Gerrit Cole Trade to Astros, Take Two (for Musgrove, Feliz, Moran, Martin)

[bill hAll Star]

I feel for the Pirates. I think they had a pretty similar reshaping to the Royals...one just had the breaks go their way in the playoffs, the other ran into Bumgarner/Arrieta and just didn't get it done.

[reillymcshane]

I don't know if Pittsburgh really got anything great in this deal. At worse, a couple of relievers - but you have to think Cole could have gotten more than that.

 

Some serious questions about Musgrove being a starter or reliever. Don't really know that much about him, but if he can become a decent starter, I'd say it was a solid move.

 

Moran is an interesting player. Not a lot of people like him, but I've always thought he could be decent. His bat really improved last season - adding power that many thought he'd produce when he was initially drafted. Again, I guess we just have to see if he can become a decent big leaguer. A lot of people are skeptical.

[brewcrewdue80]

This was Musgrove's writeup in mlb's 2015 prospect ranking of Astros where he sat 8th of a very good Astros minors. His stats on the year were 1.88ERA in 100.2 IP on 19 gms 14 starts.

 

Musgrove was one of six players the Blue Jays selected in the top two rounds of the 2011 Draft, and he was traded to the Astros the next year as a part of the two teams' 10-player deal. After a slow start to his professional career, he took a step forward in 2014 in the New York-Penn League.

Musgrove takes advantage of his big, physical frame to throw his low-to-mid-90s fastball from a good downhill plane. He mostly attacks hitters with his fastball and pounds the zone with it, creating plenty of groundball outs. He also has a good curveball and some feel for his changeup, but both of his secondary offerings still need more refinement.

As Musgrove advanced to full-season ball in 2015, he built on the momentum from the previous year by earning swift promotions from low Class A to high Class A and Double-A. He has all the makings of a future workhorse starter.

 

I think of him as a Brandon Woodruff. I remember his name because in Brewer deadline deals I know it came up as a target. Pittsburgh is definitely going to use him as a Starter.

[KeithStone53151]

I don't know if Pittsburgh really got anything great in this deal. At worse, a couple of relievers - but you have to think Cole could have gotten more than that.

 

Some serious questions about Musgrove being a starter or reliever. Don't really know that much about him, but if he can become a decent starter, I'd say it was a solid move.

 

Moran is an interesting player. Not a lot of people like him, but I've always thought he could be decent. His bat really improved last season - adding power that many thought he'd produce when he was initially drafted. Again, I guess we just have to see if he can become a decent big leaguer. A lot of people are skeptical.

 

The general consensus is, for a top tier talent you should get a potential top tier talent in the form of a prospect back. The Pirates got solid talent, much of it at the mlb level, but nothing spectacular. More of a retooling trade than a rebuilding trade. This move makes more sense if someone going to Pittsburgh in the trade takes it to another level, or if Cole's trend of regression continues and he doesn't put it together as is expected. He posted a 4.2ish ERA last year in a very pitcher friendly park and generally wasn't dominant. Now he's going to more hitter friendly conditions and has to face a DH instead of a pitcher every start.

 

I personally don't think this was a terrible return. Pittsburgh is probably a better team today than they were before the trade, they just didn't get much for high ceiling prospects.