In the end of January, the Cubs acquired Ryan Pressly from the Astros. In the meantime, the Astros got Juan Bello from the Cubs. In December 2024, the Astros decided to trade Kyle Tucker to the Cubs. And the Astros got 3 players from the Cubs.
Interestingly, the Cubs and the Astros agreed to make a deal twice in a short period of time. While looking at these 2 trades, I began to think whether they are good trade partners.
To learn a little bit more, I decided to check on the great baseball reference website.
Firstly, let’s go back to 2015. The Cubs acquired Dexter Fowler from the Astros. And the Astros got Dan Straily and Luis Valbuena. Fowler played for the Cubs in 2015 and 2016, hitting .261/.367/.427 with 30 home runs and 94 RBI. In particular, he was an All-Star in 2016, slashing .276/.393/.447 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI in 125 games. Moreover, it’s worth mentioning Fowler’s 2 home runs in the 2016 World Series.
At the same time, let’s see what the Astros got. Dan Straily only tossed 16.2 innings in 2015, posting a 5.40 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Luis Valbuena played for the Astros in 2015 and 2016, hitting .238/.329/.446 with 38 home runs and 96 RBI in 222 games.
In addition, those 2 teams agreed to a deal in July 2019. The Cubs sent Martin Maldonado to the Astros. He played for the Astros from 2019 to 2023, there were only 2 times that he owned an OPS over .700 in a single season. Well, his hitting performance didn’t look really good. Nonetheless, he helped the Astros win the 2022 World Series.
In the meantime, Tony Kemp was sent to the Cubs. He played 44 games for the Cubs in 2019, batting .183/.258/.305 with 1 home run and 12 RBI. His OPS was below .600 in the Cubs uniform.
Looking back at the last 10 years, the Cubs and the Astros only made 2 trades. Those 2 trades actually made impacts on the 2 teams. The Cubs got Dexter Fowler in 2015 and Fowler became an All-Star in 2016. Furthermore, Fowler crushed a home run in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series and the Cubs won the title to end the 108-year drought. In 2019, the Astros got Martin Maldonado. Well, his numbers didn’t look good. Nevertheless, he was an important catcher for the Astros and was a key player to help the Astros win the 2022 World Series.
It's quite interesting that over the last 10 years, the Cubs and the Astros didn’t reach an agreement frequently. However, in less than 2 months, they already made 2 deals. The results of the previous 2 trades weren’t bad. They each got a key player to help the team win the Fall Classic. In the 2025 season, it will be worthwhile to see the outcomes of the most recent trades between the Cubs and the Astros. Which player will make an instant impact in 2025? Perhaps, 1 or 2 players from the trades will become a vital part of a World Series winner?
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