Greinke traded to the Houston Astros

[Dback Jon]

Giants were interested in Rojas


The Astros’ interest, first reported by Yahoo’s Tim Brown, is legitimate; the Giants, according to a source, are intrigued by Astros Triple-A infielder Joshua Rojas. The question with Bumgarner, as I detailed on Monday, is whether the Giants can secure a strong enough return to justify moving him.

Bumgarner’s eight-team no-trade clause – which includes the Astros, Yankees, Braves and Cardinals, as well as the Cubs, Brewers, Red Sox and Phillies – also could be a factor. Bumgarner should be motivated to approve a deal; a player traded in the middle of a season is ineligible for a qualifying offer and exempt from draft-pick compensation. But the list gives him leverage.

Interestingly, Rojas, 25, is just the No. 22 prospect in the Astros system according to MLB.com, but is also considered a super utility guy, something Farhan Zaidi clearly values. Rojas has played every position except catcher and centerfielder, and is posting a slash line of .315/.403/.575 with 20 homers and 32 steals, between Double-A and Triple-A this season. Whether that’s enough to part with Bumgarner, remains to be seen.

 

[Ronin]

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[Ronin]

Burns and Gambo on 98.7 (@BurnsAndGambo)
7/31/19, 4:34 PM
⁦‪@AZSports‬⁩ Hazen on trading Zack Greinke today:

"Losing Zack Greinke is painful. He was our best starting pitcher. He was our staff leader. ... We have to find the next Zack Greinke. But we also had bigger holes than just that one spot on the roster. We tried to address that today."

 

[Ronin]

Burns and Gambo on 98.7 (@BurnsAndGambo)
7/31/19, 4:38 PM
⁦‪@AZSports‬⁩ Hazen on how today progressed:

"We went into today feeling like we needed to be open-minded because we were not playing very well. We felt like we had to open our mind to what any possibility could bring and how to make the organization better. I think that's what led to this."

 

[AZCrazy]

Baseball teams lucky enough to play on a coast, just add the pieces they need. They don't have to lose all their good players every year and hope for an accidentally good year once every five.

 

[Azjose86]

I love love love this trade. This gets rid of that ugly contract and adds some solid pieces. No matter how good greinke is. He can't win all the games for us.

 

[AZCrazy]

Neither can a pitching staff that now has virtually no major leaguers.
That circumstance will now nicely complement our current bullpen.

I really like our position players. Would've been nice if Souza would have worked out as our very poor man's replacement for JD Martinez.
Peralta, Ahmed, Marte, and Escobar are solid players.

Maybe Mike Leake will be energized by returning to the Valley. Let's hope.

 

[Dback Jon]

Neither can a pitching staff that now has virtually no major leaguers.

Ray is a major leaguer
Leake is as well
Gallen and Young have pitched well in limited starts.


This trade is more for the future.

We have Weaver and Walker coming back, plus $57 million in cash.


It is tough to pay 1/3 of your payroll to some that only plays 1/5 of the season

 

[outcent13]

I was trying to explain the economics of baseball to my father in law the other day, short version- dbacks TV deal pays them about 80 million a year when the Dodgers pays them about 330 mil a year. Hard to maintain a high level with that kind of disparity . Not mad at it, just makes it hard when you have a guy like grienke in this market

 

[82CardsGrad]

It is tough to pay 1/3 of your payroll to some that only plays 1/5 of the season

Add in Tomas and man it was/is ugly!

Hazen is doing all he can with what he's got to work with!

 

[Dback Jon]

Add in Tomas and man it was/is ugly!

Hazen is doing all he can with what he's got to work with!

One more year of Tomas' salary.

That was almost $50 million between the two.

Imagine with just Tomas' money we could have upgraded the bullpen.

 

[82CardsGrad]

One more year of Tomas' salary.

That was almost $50 million between the two.

Imagine with just Tomas' money we could have upgraded the bullpen.

I'm stoked to see what Hazen does just with the money he'll have to play with from the Greinke relief... and with No-Mas gone after next year - Whoo Hoo!!

 

[AZCB34]

I don't know anything about the players returning but it seems like a good deal. Greinke will be missed.

I said in another thread I think Hazen is the right guy for this and it seems like this is a solid move

 

[Bert]

I like Zack, I hope he does awesome in Houston and wins a ring.


Just think; this year Goldy, AJ, Zack and PC will all probably be in the playoffs and none of them as Dbacks.

 

[cwamjn]

On paper looks like a good return. Good luck Zack

 

[devilalum]

I really like Greinke. He is one of the few older players that signed a giant contract and didn't get worse every year. He just put in one quality start after another. I'm going to be rooting for the Astros to win it all.

 

[GatorAZ]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/astros-acquire-zack-greinke-win-trade-deadline-in-closing-moments/

Nice breakdown of the pieces coming back.

 

[AZCB34]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/astros-acquire-zack-greinke-win-trade-deadline-in-closing-moments/

Nice breakdown of the pieces coming back.

So the Dbacks are getting a P who looks like he projects as a reliever but had stone control issues. A SP who had Tommy John a month ago. A 1B with power who, according to the article, is a one trick pony. And a utility player who is regarded as the one guy the Astros might truly miss.

And not one of these guys lands in the top 100 prospects list.

This will be interesting to watch unfold

 

[Dback Jon]

The Main upside is salary flexibility to acquire more players

Saving $25 Million in 2020 and 2021. And when Tomas is off the books after next year, that frees up another $15 Million

 

[AZCB34]

The Main upside is salary flexibility to acquire more players

Saving $25 Million in 2020 and 2021. And when Tomas is off the books after next year, that frees up another $15 Million

Given Zach's level of play, should we have expected a bit more than salary relief? I get they got these 4 players but the write up tells me that the Astros minor league system isn't particularly good and the rotation is significantly worse with Greinke gone than here with his salary.

I am on record I think Hazen is the right guy for this rebuild and time will tell what this trade really did for the Dbacks but I expected salary relief plus more talent that is destined for the MLB.

 

[gimpy]

I thought the Astros had one is the better minor league systems?

 

[AZCB34]

I thought the Astros had one is the better minor league systems?

Maybe they do. I guess my expectations for trading Greinke is higher than everyone else's.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

I thought the Astros had one is the better minor league systems?

They have one incredible prospect and several good pitching prospects. They weren't giving up their top guy so we got 2 of their good pitching prospects and probably our real 1B in 2 years

 

[GatorAZ]

They have one incredible prospect and several good pitching prospects. They weren't giving up their top guy so we got 2 of their good pitching prospects and probably our real 1B in 2 years

Are you talking about Tucker or Whitley? Both are alone better than the package we got.

 

[overseascardfan]

I thought the Astros had one is the better minor league systems?

They had the best farm of teams interested in Greinke.

Are you talking about Tucker or Whitley? Both are alone better than the package we got.

I've read Whitley has really regressed this year but yes landing either him or Tucker would have been ideal but the package we got is similar to what DET got for Verlander a couple of years ago.

HOU wasn't giving up either for Greinke, I don't think they would have gotten either for Ray either. This was the best they were going to get for Greinke and if we can develop Bukauskas he could become the next Robbie Ray and replace him after next year if we don't re-sign him. All 4 guys could reach the majors next year, even Josh Rojas who was lighting it up in AAA for HOU.