Brewers: Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers traded to Houston Astros … no, really!
By Phil Watson
A day after an apparent deal with the New York Mets fell through, the Milwaukee Brewers did manage to trade two-time All-Star center fielder Carlos Gomez.
On Thursday, Gomez was dealt with right-hander Mike Fiers and international free agent slot money to the Houston Astros in exchange for a package of four prospects.
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The Astros, after six straight sub-.500 seasons, are in first place in the American League West, taking a two-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels after a walkoff 3-0 win in Houston Thursday night.
But Houston needed an upgrade in the outfield and got it in Gomez, who was an All-Star in 2013 and 2014 and is hitting .262/.328/.423 in 74 games this season. He has missed time with a hamstring injury and the trade to the Mets was reportedly nixed because their team medical staff was concerned with his hips.
Gomez’s agent, Scott Boras, took the Mets to task on Wednesday night and fired another shot on Thursday after the deal to Houston was done.
Boras: “The Brewers’ medical staff is as expert and qualified as its reports. Apparently in New York it is viewed as cheesehead medicine.”
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2015
Meanwhile, Gomez himself seemed to be having some fun with the whole thing.
Asked whether he's hurt, Carlos Gomez said, "I don't have no problems. I'm playing, and I feel really sexy about it."
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) July 30, 2015
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson seemed a bit snippy when asked about the situation.
Alderson on Gomez: "Our doctors thought the health risk was too great; Houston's doctors apparently feel otherwise. End of story."
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) July 31, 2015
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Gomez told MLB.com that he thought he was being called in to get an explanation about the circus from the previous night.
“When they called me to the office, I thought they were calling me to explain what happened [Wednesday],” Gomez said. “They tell me, ‘Now you get traded.’ I go, ‘Is this for two or three hours or the real one?’ We were laughing a little bit. They said, ‘No. It’s true. You’re being traded to the Houston Astros.’
“I’ve been traded two times [previously] and I understand the game. I’m not surprised. I know they are trying to rebuild and if they trade me, they can get a lot of good prospects. Good for the Brewers and good for the Astros. I think everybody is happy.”
Gomez broke out as a star in 2013 after setting the table with a big second half in 2012.
In 2013, Gomez hit .284/.338/.506 with 24 homers and 73 RBI while also stealing 40 bases and earning his first All-Star appearance and Gold Glove. He was voted into the All-Star Game as a starter last season and hit .284/.356/.477 with 23 homers, 73 RBI and 34 steals.
Fiers, 30, battled back from injuries and ineffectiveness to make it back to the majors last season after a solid rookie year in 2012.
This season, he is 5-9 with a 3.89 ERA and 1.356 WHIP in 21 starts and 118 innings, with 121 strikeouts.
“It’s a big surprise,” Fiers said. “I don’t know what to think right now. I’m just happy for the opportunity to play for Houston.”
Gomez came to the Brewers in November 2009 in a trade with the Minnesota Twins for shortstop J.J. Hardy. Fiers was a 22nd-round draft pick in 2009 out of Nova Southeastern University in Florida and debuted in the majors in September 2011.
The haul of prospects from Houston was an impressive one, headlined by outfielder Brett Phillips, ranked No. 39 on MLB.com’s updated top 100 prospects list.
He becomes the No. 2 prospect in the Milwaukee organization. A left-handed hitter, the 21-year-old Phillips was assigned to Double-A Biloxi.
He was a sixth-round pick by the Astros out of Seminole (Fla.) High School in 2012 and began this season at Advanced-A Lancaster, where he hit .320/.379/.588 in 66 games, with 68 runs, 19 doubles, seven triples, 15 home runs and 53 RBI.
He was promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi and had hit .321/.372/.463 in 31 games, with 22 runs, eight doubles, four triples, a homer and 18 RBI.
The Brewers also got outfielder Domingo Santana, a 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic who played in 14 games for Houston earlier this season, hitting .256/.310/.462 with six runs, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI.
Originally signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in March 2009, Santana went to Houston as the player to be named later in a July 2011 deal that sent Hunter Pence to the Phillies.
Santana was hitting .320/.426/.582 in 75 games at Triple-A Fresno, with 62 runs, 18 doubles, 16 homers and 59 RBI. He was assigned to Triple-A Colorado Springs and moves in as the No. 4 prospect in the organization. He was No. 87 on the updated top 100 list.
Right-hander Adrian Houser will also be going to Biloxi and slots in as the No. 27 prospect in the Brewers chain. The 22-year-old was a second-round pick by the Astros out of Locust Grove (Okla.) High School in 2011.
He was 2-2 with a 4.35 ERA and 1.369 WHIP in eight starts and four relief appearances at Lancaster, striking out 55 in 49.2 innings, and had been 1-2 with a 6.21 ERA and 1.620 WHIP in five starts and two relief outings for Corpus Christi, fanning 23 in 33.1 innings.
The final piece is left-hander Josh Hader, who is now ranked No. 14 in the organization. He was a 19th-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2012 out of Old Mill High School in Millersville, Md.
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The 21-year-old had gone 3-3 in 10 starts and seven relief outings at Corpus Christi, with a 3.17 ERA and 1.286 WHIP in 65.1 innings, striking out 69. He had also earned one save.
Hader will be assigned to Biloxi. The Astros had acquired Hader from Baltimore in July 2013 along with outfielder L.J. Hoes in exchange for right-hander Bud Norris.
To replace Gomez and Fiers on the 25-man roster, the Brewers recalled outfielder Logan Schafer and utility man Elian Herrera from Colorado Springs.
Both had been on the roster earlier in the year, with Schafer hitting .182/.270/.273 in 22 games, with three doubles and one RBI. He was hitting .256/.291/.341 in 71 games at Colorado Springs, with 15 doubles, two triples, a homer and 17 RBI.
Herrera had hit .212/.259/.374 in 38 games with Milwaukee earlier this year, with four doubles, four home runs and 15 RBI. With the Sky Sox, he had hit .211/.304/.275 in 34 games.