Bud Norris Shipped To Baltimore In Blockbuster Deal

     After much speculation surrounding Bud Norris and the Astros nearing the deadline, Bud was finally dealt to the Baltimore Orioles for OF LJ Hoes, LHP Josh Hader, and a competitive balance pick slotted at #33 overall. This was a deal I didn't particularly want to happen, but after seeing the return, I'm rather pleased with the transaction as a whole. I, as well as most Astros fan, had become quite attached to Norris, and with all the turnover in the last four years, that's something that's rare. Bud handled himself very well on and off the field through four tumultuous seasons, and has shown progress this year so in that sense it sucks to see him go. I wish Bud Norris all the luck in the world, and would love to see him win a ring this year. However all attachment aside, this was certainly a good deal for Luhnow and Co. Here's an in-depth look at the pieces received in the deal..

LJ Hoes was honored with the 2012 minor league player of the year for the Orioles. The 23 year old OF, ranked 6th prospect in the O's system, was just called up three days ago from AAA Norfolk. Immediately after the trade Hoes was slotted into the 2 hole of the order, starting in right. He profiles very closely to our own Robbie Grossman. Not a wealth of pop, but he can drive the ball and there may be more power to come as his game evolves. LJ owns a solid hit tool with a good ability to get on base. His OBP tool has evolved into a strength and this year in at Norfolk he has an on base percentage north of .400. Hoes doesn't possess great speed, but he does own very decent baserunning instincts, swiping 20 bags three times during his minor league stint. LJ will slot aright away into a starting outfield role with the big club. He should be an interesting one to watch the remainder of the year.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB
2008	18	Orioles	GULF	Rk	BAL	48	191	159	36	49	4	3	1	18	10	0	30	22	.308	.416	.390	.806	62
2009	19	Delmarva	SALL	A	BAL	119	465	431	42	112	19	0	2	47	20	5	23	80	.260	.299	.318	.617	137
2010	20	3 Teams	3 Lgs	A+-A--AA	BAL	108	454	390	61	113	24	3	4	50	11	9	55	72	.290	.383	.397	.780	155
2010	20	Aberdeen	NYPL	A-	BAL	8	32	28	8	13	5	1	1	5	1	1	2	1	.464	.531	.821	1.353	23
2010	20	Frederick	CARL	A+	BAL	97	413	353	52	98	19	2	3	44	10	8	53	70	.278	.375	.368	.743	130
2010	20	Bowie	EL	AA	BAL	3	9	9	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	.222	.222	.222	.444	2
2011	21	2 Teams	2 Lgs	AA-A+	BAL	136	566	502	70	143	24	1	9	71	20	9	53	81	.285	.354	.390	.745	196
2011	21	Frederick	CARL	A+	BAL	41	173	158	23	38	7	0	3	17	4	2	10	25	.241	.297	.342	.638	54
2011	21	Bowie	EL	AA	BAL	95	393	344	47	105	17	1	6	54	16	7	43	56	.305	.379	.413	.792	142
2012	22	2 Teams	2 Lgs	AAA-AA	BAL	133	586	513	79	147	23	7	5	54	20	12	65	76	.287	.372	.388	.759	199
2012	22	Bowie	EL	AA	BAL	51	229	196	25	52	9	3	2	16	12	5	31	33	.265	.368	.372	.741	73
2012	22	Norfolk	IL	AAA	BAL	82	357	317	54	95	14	4	3	38	8	7	34	43	.300	.374	.397	.771	126
2013	23	Norfolk	IL	AAA	BAL	99	430	365	62	111	25	1	3	40	7	7	58	56	.304	.406	.403	.808	147

Josh Hader, the 5th ranked prospect in the O's system, was the centerpiece of this deal in my opinion. The tall, lanky, lefty with his three quarter delivery has drawn comparisons to Chris Sale. Hader has an impressive arsenal with a fastball clocked at 96, sitting in the 90-93 range. Scouts have raved about the recent improvement in his fast one, and many think he will continue to make strides in reference to his velocity. He also throws a curveball and change, both of which he has a good feel for. The 19 year old has had success in his first year in full season ball, and will be going to Quad Cities. Although he has a relatively higher walk rate thus far this season, the profile states that he has good control of all three pitches. Hader slots in at 13th overall in Mayo's rankings of the Astros system, which is a testament once again to the depth that we have acquired. I'm very excited about this one.

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2012	18	2 Teams	2 Lgs	Rk-A-	BAL	2	0	1.000	1.88	17	0	6	0	0	2	28.2	14	7	6	2	9	0	48	3	0	3	110	0.802	4.4	0.6	2.8	15.1	5.33
2012	18	Orioles	GULF	Rk	BAL	2	0	1.000	2.66	12	0	6	0	0	2	20.1	12	7	6	2	7	0	35	2	0	3	80	0.934	5.3	0.9	3.1	15.5	5.00
2012	18	Aberdeen	NYPL	A-	BAL	0	0		0.00	5	0	0	0	0	0	8.1	2	0	0	0	2	0	13	1	0	0	30	0.480	2.2	0.0	2.2	14.0	6.50
2013	19	Delmarva	SALL	A	BAL	3	6	.333	2.65	17	17	0	0	0	0	85.0	67	41	25	4	42	0	79	6	0	7	369	1.282	7.1	0.4	4.4	8.4	1.88

The last piece of this trade, which is receiving the least amount of recognition, is the draft pick. In what is considered to be a relatively stacked draft class next year, the Astros will have three selections within the first 40 picks. The 33rd overall selection received in the trade just may produce the most fruition of the deal in this coming draft. Jeff Luhnow did a fantastic job taking advantage of a weak starting pitchers market, and capitalizing on Bud's value. We made an absolute haul this deadline folks.