Fansided

The Astros and Padres are still talking Ross and Kimbrel trade

By Eric Huysman |

Just when I thought it was safe to go to sleep, I see a Tweet from Chris Cotillo that the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres are still talking trade after last nights trade with the Brewers for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers. I assumed after the Brewers trade, the Astros would be done with trades for 2015. However, a text from Jeff Luhnow to ESPN’s Jim Bowden said that Luhnow and the Astros were not done. With the Astros receiving an outfield bat in Gomez and a starter in Fiers, the assumption was that the Astros were after a closer.

As I wrote yesterday, the Astros could strengthen their bullpen, which is one of the most positive aspects of the team this year. While trading for a closer does not mean the Astros distrust Luke Gregerson, but they want to be as good as the Royals are in the bullpen in case they meet in the playoffs. This is why the Astros are making the trades they are making, to make sure the Astros match up well with the American League elite teams. So it makes sense that the Astros and Padres are talking Craig Kimbrel, but then Cotillo had to go crazy on us.

The Astros have Dallas Keuchel, Scott Kazmir, Lance McCullers Jr., Mike Fiers, and Collin McHugh currently in the rotation, and you want to add Tyson Ross as well? They must be apprehensive about the workload on McCullers’ arm to want to add another starter to the rotation. Trying to go after Kimbrel on his own would be one thing, however, going after Ross too puts the trade in a whole other level. As we saw with the Gomez-Fiers trade, trading for two controllable pieces is not cheap. Cotillo was even kind enough to start putting together trade pieces for Luhnow.

Astros fans had to know that Mark Appel‘s name would come up eventually, so Marisnick and Appel would highlight the rumored trade. Some other names that could be mentioned in this rumored trades are Velasquez, Tony Kemp, and Jon Singleton. This next part is purely speculation by myself, the Astros could also include Scott Feldman and cash to get him off the 40-man roster. Feldman is currently the odd man out in the new and improved rotation, so if the Astros pay off some of his salary, the Padres could use the leadership on their team. Will the Padres want Feldman? No, but may be a stipulation to do the trade.

Let’s try to piece together a trade, and all bets are off now that they traded Brett Phillips.

The San Diego Padres trade Craig Kimbrel and Tyson Ross to the Houston Astros for Mark Appel, Jake Marisnick, Tony Kemp, Jon Singleton, Velasquez, and  Scott Feldman with cash.

Jeff Luhnow said that the only untouchable players on the team were Jose Altuve, George Springer, Keuchel, and Carlos Correa with McCullers approaching that status as well. Anyone else is up for grabs, with exceptions of the players recently traded for or drafted in 2015.

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Make no mistake, if the Astros do this trade, they are going all-in for a World Series appearance. Even as good as the Royals are, Crane and Luhnow could sense that this is their time to mortgage part of their future to win in 2015. These trades, except Kazmir, also allow the Astros to keep many of these players past 2015 with their contract status. In other words, the core of this team will be here through 2017 at least. The Astros are not settling for being a wild card team, but they are shooting for winning the AL West.

Don’t forget that the Astros would have home field in the World Series and no longer have to worry about the Taylor Swift concert in October. May be too soon for this type of talk, but the Astros are creating a team with a pedigree of a team that could go all the way.

Next: Houston Astros Strike A Deal With Brewers For Gomez and Fiers

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