Astros prospect Preston Tucker available for trade

The Houston Astros start to the season can no longer be considered a hot streak. On May 22nd, they're 27-15, and have a firm hold of the AL West division. Jon Heyman notes that the Astros were smart in "blowing away the the relief market, winning both Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek." They've turned a former weak spot into a glowing strength, and are in a great position to add pieces to their team.

With the Astros' hot start, and Carlos Correa's domination of minor league pitching, some of the "field staff would love" for the "super prospect" to be brought up now. The team is likely to wait for the super-two deadline to pass, but he'll be on the way soon. The Astros offense however isn't something that needs to be addressed, and will likely target pitching before the deadline passes.

Since the offense is largely set, GM Jeff Lunhow can deal his prospect position players without the fear of not being able to find players to score runs. Preston Tucker wasn't on any top ten prospect lists, but has been remarkably valuable for the Astros in the minor leagues. He had fantastic statistics in every stop at the minors, and in ten games in MLB, has a wRC+ of 172. Tucker owns a slash line of .310/.412/.552 and showcased some tremendous power.

Tucker hasn't been able to get much playing time in the Astros outfield, and is likely trade bait for anyone with a decent starting pitcher. While Billy Beane said that he hasn't fielded any calls on Scott Kazmir yet, he makes a lot of sense for the Astros. Kazmir is in the last season year of a two-year deal, and won't require any of the team's top prospects like Correa, or Mark Appel. The team hasn't been an active buyer in many years now, and it will be exciting to see how they react in 2015.