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Astros Place Jose Abreu, Phil Maton On Injured List

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The Astros announced that first baseman Jose Abreu has been placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to August 10), and that right-hander Phil Maton has been placed on the 15-day IL.  Abreu is dealing with lumbar spine inflammation while Maton has a right elbow contusion.  Infielder David Hensley and left-hander Parker Mushinski were called up from Triple-A in corresponding moves.

Abreu’s back has been an issue for both the last few days, and for much of the season, as he revealed to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome (Twitter links) and other reporters today.  The IL placement seemed to be sparked when an MRI revealed the inflammation, and Abreu received two cortisone shots to help ease the discomfort.

The back problem continues what has been a rough debut season for the veteran first baseman in Houston.  After signing a three-year, $58.5MM free agent contract with the Astros last winter, Abreu has stumbled to a .234/.291/.343 slash line and 10 homers over 464 plate appearances.  Abreu and the Rockies’ Jurickson Profar each have a 75 wRC+, tied for the lowest wRC+ of any player in baseball with at least 450 PA in the 2023 campaign.

It has been a surprising result for a player who was so consistently productive over his nine previous seasons with the White Sox, and yet Abreu made a point of not using his back problems as an excuse, telling Rome and company “this is not a justification for the hitter I’ve been for the past four months.”

The Astros selected Jon Singleton’s contract from Triple-A earlier this week, and the former top prospect will continue to get a good chunk of the first base playing time while Abreu is sidelined.  Hensley and Mauricio Dubon could also chip in, though Houston might also opt to use Yainer Diaz more often at the cold corner, when Diaz isn’t catching.  The rookie has hit very well in his first extended taste of MLB action, and the Astros have been using first base and the DH spot to keep Diaz in the lineup when Martin Maldonado is behind the plate.

Maton was hit in the elbow by a line drive in Friday’s game, which forced him to make an early exit from his relief outing.  Rome reports that initial x-rays didn’t show a fracture, but Maton will undergo more x-rays and an MRI in due course.

Injuries have plagued Houston’s rotation all season, but the bullpen has been relatively healthy, and a big reason why the Astros have been able to largely withstand their thinned-out starting staff.  Maton has enjoyed a very solid campaign, posting a 3.04 ERA and an above-average 26.2% strikeout rate.  Though Maton isn’t a hard thrower and his walk rate is below average, he has elite spin rates and his fastball and curveball, and his 23.1% hard-hit ball rate is the lowest in the majors.

The Astros can only hope that the further scans don’t reveal a more serious problem for Maton, as the club needs their bullpen to keep contributing during the playoff push.  Houston already added to their relief depth in acquiring Kendall Graveman at the trade deadline, a move that looks even shrewder now that Maton will miss at least the next 15 days.

Astros Outright Bligh Madris

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Aug. 10: Madris went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Sugar Land, tweets Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.

Aug. 8: The Astros announced that outfielder Bligh Madris has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to Jon Singleton, whose selection was reported yesterday.

Madris, 27, has been bounced on and off the Houston rosters this year, both the active and 40-man versions. Acquired from the Tigers in an offseason cash deal, he didn’t make the Astros out of Spring Training and was designated for assignment on Opening Day. He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, sticking in the organization. He was added back to the club’s roster in June but was put into just 12 games in a span of over one month before being optioned a couple of weeks ago.

Between his stint with the Astros this year and the Pirates last year, he’s hit just .173/.248/.252 in 153 major league plate appearances. He’s generally fared much better in the minors, including a line of .243/.357/.442 in Triple-A this year. Though in the offensively-charged environment of the Pacific Coast League, that amounts to a wRC+ of just 92.

With the trade deadline now in the past, the Astros will have no choice but to place Madris on outright waivers or release waivers. Since he was previously outrighted, he would have the right to reject a second such assignment in favor of electing free agency. Though this year hasn’t been amazing, he hit .297/.366/.510 in the minors last year and still has a couple of option years, including this one, as well as less than a year of service time. He could potentially be a long-term depth piece for any club willing to give him a 40-man roster spot.

