Just hours before the MLB trade deadline on Monday, the Astros swapped injured pitcher Spencer Arrighetti for Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho. The two players were merely steps away from their respective new teams as the Jays were in town to face the Astros in a three-game set (Toronto beat Houston 3-1 in game one).
As a flurry of deals with huge implications happened across the league Monday, the Astros tried and failed to acquire either a legitimate game-changing bat or a quality starting pitcher, both stated goals of GM Dana Brown.
The problem was owner Jim Crane’s desire to not break up an existing 26-man roster that has been rolling lately and a 28th-ranked farm system that didn’t have the level of prospects needed to pry away the kind of players the Astros coveted. Instead, they watched many of the players they targeted end up on other ballclubs.
Not to rain on the parade entirely, Varsho is most definitely an upgrade in centerfield. He is a premier defender with some of the best range in the game, a huge plus for the cavernous centerfield at Daikan Park. He also is a left-handed bat to add to a lineup that is often left wanting when it comes to that side of the plate.
But, Varsho is having a down season. He is slashing .243/.308/.374 with a rather pedestrian .682 OPS. He does get on a base and he is quick on the base paths, but he isn’t a significant power threat (he’s only hit more than 20 homers in a season once in his career).
It’s an upgrade over what they had and allows the Astros to move Taylor Trammell to left field, which gives them three excellent defenders in the outfield. At least for this year as Varsho is a free agent at the end of the season.
In return, the Astros sent a pitcher in Arrighetti who was the pitcher of the month in May and still has several years of team control remaining. Arrighetti saw his ERA balloon after his fantastic May as he struggled to stay in the strike zone, something that has plagued him throughout his young career.
On paper, it’s a very even trade. Both teams got something they wanted, but neither really did better than the other. For the Astros, it just didn’t do much to move the needle. Sure, it got them another lefty bat in the lineup and, for the moment, solidified their outfield rotation. It didn’t hurt them as the pitching they gave up was, as Brown put it, “depth” — Arrighetti is due to come of the 15-day IL in the next week.
But, what the Astros had to trade just wasn’t enough to land them the kind of difference making player they really wanted, or the extra starting arm they desired.
Was it an upgrade? Kind of.
Are they better now? Maybe.
How do the fans feel? Meh.
