Astros and Indians Should Ignite MLB With This Surprise Trade
By Thomas Carannante
We don't know when the MLB season will be back, and in the meantime, all fans have is imagining what will happen once baseball resumes. But what about pondering some trades teams could (and perhaps should) be considering with a shortened campaign on the horizon?
With service time issues up in the air and a lot of uncertainty to follow, it could be a good opportunity for World Series contenders to take a risk, and for middling teams to potentially shed payroll and continue building for the future.
That's why the Cleveland Indians trading Carlos Carrasco to the Houston Astros would make perfect sense.
Carlos Carrasco's new contract, per source:
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) December 6, 2018
2019: $9.75M
2020: $10.25M
2021: $12M
2022: $12M
2023: $14M club option or a $3M buyout
The Astros get another quality starter to deepen their rotation in an attempt to capture a World Series amid all the criticism from the cheating scandal fallout and the Indians can get two young players in Abraham Toro and Myles Straw to work with.
On top of that, Houston is a team that can absorb this financial commitment. The Indians are always looking to cut costs, and they have an ample supply of capable young starters on cheaper deals to soften the blow of moving Cookie.
It appears the Indians might have avoided the worst news for now, but starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco’s status for the beginning of the regular season is still in some jeopardy. He experienced elbow soreness after a recent spring training start. https://t.co/J9pnWhSJxA
— Akron Beacon Journal (@beaconjournal) March 12, 2020
Cleveland might be more inclined to make such a deal if there's indeed an MLB season in sight, considering some ailments Carrasco has experienced this offseason. He's dealt with elbow soreness and a strained hip flexor. The good news is that he'll have ample time to rest, and once the season gets underway, he won't have to endure a full 30-start campaign. The Astros could get him relatively fresh.
As for the Indians' side of the deal, Toro and Straw, the two youngsters are largely blocked at the MLB level. Toro is primarily a third baseman (and we know Alex Bregman is at the hot corner for years to come), while Straw is an outfielder and probably won't get any playing time this year (or maybe even next year!) with George Springer, Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick/Kyle Tucker out there.
Trading from a surplus is the way to go, and this potential trade could help both teams improve for 2020 and beyond.