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7 players the Houston Astros wish they didn't give up on when they did
Every team has players they wish they didn't let go on and the Astros are no different.
Every organization has players that they wish they hadn't given up on and the Houston Astros are no exception. The Astros generally have been very good at betting on the right players over the course of the franchise's history. In many cases, these deals looked perfectly reasonable at the time. However, hindsight is a fickle, fickle thing.
In some cases, a player completely defied even the wildest projections for how good they could become. In others, the player was already better than the team was giving them credit for and they blossomed once they left the organization. There were also a couple times where letting the player leave was bad back then and looks even worse after the fact.
Here are the players the Houston Astros regret letting leave
For this exercise, we aren't going to be dwelling too much on particularly recent departures unless the result is already obvious. Even if there are prospects that are playing pretty well that the Astros traded away or a guy ended up signing a ginormous contract due to their potential, it is just too early for them to be judged.
Anyways, here are the Astros players that the team wishes they didn't give up when they did.
Josh Hader
We will start with a fairly recent one to set the tone. Josh Hader started his career with the Baltimore Orioles as a 19th round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft. Hader saw his velocity jump up in a big way as a pro and in 2013, the Astros acquired him in the deadline deal that sent Bud Norris to Baltimore. Over the next couple of seasons, Hader pitched very well as a starting pitching prospect in Houston's system and made it all the way to Double-A before the Astros traded Hader to the Brewers at the trade deadline in 2015.
We aren't going to dig too much into the trade as a whole itself here, but it is hard to ignore the loss of Hader. Hader would stick as a starter in the minor leagues before getting called up to the big leagues as a bullpen arm. He has gone on to be one of the better relievers in all of baseball the last few years which would have been nice for the Astros to keep around.
Curt Schilling
This is another one where the Astros got a gift in acquiring the player in the first place and punted the opportunity away. Curt Schilling started his career with the Red Sox before getting traded to the Orioles in 1988. He would eventually get shifted to the bullpen in Baltimore before Houston swiped him in a trade in 1991.
Unfortunately, that is where the good news for Houston ended. The Astros were really wheeling and dealing back in those days to manage their payroll. After Schilling posted a 3.81 ERA out of the bullpen for Houston in 56 appearances in 1991, the Astros would trade him to the Phillies at the beginning of the 1992 season.
The rest, of course, is history. Schilling would go on to be one of the league's most steady starters in Philly before going on to the Diamondbacks and Red Sox to cement his legacy as one of the best pitchers of his era.
Joe Morgan
If you look at the top of most "worst Astros trades of all-time" lists, you are likely to find Joe Morgan's name. Morgan spent the first nine seasons of his career with Astros where he compiled a .263/.375/.396 line in almost 4,000 plate appearances. After being in the league for THAT long, you would think that Morgan was what his numbers said he was.
Looking to upgrade their offense and dealing with the fact that Astros manager Harry Walker was not a fan of Morgan, Houston dealt Morgan to the Reds after the 1971 season. As a part of the Big Red Machine, Morgan would break out in a huge way with a .288/.415/.470 line over eight seasons with 406 stolen bases and 152 homers and getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990 the first year he was eligible.
If you are looking for a silver lining here, it is that Morgan would return to the Astros in 1980 in the twilight of his career and spoke fondly of his time in Houston. Unfortunately, the team just didn't get the benefit of the prime of his career.
Kenny Lofton
Many younger fans may not be aware that Kenny Lofton got his start in baseball with the Astros when they selected him in the 17th round of the 1988 MLB Draft. It took Lofton a little while to get going, but he eventually started hitting and made his big league debut in 1991 and struggled in limited action with a .203/.253/.216 line. At 26 years old and low on the Astros' outfield depth chart, the Astros traded him to the Indians (now the Guardians) before the 1992 season.
After leaving Houston, Lofton made a point to make the Astros regret trading him as he became a defensive highlight reel and one of the most feared base stealers in the league during his career. He would lead the league the next five seasons in steals, make six All-Star games, and put together a borderline Hall of Fame worthy 17 season career.
We can't actually fault the Astros too much here. Lofton was already pretty old for a prospect who hadn't demonstrated the ability to hit big league pitching. Unfortunately, he figured things out in Cleveland and the Astros have to wonder what might have been.
JD Martinez
Another later round pick that could have been a steal for the Astros if he hadn't gotten away is JD Martinez. The Astros picked Martinez in the 20th round of the 2009 draft out of Nova Southeastern University. Martinez would absolutely mash in the minor leagues before getting called up by the Astros in 2011. Martinez was only okay in his three seasons in Houston with a combined .251/.300/.387 line with 24 home runs in 975 plate appearances. Despite making some swing changes that seemed promising, the Astros released Martinez before the 2014 season.
This was a lesson in not underestimating a player's ability to improve. Martinez would sign a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers a couple of days later and got called back up to the big leagues that April. Martinez would go on to annihilate baseballs for Detroit, Arizona, and Boston and is still doing good work at the plate for the Dodgers to this day.
It sure seems like the Astros should have paid attention to the adjustments that Martinez made instead of just assuming he couldn't fix his issues.
Ken Caminiti
This is another weird one because Ken Caminiti had actually established himself a pretty good player for the Astros by his eighth season in the big leagues. The 1994 season was the best of his career with a .283/.352/.495 line with 18 homers and he got named to his first All-Star Game. However, the Astros were again looking to trim their payroll and they sent Caminiti to the Padres in a gigantic 12 player deal that brought back Derek Bell among others.
However, Caminiti's 1994 season was simply foreshadowing of things to come. He would win National League MVP in 1996 in San Diego during a torrid three season stretch in the mid 90's where he slashed .307/.393/.549 with 92 homers and won three Gold Gloves.
Caminiti would at least return to Houston after his time with the Padres and played pretty well for a couple of years before eventually hanging it up in 2001. It is hard to be too hard on Houston here as Caminiti had a number of substance abuse problems and was an admitted steroid abuser during his prime.
John Mayberry
Finally, we come to a name that younger Astros fans may not even be aware of. John Mayberry was the sixth overall pick in the 1967 MLB Draft and would debut in the big leagues as a 19 year old in 1968. Mayberry would only find token playing time with Houston over the next four seasons and he did not play particularly well when he did play with a .191/.284/.342 line in an Astros uniform. Given his struggles, the Astros traded Mayberry during the offseason after the 1971 season to the Royals.
The regret from that deal would be swift as Mayberry broke out in his first season with the Royals with 25 home runs and a .900 OPS. Mayberry would go on to play six seasons with Kansas City including the 1975 season where he finished second in MVP voting while slashing a .291/.416/.547 line with 34 homers. He would go on to play in the big leagues for the Blue Jays and Yankees before retiring after the 1982 season.
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