White Sox looking at Roy O.

[PhatMack19]

Let the trade rumors begin.

[bullets13]

he's still a really solid pitcher, but he hasn't been as good the past couple of seasons.  if they can trade him as an "ace", and get really good return for him, they might as well.

[mat]

I don't know how they can work that to their advantage. Pitching is where they're hurting, and then loose Roy?

[Gabe]

Trade him for prospects. It's time

[bullets13]

I don't know how they can work that to their advantage. Pitching is where they're hurting, and then loose Roy?

it's not unheard of to get 4 or 5 prospects for an ace pitcher or big time player.  the rangers made a fantastic trade a couple of seasons ago that sent texiera to the braves, and they got 5 prospects.  

This is what general manager Jon Daniels astutely turned Teixeira into when he traded his soon-to-be-free agent-first baseman to Atlanta on July 31 two years ago:

A starting shortstop in Elvis Andrus who is making a magnificent case for himself as the American League Rookie of the Year, and he's only 20 years old.

A left-handed starting pitcher in Matt Harrison who, despite Monday’s awful start, won nine games as a rookie a year ago and just four starts ago threw a complete-game shutout against the White Sox. In other words, he’s not nearly as bad as he looked Monday.

A young starting catcher in Jarrod Saltalamacchia who has 30-home run potential and is just beginning to blossom at age 24.

A flame-throwing right-hander in Frisco named Neftali Feliz, who in late February was ranked 10th on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list and regularly tickles 100 mph on the radar gun.

Left-handed reliever Beau Jones, also at Frisco, who was a combined 9-1 in three stops in his first year of professional baseball.

SO... If the Astros can pull the trigger on a deal like this for Roy O, they'd be crazy not to do it.

[cardinalcc]

I saw on the ESPN ticker that Roy would invoke his no-trade clause if the Astros and Sox reach a deal.

[Guest JoesBros]

I dont know how I feel about this  >

[bobcatfan]

Heres what i dont understand about all of this.  Oswalt isnt the only player on this team that would be an attractive player in a trade.  Oswalt isnt having a great start to the season, but when does he ever start out the season well??  He's actually a run better than last year era wise, and his run support has been terrible.  He has a reasonably good contract that he can live up to in the next couple years, which i'm sure is what also makes him a valuable trading piece.  But if we are looking to "rebuild", why dont we explore other options besides Oswalt?  If pitching wins championships, why trade off your best pitcher who would help you win a championship?  Here are some players i think the astros should look to trade well before we trade Oswalt.  I realize some of these players wouldnt net us the same prospects, but i'd rather trade these players first:

Carlos Lee:  I think this is the guy we should be shopping that has a no trade clause instead of Oswalt.  He's still revered as one of the best hitters in the NL, so i think we could get a lot in return for him.  Besides the fact that we are wanting to trade players to get prospects and build up our farm system, heres another reason we should trade him.  He has 3 more years left on his contract, making near 20 million a year, and he is turning 33 this season.  He's already hard to watch play the outfield, imagine what he'll be at 36?  With his size too, it wouldnt surprise me if he gets hurt with his in his declining age.  He needs to play DH in the AL, not play left field for the astros...

Miguel Tejada:  We should trade this guy while his stock is high.  Hes batting in the 300s right now, and off to a great start offensively.  If his continues his recent track record, his offense will decline in the 2nd half and his value wont be the same.  I believe Tejada's contract is up after this season and I doubt the astros spend the money to resign them (it'd probably be a good idea not to pay him that money anyway).  So if the astros arent gonna be in contention, why not try to trade him and get something back for him now and not be empty handed at the end of the season.

Pudge Rodriguez:  We signed him for a very inexpensive 1 year deal and he's done fairly well.  We may resign him next year, but i'm sure he'll cost more, and something tells me they wont for some reason.  He's a catcher that can still hit which carries some value for many teams.  You may not get as much as the other guys, but if you are rebuilding, why not trade off an old veteran that carries a lot of name recognition and see what kind of prospect you can get.

[bullets13]

valid points there, been.  i don't know what they'd get for pudge, as he's pretty much an antique, but something's better than nothing, and i doubt he'll resign next year anyway.

