Reports: Two deals have just been finalised between the Astros and Rivals in order to strengthen their……Read more

With the 2024 Major League Baseball trade deadline approaching, the Houston Astros had a crystal clear objective in mind: they wanted to strengthen their pitching staff.

Two deals were completed in order to accomplish this goal; one was with the Toronto Blue Jays, and the other was with the New York Yankees. A left-handed reliever named Caleb Ferguson was acquired by the Astros as part of the deal with the Yankees, which did not garner much attention from the media.

Kelly Austin, a right-handed pitcher who is 22 years old and has appeared in the minor leagues at both the Single-A and High-A levels this season, was acquired by New York in exchange for the bullpen arm.

But the trade that Houston made with the Blue Jays caused some people to take notice. In exchange for a package that many people believe they were taken advantage of, they were able to get starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.

Jake Bloss, who is the starting pitcher, Joey Loperfido, who plays centre field, and Will Wagner, who plays infielder for the minor leagues, are all going to Toronto.

The fact that Bloss and Loperfido were already making contributions at the Major League level made this deal more than a mystery to those who were paying attention.

As they are experiencing their first taste of the major leagues for the first time this year, they are not even beginning to scratch the surface of their potential.

Due to the fact that Bloss and Loperfido were two of the most promising prospects available for sale before to the 2024 Major League Baseball trading deadline, there is a possibility that the Astros will come to regret this deal.

By utilising the Future Value grades that were developed by Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Houston was able to trade two prospects that have the potential to be among the top 100 prospects for a pitcher who has a 4.75 earned run average after 22 starts and 115.2 innings pitched.

“Bloss is a strange story. He is a graduate student at Georgetown University who is 22 years old and was seriously considering job opportunities in the banking industry.

However, he had a breakout spring and ended up getting selected in the third round last summer. Now, a year later, he is on the cusp of being a top-100 prospect and has already made his debut in the major league competition.

In the previous year, he has accomplished a lot, and now he can add becoming the headliner of a deadline day deal to his list of accomplishments,” McDaniel said.

The only other prospect that was moved this year was Aidan Smith, who was acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays from the Seattle Mariners as part of the Randy Arozarena trade. Bloss was the second most valuable prospect.

His overall ranking was within the 50 FV group, which encompasses prospects ranked somewhere between 50 and 120 overall. On the list, Loperfido was ranked seventh, which indicates that it was in the 45+ FV range.

The players who are ranked in this category are about 121st to 180th. In his writing, McDaniel stated that Loperfido is a great runner with plus power who is capable of playing all three outfield spots.

However, he does have certain limitations that are depending on contact. A total of 39 games and 123 plate appearances have been played by the top prospect, who has produced a slash line of.234/.295/.351 with two home runs and five doubles at the bat.

As he works through his deficiencies at the plate, the fact that he is able to play all three outfield spots is already a strong asset for him.