Astros should not trade Alex Bregman

Astros Prospect Bregman Should Be Pretty Close to Untouchable

The Houston Astros had a dramatic comeback last night where they came back and won the game because the Angels forgot how to play baseball for an inning. The Astros finally got the breaks that they weren’t getting all game, and they won another game to pull within a game for one of the Wild Card slots. The Astros have fought to get back into the playoff picture, and they are setting themselves up for another playoff run in 2016.

Alex Bregman and Joseph Musgrove were named to the American League Futures team today which is a big honor for both of them. These players typically are the players who offer the best skill set to help their parent team shortly. While Carlos Correa has settled in at shortstop, he is not blocking Bregman a the MLB level. Bregman is working on moving to third base in the minors. However, should the Astros look to make a big splash at the trade deadline, will teams be after Bregman?

Any GM in talks with the Astros would be stupid not to ask about the availability of the former LSU star already knocking on Triple-A Fresno’s door. As Jeff Luhnow would say, you have to give up talent to get to get talent. What does this team need more than anything for the playoff chase, they need a true ace of the staff? We need the ace that Dallas Keuchel was supposed to be after his Cy Young season in 2015.

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You can’t get an arm like Sonny Gray, Chris Sale, or Chris Archer without including a player like Bregman and many other prospects. The question is how the Astros view Bregman, especially with the 2015 number one pick Dansby Swanson already changing uniforms? The Diamondbacks saw a short window to go for it in 2016 but look at where they are now. They have hurt their present and future by going all in for 2016 with all the signings and trades in the offseason.

The Astros understand that they have the team to win again, but they also know that they have to continue to build from within the organization. Some could say that Luhnow was impulsive last year and made several trades that hurt the future by trading Josh Hader, Brett Phillips, Jacob Nottingham, and Vincent Velasquez. However, I think the Astros see Bregman as a Correa or A.J. Reed type of talent, and they wouldn’t even consider trading those guys. Then again, I didn’t think they would trade Phillips either.

Does the Astros minor league system have other options for third base? Yes, they do, but none of them have the potential upside of Bregman. The Astros could have an infield of Reed, Jose Altuve, Correa, and Bregman for years, I just don’t see them switching gears with him so close to being MLB ready. We talked about the trade deadline on this week’s Talking Stros, and even threw out the possibility of Sale.

Other teams will ask about Bregman, but Luhnow can work around other players that other teams could want like Daz Cameron or Kyle Tucker to name a few. We did discuss that we could use another top of the rotation pitcher, but we need to hold onto Bregman at all costs. Honestly, how often does a team’s number one prospect get traded at the deadline? One name that comes to mind is Addison Russell, but I don’t think Bregman is a realistic option to trade this year or ever.

We already missed out on one impact bat in Kris Bryant at third base, and I hope the Astros don’t let go of Bregman. Luis Valbuena is playing well again, so I’m not sure how imminent Bregman’s debut is. Let him play Triple-A ball for a little while, get more reps at third base, and call him up when ready. I would love to have Sale in our rotation, but Bregman has increased his importance to the organization with his play in 2016.

Next: Will the Astros have to trade Alex Bregman in July?

Even though we don’t have the one game play-in pitcher in Keuchel like we had last year, but Jeff Luhnow, say no to trading Bregman!