3 important reasons Astros should trade this player for a prospect before deadline

WHEELING AND DEALING

3 important reasons Astros should trade this player for a prospect before deadline
Astros GM James Click should be working the phones. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.

ESPN Houston's The Killer B's discuss starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi's value on the market, and make the case for trading him before the MLB Trade Deadline.

Jeremy Branham shared several reasons why this would make sense for Houston.

(If you would prefer reading them instead of watching the video below, please scroll down.)


1. The Astros would likely get a good prospect for Odorizzi because he's pitched well this year, and in general over the course of his career. And of course, starting pitching is always in demand.

2. The Astros could use the money they are paying Odorizzi to go get a bullpen arm in free agency for next season.

3. Many of the Astros top prospects in the organization are a little older, with several already on the roster or in Triple A. A top prospect would help replenish the farm system.

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More disappointing news for Yordan Alvarez. Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images.

Yordan Alvarez’s hand injury is worse than it originally appeared.

The Houston slugger felt pain in his right hand on Friday while hitting and a small fracture that was previously believed to be a muscle strain was discovered. The fracture is about 60% healed.

General manager Dana Brown said he believes the fracture in Alvarez’s fourth metacarpal wasn’t discovered in initial imaging on May 6 because there was too much inflammation and fluid.

Alvarez has been out since May 3 with the injury. They had hoped he could come off the injured list this weekend.

“The immediate plan for him right now is to just let it rest,” Brown said. “And he’ll still continue to do other baseball activity like the running, he could probably go out in the outfield and catch. He can do everything else except for pick up a bat. And so, we don’t even want him hitting off tees even though he feels good enough to hit off a tee. Just let it heal completely and then you’ll be back.”

Since Friday’s imaging showed that the fracture was already more than halfway healed, Brown doesn’t believe it will keep him out too much longer.

“We’re hopeful that because he’s healed so much that ... he’ll be back sooner rather than later,” Brown said.

Alvarez was asked when he expects to return.

“I wish I had a magic ball to tell you,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “The good news is that it’s healing well, but I need rest because the fact that I was keeping on doing swings, it was taking it back, taking it (longer) to heal.”

Brown added that they think the fracture occurred when Alvarez tried to play through the initial muscle strain. Brown said he played for almost two weeks after initially noticing the problem before the first imaging was done.

“The muscle strain was real,” Brown said. “I really think that when he was fighting through those weeks knowing that it wasn’t the same feeling as some of his hand problems in the past ... maybe that’s when he may have caused a little bit more damage.”

Alvarez hit .210 with three home runs and 18 RBIs in 29 games this season before landing on the injured list.

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