MISSING THE FRENZY
Did the Texans lose trade collateral when they gave up draft picks?
Mar 13, 2018, 5:05 am
Former Texans GM Rick Smith traded away several key picks. Bob Levey/Getty Images
The NFL year and official start to the offseason does not officially happen until tomorrow, but there have already been enough moves to make your head spin. Several big-name players have been shipped via trade and with them the free agency blue prints have been set for nearly every team. This volume of deals being made might be a surprise to many; just not me. I can safely say I saw the future and that future was trading. During last year’s offseason I wrote for the now shuttered HoustonSportsandStuff.com about how this might become a trend. Now it seems prophetic because I can’t recall ever seeing this many trades happen in one offseason.
But lo and behold, the Texans are once again not a part of the action. This time it’s not because they don’t want to try. I’m sure if they could, they would. Their predicament while all these shenanigans are going on is the lack of 1st and 2nd round picks. Without the ability to get one of the top 64 players, they need to use what’s left of their picks wisely in the draft. Going after veteran players that other teams are willing to ship off for late round picks is too much of a gamble..
They currently have three picks in the 3rd round of this year’s draft. With any luck they can package two of them to move into the 2nd round and find a quality player where need and value meet. New GM Brian Gaine will be paying close attention, looking for the right trading partner when the moment is right. But looking back at the last years of Rick Smith, I can’t help but wonder if he gave away too much too soon.
When Osweiler was signed as a free agent I was all for the move, just not at that price. I would never outbid an unproven player’s previous team. It cost them an early draft pick just to get out from under that albatross of a contract. I loved the move to get Deshaun Watson, but I wouldn’t have made it. Sometimes you should be willing to step away from the table before you lose your shirt. Watson is a franchise player, no doubt, but the move left them without picks in the first two rounds of the draft and still with several holes to fill on the roster.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, the Texans finished the season with a record that even Osweiler might have achieved. They could have been sitting with the 4th and 35th overall picks this year and plenty of choices at quarterback. And with those picks in hand, they wouldn’t have to hold tightly to their mid rounders. They could have put in offers for players like Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters, or Damarious Randall. They might have been able to go after offensive tackle Cordy Glenn from the Bills who was traded to the Bengals. While they may have some movable players in Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus, Lamar Miller and a package of depth players; the reality is that they need to hold on to all their defensive studs, not too many teams would want Miller, and any trade to gain players they need would involve giving away a draft pick or two. They can’t afford it.
I won’t disparage him too much because I doubt that Rick Smith saw this trading frenzy on the horizon. He used his draft picks in the way they’ve been used for quite some time. It may not have been the best way to go but general managers in the NFL can get caught up in the howl of the fans and try to chase the moon and the stars. There’s an old saying in league circles, “If you listen to the fans, it won’t be long until you’re sitting with them.” Smith will be doing just that this season and his successor will do his best to avoid that fate.
It just pains me to think that I saw this trade craze coming and I’m watching as the Texans sit on the sidelines because they don’t have the chips to sit down at the table with anyone. They still have about $61 million in cap space according to spotrac.com and that gives them wiggle room to chase anyone left on Wednesday. If you’re interested in reading about some of their options you can read Lance Zierlein’s piece on offensive line targets here, or A.J. Hoffman’s piece on free agency needs here.
No matter what happens in the next week or two, the inability to even attempt anything via trade because of the need to hoard draft picks has already hurt the Texans this offseason. The right moves from here on out will save this season and with any luck the trading trend will continue next year when the Texans have more to offer before the league year starts.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or eight games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after the 6-10 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez. A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.