[PhatMack19]

Heres what i dont understand about all of this.  Oswalt isnt the only player on this team that would be an attractive player in a trade.  Oswalt isnt having a great start to the season, but when does he ever start out the season well??  He's actually a run better than last year era wise, and his run support has been terrible.  He has a reasonably good contract that he can live up to in the next couple years, which i'm sure is what also makes him a valuable trading piece.  But if we are looking to "rebuild", why dont we explore other options besides Oswalt?  If pitching wins championships, why trade off your best pitcher who would help you win a championship?  Here are some players i think the astros should look to trade well before we trade Oswalt.  I realize some of these players wouldnt net us the same prospects, but i'd rather trade these players first:

Carlos Lee:  I think this is the guy we should be shopping that has a no trade clause instead of Oswalt.  He's still revered as one of the best hitters in the NL, so i think we could get a lot in return for him.  Besides the fact that we are wanting to trade players to get prospects and build up our farm system, heres another reason we should trade him.  He has 3 more years left on his contract, making near 20 million a year, and he is turning 33 this season.  He's already hard to watch play the outfield, imagine what he'll be at 36?  With his size too, it wouldnt surprise me if he gets hurt with his in his declining age.  He needs to play DH in the AL, not play left field for the astros...

Miguel Tejada:  We should trade this guy while his stock is high.  Hes batting in the 300s right now, and off to a great start offensively.  If his continues his recent track record, his offense will decline in the 2nd half and his value wont be the same.  I believe Tejada's contract is up after this season and I doubt the astros spend the money to resign them (it'd probably be a good idea not to pay him that money anyway).  So if the astros arent gonna be in contention, why not try to trade him and get something back for him now and not be empty handed at the end of the season.

Pudge Rodriguez:  We signed him for a very inexpensive 1 year deal and he's done fairly well.  We may resign him next year, but i'm sure he'll cost more, and something tells me they wont for some reason.  He's a catcher that can still hit which carries some value for many teams.  You may not get as much as the other guys, but if you are rebuilding, why not trade off an old veteran that carries a lot of name recognition and see what kind of prospect you can get.

Oswalt looked good last night, giving up 1 run in 7 innings.  He would return the highest value in a trade right now, but I think the Astros would be better off keeping him.  #1 starters are hard to come by, and he's been that for the last few years.  Tejada probably won't resign next year,  so get what you can for him now.  Lee could be a good addition to an AL team looking for a hitter at the deadline.  Maybe Boston would be a good fit, if Ortiz keeps hitting below the Mendoza line.  They need to bring in some young talent to go along with Berkman & Pence.

[AJ25]

we need to say buh-bye to roy o and carlos. we would be a great team in two years if we did that.

[bullets13]

Why not Berkman?  He's actually older than Carlos Lee, and his numbers are crap this year.  His power numbers have been on a steady decline the past two seasons as well.  even still, the stros would get an insane amount of talent back for him from a team looking for a big bat before the trade deadline. 

[AJ25]

i figured the way carlos is hitting we would get more. and the astros top prospects in their system are actually outfielders.. so we could get them some experience this year..

[Ruckdad]

Lee has a no trade clause and has pretty much made it known that he would veto any trade offer.  Berkman is the face of the franchise at the moment, and Uncle Drayton would lose all goodwill with the community if he traded Lance away.

The players to put out there are Oswalt (no trade clause), Valverde, Tejada, Pudge and to a lesser extent Keppinger and Hampton

[AJ25]

hampton won't get much. neither will keepinger.. he doesn't have huge long term potential because he is already 29, and has 15 career homeruns. not many organizations are looking for that out of a 3B.

valverde may get 2 prospects, injury proned.

tejada is either 36 or 38 (depending on which birth certificate you look at) his power is dimenishing, and so is his range. again, he could only go to a contender with injuries (IMO boston redsox) and he also will only bring in 2 solid prospects.. max.

pudge isn't going to get anyone. this is probably his lastyear. his story is the same as tejada's.

if the astros want to get any good prospects, it has to be oswalt, berkman, or hold your breath.. pence

[Ruckdad]

I didnt say they would get much - but anything is better than having these guys languishing on a team going nowhere and then losing them for nothing.  Pence won't be traded for prospects - If Drayton is under the delusion that this team can win now, he could be part of a deal for a front line SP - but hopefully that won't happen.

