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Astros Hitting Needs as the Trade Deadline Approaches
Looking at the Astros hitting needs at the trade deadline
The Houston Astros held a spot in the Wild Card standings for the first time in 2016 Saturday before losing to Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox. The Royals won as well to get back into the wild card slot but don’t expect that to be the only time the Astros find themselves in the playoff picture in 2016. By being labeled buyers this season, this means that there will be plenty of rumors going around in July and even in August.
Let’s look at some fact or fiction of what the true needs are for the Astros not only now, but for the playoff run. Some of these moves could also be done with 2017 in mind as well.
Trade for a Catcher?
With Jason Castro and Evan Gattis in the fold for 2016, this is not an area of need for the Astros at this point barring an injury, knock on wood. There is one exception, with Castro in his walk year, the Astros could look at possibly bringing a player like Jonathan Lucroy in the fold. Lucroy has a $5.25 million team option for the 2017 season, which will be a bargain with the way he is playing this season.
However, the Astros will have to pay a hefty price to a team that already has several of our former prospects. The catching slash line below is not that great, but ignore the batting average, and the rest is decent for a catcher. Gattis playing catcher will help solidify this position, which is better than the Erik Kratz era earlier this year.
Catchers 2016 slash line .213/ .306/ .419/ .726
Prediction: Unless the Astros trade for Lucroy for 2016 and 2017, don’t expect an upgrade here.
Next: Trade for an infielder?
Trade for an infielder?
The Astros middle infield is one of the strongest between Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, but the same can not be said for first and third base. With the recent solid play of Luis Valbuena at third base and Alex Bregman showing that he could be ready for the show soon, third base is not a need. As we talked about on Talking Stros last night, Valbuena is an underrated defender at third base with occasional pop. Unless you trade for Nolan Arenado or Evan Longoria, I don’t think there is much of an upgrade there.
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First base is a developing position with Marwin Gonzalez and A.J. Reed currently holding down the fort at the moment. Jeremy Booth of Program 15 doesn’t think that Reed is ready and that he was rushed up to the big leagues. He believes that if Reed is the answer, they should have let him master Triple-A more before bringing him up. One thing that Booth said also was that the Astros need him to be the answer.
The Astros will give Reed all the chances they can afford, but they have a few houses in-house including Gonzalez, Jon Singleton, or Matt Duffy. When, and if, the Astros bring up Bregman, Valbuena could be moved to first base.
First base 2016 slash line .233/ .302/ .413/ .715
Third base 2016 slash line .222/ .310/ .399/ .709
Prediction: I don’t think the Astros will upgrade here, but one potential player to trade for is A’s third baseman and Astros killer Danny Valencia, who has one more season of team control. Valencia is hitting .313 with 11 homers and 30 RBI’s on the season.
Next: Trade for an Outfielder?
Trade for an Outfielder?
At the beginning of the season, Astros fans felt that we had one of the better outfield trios in the game with George Springer, Carlos Gomez, and Colby Rasmus. Fast forward three months, Springer should be going to the All-Star game with his play, but the other two players have had ups and downs. Rasmus had a great April, getting some early votes for the All-Star game, but his numbers started falling in May. Gomez got off to a terrible start but has shown signs of waking up.
More from Climbing Tal's Hill
- Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
- Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
- Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
- Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer
- Alex Bregman goes off in August, leads Astros
Gomez may not be the same player he was during his All-Star seasons with the Brewers, but he could be the make or break player for the Astros this season. Some feel that Jake Marisnick is the best center fielder on the team, but Gomez wants to play center field. While the outfield appears to be set, could the Astros trade for an outfielder?
The answer is yes, you trade for a clutch high OPS guy such as Ryan Braun or Jay Bruce, with the latter being the easier target. No, you don’t need an outfielder, but imagine what adding Braun or Bruce to the existing lineup. You can play an extra outfielder as the DH and split more time between Gattis and catcher to open the spot at DH.
With two outfielders possibly checking out after the 2016 season, they could be looking to upgrade now and not wait until the offseason. The Braun move would be not overly welcomed at first, but people will eventually grow attached to him. Some other names would be Carlos Gonzalez and Jon Jay, but I am having a hard time seeing Gonzalez as a trade target with his high price tag.
Outfield 2016 slash line .245/ .319/ .403/ .722
Prediction: If we trade for any hitter, I think it would be an outfielder with team control past 2016. The Astros could look to upgrade their outfield now versus wait for the offseason. It would require a few platoons for other players, but to add an impact bat could be the difference between the streaky offensive output.
Next: Astros are moving on up, to the Wild Card slot
Tomorrow, I will preview the pitching market for the Astros because they need a shutdown pitcher to pitch in a potential Wild Card game in a one-game play in series. This pitcher was supposed to be Dallas Keuchel, but he’s struggled in 2016. Could he rebound to his Cy Young form, yes, but it wouldn’t hurt to have plan B?
***Stats from Baseball-Reference***