The Houston Astros are still active in the trade market as they have not given up their pursuit for a bonafide relief pitcher, seeing as how neither Carlos Gomez nor Mike Fiers fit the bill as such, adding to the questions that surround that deal.
The top name on the Astros’ list is former Braves and now San Diego Padres closer Craig Kimbrel. However, despite the interest, Evan Drellich tweeted:
Sources say Astros and Padres are talking. Says one: “We’re not close to anything.”
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) July 31, 2015
Craig Kimbrel would not come cheap, but he would certainly be worth a considerable amount for the Houston Astros as they look to shore up the back end of their bullpen, which, while still stoic, is not quite as dominant as they were in the beginning half of the year.
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Craig Kimbrel is a shade of his former Atlanta Braves self, but given that his former self was an absolute monster, being a shade of that is still pretty good. While in Atlanta, he only once produced an ERA over 2.00 and a WHIP above 1.00. His WAR was also consistently over 2. This year, for the anticlimactic San Diego Fathers, he has only maintained a 2.68 ERA with a 1.09 WHIP and .8 WAR.
Like I said, still pretty good.
Craig Kimbrel needs a playoff contending team, he loves the high pressure situations and the Houston Astros can provide him with that. At only 27 years old, he could be a long term investment as well.
Obviously the question becomes what happens to Luke Gregerson, but the Astros can always revert back to the Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner era where if you made it to the seventh inning and the Astros were beating you, you had lost.
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Tyson Ross is also being discussed, but he has been rocking out as a starting pitcher for the Fathers and I do not see why, after landing Mike Fiers, they would continue loading up on starting pitching unless they planned on converting them to relievers.
The San Diego Padres are in need of a center fielder and seeing as how the Astros clearly have no qualms dishing any prospect or anyone else for that matter, Jake Marisnick has been rumored to be a movable piece. While Colby Rasmus seems a much more sensible piece to move, he is undoubtedly less valuable than a young guy like Marisnick who has shown some decent upside.
The Astros are getting crazier and crazier as the deadline nears, so expect talks to escalate.
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