Climbing Tal's Hill
Fansided

Astros: Reviewing the Jarred Cosart for Jake Marisnick trade

By Andrew Gleinser

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Jake Marisnick #6 of the Houston Astros looks on during batting practice prior to game three of the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 15: Jake Marisnick #6 of the Houston Astros looks on during batting practice prior to game three of the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on October 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
BALTIMORE, MD – JULY 22: Francis Martes #58 of the Houston Astros pitches during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 22, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Astros won 8-4. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – JULY 22: Francis Martes #58 of the Houston Astros pitches during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 22, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Astros won 8-4. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

What the Astros Got

The most familiar name to fans is Marisnick, whose Houston tenure just ended with his trade to the Mets this past offseason. He’d appeared in a total of 54 games with the Marlins between 2013 and 2014, hitting .178 and compiling exactly zero WAR.

Marisnick gave the Astros an even 10 WAR in six seasons, serving as a defensively gifted fourth outfielder and occasional pinch runner with a little pop in his bat. His best year by WAR standards was 2015 when he hit .236 but stole 24 bases. His best offensive season was 2017 when he hit 16 homers in 106 games. It’ll be some time before we can fully evaluate the trade sending him to the Mets in exchange for minor league pitchers Blake Taylor and Kenedy Corona, but Marisnick was the most valuable player to either team in terms of what he did on the field.

Moran was the sixth overall pick in 2013 by the Marlins, and he made brief appearances in the major leagues with the Astros in 2016 and 2017. In total, he played in 16 games, compiled a .653 OPS and was worth -0.2 WAR. He was sent to Pittsburgh in the Gerrit Cole deal prior to the 2018 season.

Since the trade, he’s been worth -0.5 WAR in two seasons for the Pirates while serving as their everyday third baseman. He’s been about league average with the bat, with an OPS+ of 101, but the defensive metrics have not been kind to him. With Alex Bregman already in the fold, Moran was expendable for the Astros.

Martes rose to become one of the Astros’ top prospects before making his big league debut in 2017. He pitched to a 5.80 ERA in four starts and 28 relief appearances that year with high strikeout and walk rates. He has not pitched in the majors since then thanks to Tommy John surgery and two PED suspensions, the latest of which has him out for all of 2020. He was worth -0.9 WAR in his lone major league season.

The Astros also got a draft pick in the competitive balance round A for 2015, which they used on outfielder Daz Cameron, son of former major leaguer Mike Cameron. The younger Cameron was sent to the Tigers in the Justin Verlander trade in 2017, and he’s yet to make the majors. Our postmortem review of that trade leans heavily in favor of the Astros, as Cameron hit just .214 in Triple-A in 2019.

Home/Astros News