The Houston Astros did it again. Two years ago they clinched Justin Verlander at the trade deadline. The Astros don’t win the World Series without him. They just might have done it again. The Houston Astros acquired Zack Greinke from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Aggressive wins. Just go look at the last 4 World Series winners. The Kansas City Royals go all in Johnny Cueto, Ben Zobrist,
Greinke, 35, is just as dominant as he was 5 years ago. Forget the age, Houston has proved that they work well with pitchers. The analytics they have behind spin rates, high fastballs, and higher usage rates on breaking balls have helped both Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. Now Greinke comes to town who is still an elite starter. Greinke is a 4.7 WAR starter this year sporting a 2.87 ERA in 22 starts. He also has the lowest walk rate and WHIP in the entire national league.
Zack Greinke is a guy who thrives on the West Coast. He loved pitching for the Angels, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks. I’m sure he will thrive with Houston too. The Stros didn’t stop there. They went with a high upside add in Aaron Sanchez who led baseball in ERA in 2017. Biagini eats innings too. 3.86 ERA in 49 innings just provides another stable arm.
Houston gave up big pieces to get the deal done. Corbin Martin, JB Bukauskas, Seth Beer, and Josh Rojas. Doesn’t matter. None of those guys were breaking on this roster. Corbin Martin just underwent Tommy John. With Yordan Alvarez raking, there’s no place for Seth Beer on the roster anyway. Houston gave up 3, 4, and 5 on the prospect list. They were able to keep Kyle Tucker and Forrest Whitley too.
Pack up and go home. Verlander, Cole, and Greinke are now the top 3 starters in a postseason series. All three of them rank in the top 5 in all of baseball in WHIP. The Yankees will counter with Domingo German. Good luck, Yankees! Pack up and go home. There’s only one team that can compete with Houston and that’s Boston if Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, and Eduardo Rodriguez are all firing on all cylinders. That’s also including that Nathan Eovaldi becomes an elite closer. Feels like a big IF.
The Houston Astros may not be guaranteed to win the World Series but their odds went way up. More importantly, Jeff Luhnow can go to sleep at night knowing he did everything possible to give his team a chance to win the ultimate prize. Psychologically, Houston gets a boost in the clubhouse that no other team got. When those players take the mound, they know the time to win is now. The same can’t be said for the Dodgers. Another deadline goes by and another deadline where they failed to go for it. I wonder which one will win if they meet again in the World Series? Pack up and go home. The Houston Astros are the team to beat again.
