Right now, and maybe over the next couple of years, the Houston Astros have acquired a piece that bolsters their youthful core and keeps them right in line as a World Series contender.
On the tail end of a slow Wednesday at the winter meetings in Nashville, the Astros struck a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies for the bullpen arm they coveted all offseason—Ken Giles. The trade cost Houston potentially ripening arms in Vince Velasquez and Brett Oberholtzer and outfield prospect Derek Fisher (No. 8 in the club’s top 30 prospects and now the Phillies’ eight-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline) along with a fourth player.