Astros Notes: Tucker, Abreu, Rotation

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The Astros and right fielder Kyle Tucker discussed a long-term contract in the offseason and into spring training, but no deal was reached by the time the season got underway, and general manager Dana Brown noted at the time that negotiations were “paused” for the time being. Brown piqued the fan base’s interest in his weekly appearance on 790 AM’s Sean Salisbury Show that he’s optimistic the two sides will work out a deal and that Tucker will spend his career with the Astros. He later clarified, however, that talks have yet to resume since being put on hold (link via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle).

The 26-year-old Tucker has delivered in spades both on his lofty draft status (No. 5 overall in 2015) and his top-prospect billing. Already a two-time All-Star and a 2022 Gold Glove winner, he’s in the midst of perhaps the finest season of his exceptional young career. In 113 games and 481 plate appearances, Tucker has slashed .296/.377/.517 with 21 home runs, 28 doubles and 24 stolen bases (in 27 attempts). He’s just one steal shy of last year’s career-high mark, and he’s on pace for his third consecutive 30-homer season. This year’s 11.6% walk rate is easily a career-high mark, while his 12.9% strikeout rate is both a personal low and the ninth-lowest mark among all qualified big league hitters.

Tucker entered the 2023 season with 3.079 years of big league service and will finish at 4.079, leaving him arbitration-eligible for another two seasons. Given his age, draft/prospect pedigree and general excellence to date, there’s little reason to expect any sort of downturn in the near future. Were Tucker to naturally reach free agency by accruing six years of MLB service, he’d do so heading into his age-29 season — and likely in position to command a contract in excess of $200MM.

The Astros haven’t necessarily shied away from large payroll commitments, but they’ve typically preferred to mitigate the length of any high-priced deals. Jose Altuve’s extension promised him five years and $151MM on top of the remaining two years and $12.5MM on his prior contract. Yordan Alvarez’s six-year, $115MM contract is the longest handed out under owner Jim Crane. That deal covered all three of Alvarez’s arbitration seasons and three would-be free agent years. Tucker is already playing his first arb year on a $5MM salary and will be due a substantial raise this offseason.

Any extension for Tucker would presumably need to top Alvarez’s deal by a good margin — not only in terms of overall guarantee but in terms of length. The six-year term Alvarez landed would cover Tucker’s age-27 through age-32 seasons and set him up for free agency in advance of his age-33 season. It stands to reason that a player of his caliber would more likely be seeking a deal of eight-plus years in length, particularly now that he’s only two seasons removed from hitting the open market in prime position for a mega-deal.

For now, Brown stressed that the focus is squarely on attempting to overtake the Rangers for the lead in the American League West and to engineer another deep postseason run. Tucker will play a focal part of those efforts, of course, but the ’Stros were dealt some potentially difficult news regarding another key contributor following last night’s game. Manager Dusty Baker told reporters this morning that first baseman Jose Abreu reported discomfort in his lower back following yesterday’s game (Twitter link via Joe Trezza of MLB.com). He’ll be evaluated further this weekend.

Abreu’s first season in Houston has been a forgettable one overall, but the former Rookie of the Year and MVP looked to be rediscovering his form earlier in the summer. After floundering to a .211/.276/.260 slash through his first two months, Abreu came roaring back with a .288/.330/.484 output over his next 200 plate appearances. While not quite his peak form, that was 22% better than league-average, by measure of wRC+, and Abreu looked well on his way to quieting concerns brought about by his sluggish start to the season.

Unfortunately, his production has cratered once again. Abreu has just three hits in his past 39 trips to the plate and has fanned at an uncharacteristic 28.2% clip in that time. It’s unclear how long his back has been ailing, but the recent downturn after an impressive performance in June and July could well be related to the apparent injury with which he’s dealing. The season-long numbers are still ugly (.234/.291/.343), but losing the June/July version of Abreu is a notable hit to any lineup.

