3 Paths Forward For Astros Forrest Whitley

The Francis Martes outcome.

Francis Martes was an untouchable prospect in 2017. The Houston Astros front office and fans alike were loathe to even discuss the idea of involving him in a trade package.

As we go back now it would have been better if Martes had been around to send to the Milwaukee Brewers for Mike Fiers and Carlos Gomez instead of Josh Hader. But Josh Hader was born just a few years too early and Martes a few years too late for them to swap places.

Of course it’s impossible to tell what the Astros could have gotten for Martes and considering they went on to win the World Series in 2017 there’s no need to ask “what if?” questions.

But having a prospect sit idly without providing value on your major league roster or being used as an asset to improve your major league roster via trade is unfortunately a reality facing the Astros regarding Forrest Whitley.

Despite all the analytics, measurements of velocity and spin rate and whatever other metrics you want to use to rate a player’s value, the mental aspect cannot be judged with numbers on a piece of paper.

Martes and Appel are both great examples of guys with all the potential in the world but for whatever reason couldn’t put it together to make an impact on the Major League level. These are two outcomes we Astros fans hope Forrest Whitley can avoid and instead reach the third possible outcome.