From the AFC South to the NFC West for the game's top cornerback

Ramsey traded to Rams for two firsts

Photo via: Jaguars/Facebook

Jalen Ramsey finally got his way and is on his way out of Jacksonville.

The deal

This isn't too far from what the Texans gave up for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. It is a hefty price to pay for cornerback help after they traded away Marcus Peters and put Aqib Talib on injured reserve.

This is a desperation move for the Rams who are squarely in win-now mode. It will be interesting to see how they work Ramsey into a future that includes heavy prices for Aaron Donald, Jared Goff, and Todd Gurley.

As for the Jaguars, there is almost no chance a player of Ramsey's talent is available where the Jaguars select using these Rams picks. But, Ramsey clearly wasn't playing for them. They might have done the best they could do in regards of what deals they could get for the stud cornerback.

Rams outlook

This doesn't help their offense but my goodness their defense got so much better. They have the best defensive lineman in football and now the best player in the secondary in the NFL.

Wade Phillips has to be smiling from ear to ear with this move. Especially after they lost one stud corner to injury and one was moved.

Not to mention, they helped fortify their offensive line with another trade with the Browns as well. This doesn't immediately flip everything, but the Rams are much much better than when the game finished against the 49ers.

Jaguars outlook

​The Jaguars lose a leader and stud on defense while gaining a roster spot that was occupied by a player that wasn't going to play for them in 2019. This doesn't help the Jaguars at all in 2019 but it helps fortify a team down the road that might be cash strapped when looking to add talent.

It isn't the best move in the world, but once Ramsey made it clear he wasn't playing for the Jaguars this was the only move.

AFC South outlook

The Texans, Titans, and Colts have to be breathing a sigh of relief right now. To see a player of Ramsey's talent exit the division is huge. The Titans take over as the best cornerback room in the division but the Colts are no slouches either. It also ends the best 1-on-1 matchup in football which is DeAndre Hopkins and Jalen Ramsey when those two square off in what used to be a twice-yearly headline.

NFC West Outlook

The Rams defense is now the second-best unit behind the 49ers. They also now have the best secondary in the division when you factor in the depth of their safety spot and what Ramsey brings to the table. The 49ers and Seahawks have already missed Ramsey once, so the Cardinals will get the Ramsey experience twice. This could tip the scales towards the Rams in an intense matchup between Seattle or the 49ers if their offense could get going.

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The Astros are utilizing a 6-man rotation. Composite Getty Image.

The Astros should schedule an Old-Timers Game, if not annually maybe every other year. Only the Yankees have regularly played Old Timers Games and it’s a highlight in the Bronx every season. The Astros have plenty enough history to welcome back an ample number of guys to make for a fabulous event. Maybe they could tie it into their now annual Hall of Fame Weekend. Anyway, don’t you feel that if Jose Altuve took part in an Old Timers Game in 2050 he’d bang out a couple of hits, and then if the Astros played him in the regular game he’d line one more hit somehow, at age 60?

After missing the first 43 games of the season while recovering from his broken thumb, Altuve went 0 for four in his first game back, but has since been generally fantastic with his OPS through nine games played at 1.013. It won’t stay that high, but Altuve is a direly needed upgrade to the Astros’ offense which has been utterly mediocre. Offense is the reason the Astros continue to look up at the Texas Rangers in the American League West. The Rangers’ offense has been fantastic, outscoring the Astros by a whopping 100 runs through the first third of the season.

As the regular season entered its middle third this week, the Astros are in the middle of playing a game in 17 consecutive days. It’s their longest stretch of the season without an off day. They are inserting Ronel Blanco as a sixth starting pitcher in the rotation for a couple of turns. The point of mixing in a sixth starter isn’t that the Astros are teeming with guys who belong in a big league rotation. The 29-year-old Blanco is not a notable prospect. This is about lightening the load a little on two guys: Cristian Javier and Hunter Brown.

In becoming a rotation mainstay last season, Javier blew past his previous biggest season workload by nearly 50 innings. He’s on pace to go another 25 innings beyond that this year without even accounting for the playoffs. Hunter Brown last year set his professional high with 130 innings pitched encompassing work with the Space Cowboys and Astros. Brown is on pace for about 170 innings this regular season. That’s a significant jump, and of course the Astros are hoping for another postseason of multiple rounds. Javier, Brown, and Framber Valdez are the three most critical pitchers on the staff, and the Astros hope they remain healthily so for several more years.

Lance McCullers’s latest recovery setback makes his plight increasingly sad. Well, except for him on payday. The odds now lopsidedly favor McCullers never again pitching a near fully healthy and effective season. His only one to date was 2021 (until he broke down in the playoffs), the year before his five year 85 million dollar contract kicked in. McCullers pulls down 17 mil this year (And again next year. And in 2025. And 2026), exactly two and a half times what Framber Valdez makes. I reckon Framber’s representation is aware of this, as it is of the five year 63 million dollar deal the Astros struck with Cristian Javier. Framber is more than three years older than Javier, but has been better, and can hit free agency after the 2025 season, the same time Javier could have gone to market.

Timing isn’t everything but it darn sure can matter. The Astros’ two best relief pitchers through May were Hector Neris and Phil Maton. Neris enters June with a 1.19 earned run average, Maton even better with a teeny-weeny 0.68 ERA. Maton has been especially amazing, given that last year while not pitching very well he posted his career best ERA at 3.84. His 2022 ended ignominiously when after giving up a hit to his brother Nick in the regular season finale, Phil took the ding-a-ling of the week award by breaking his pitching hand punching his locker, sidelining him for the postseason. The Hurt Locker won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2010. Now Maton is up for Best Pitcher (per inning worked). Both Neris and Maton were James Click acquisitions. Both become free agents after this season.

Up next

Four games with the Angels at Minute Maid Park through the weekend mean the amazing Shohei Ohtani is in town. It’s “Sho-time” on the mound Friday night in a doozy of a pitching matchup with Framber, with Ohtani batting in at least three of the four games. In one player the Angels have a pitcher as good as Cristian Javier and a hitter better than Kyle Tucker. And the Angels will probably miss the playoffs again anyway. And then lose Ohtani in free agency. After the Angels series the Astros are on the road next week. They start with four games at Toronto against the Blue Jays’ very potent lineup, then it’s three at Cleveland vs. the Guardians whose offense has been pathetic so far this season.

Walk this way

Geek Astro factoid of the week: Jeremy Pena drew two walks in Tuesday’s win over the Twins. In his rookie season, Pena had only one two walk game, also in May, also against the Twins. Tuesday’s bases on balls finally got Pena into double digits for the season. He has just 11 walks drawn (largely explaining his weak .307 on-base percentage) vs. 50 strikeouts.

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