Of course, for as many potent bats as the Houston lineup has featured in recent years, elite starting pitching has been a hallmark of Astros clubs throughout their recent peak. The trade deadline return of Justin Verlander should only help to continue that legacy, but the reacquisition of Verlander won’t necessarily cost someone his spot on the starting staff.

Trezza writes that the Astros are likely to move to a six-man rotation, at least for the time being, keeping rookie right-hander J.P. France in the mix. Calling baseball an “earn-it business,” Baker emphasized that France has indeed earned his spot and will stay on turn moving forward.

It’s hard to argue with that characterization. The 28-year-old France has turned in 95 innings of 2.75 ERA ball since making his big league debut earlier this season, emerging as a godsend in the wake of season-ending injuries to Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia. France has had some modest fortune on balls in play (.277 BABIP) and probably can’t continue stranding 81% of his baserunners — league average is 72% — but he’s looked the part of a solid big league starter even when accounting for some potential regression.

Keeping France in the rotation will have other benefits beyond his own performance. Hunter Brown is nearing last year’s total workload with seven weeks of the season yet to play out. Jose Urquidy just returned from a months-long absence due to a shoulder injury. Cristian Javier has been pitching better of late, but he hit a wall midsummer and had his spot in the rotation skipped heading into the All-Star break. Keeping France on the starting staff alongside Verlander, Brown, Javier, Urquidy and Framber Valdez will help the Astros to manage Brown’s workload and exercise caution, as necessary, with Urquidy and Javier.

Athletics Claim Spenser Watkins

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The A’s have claimed right-hander Spenser Watkins off waivers from the Astros, as first reported by Jessica Kleinschmidt (Twitter link). He’ll been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas for the time being. Houston designated Watkins for assignment over the weekend when Jose Urquidy was reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Watkins, 30, has a bit of major league experience but has been stuck in the minors all year. He tossed 160 innings for the Orioles over 2021 and 2022, allowing 5.85 earned runs per nine innings in that time. He only struck out 13.7% of batters faced but his 6.9% walk rate was quite strong.

This year, the O’s optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk at the end of Spring Training. He spent about a month on the minor league injured list and had only tossed 26 innings for the Tides with a 7.27 ERA by mid-June. He was designated for assignment and flipped to the Astros for cash. He tossed 20 1/3 innings for Triple-A Sugar Land with a 9.74 ERA, before getting his second DFA of the year this past weekend.

The results this year haven’t been great, but it’s likely not quite as bad as his combined 8.35 ERA would indicate. His .386 batting average on balls in play and 55.4% strand rate are both on the unlucky side of average, leading to a 5.27 FIP that’s much more palatable. The most recent chunk of his season was also spent in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, which likely didn’t do him any favors.

The A’s are the worst team in baseball, with a 32-81 record and .283 winning percentage. Their pitching staff has a collective 5.82 ERA that’s easily the worst in the majors. Watkins can provide them with a depth arm that has a bit of major league experience under his belt. He’s in his final option year and will be out of options next season, though he’s yet to reach arbitration and can potentially be controlled for five seasons beyond this one.

Astros To Select Jon Singleton

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The Astros are set to select the contract of first baseman Jon Singleton from Triple-A Sugar Land, Singleton himself tells Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press (Twitter link). He’s on his way to join the team in Baltimore. A corresponding 40-man roster move will need to be announced, though Houston already opened a spot on the 26-man roster by optioning Corey Julks to Triple-A earlier today.

The 31-year-old Singleton reached the Majors earlier this season with the Brewers — his first MLB stint since his original run with the Astros in 2014-15. Prior to making his MLB debut, Singleton inked a five-year, $10MM extension with the Astros that included a trio of club options. Both parties took some criticism from detractors, with Singleton in particular drawing flak for potentially selling himself short. In hindsight, taking the deal looks to have paid off; Singleton batted just .171/.290/.333 with the ’Stros in multiple stints before being released in 2018.

