The Pallilog
No, Cooks is no Hopkins, but on its own, Texans make a decent trade
Apr 10, 2020, 6:56 am
The Pallilog
Caveat ahead of the rest of this column: So much is trivial relative to the life and death and other critical Covid-19 pandemic issues, but sports matter as passions of so many, as multi-billion dollar businesses with impact on many other businesses, and beyond. All things in context.
The Texans acquisition of wide receiver Brandin Cooks from the Los Angeles Rams doesn't undo the dim-bulbness of the DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals deal, but Bill O'Brien made a reasonable though hardly risk-free deal in getting Cooks. It nets out that basically Emperor O dealt Hopkins for Cooks, running back David Johnson, and a 17 slot move up in the 2nd round. That's not a good exchange for the Texans, but not as bad as the Hopkins trade by itself.
It is amusing that Cooks is in the middle of a five year 81 million dollar contract, the exact length and dollar figures of the Hopkins contract O'Brien chose to unload. Cooks makes eight million in 2020, then has zero remaining guaranteed dollars left over the remaining three seasons of his contract. If kept on with that deal Cooks would average 13 mil per season covering 2021 through 2023. Hopkins averages about 13.3 mil over the three remaining seasons on his deal.
The Texans give up the lower of their two second round picks for Cooks, so they still have the 40th overall selection in the draft two weeks from now. With Cooks, Randall Cobb, Will Fuller, and Kenny Stills the Texans have their primary wide receiving corps settled, so their top draft pick can now be earmarked toward a pass rusher, a guard, or the always popular "best player available."
What does it say more about a player who is traded three times in just over three years: bad that teams feel like they're better off moving the guy, or good that there's been consistent interest in acquiring his services? Cooks was a Saints first round pick in 2014. After the 2016 season they dealt him to the Patriots, after just one season in New England Cooks was dealt to the Rams, and now the Rams deal him here. Cooks comes to the Texans off of his lowest reception total season and lowest touchdown catch season of his career. Oh, he's had at least five concussions during his six seasons in the NFL. However, before missing two games last season to a concussion Cooks played all 16 regular season games four consecutive seasons. In the last three of those he topped 1000 yards in receptions and averaged at least 15 yards per catch.
Had a little fun with this on the radio show Thursday: uniform number 34 for Houston is the overwhelming iconic pro sports number (Hakeem Olajuwon, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan). What's the second greatest number in Houston sports annals? What cities can even remotely rival Houston 34 with numbers of their own? Three athletes, three different sports. Thoughts below in Buzzer Beaters.
Forbes magazine this week released its annual valuation estimates for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises. It ranks the Astros 11th at 1.85 billion dollars. That's right about triple what Jim Crane and his partners paid for it less than nine years ago. The Yankees top the list as always, at five billion. Four other teams are worth more than a billion more than the Astros: Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, and Giants. Forbes's call on the most profitable franchise for 2019? The Astros, at 99 million. Crane was denied in his prior effort to buy the Texas Rangers. Before Covid-19 this was to have been an Astros at Rangers weekend, the Astros' first visit to the Rangers' new retractable roof ballpark.
So, ESPN is televising a two hour Horse competition among four NBA players, two former NBA players, and two WNBA players. Sunday's quarterfinals will be a two hour broadcast. Two hours for four games of Horse? Four games of Hippopotamus shouldn't take two hours! Four games of Parastratiosphecomvia stratiophecomyioides? Maybe. That's the longest named animal species. A type of fly. I can't see Horse holding my attention much longer (which is not long at all) than the NBA 2K video tournament ESPN is showing. Tough being the Worldwide Leader In Sports without any real sports.
Buzzer Beaters: 1. Modern Family had its series finale this week. Top 10 sitcom of all-time. Maybe top 5. 2. Number 2 Houston uniform number is number 1. Warren Moon, Tracy McGrady, Carlos Correa 3. Best other city sports numbers: Bronze-Atlanta 21 (Warren Spahn, Dominique Wilkins, Deion Sanders) Silver- Chicago 23 (Michael Jordan, Ryne Sandberg, Devin Hester) Gold-Los Angeles 32 (Magic Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Marcus Allen)
As we're waiting for the top dominoes like Juan Soto to fall in free agency, the market is in a bit of a holding pattern. But we are seeing reports about some possible landing spots for players like Alex Bregman and Yusei Kikuchi.
With Kikuchi specifically, his agent Scott Boras is letting it be known that the market for him is very strong. Not only did he pitch at an All-Star level once joining the Astros, but he also brings something else to the table that many other free agents don't.
Because Kikuchi was traded at the deadline, he wasn't eligible to receive a qualifying offer. Which means any team that signs him won't have to give up any draft capital, thereby increasing his value on the market.
We noted an article by Eric Cole on Climbing Tal's Hill that made some interesting points on this situation. In a way, the Astros “unlocked” Kikuchi, helping him reach his full potential, and now he may sign with one of Houston's top competitors.
According to the article, the Rangers, Orioles, Red Sox, Twins, and Tigers have reportedly shown interest in signing him.
Plus, the 'Stros had to pay a steep price for him, trading away three prospects from an already depleted farm system. And with the benefit of hindsight, Kikuchi didn't even pitch in the postseason and the Astros were swept in the Wild Card round.
To be fair, one could argue the club may not have made the postseason without him. But at the end of the day, the organization is down three prospects and didn't win a single playoff game.
The trade market
Chandler Rome of The Athletic recently reported that the Astros have discussed the possibility (in-house) of trading Ryan Pressly, who is due $14 million this season. The team could certainly use the salary relief, but moving him could be tricky, as Pressly has a full no-trade clause.
If a team is willing to pay the majority of his contract, Houston shouldn't expect much in return when it comes to prospects. However, if the Astros are willing to eat a good portion of his salary, that could change.
But the problem is, moving Pressly is mostly about shedding money from the payroll. So it doesn't make a lot of sense to trade him without any significant salary relief.
To be clear, it's not as if the team wants to kick Pressly to the curb, but they could use that $14 million to add to the Bregman fund, or upgrade another spot on the roster.
Updates on Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia
GM Dana Brown shared some thoughts on the outlook for both pitchers last week. Garcia is expected to be ready to pitch this spring after recovering from Tommy John surgery.
With McCullers, it's more of a wait and see. Lance is playing catch, and Brown said his return this spring is still a possibility. But at this point, the fact that his recovery is taking so long isn't a good sign. And it seems like every time he ramps up, another setback occurs.
Where does Roki Sasaki land?
Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki is generating a lot of interest on the market. But according to reports, it doesn't sound like the Astros are in the mix as possible suitors.
It won't be from lack of trying, we're sure they've made the necessary phone calls. But it does make us wonder, do free agents still see Houston as a destination where they can compete for championships each and every year? And let's be real, moving on from Bregman won't help with that perception.
You know the deal! Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Stone Cold 'Stros (Brandon Strange, Charlie Pallilo, and Josh Jordan) break it all down! Also, we recorded a video about the Astros' offense earlier this week. Click here if you missed it!
For Astros’ conversation, catch Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo on our Stone Cold 'Stros podcasts!Episodes drop on Mondays and bonus episodes are released on Wednesdays when the news cycle dictates.