[AJ25]

i don't think pence is going anywhere either. we don't need outfield prospects. we have some of the better ones in the minors.. we need pitching, and infielders.

our infield could be in a muesuem with kaz, tejada, and blumm.

what i would love to see (which won't happen) is the astros put together a package to send tejada and and maybe keppinger to the SOX to get Clay playing for his home team.

it will take a lot, but the astros could do it. the sox need the help at shortstop

[Gabe]

Roy O = future Yankee just to make JoesBros life complete

[baddog]

Heres what i dont understand about all of this.  Oswalt isnt the only player on this team that would be an attractive player in a trade.  Oswalt isnt having a great start to the season, but when does he ever start out the season well??  He's actually a run better than last year era wise, and his run support has been terrible.  He has a reasonably good contract that he can live up to in the next couple years, which i'm sure is what also makes him a valuable trading piece.  But if we are looking to "rebuild", why dont we explore other options besides Oswalt?  If pitching wins championships, why trade off your best pitcher who would help you win a championship?  Here are some players i think the astros should look to trade well before we trade Oswalt.  I realize some of these players wouldnt net us the same prospects, but i'd rather trade these players first:

Carlos Lee:  I think this is the guy we should be shopping that has a no trade clause instead of Oswalt.  He's still revered as one of the best hitters in the NL, so i think we could get a lot in return for him.  Besides the fact that we are wanting to trade players to get prospects and build up our farm system, heres another reason we should trade him.  He has 3 more years left on his contract, making near 20 million a year, and he is turning 33 this season.  He's already hard to watch play the outfield, imagine what he'll be at 36?  With his size too, it wouldnt surprise me if he gets hurt with his in his declining age.  He needs to play DH in the AL, not play left field for the astros...

Miguel Tejada:  We should trade this guy while his stock is high.  Hes batting in the 300s right now, and off to a great start offensively.  If his continues his recent track record, his offense will decline in the 2nd half and his value wont be the same.  I believe Tejada's contract is up after this season and I doubt the astros spend the money to resign them (it'd probably be a good idea not to pay him that money anyway).  So if the astros arent gonna be in contention, why not try to trade him and get something back for him now and not be empty handed at the end of the season.

Pudge Rodriguez:  We signed him for a very inexpensive 1 year deal and he's done fairly well.  We may resign him next year, but i'm sure he'll cost more, and something tells me they wont for some reason.  He's a catcher that can still hit which carries some value for many teams.  You may not get as much as the other guys, but if you are rebuilding, why not trade off an old veteran that carries a lot of name recognition and see what kind of prospect you can get.

The Astros were questioned as to why they didn't have any hispanic players. Houston has a large hispanic population and these players put rears in the seats. (except Pudge is probably gone next year anyway). I happen to agree with some of what you are getting at, and also, why would we trade our best pitcher (not counting this season so far)?

I'd keep Berkman too. He has a history of slow starts. Just my two cents.

[Ruckdad]

You're forgetting about Carlos Lee, Wandy Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada and Russ Ortiz.

[AJ25]

carlos could get 3 to 4 prospects.. it would be great to unload his contract.

wandy has to keep having a great june and july to get anything for him.

and i just see ortiz as being an "extra" in any deal that will be made.

[KDOSullivan]

I hate to say it, but at this point, I would trade anyone including Lance, Roy, Carlos, Hunter. We are going to have to start over and right now, we have nothing. Trade as many as you can for prospects.

If you were a star player and their was a chance at a title with another ball club, or stay in Houston and languish, I would think go for the ring.

[AJ25]

it's a great chance for most of the players traded.. because most teams that get big name players are contenders, and are trying everything to win that world series. those are the teams that can afford to unload all those prospects, because they know that this year could be their only/best chance to win a world series. so why wouldn't you want to get traded?

but like i said, they don't need to make any trade unless it involves infielders or PITCHERS.

they do NOT need any outfielders. they have 3 of them stroking at the AA level right now, and 2 of them that the GM said are major league ready right now. they just don't have space for them.

[bullets13]

to me, trading pence would be a big mistake... he has the ability to be a perennial allstar, and is quickly becoming the NEXT face of the franchise. 

[mat]

If history repeats its self, the Astros have never done well with big name pitcher trades and pitching seams to be their weekest area.

As a matter of fact, I can't recall them coming out on top of any trade, could be mistaken.

I think Tejada is playing great in the field and at the plate, better than he has in a long time. JMO

Carlos may be good trade.