Rays & Astros
Submitted by: ShaquilleOatmeal
Rays
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brice Matthews | 24 | Majors | SS | 6 | 15.8 | 3.1 | 12.6 | 10.1 | 12.6 | 15.2 | ||
| Walker Janek | 23 | Minors | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.3 | 7.4 | 9.3 | 11.1 | ||
| Cam Smith | 23 | Majors | OF | 5 | 35.1 | 12.9 | 22.1 | 17.7 | 22.1 | 26.6 |
Total Value:
44
Astros
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Baz | 27 | Majors | SP | LRP | Very low | 3 | 50.4 | 14.7 | 35.7 | 28.6 | 35.7 | 42.8 |
| Josh Lowe | 28 | Majors | OF | Low | 3 | 21.5 | 14.5 | 7 | 5.6 | 7 | 8.4 |
Total Value:
42.7
Comments
6
mp's nightmare trade scenario. I think Baz is a reliever, and not a great one at that. Zero deception due to very poor secondaries. He had a much better 2nd half than first half, as mp correctly points out, but much of it was due to fly balls not leaving the ballpark. 0 home runs allowed his final 6 starts. That's not a skill I expect him to repeat. Cam Smith and Brice Matthews both have premier bat speed, good defense, and run like the wind. Would love this deal to come to fruition.
NEWSLETTER? SURE, SIGN ME UP!
Yep. I will forever be on the Fire Neander Bandwagon if he trades Baz. I actually don’t even like Houston’s Farm, so if Baz gets dealt there I’ll be all the more pissed.
As for Baz’s performance last year, my contention is that Steinbrenner was the problem. He pitched well in Away games last year and he pitched well in his return from TJS in 2024. I expect him to dominate next year as a starting pitcher. Get the hell out of here with talk of him being a reliever.
I said before last season he was a middle reliever. And that was before he dropped the slider and started throwing middle/middle change ups. He was worth .4 bWAR and 2 fWAR. He's prone to big innings where he falls apart, the same way Taj is. Hard contact, lack of a put away pitch, too many meatballs in the middle of the plate... I'm not a fan. I'd move him to relief and hope his fastball plays up like Big Trade Wade's did. if I'm giving out 30 starts and 170 innings again, I'm going to expect better than a .4 bWAR/2 fWAR performance with the worst changeup in the game.
I don’t agree with any of that. He has several put away pitches, including a nasty as hell curveball. His xERA last year was 3.85 among qualified pitchers, which was top 50%. That’s while pitching at Steinbrenner, where he struggled. He may not have pitched like an Ace last year but he has the tools and now that he will be pitching at the Trop and is 2 years removed from TJS, I expect him to have a great 2026.
And I agree, Steinbrenner's short fences were a problem for him. But I think it's just too small of a sample to say that he'll be fine playing in a dome. Maybe he was getting lucky on the road as much as he was getting unlucky at home?