Astros: 4 relievers *not named Craig Kimbrel* to trade for

Chad Green

Okay, Astro fans. Before you roll your eyes, hear me out (or read me out):  just because he plays for the New York Yankees, doesn’t mean Chad Green isn’t a really-good reliever. And just because our last memory of him is him giving up a walk-off home run to MVP Jose Altuve, doesn’t mean Green isn’t having himself a pretty good 2021 season.

Green has been one of the more solid pieces of the Yankees bullpen that have been porous all season. The right hander it’s posting a 3.06 ERA with a 0.83 WHIP in his 50+ innings of work so far this year. Green is a veteran reliever with control – he’s generating a career-low walks per nine innings (1.8), which is something the Astros desperately need. Green is also still averaging over 10.8 strikeouts per nine – also something the Astros desperately need.

Green is almost an exclusive fastball-and-curve pitcher, both of which are very effective pitches. Green’s fastball generates a .187 opponent batting average and a 31% whiff rate this season. His curveball generates a .184 opponent batting average with a 35% whiff rate this season. If you ignore those obnoxious pinstripes on his uniform, you’ll see Chad Green is a really really good option.

Herein lies the question: Will the Yankees be sellers at the deadline?  New York is almost ten games out of first and trending the wrong way – perhaps they’ll feel the need to switch up their roster and someone like Green could become available.

Whether or not the Yankees would be willing to deal with the Astros is a different story, but I imagine New York would do a trade for their right offer. And in that case Houston would then have a really solid bullpen option that gets a ton of outs in Green.