The Houston Astros are one of the best teams baseball, but if there were one area that might be considered a weakness, it's their bullpen. With guys like Brooks Raley, Ryne Stanek, Blake Taylor and others, there are times when they are really good and times when they are not. So if the Astros make a move ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline, it would be to add a bullpen arm.
And there is one really good one out there - Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel who currently boasts a ridiculously good 0.59 ERA with 20 saves. But with Kimbrel making $16 million this season, you'd have to be willing to take on a good bit of money, potentially going over the luxury tax.
On Wednesday on SportsTalk790, Astros GM James Click said that Jim Crane has told him that the club does not have to stay under the luxury tax line when it comes to making trades at the deadline.
But what would be the cost for a stud like Kimbrel? According to Jon Heyman, the Cubs would want "a ton" in return. So what kind of package could the Astros offer?
Prior to this season, MLB.com ranked the Astros' farm system 29th of 30. Many of their top prospects in recent years have either been traded away in other deals, or called up to the big league club. Years of picking near the bottom of the draft and trades have taken a bit of a toll on club's farm.
Let's look at some potential players already at the big league level, as well as some in the minors that could be involved in a package:
OF Chas McCormick - The Astros really like McCormick, and he could be in the mix as an every day outfielder for years to come. His limited sample size this season has shown a lot of promise - 10 homeruns, 32 RBI, 13 walks - all in just 54 games played. His .239 batting average isn't great, but he's already upped that to .364 in the month of July. Again, Click may tell teams he's off limits, but he may not be off the table.
INF Abraham Toro - A 24-year old utility hitter who has done a fantastic job of filling in this season in the absence of Alex Bregman. Toro batted .297 in June, and is hitting .263 in July, and has a .707 OPS on the year. He's been a solid fill-in, but with Bregman on his way back, there's just a roster logjam that won't allow Toro to be an every day player after that. With the Cubs set to possibly lose Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez all to free agency, Toro could immediately fill one of those holes.
C Korey Lee - The Astros' top catching prospect, Lee had been solid in High-A Asheville this year, and then again in getting promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi. In 18 games at Corpus, he is hitting .318 with 18 RBI and seven homeruns. He is likely untouchable.
OF Pedro Leon - His average has dipped a bit in 43 games in Corpus, hitting just .242, but has 8 homeruns with 30 RBI. Leon shows a lot of promise, but is likely untouchable like Lee.
P Peter Solomon - Solomon has pitched three innings total with the Astros this season, and was just sent back down to Sugar Land.
The Injured - P Forrest Whitley was the Astros' lone Top 100 prospect coming into this season, but underwent Tommy John surgery back in March. P Kent Emmanuel was outstanding in his Astros debut this season, but on June 3rd, he underwent season-ending surgery for a UCL in his left elbow. INF Jeremy Pena was turning some heads in Spring Training, but ended up having to require wrist surgery in April. P Tyler Ivey made his big league debut in a start vs the Rangers back in May, but was ruled out the rest of the season due to an elbow injury and having thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.
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