Climbing Tal's Hill
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Astros: Revisiting the infamous Carlos Gomez trade from 2015

By Andrew Gleinser

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 08: Carlos Gomez #30 of the Houston Astros reacts to striking out against the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning of the game on August 8, 2016 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Astros 3-1. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 08: Carlos Gomez #30 of the Houston Astros reacts to striking out against the Minnesota Twins during the fifth inning of the game on August 8, 2016 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Astros 3-1. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – MAY 31: Mike Fiers #54 of the Houston Astros looks on during the game against the Minnesota Twins on May 31, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Astros defeated the Twins 17-6. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – MAY 31: Mike Fiers #54 of the Houston Astros looks on during the game against the Minnesota Twins on May 31, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Astros defeated the Twins 17-6. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

The Final Verdict

Well, let’s look at the damage from a WAR perspective. The Brewers have received 6.7 WAR from Hader, 3.5 from Santana, 2.1 from Houser and 1.3 from Phillips, for a total of 13.6 WAR. The Astros got -0.2 WAR from Gomez and 0.5 from Fiers, for a total of 0.3 WAR. Truthfully, I’m surprised the Astros’ total is a positive number, albeit a small one.

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The additions of Gomez and Fiers didn’t do much to help the Astros in their quest in 2015, though they didn’t hurt the team that much either. The heartbreaking ALDS loss to the Royals wasn’t really the fault of either of them. However, neither player helped the team win the title in 2017, as Fiers’ performance that year was enough for the team to leave him off the postseason rosters.

Hader certainly would have helped in 2017 and in 2019 as well. He threw 7.2 scoreless frames in the 2018 NLCS, striking out 12. With the struggles the Astros bullpen endured in those two playoff runs, having Hader back there sure would’ve been a boost.

Then there’s the off-field issues as well. For one, Gomez was just a bust. The Astros gave up a haul to bring him to Houston only to see him flop. Then there’s Fiers, who threw the team under the bus by airing its dirty laundry after he got torched on the field in 2019. It’s safe to say he’s no longer welcome in Houston.

So not only was this a bad trade from an on-field standpoint, but it adds the extra component of the off-field issues as well. With those combined, this has to be considered one of the worst trades in Astros history, if not the very worst.

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