Nothing more than a tweet, but it's yet another link to trade discussion following Houston's center fielder
It appears the Astros are dangling Dexter Fowler in trades pretty heavily. Or, at least, other teams are inquiring about him. Early today, we saw that the Braves wanted a package centered around Fowler in a deal for Evan Gattis.
Now, Jon Morosi tweets that the Blue Jays have checked in on him:
Blue Jays have had trade discussions with Astros on Dexter Fowler. He is a switch-hitter; Jays would like to get more left-handed.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 3, 2014His column expanding on the rumor doesn't do much to flesh out what the Astros could get in return. Given Fowler's scant years of control, it will not likely be a huge deal. But, the Astros should at least ask for Daniel Norris. Morosi opines that Dalton Pompey, Toronto's expected starter in center field, could be in a deal for Fowler, but gives no specifics.
But, if the Astros trade Fowler, it's going to be for other MLB pieces. They want to improve on their finish next season, not backslide. The Jays don't have a lot of MLB pieces they might deal. Unless the return is specifically Pompey and Norris for Fowler (a highly unlikely scenario), the match doesn't make a ton of sense.
Meanwhile, this report in the New York Post refutes all those David Robertson rumors. Through the telephone game of the offseason, we hear that other executives tell George A. King III that the Astros execs are upset. The Astros apparently feel that Robertson is using them to get his four-year, $50 million offer. They're mad about it and have likely moved on from Robertson.
This all makes sense. If Robertson wants a four-year deal, he needs a three-year offer from someone that a team must beat. Houston may have provided that with their rumored three-year, $39 million offer. Now, Robertson can take that back to the Yankees or whoever and market himself as being worth the extra year.
It's understandable that the Astros are frustrated. They've feared this happening before, with free agents using them as leverage instead of an actual destination. The writer of this article, however, doesn't show a grasp of Houston's situation with paragraphs like this:
They don't have a bullpen in front of the ninth, are very erratic defensively and play in a small ballpark. What is he worth to them, five or six more wins?
Of all the ridiculous statements in that two-sentence paragraph, this one is the worst. If David Robertson is worth five or six wins, he's definitely worth $13 million a season. Heck, he'd be a bargain at that price.
He is not worth five or six wins.
Another day sitting by the hot stove, in other words. At least we have the Hank Conger deal to keep us warm. You want to talk more about pitch framing and how a backup catcher makes this team better?