astros to win the trade of the season with acquiring Justin Verlander. But sometimes, the minor of trades could bolster a franchise to greater heights and leave another hanging out to dry.

Let’s hope this one continues to go well for the Houston Astros. You can only get better with Air Yordan.