Astros & Mets
Submitted by: JamesWillPeter
Astros
Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
David Peterson | 26 | Minors | SP | Medium | 6 | 24.9 | 13.8 | 11.1 | 8.9 | 11.1 | 13.3 | |
Alexander Ramirez | Minors | OF | 4.5 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 5.4 | ||||||
Ali Sanchez | Minors | C | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.7 | ||||||
Thomas Szapucki | Minors | LHP | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 4.7 |
Total Value:
20.9
Mets
Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lance McCullers Jr. | 27 | Majors | SP | Low | 1 | 28.4 | 6.5 | 21.9 | 17.5 | 21.9 | 26.3 |
Total Value:
21.9
Comments
1The Astros probably win this trade, but it also makes them a little bit less competitive. Astros: They are letting go of McCullers, but he has also been rumored in trade talks. They are receiving a pretty good haul though, starting with Peterson. He would have to split time in the rotation with Steven Matz, and he is the replacement for McCullers to keep them competitive. Peterson has a good fastball that sits in the low 90's with pretty good movement on it, he also has a slider that has above average movement and doesn't get hit hard. Peterson doesn't have a great 3rd or 4th pitch yet, but he still gets groundballs at an above average rate. He does walk too many batters however, and he isn't a strikeout pitcher just yet. The Astros also receive 3 good prospects, the only one ranked in the top ten of the mets organization is Szapucki, at 8, but Ramirez is still 18 and will fill the CF hole left by Springer. Szapucki has a fastball, like Peterson's, that sits in the low 90's and touches 95. However, unlike Peterson, his pitches have above average spin rates and cause swing and misses. His curveball is his best pitch as it has a lot of movement and gets the most swings and misses. His Changeup has really good movement as well, but he needs to work on control with it. There is some concern for him as injuries are frequent in his past, and his control can be an issue at times. Ramirez is a CF with great speed and plus defensive abilities, along with plus bat to ball skills and some sneaky pop, he can develop into a 5 tool center fielder given some time. And Sanchez is an MLB ready defensive-minded catcher, and while he doesn't have great bat skills, his defense is very good as well as his arm. Sanchez has been a great pitch framer in the minors and his footwork has been praised leading towards his exceptional rate of throwing out baserunners (he has done it 46% of the time in the minors).He doesn't strikeout a lot but he doesn't make strong contact either, and he doesn't walk too much either. Mets: They need another pitcher, so they grab McCullers, easy as that. While his ERA always sits around 4, his xERA and FIP show that he should be closer to the lower 3's. In 2020, he used more sinkers than curveballs and his xERA did spike, as well as barrel%. But his curveball has elite spin rate and movement on it, however we saw that go down in 2020. I think that if he figures out his curveball again and uses it more often then he will be better than on paper. But it seems like his injury in 2019 may have done something about that. If McCullers can have his pitches return to the way they were in terms of spin rate and movement, then he will be very good, especially if he can keep the ball on the ground like he did at an above average rate in 2020.