I don't disagree. They still have a handful of their very best prospects. They'll need all they traded for and more to deal with the Dodgers.

MosesHallRAB04 said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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Don't understand the criticism in trading so many players for Snell. As W says, it's 3 years of control.

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It's that they are doing it in multiple trades.

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what does that mean?

they apparently kept their two best prospects.

Interesting dynamic for the Padres right now for sure. Probably not too dissimilar to our situation back in 2016. We knew the window was opening and needed arms to win in October.

We grabbed Verlander, Cole and Greinke over the next three seasons. Like the Padres, we didn't give up any of our top tier guys (Tucker, Yordan and Whitley). We did give up quite a few "next tier" guys though. Corbin, JBB and Beer would probably be among our top prospects now that Tucker/Yordan are in the bigs and Whitley is close (hopefully). As it stands today, our farm system is somewhat depleted from a rankings standpoint, but I'd still do each of those trades over again 100%.

This is about the time when dealing F Perez, Musgrove, Feliz, JBB and Corbin for the big three was supposed sting a little, but we've uncovered some other arms in our system that are doing just fine at the big league level. I think teams with budget considerations do need to be cautious about those types of trades because cheap everyday players are necessary to offset big money star players. The Astros are probably out of the market for another 4 prospects for 1 immediate help deal for the next couple seasons as we restock. But again, I have no regret about any of the big three trades.

Maybe it will work out the same way for the Padres. Snell/Darvish might not be who I would want to bet on to get me over the hump (relative to Cole/JV/Greinke anyway), but they need arms bad and have to make some moves to keep up with the Dodgers.

Clevinger and Snell are two Cy Young caliber arms. If I were a SD fan I'd have no problem with my team latching on to them to be the 1/2 of the future.

Darvish is a crap shoot who's probably past his prime but as #3 he's not bad.

With those 3 plus that offense they got they're certainly closing the gap with the Dodgers.

Didn't Clevinger have tommy john at the end of the season? I think they're only going to get one season of work out of him before he hits free agency.

Darvish was 2nd in cy young vote last year. He may be best #3 in MLB

Fair points. I don't know much about the prospects they dealt but I'd probly make those trades too.

BMX Bandit said:

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Darvish was 2nd in cy young vote last year. He may be best #3 in MLB

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He did have a nice season last year but I still think he's a bit of a dice roll given the inconsistency/injury concerns that have plagued his career.

but is there much cost to that dice roll when you don't even give up a top 10 prospect?

Nope. Didn't mean to imply that I thought otherwise.

Damn...I Didn't realize that

Looking at his second half of 2019 stats

13 starts
2.76 ERA
118 k
7 BB
0.808 WHIP

Wonder if he had some injuries that healed up in the second half of 2019. Or maybe he had to re-work his mechanics a bit to prevent tipping and it finally clicked.

Not sure if this was brought up earlier, but I just got my 2021 Astros calendar and Yuli isn't in it at all. Straw is there instead. Seems like a big absence. Probably means nothing but just something I noticed that I thought was strange.

Printed (or at least proofed) prior to Yuli signing his FA deal late last season.

Mathguy64 said:

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Trevor Bauer

Pros: Cy Young Award winner

Cons: Has been known to be a head case who fires balls over the CF fence.

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Have him play center, we know he can get it from the wall to home

I've spoken to a guy with the Dodgers - like in the dugout in 2017 with the Dodgers - several times. He thinks what the Astros did was a step beyond others and certainly more effective, but does not deny everyone was trying.

Britton?

aggiederelict said:

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Britton?

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Context?

Does everyone cheat? Sure seems like it. The reason the Astros are getting all the hate is because of the "perfect storm" of factors--a former player ratting the team out, the cheating being very obvious to find on regular broadcast once you knew what to look for, and the fact that the Astros aren't the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, or Dodgers....

Rumors are that Matt Chapman is getting traded. Some stuff on Twitter and Dallas Braden hinting to something negative for them

Wouldn't mind seeing him leave the division or even the AL.

No.

Chapman's departure would be great for the 'stros...assuming its outside of the division.

his new team would have 3 years of control --- so the A's should be getting a truckload of prospects

Because of course they are.