Marlins vs. Astros Series Preview: Should the Marlins Pursue George Springer?

To get you ready for the upcoming Miami Marlins series with the Houston Astros, We enlisted the help of co-editor Greg Thurston of Climbing Tal’s Hill, a Fansided site that covers the Houston Astros. Greg was kind enough to answer a few questions for us and of course we had to ask about the rumors surrounding the Marlins and Astros trade discussions from earlier in the year.

MM: The big news surrounding the Astros is their failure to sign Brady Aiken. What are your thoughts on that situation?

CTH:I think the Astros were caught completely off guard by the fact that Aiken refused to play their negotiating game. The situation wasn’t handled as well as it could have been and the majority of the hard-core fans are up in arms.

MM: Houston has made no secret that they are taking the long road to rebuilding with the goal to make it last. Do the fans seem ok with this approach?

CTH: The farm system was barren when the new ownership group took over in November of 2011. Almost everyone has bought into G.M. Jeff Luhnow’s rebuilding strategy of building from the ground up. To a certain extent. But with the Aiken mess and the struggles of last year’s top pick, Mark Appel, the natives are starting to get restless.

MM: Some recent rumors had the Marlins discussing a potential trade for Giancarlo Stanton. According to the rumors George Springer was a sticking point. Is Springer that good?

CTH: First of all, I can’t believe that either of those players would even be taken into consideration when talking trade. And yes, Springer is a phenomenal talent. I wouldn’t want to be known as the guy who let him get away. Even if it was for Giancarlo. Yeah, he’s that good. Springer has unbelievable power to all fields as well as incredible speed in the outfield and on the basepaths. Unfortunately, he just went on the disabled list with a strained quad.

MM: Would you preview the pitchers that the Marlins are going to face this series?

CTH: Dallas Keuchel and Jarred Cosart will be starting the first two games of the series. These two guys have been the best starters on the staff this year — by far. Keuchel has struggled a bit recently. He gets a ton of ground balls and a lot of them have been finding holes in his last four or five starts. The club still hasn’t announced a starting pitcher for Sunday’s series finale. We are hopeful that Collin McHugh will be able to come off the disabled list to make the start.

We want to thank Greg for taking the time to chat with us. In my opinion, if the Marlins were able to acquire George Springer in a Giancarlo Stanton trade, then they would be crazy not to. To me, he is the next Jason Heyward. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!