MLB Trade Retrospective: Carlos Gomez to the Houston Astros

A look back at the MLB deadline week trade in 2015 when the Houston Astros acquired Carlos Gomez from the Milwaukee Brewers.

On the day before the trading deadline last year, the surprising Houston Astros traded four young players to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Carlos Gomez and starting pitcher Mike Fiers. Coming into the season, it was acknowledged that the Astros had a bright future, but no one thought 2015 would be the year they’d make the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The consensus among the experts was for them to finish fourth or fifth in the AL West, with around 75 wins. Fangraphs projected them to win 78 games, while Sports Illustrated had them with 72 wins.

With the trade deadline less than 48 hours away on the morning of July 30, the Astros were surprising everyone by leading the AL West by a game. They had a record of 57-45. Suddenly, the future was now and the Astros made a bold move to improve their 2015 club when they acquired Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers for four young players—RHP Adrian Houser, OF Brett Phillips, OF Domingo Santana, and LHP Josh Hader.

The Milwaukee Brewers, on the other hand, were at the bottom of the NL Central and already 20.5 games out of first at this point of the season. They had a record of 44-58 and could see the handwriting on the wall. It was time to rebuild. Centerfielder Carlos Gomez had blossomed with the Brewers, going from a .247/.298/.357 hitter in his first year with the team to a .284/.356/.477 hitter in 2014. He had taken a step backward in the first half of the 2015 season and was hitting .262/.328/.423 with the Brewers at the time of this trade. He would be a free agent after the 2016 season. Starting pitcher Mike Fiers had pitched in parts of five seasons with the Brewers, but his career had been very inconsistent. At the time of this trade, he was 5-9 with a 3.89 ERA (3.85 FIP), 1.36 WHIP, and 9.2 K/9.

Next: Gomez Continues to Struggle