It was reported on Wednesday that the Astros had acquired hard-throwing reliever Ken Giles from the Phillies for a package of prospects. The deal was officially announced today and it looks a bit different than originally reported...
Ken Giles and shortstop Jonathan Arauz from Phils for Mark Appel, Harold Arauz, Thomas Eshelman, Brett Oberholtzer and Velasquez.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) December 12, 2015
It was originally expected to a four-for-one deal, with outfield prospect Derek Fisher part of the return package for Philadelphia. However, it’s now a five-for-two deal, with young shortstop Jonathan Arauz also headed to Houston while 2013 No. 1 overall pick Mark Appel and right-hander Harold Arauz have replaced Fisher.
This year’s No. 1 overall pick Dansby Swanson was traded from the Diamondbacks to the Braves in the Shelby Miller deal, so now two of the last three No. 1 picks have been traded in the past week. Appel is going to get most of the attention here, but his road to the majors has been a little bumpier than anticipated. Now 24 years old, he posted a 4.37 ERA and 110/51 K/BB ratio in 131 2/3 innings this past season between Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Fresno. Vincent Velasquez is still the centerpiece for Philadelphia, but Appel is an intriguing wild card in the deal, at the very least.
And we probably shouldn’t ignore that this trade features a pair of Arauzes. Arauzi? This a big moment in MLB history. The one headed to Houston along with Giles appears to be a legitimate prospect. He signed with Philadelphia last year and batted .254/.309/.370 with two home runs and 18 RBI over 44 games this past season in rookie ball. Ben Badler of Baseball America ranked him No. 20 on his list of Gulf Coast League prospects. The Arauz headed to Philadelphia is a 20-year-old right-hander who had a 5.75 ERA over 10 starts and five relief appearances in Low-A this year, but he has averaged 8.6 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in the minors.
The Astros are getting another interesting piece back with Giles, but this is still quite an impressive haul for a closer.