Astros nearly traded for Ichiro, Giancarlo Stanton

It’s almost July which means that baseball trade rumors are going to start being kicked up left and right, but at the moment one of the most interesting trade rumors isn’t one that is currently cooking on the hot stove, rather it’s a slew of rumors that were discussed in the past.

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Deadspin got their hands on the Houston Astros trade transcript which charts 10 months of trade chatter between Houston and various teams in the MLB about possible trades that were almost made. Not everything that was discussed is earth shattering information, but there are some interesting tidbits and at the very least it’s a Moneyball style look inside of trade discussions in the front office.

Among the highlights are the fact that a trade between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees was a briefly discussed in which the Bronx Bombers showed a willingness to eat a portion of Ichiro’s salary and ship him off the Houston. It’s not clear how far along these talks got, but the took place less than four months ago in mid-March which means they might crop up again as we approach the deadline.

"3/18/2014Billy Eppler reached out to DS to say that they are still looking to move Ichiro. They would be willing to pay Ichiro down to 2M"

Even if the Astros aren’t the ones to acquire Ichiro, it appears that that the Yankees are willing to eat salary to move him which is worth noting for the near future.

Another interesting bit from the leak is that the Miami Marlins hand picked prospects they would be willing to trade the otherwise off-limits Giancarlo Stanton for. The Marlins were steadfast in their stance that Stanton was not for sale last year, but they apparently changed their minds.

"11/15/2014[Luhnow] talked to [Marlins GM Dan Jennings] and said we had interest in Stanton. DJ said he doesn’t think he’ll trade Stanton and the only deal he could think of from us that would work would be Springer and Correa. JL said that would not work. JL posited a deal around Cosart and Deshields."

This is all fascinating information for not only baseball nuts who like to know all the information they can but also for those who want an inside look at just how trades are discussed and how that process works and doesn’t work. This is all coming from a poorly run franchise like the Astros, but while we are ignoring them as baseball fans, it’s clear that front offices all over the country are in regular communication around the clock no matter the time of year.

And people apparently see things in the Astros worth trading for, which is news in of itself.

[h/t: Deadspin]

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MLB Rumors: Astros nearly traded for Ichiro, Giancarlo Stanton

By Josh Hill | Jun 30, 2014