MLB Trade Deadline: 5 trades that need to happen

Tyson Ross and Derek Norris to the Houston Astros

In contrast to the last couple of trade deadlines which have featured the likes of Johnny Cueto and Jon Lester, there won’t be too many No. 1 starting pitchers on the move this season. Teams will surely be calling the Padres about starters like James Shields and Andrew Cashner, as the team is in dire need of a rebuild after A.J. Preller’s wild first offseason backfired.

However, the most interesting Padre who should be on the move is Tyson Ross. Ross has been an excellent starter over the past three years, including posting a 3.26 ERA (2.98 FIP) with a 25.8 percent strikeout rate in 2015 per FanGraphs.

Those are numbers worthy of a No. 2 starter at worst, but Ross has unfortunately been out since Opening Day with shoulder inflammation. The injury will not require surgery at the least, and Ross should only need a handful of starts to show teams he’s healthy, making him valuable trade bait if he’s able to return by around late May.

Houston tried hard this offseason to get a pitcher of Ross’ caliber to slot in the rotation behind Dallas Keuchel to no avail. While the Astros are scuffling at the start of the year, they are too talented not to factor into the mediocre AL West race, and would be willing to part with a member of their deep farm system to get someone like Ross.

Norris will also be available at the deadline, and would make sense as a package deal with Ross for Houston. The 27-year-old catcher has been worth between 2.2 and 2.6 WAR each of the last three years according to FanGraphs, which would be a big upgrade over Jason Castro.

Next: Carlos Gonzalez to the Los Angeles Angels