The Houston Astros have dealt 28-year old lefty swinging CF Michael Bourn to the Braves for 24-year old lefty swinging CF Jordan Schafer, 22-year old lefty starting pitcher Brett Oberholtzer, 23-year old righty starting pitcher Paul Clemens and 26-year old righty reliever Juan Abreu. Schafer is currently on the 15-day disabled list with a chip fracture on his left middle finger, so it’s going to be a while before he makes his debut with the Astros. Schafer played in 52 games for the Braves this year and he was 47 for 196 (.240 avg, .623 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He has played in 102 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 81 for 363 (.223 avg, .613 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 3 homers, 15 RBIs, 17 stolen bases and an amazing 105 whiffs. Brett Oberholtzer came into this season as the Braves’ #9 prospect according to Baseball America. He has pitched in 21 games (all starts) in AA-ball so far this year and he is 9-9 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Oberholtzer has now pitched in 69 games (55 starts) in his first 4 years in the majors and he is 25-20 with 2 saves, a 3.35 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Paul Clemens came into this season as the Braves’ #26 prospect according to Baseball America. Clemens has pitched in 20 games (all starts) so far in AA-ball this year and he is 6-5 with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He has now pitched in 95 games (48 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 18-18 with 7 saves, a 4.09 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Juan Abreu came into this season as the Braves’ #27 prospect according to Baseball America. Abreu has pitched in 41 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 4-2 with 1 save, a 2.25 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He has whiffed 68 batters and he has only allowed 34 hits in his first 48 innings this year, which is pretty impressive, but he has also walked 27 batters and that’s way too many. Abreu has now pitched in 180 games (17 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he is 23-19 with 38 saves, a 4.41 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Abreu will likely get a shot right away in the pen for the Astros.

Michael Bourn played in 105 games for the Astros this year and he was 130 for 429 (.303 avg, .766 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 1 homer, 32 RBIs and 39 stolen bases. Bourn played in 541 games in his four years with the Astros and he was 552 for 2,037 (.271 avg, .696 OPS) with 302 runs scored, 11 homers, 134 RBIs and 193 stolen bases. He is seventh in Astros’ history with his 193 stolen bases. The Astros are going to miss his speed and defense.

The Astros should have held the Braves up and got better prospects. The Astros went for quantity over quality in this deal which is a clear and easy win for the Braves.

The Houston Astros traded 28-year old righty swinging RF Hunter Pence and $2 million bucks to the Phillies for 19-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Jonathan Singleton, 21-year old righty starting pitcher Jarred Cosart, 24-year old righty starter/reliever Josh Zeid and a player to be named later. None of the prospects the Astros got for Pence are near major league ready but they all have nice upsides. Singleton came into this season as the Phillies’ #2 prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. Singleton has played in 92 games in A-ball so far this year and he is 89 for 316 (.282 avg, .798 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 9 homers, 47 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 227 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 227 for 792 (.287 avg, .838 OPS) with 124 runs scored, 25 homers, 136 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Jarred Cosart came into this season as the Phillies’ #4 prospect according to Baseball America. Cosart pitched in 20 games (19 starts) in A-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 9-8 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Cosart has now pitched in 41 games (38 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 18-13 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Zeid came into this year as the Phillies’ #23 prospect according to Baseball America. Zeid has pitched in 21 games (11 starts) in AA-ball so far this year and he is 2-3 with 2 saves, a 5.65 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He has now pitched in 79 games (38 starts) in his first 3 years in the minors and he is 18-12 with 10 saves, a 3.63 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.

Hunter Pence has been the heart and soul for the Astros since he came up to the majors 5 years ago. Pence played in 100 games for the Astros this year and he was 123 of 399 (.308 avg, .828 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 11 homers, 62 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He played in 680 games in his five years with the Astros and he was 768 for 2,649 (.290 avg, .818 OPS) with 353 runs scored, 103 homers, 377 RBIs and 61 stolen bases.

The Astros might as well strip all the way down now, especially if they can make deals bringing in multiple good prospects like they did in this deal. That being said, it’s still a sad day in Houston.

UPDATE: (8/15/2011) - The Astros have acquired 19-year old righty swinging outfielder Domingo Santana from the Phillies to complete this deal. Santana came into this season as the Phillies’ #9 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. Santana has played in 96 games in A-ball so far this year and he is 94 for 350 (.269 avg, .780 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 7 homers, 32 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 236 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 202 for 819 (.247 avg, .746 OPS) with 117 runs scored, 21 homers, 96 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.

The Houston Astros are going to be busy trying to move players in deals for prospects to help rebuild the roster. The Astros floated Hunter Pence’s name out in trade rumors but they would be stupid to deal him as he is the franchise player. The Astros are trying to deal Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers and Clint Barmes this week and they should be able to get a good return for each of them providing that they throw in cash in the deals. The Astros would also like to deal Carlos Lee but that’s going to be a hard one to pull off because of his price tag and defense. A few teams (Braves, Indians, Rangers and Nationals) would like to have CF Michael Bourn on their teams, so he can be had for the right price (and he won’t come cheap). The Astros are also willing to trade smaller parts like infielder Angel Sanchez and outfielder Jason Michaels this week. Don’t get discouraged Astros’ fans, the roster they have right now just isn’t very good as a whole.

30-year old righty starting pitcher Brett Myers got a nice two year deal from the Astros as a reward for how well he pitched in 2010. Myers pitched in 33 games (all starts) last year for the Astros and he was 14-8 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. This season though, he’s had some issues. He has started 21 games for the Astros so far this year and he is 3-10 with a 4.74 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. The Astros need Myers to pick up the pace in the second half if they are going to try to really avoid having 100 losses on the season.

The Astros have called up 21-year old righty swinging 2B Jose Altuve. Altuve came into this season as the Astros’ #28 prospect according to Baseball America. He has played in 87 games in A+AA-ball so far this year and he is 139 for 357 (.389 avg, 1.017 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 10 homers, 59 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. Altuve has now played in 382 games in his first five years in the minors and he is 479 for 1,466 (.327 avg, .867 OPS) with 276 runs scored, 30 homers, 208 RBIs and 117 stolen bases. The Astros are ready to play for the future and Altuve might be a big part of it.