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Houston Astros: In Pursuit of A Starter?

By Larry Manch |

The Houston Astros continue to win and maintain the lead in the American League West. Speculation abounds as to whether the Astros will pursue a big name starter to bolster the rotation.

The upside, of course, would be that another star pitcher could join Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh, and the newest member, Lance McCullers, Jr, on a promising, young staff. A pitcher of the caliber of Cole Hamels or Madison Bumgarner would certainly be an upgrade for Roberto Hernandez, who has been less than effective.

The downside is what the Astros would have to give up to acquire such a pitcher. When talking trade, rival General Managers inevitably bring names into the conversation that no Astros fan (and hopefully GM Jeff Luhnow) would consider trading.

The rising, talented young players in the organization are obviously the most interesting to other GM’s. Players such as Jose Altuve, George Springer, Jake Marisnick, Preston Tucker as well as minor league prospects Carlos Correa, Jon Singleton, and Domingo Santana are the position players that other teams are likely to ask for in trade talks.

To trade any of those players would be considered by many to be giving away the future of the Houston Astros. We already did this some years ago when the Astros traded Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn. Yes, they received some great prospects in return, and the team is beginning to enjoy the benefits of what those men have to offer.

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For me, I would rather give up players such as

Colby Rasmus

(and his $8 million salary),

Chris Carter

,

Luis Valbuena

, and

Jonathan Villar

. It is obvious to me that if Tucker, Singleton, Santana, Correa, and other Astros minor league hopefuls pan out, the players mentioned above will be superfluous.

Of course, the problem with that is how attractive are any of those guys to another organization in consideration for giving up a big name starter? Unfortunately, not so much probably.

Unless Luhnow can trade Rasmus, Carter, etc., let’s not be too hasty to give up too much. The Astros have some promising starting pitchers at Fresno and Corpus Christi in Dan Straily, Mark Appel, Josh Hader and others.

While it would be nice if the Astros contended for a playoff spot this season, let’s allow the prospects to develop and continue to plan for the future. A Cole Hamels would be a great addition to the Astros, but let’s keep our promising prospects and let the homegrown talent show us what they can do.

Next: Keeping up With Astros Prospects: Brett Phillips

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