That was the first of three full seasons in which Singleton was out of baseball entirely. He turned up in the Mexican League during the 2021 season and hit well enough to draw looks with the Brewers on minor league contracts in both 2022 and 2023. Though he went just 3-for-29 with the Brewers in his return to MLB action earlier this year (to say nothing of a 34% strikeout rate), Singleton has turned in a combined .289/.409/.567 slash between the Triple-A affiliates for Milwaukee and Houston this season. He’s walked at an exceptional 17.3% clip against just a 20.6% strikeout rate between those two stops.

Houston has been on the lookout for extra left-handed bats for much of the season. Michael Brantley has yet to return to the lineup after signing a one-year, $15MM deal over the winter, as multiple setbacks have popped up in his rehab from shoulder surgery. Yordan Alvarez missed more than a month of the summer with an oblique strain, though he’s back in the lineup and again serving as a middle-of-the-order masher. GM Dana Brown said in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline that he’d love to add a left-handed bat, but no deal ever materialized, so the organization will turn to an old friend and look for a late-blooming breakthrough to help balance out an extremely righty-heavy roster.

Astros Option Corey Julks; Jon Singleton Promotion Under Consideration

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The Astros announced Monday that they’ve optioned struggling outfielder Corey Julks to Triple-A Sugar Land. Houston is off for the day, so a corresponding move wasn’t announced, but general manager Dana Brown said just yesterday that the club has been considering a promotion of former top prospect Jon Singleton (link via Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Houston would need to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Singleton if he is indeed called up.

Julks, 27, has been on Houston’s roster since Opening Day but has seen his playing time dwindle in recent weeks as the roster has gotten healthier and as his own production has waned. The 2017 eighth-rounder had a string of four consecutive multi-hit games in early July, but after collecting 11 hits in four days, he’s gone just 3-for-54 in his past 19 games (15 starts).

Julks hit .289/.333/.418 through his first 249 plate appearances this season but did so in large part because of a bloated .365 average on balls in play. That good fortune has completely evaporated (.071 BABIP during this slump), and the rookie outfielder is now hitting just .245/.299/.353 on the season (with a .306 BABIP that’s right in line with league average levels). He’s striking out at a higher-than-average 23.5% mark, while his 7.1% walk rate, 87.7 mph average exit velocity and 34.9% hard-hit rate are all lower than average.

The Astros have been without much in the way of left-handed bats throughout the season, thanks to multiple setbacks in Michael Brantley’s return from shoulder surgery and an oblique strain that sent Yordan Alvarez to the injured list for more than a month. Singleton could give the ’Stros a left-handed bat to help balance things out — if he can sustain any semblance of the minor league production he’s shown this year.

Singleton, 31, is a former Astros top prospect who took considerable flak for signing a five-year, $10MM extension with multiple club options before setting foot in the Majors. Critics at the time lamented that the young slugger had sold himself short, but in retrospect Singleton may well be glad he took that deal. No one can say precisely how things would’ve panned out at he declined the offer, but a then 22-year-old Singleton hit just .171/.290/.333 in multiple auditions with the Astros before eventually being released four years later, in 2018.

Out of baseball entirely from 2018-20, Singleton raked in the Mexican League in 2021 and parlayed that performance into minor league deals with the Brewers in 2022 and again this year. Milwaukee even brought Singleton back to the Majors earlier this season — his first MLB action since 2015. That promotion came on the heels of a .258/.384/.483 slash in Triple-A, but Singleton went just 3-for-29 with 11 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances during his brief time as a Brewer. He signed back with the Astros after being released and has since been on a tear in Triple-A.

In 148 trips to the plate with the Space Cowboys, Singleton has batted .333/.446/.692 with a dozen home runs, seven doubles, a 17.6% walk rate and a 23% strikeout rate. For a team that’s been seeking a left-handed bat for some time now, there’s little harm in giving Singleton at least a short-term look — particularly when at least one member of the bench group is struggling to the extent Julks has been of late.

