3 Houston Astros prospects who should be traded and 2 who should not

Keep: Drew Gilbert - OF

Things in the Astros’ infield are largely settled in the near-term, but the same cannot be said for the outfield. Don’t get us wrong, Jake Meyers and Corey Julks are at least mildly interesting, but neither are likely to have the same upside as one of the Astros’ top prospects, Drew Gilbert. He does a lot of things well, although his hit tool plays up more because of being a high energy guy and not because he hits the ball consistently hard thanks to raw physicality.

Guys who can consistently get on base and produce at the plate while also being good enough to play all three outfield positions are tough to find. Will Gilbert be a 30+ home run guy? Probably not, but his all-around game should make the entire team better when he is in the lineup. Houston has several outfield prospects of note in their system, but Gilbert is the best of the bunch and the Astros should hang on to him.

Trade: Pedro Leon - OF/2B

Pedro Leon is a weird prospect as he has a ton of raw physical tools and a high walk rate which are usually good signs. However, his hit tool lags behind his tools and his approach at the plate yields a lot of strikeouts in addition to the walks. Leon has a strong throwing arm and is a plus runner, but there isn’t a refined part of his game that one can point to and hang their hat on at the moment.

These are the types of guys are the ones that can be very tantalizing lottery tickets in trades. Leon isn’t a guy that is a low-A flyer type, he has actually produced a bit in Triple-A and is maybe an adjustment or two away from being a productive big leaguer. That proximity to the majors makes him a better fit in a lot of trade packages that could yield a real return for Houston especially given how many outfield prospects they have.