Carlos Gomez is off to Houston. Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
HOUSTON – Less than an hour before recently acquired left-hander Scott Kazmir made his home debut at Minute Maid Park on Thursday night, the Houston Astros landed center fielder Carlos Gomez in a six-player trade with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Confirming their win-now aspirations, the Astros surrendered four prospects in return for Gomez and right-hander Mike Fiers (5-9, 3.89 ERA).
Kazmir kicked off the non-waiver trade deadline bonanza when he was acquired last week from Oakland to bolster the Houston rotation. But the Astros remained in pursuit of an established bat until getting Gomez to offset the loss of standout outfielder George Springer to a right wrist injury on July 1.
“He is such an exciting player,” Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said of Gomez. “We have a lot of power and speed in this lineup and he contributes both of those things. He hits for a decent average, he takes walks, he’s able to do a lot of the little things and he’s a good defensive player.
“The whole package — the defense, the baserunning, the offense, the power — that’s complementary to any team in baseball.”
Gomez has battled through an injury-plagued season, posting a .262/.328/.423 slash line with eight homers, 43 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 74 games. But in the two previous seasons, he was a juggernaut, producing a .284/.347/.491 line with 47 homers, 146 RBIs and 74 steals for a 13.2 WAR.
The Astros gave up some significant prospects to obtain Gomez, headlined by coveted outfielder Brett Phillips and left-hander Josh Hader.
But a healthy Gomez eventually alongside Springer and some combo of Colby Rasmus, Preston Tucker and Jake Marisnick deepens the Astros’ outfield to daunting levels.
From a macro perspective, the Astros officially declared themselves all-in for a postseason push. Their early surge to the top of the American League West was initially viewed as a fluke considering their modest rebuilding timetable.
But the Astros have remained in contention despite being a few years ahead of schedule. Adding Kazmir and Gomez to the roster leaves no doubt as to their intentions.
“We’re committed to winning,” Luhnow said. “(Astros owner) Jim Crane is committed to winning, our front office is committed to winning, our players and coaches are. To be able to bring a player like Carlos Gomez into our organization in the prime of his career to complement a lot of great players that we have out there right now means we’re serious about doing some damage this year and for years to come.
“It’s going to be a fun next few years for the Astros and hopefully it starts a long string of postseason appearances this year.”