Notably, Rome writes that Brown implied a trade for a left-handed bat never got all that close. Brown indicated that the teams with which he inquired were typically seeking a player of Houston’s Major League roster, and he was not inclined to “weaken our club while we were trying to strengthen our club.” The summer trade market was particularly thin on lefty bats. Switch-hitters Jeimer Candelario (a better right-handed hitter), Josh Bell and Carlos Santana were moved, as was utilityman Jace Peterson, but generally speaking it was a pitching-heavy slate of players that changed hands this summer.

Astros Activate Jose Urquidy From 60-Day IL

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The Astros have activated right-hander Jose Urquidy from the 60-day injured list, as noted by The Athletic’s Chandler Rome. To make room for Urquidy on the 40-man and active rosters, the Astros optioned left-hander Parker Mushinski to Triple-A and designated right-hander Spenser Watkins for assignment.

Urquidy, 28, made just six starts this season prior to going on the injured list with what was initially described as shoulder discomfort at the beginning of May. Urquidy was initially expected to be ready around the All-Star break, but fell behind that timetable as he has spent the past three weeks on a minor league rehab assignment, during which time he has posted a 4.50 ERA across four starts at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Prior to going on the shelf, Urquidy had struggled to open the 2023 campaign, with a 5.20 ERA, 5.62 FIP, and a diminished 18.7% strikeout rate across 27 2/3 innings of work.

Despite his struggles and injuries this season, Urquidy’s return is nonetheless surely a relief for the Astros. With Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. all on the shelf throughout the 2023 campaign to this point, the Astros have been forced to rely on youngsters like JP France, Brandon Bielak, and Ronel Blanco to fill in alongside regulars Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier. With the return of Justin Verlander at the trade deadline and now Urquidy’s return from the injured list, the club’s rotation of Valdez, Verlander, Javier, Urquidy and rookie Hunter Brown is now firing on all cylinders. The Astros currently hold an AL Wild Card spot and figure to attempt to catch the AL West-leading Rangers over the next two months, with 2.5 games separating the division rivals.

Clearing the way for Urquidy’s return to the active roster is Mushinski, who sports a 2.79 ERA in 9 2/3 innings of work out of the Astros’ bullpen this season. Going forward he’ll return to the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sugar Land, where he sports a 2.86 ERA in 22 innings of work this season, as he awaits his next big league opportunity. Meanwhile, Watkins appears poised to exit the Astros organization just six weeks after the club acquired him in a cash deal with the Orioles. Watkins never made an appearance with the big league club in Houston, but he has previous big league experience in the form of 39 appearances (30 starts) with the Orioles between 2021 and 2022, during which he posted a 5.85 ERA and 4.97 FIP in 160 innings of work.

The Astros will now have seven days to waive or release Watkins, who they will have the option of assigning outright to Triple-A in the event he is successfully passed through waivers. That being said, it’s certainly possible a rival club in need of rotation depth could see value in Watkins as an optionable starter who can be stashed in the minors as a potential fill-in option down the stretch.

Astros Release Blake Taylor, Joe Perez

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The Astros informed reporters (including Chandler Rome of the Athletic) that they’ve released reliever Blake Taylor and infielder Joe Perez. Both players had cleared outright waivers this afternoon. Rather than retain them at Triple-A Sugar Land, Houston elected to move on entirely.

Taylor made 92 appearances for Houston between 2020-22. The southpaw was generally successful at keeping runs off the board, working to a 3.06 ERA through 79 1/3 innings. Neither his 19.1% strikeout rate nor 12.6% walk percentage were particularly impressive, though, and Taylor had increasingly been pushed to low-leverage work.

He’d spent all of 2023 on optional assignment to Sugar Land. The 27-year-old carried a 5.15 ERA over 36 2/3 frames there, walking over 13% of batters faced against a modest 14.9% strikeout rate. He lost his roster spot earlier this week when Houston snagged Jake Cousins off waivers from Milwaukee.

