Astros: How the Cubs trade for Wilson affects the Stros

Last night, a big name dropped of the Astros trade market for left-handed relievers.

It was rumored earlier in the night that Justin Wilson would be traded last night. If the trade goes through, the Tigers will trade Wilson and Alex Aliva for third baseman Jeimer Candelario and ss Isaac Paredes plus a PTBNL or cash per Ken Rosenthal. The Astros have been after Wilson since the offseason.

After already trading for Jose Quintana, the Cubs make another move to help their team. They get a lefty reliever and a backup catcher to backup Wilson Contreras. They do pay a high price for those two players in Candelario (Cubs top prospect) and Paredes (10th top Cubs prospect). Granted that Candelario was blocked by Kris Bryant.

How does this affect the Astros?

There are a few ways that this will impact Jeff Luhnow’s quest to improve the team.

It sets a price for the other lefty relievers in the market. Although the Cubs farm system has taken a hit with trades this year and last year, Candelario is the 92nd top prospects in the MLB by MLB Pipeline. That would be similar to trading Yordan Alvarez and Daz Cameron, but…

The Astros have a deeper farm system at the moment, so other teams will be seeking higher level prospects. Will names like Kyle Tucker or Forrest Whitley enter the trade talk?

No more three amigos.

The three pitchers on the market were Wilson, Brad Hand, and Zach Britton. With one dropping off the board, the other teams will be more aggressive for the last two.

The price for Hand has dropped a little, but the Orioles don’t need to trade Britton. While Avila was added to the Cubs-Tigers trade, that could have been the player to be named later. The Astros need some help in the bullpen with Will Harris back on the DL.

Teams see what is happening to the Astros with injuries and bullpen struggles. They will try to take advantage of the desperate Houston team. Luckily, Luhnow handles pressure pretty well and is level-headed. They could have also lost some leverage in trade talks.

Next: Astros Rumors: Is Lance Lynn the latest trade target

Not sure what the hours left before the trade deadline will bring. Here is hoping we see at least a trade for a lefty reliever. The trade is not official yet, maybe both GMs fell asleep on the phone and they finalize soon.

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***