Bud Norris to Atlanta?

Debating whether or not Bud Norris should be traded, is at this point a fruitless debate.

Bud Norris (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)

I am pretty certain that Norris will be moved prior to the trading deadline. The questions that remain are what will the return be, and what team will the right hander be traded to?

Three starting pitchers have already been moved this trading season. Scott Feldman to the Baltimore Orioles, Ricky Nolasco to the LA Dodgers, and Matt Garza to the Texas Rangers. So far, the returns, especially for Garza have been pretty good. Yovani Gallardo is likely on the trading block, but with each start his trade value has been decreasing. Other than Jake Peavy, there is not much out there. That only makes Norris that much more of a valuable commodity.

This is certainly working in the Astros favor. There are a lot of teams looking for pitching, and not many sellers. That coupled with the fact that Norris will still be under club control for another few years and Houston is not forced to trade him, is certainly a good thing.

What could also work in Jeff Luhnow’s favor is that the Braves have now lost Tim Hudson for the year due to a fractured ankle.

Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports is reporting tonight that Atlanta is now “actively pursuing” Norris. We have a week to see how this progresses and where Norris ultimately ends up. But what I do know, is that it is only going to benefit the Astros to have all these teams interested in Norris.