Perez was the roster casualty from the Justin Verlander trade. The 23-year-old has one major league appearance, which came as a pinch-hitter last season. A former second-round pick, the righty-hitting Perez has a below-average .255/.328/.399 slash over 357 Triple-A plate appearances this year. Prospect evaluators have credited the 6’1″ corner infielder with promising raw power but swing-and-miss concerns. He’s gone down on strikes at a lofty 27.2% clip this season.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Trade Deadline Recap

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss the happenings of the recent trade deadline, including:

Check out our past episodes!

Astros Acquire Justin Verlander From Mets

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Justin Verlander is back in Houston. The Astros re-acquired the defending Cy Young winner and cash for outfield prospects Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford. Houston designated infielder Joe Perez for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move.

The Mets are paying a combined $35MM of Verlander’s 2023-24 salary. They’d pay half of his $35MM salary in 2025 if his option vests. In all, they’re paying as much as $52.5MM of the nearly $93MM that could still be paid out on his deal, pending that option.

Verlander, 40, was with the Astros from 2017-22 and departed as a free agent this offseason to sign for a record-tying annual value in Queens. His two-year, $86.666MM contract tied his former Tigers teammate Max Scherzer’s $43.333MM AAV on a three-year deal with the Mets, but the reunion between the two future Hall of Famers will only prove to last a few months before being spun into a rivalry. The Mets shipped Scherzer to the Rangers on Saturday and will now send Verlander to Texas’ top division rival.

The 2023 season began on a sour note for Verlander, who missed the first five weeks of the year after suffering a strained teres major near the end of spring training. He’s in the midst of yet another strong season, though his performance in 2023 isn’t to the same level as it was in 2022, when he stunned the baseball world by capturing his third Cy Young Award as a 39-year-old in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. Verlander logged a ridiculous 1.75 ERA with a 27.8% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate in 175 innings last season. He’s pitched to a 3.15 ERA with a 21% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in 96 innings this year, and seen slight steps back in his average fastball (from 95.1 mph to 94.6mph), swinging-strike rate (11.6% to 10%) and opponents’ chase rate (36.9% to 35%).

That said, even if Verlander’s overall season numbers aren’t quite as dominant as in 2022, there’s little doubt that he’s a major upgrade to an Astros staff that has lost right-handers Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia for the season. Righty Cristian Javier also hit a wall recently and has been struggling, and the ’Stros lost right-hander Jose Urquidy for three months due to shoulder troubles. Verlander’s return will add one of the most talented arms of the entire generation back to the front of a staff, where he’ll join Cy Young candidate Framber Valdez, standout rookie Hunter Brown, Javier and rookie J.P. France. When Urquidy returns in the near future, it’s possible the Astros will go to a six-man rotation to help monitor the workloads of Brown and France.

For the Mets, Verlander becomes the fourth notable veteran they’ve shipped out in the past week, joining Scherzer, David Robertson and Mark Canha. The Mets have picked up a strong package of prospects in doing so but also waved a white flag on a season in which their $350MM+ payroll was expected to make them legitimate World Series contenders. They’ve also completely wiped out their rotation, which now consists of Jose Quintana (a trade candidate himself), Carlos Carrasco, Kodai Senga and David Peterson. Tylor Megill and Joey Lucchesi are candidates to step back into the starting staff.

The only near-term pitching prospect the Mets added in that slate of deals was righty Justin Jarvis, who came over from the Brewers and had been ranked near the back of their top 30 prospects on most publications. Given Carrasco’s status as a pending free agent and the unproven nature of Peterson, Megill and Lucchesi, they’ll head into the offseason with an enormous amount of work to do in rounding out the rotation. It’s a deep crop of free agents, headlined by names like Shohei Ohtani, Lucas Giolito, Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, Julio Urias, Sonny Gray, Jordan Montgomery, Marcus Stroman and NPB ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. If the Mets plan to compete in 2024 — hardly a sure thing in the wake of their deadline activity — they’ll need to aggressively pursue rotation additions via either that free-agent market or the trade market.

