Astros: Trade scenario brought up on MLB Network

DeRosa suggests that the Astros trade for Hosmer and then trade Bregman for Archer.

As June winds to a close, the July trade speculation begins across baseball. Everyone is an expert and have their own ideas of trades that need to be made. That goes for Astros fans, bloggers, and the front office. Unfortunately, only one group’s opinion matters.

With the Astros currently having the best record in baseball, they are the talk of the nation. Mark DeRosa was part of a discussion on MLB Network discussing Eric Hosmer. While the Royals are not out of reach of contention, they could be sellers.

After the group had talked about Hosmer, DeRosa screamed out something. He suggested the Astros trade for Hosmer, move Yulieski Gurriel to third base, and trade Alex Bregman to the Rays for Chris Archer. While it was just a spur of the moment talking point, does it make any sense for the Astros?

A little bit of Hosmer!

Hosmer has a slash line of 300/ .357/ .466/ .823 with nine homers while driving in 31 runs. He may be overrated as a first baseman, but is really that much an upgrade over Bregman? I guess the main reason to move Bregman would be to land Archer.

Hosmer is in his walk year, and the Royals could be going a different route. He would not be cheap to trade for with Derek Fisher or Kyle Tucker being involved, plus two others. It would also take a lot more than Bregman to get Archer.

Is Bregman a big part of the team?

With the team they have, the Astros should not mess with the offensive core. Giving up the talent for a rental hitter doesn’t make much sense at this point. With the stacked lineup, they don’t need Bregman to carry the team.

Bregman is batting .249 with eight homers and 26 RBIs. That may not be eye-popping, he bats near the bottom of the lineup. He has a bright future, but he is not hitting like expected. It would depend on what else would be required to acquire Archer. If it’s Bregman straight up for Archer, maybe the Astros do it.

Next: deGrom on the Astros radar?

The likelihood of the Astros trading for Hosmer is minimal. Don’t think too much of the trade idea, but Archer will be a target. Will the Rays sell? The Yankees and Red Sox are good teams. The Rays may need to start fresh. To get both would drain the farm system, Hosmer is not worth it. We will discuss on Talking Stros after the Astros game on SportsTalk 790.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***