Houston Astros: Let’s Make A Deal With the Brewers

By Blake Permenter | May 28, 2015

If you have a television or any social media, there is a high chance you know that the Astros are in first place. Also, if you know anything whatsoever about baseball, you know that this is very unusual. The Astros have not finished above .500 dating back to 2009, and last year snapped a streak of 3 straight 100 loss seasons. Although being the laughing-stock of baseball is never fun, acquiring Jeff Luhnow to turn the organization around sure has been.

Luhnow became the general manager of the Houston Astros after an abysmal 2011 season with saw 106 losses, but man aren’t we glad he did! After turning the Cardinals into perennial World Series contenders year in and year out, his drafting style and organization turn around has many thinking the Astros are on the same track.

Now as the Astros sit atop the AL West (and American League), it seems more and more likely they become buyers at the trade deadline. While big names have been tossed around such as Johnny Cueto, Cole Hamels, or Scott Kazmir (which are all possible), I want to tone in on a smaller target.

Who is Kyle Lohse

Kyle Lohse, Milwaukee Brewers. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

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I’m sure you think I am crazy, why Kyle Lohse? He has a 5.80 ERA this season. Well, I will tell you why.

The Astros starters are near the top of the American League in every statistical category. However, shaky innings from everyone outside of Keuchel could give the average Astros fan a little scare. However, we are sure McHugh will be okay, and Scott Feldman has 12 quality starts in his last 14 times on the bump. Lance McCullers recovered from a nervous start to shut down the hard-hitting Orioles.

But the fifth spot in the rotation has disappointed. It is real bad. It is so bad I am scared to look up the numbers bad. The top half of the rotation seems to be solidified (hopefully), and a guy like Kyle Lohse could fill in perfectly.

Now let’s look at the numbers:

For his career, Kyle Lohse is 145-133 with a 4.32 ERA. Solid numbers. Yes, he is 36, but age has not been problematic for him one bit.
In his age 32-35 seasons, Lohse is a combined 54-30 with a 3.26 ERA. Easily the best stretch of his career, so I guess you could say Lohse is “aging well”.
Lohse was formerly on the Cardinals, and guess who was the general manager? You guessed it, Mr. Luhnow himself.

The Trade Idea

Now that we know a little bit about Lohse and his career, the question looms: who could we give up for him? Lohse is on the last year of his contract (perfect), and is still owed $11,000,000 for this year. However, with this being the Astros first year of relevancy since virtually 2005, that is completely okay!

Looking at the Brewers depth chart, one thing pops out to you: only 1 starter (5th starter) has an ERA under 4. Pitching is most definitely their weak spot and the Astros could sure help out with that!

By having loads of pitching seemingly accumulate in the farm system over the past few seasons, there are people to spare. Vincent Velasquez catches my eye. Although he has been a stud all of his minor league career, he still is not ready to make the jump. The Astros are in win now mode, and stability in the rotation is key to a team who is poised for October.

The recent supply of pitching could also hold up Vasquez if he was to stay in Houston, so I say we let him go.

The Houston Astros trade Vincent Velasquez and a mid-round draft pick to the Milwaukee Brewers for Kyle Lohse.

I may be too into ‘win now Astros’, but I believe in making moves for now, I have seen enough of building for the future.

Part 1: Let’s Trade with the Oakland Athletics

Part 2: Let’s Trade with the Phillies

Part 3: Let’s Trade with the Reds

Part 4: Let’s Trade with the Reds Part 2

Part 5: Let’s Trade with the Brewers

Part 6: Let’s Trade with the someone with Rasmus

Part 7: Let’s Trade with the White Sox

Part 8: Let’s Make no Trades

What do you think of this trade?

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