Astros & Rays
Submitted by: ShaquilleOatmeal
Astros
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yandy Diaz | 34 | Majors | 1B | Medium | 2 | 37.4 | 26 | 11.4 | 9.1 | 11.4 | 13.7 | |
| Kevin Kelly | 28 | Majors | RP | 3 | 4.2 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 |
Total Value:
13
Rays
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Walker | 35 | Majors | 1B | Medium | 2 | 14.5 | 40 | -25.5 | -30.6 | -25.5 | -20.4 | |
| Ethan Pecko | 23 | Minors | SP | LRP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.9 | 4 | 4.9 | 5.9 | |
| Bryce Mayer | 24 | Minors | SP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.8 | 7 | 8.8 | 10.5 | ||
| Kevin Alvarez | 18 | Minors | OF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.7 | 11.7 | 14.7 | 17.6 | ||
| Ethan Frey | 22 | Minors | OF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 5.8 | 7.2 | 8.7 |
Total Value:
10.1
Comments
7
The Rays are without question the 5th best team in the division. A 34 year old DH isn't the difference between post season and not. Swapping a DH for a good defensive 1B means Aranda could be mixed in at 2b on occasion. If Walker is cooked, the Rays have plenty of other bounce back candidates to use at DH. This move adds a ton of MiLB talent without doing much to alter their post season chances.
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I like the idea but I don’t think it’ll work. Teams don’t often trade their top Int’l signee within a year of signing, so Alvarez is probably not available. The Rays also have no room in Durham for another SP, so Pecko would need to be replaced as well. I’d happily trade Diaz for Walker, Neyens, Frey and either Mayer or Forcucci.
Fair point of trading 1st year of intl signee, but the Astros have never been gunshy about moving prospects for MLB talent. I strongly reject the idea we have too much upper level pitching. The Rays might have 1 pitcher out of the 100 best pitching prospects, and he (Hopkins) just posted a 12.2% BB rate, which would rank dead last among all qualified MLB starters. He's a nice prospect to have, but he's well below a standard "Rays best pitching prospect". He's no Baz, Honey, McKay, Taj, McClan, etc. After that, it's a long list of who gives a fuck. Brito, Nichols and Forrest headed to AA. Harrison to A+. Ty Johnson isn't a blip on my radar til he gets a changeup, as lefties will feast on that curve breaking right into their barrel. Perhaps we see him as an opener for Seymour at some point this year. It's 2 interesting SP in Durham's rotation, and then 3 turns of who fucking cares.
Such a Negative Nellie. First off, Durham is going to have one of Boyle or Seymour, plus Hopkins and T.Johnson (both of whom are better pitching prospects than anyone in Houston’s system), plus (possibly) Nichols and Baumeister, both of whom are solid mid-rotation arms with AA experience already, plus T.Cummings (probable reliever already in AAA but you never know), plus Schlotens (depth starter), plus Workman and Rock. Rays have a ton of arms graduating High A to AA too, so the upper minors are jammed packed. The Rays top 30 list is going to be loaded with pitching prospects this year.
Baseball America rankings out today. Ty Johnson is in the 20s. Like I said, not a blip on my radar. What I see when I watch him: 6'6" but pitches small, which is fine with good extension like Chris Sale, but he has poor extension, releasing the ball closer to his ear than over his front foot. Add in that he has only 2 pitches? A moderately successful reliever would be a success story in my opinion , and hope that Alex Colome is the ceiling. But mostly...his success is due to bad hitters in my opinion. I've watched a lot of him, and he gets Ks on fastballs in the dirt and sliders 18 inches outside. Not even Pedro Martinez got MLB hitters to do that. Watch this, and tell me which of these likely results in an out in MLB? It's not the hung breakers, the fastballs in the dirt, or the sliders breaking in to lefties. MLB righties will not swing at fastballs below the zone, and lefties will feast on a slider with no changeup. https://www.milb.com/web/video/rays-no-20-prospect-ty-johnson-strikes-out-eight?t=air-national-guard
You have to remember its TB, I'm sure in ST one of those AAA pitchers will go down with TJS and another will bomb so there's always room for pitching
I’d rather have further out prospects unless they are superstars. Rays have a ton of top pitching in AA and AAA next year and will be running into Rule 5 and blocking issues as-is.