The acquisition of Gilbert and Clifford could both help if the Mets choose the latter. While it’s certainly possible that both newly acquired outfielders fit into the long-term puzzle, that’s no sure thing — particularly for a team so willing to splash around in free agency. Brandon Nimmo is already signed for another seven years, so there are only two real long-term vacancies in the outfield anyhow.

Gilbert, 22, is the more advanced of the two prospects and the one who’s garnered more national fanfare. The Astros’ top pick in the 2022 draft, he’s already ascended to the Double-A level in his first full season of pro ball. The University of Tennessee standout laid waste to High-A pitching early in the season, slashing .360/.421/.686 in 95 plate appearances before an aggressive promotion to Double-A. He’s been a bit below average in terms of his overall output there, batting .241/.342/.371 in 264 plate appearances. However, Gilbert has also shown an advanced approach, walking in 12.5% of his Double-A plate appearances against a lower-than-average 17.5% strikeout rate.

MLB.com ranks Gilbert as the game’s No. 68 overall prospect, and FanGraphs has him at No. 49 on their list. Both reports give Gilbert a chance to be in the big leagues by next season, touting his plus speed, plus arm, great approach at the plate and growing power. He has a chance to stick in center field, perhaps pushing Nimmo to a corner if the veteran’s defense slips as he ages into his mid-30s. If not, Gilbert projects as a plus defender in an outfield corner. Both FanGraphs and MLB.com make note of his fiery personality, which could win over hometown fans while grating on opponents.

As for Clifford, he was taken ten rounds later in the same 2022 draft not for lack of talent but for a strong commitment to Vanderbilt University. The Mets convinced him to sign rather than attend college, offering him a huge $1.25MM bonus in the 11th round after most teams had passed assuming he’d head to school.

Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets that Gilbert and Clifford would’ve been his No. 1 and No. 2 Astros prospects, respectively, on the reranking of their system he’s set to publish following the deadline. Clifford hit just .247 but posted a .426 OBP in 101 plate appearances during his pro debut last year, and his rate stats in 2023 are outstanding: .291/.399/.520 in 371 plate appearances between Class-A and High-A. He’s slugged 18 home runs and 16 doubles, walking at a hearty 12.4% clip against a 24% strikeout rate.

FanGraphs had already bumped Clifford to the Astros’ No. 2 prospect — he’s now eighth in the Mets’ system on their rankings — crediting him with the potential to grow into 70-grade raw power. He’s a corner outfielder/first baseman with below-average speed and above-average arm strength. So long as his bat and overall offensive approach continue on their current trajectories, he could be in an outfield corner with occasional first base and DH time for the Mets at some point in 2025.

The Mets have done a nice job adding to their system, acquiring at least a pair of top-100-caliber prospects (Acuna, Gilbert) and another (Clifford) who could get there before long. They’ve paid a steep price to do so, however, gutting their 2023 roster and paying down close to $71MM on the Scherzer and Verlander deals alone. They’ve also saved just over $86MM on the pair of trades, including both salary and luxury tax penalties. In the event Verlander’s option vests and he exercises it, those savings would jump to more than $119MM (while the dead money they’d paid down would rise to more than $86MM).

The Mets are so far into the fourth and final tier of luxury penalization, that short of getting a team to take on the entirety of the Verlander and Scherzer contracts, there was no real way of ducking back underneath that line. The Astros, meanwhile, have received enough cash from the Mets that they’ll likely come in under the luxury line. Roster Resource had them exceeding the $233MM first-tier threshold by only a margin of $1.7MM even when assuming the full freight of Verlander’s remaining money; that clearly won’t be the case now. That would’ve been the first time Houston had crossed into luxury territory, but they’ll now have Verlander for a total of $22.777MM for the remainder of this season and next — plus an additional $17.5MM in 2025 if that option vests and he picks it up.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported the Astros were acquiring Verlander for two prospects. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com first reported Gilbert’s inclusion, while Nightengale was first on Clifford. Joel Sherman of the New York Post was first with the specific financial breakdown.

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