Who the Astros Dealt to the Brewers

It's official. The Astros dealt away four prospects in order to acquire Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers.

But, what did the Astros really give up.

Adrian Houser, RHP, Double A

Houser is a former second round pick from 2011 and didn't start showing signs of being a good prospect until this season thanks to a strong BB/SO ratio in Lancaster. Since his promotion to Corpus, he's not been nearly as good as he's struggle with control more and has not been able to strikeout hitters at a similar clip. He has a good frame and continues to have good enough stuff to be a back of the rotation starter. The TCB staff rated him as a C+ prospect and had him at 20th in the system in our mid-season update.

Houser was also going to be Rule Five eligible this off-season and unlikely to have been protected.

Josh Hader, LHP, Double A

The Bud Norris trade helped to net Hader from the Orioles. He had a little hype at the time that only increased with a very good showing in Lancaster last year. But, he struggled with a promotion to Corpus and the hype died off some. His peripherals are much closer to those from Lancaster. Most reports indicate he's a back of the rotation type starter due to some command issues but has a good fastball and breaking ball. Our staff rated him a B- prospect and 11th in the system.

Domingo Santana, OF, Triple A

He's one of the more frustrating prospects for Astros fans. An Astros by a mistake originally in a Phillies trade. However, his power helped him rise all the way to the majors. He was quite awful last year in a very brief stint in the majors. This season he did much better in a second stint, even had a positive advanced stats. He continues to have contact issues and a very high strikeout rate that could prevent him from being anything close to his high ceiling. He's still quite young and could still figure it out. We rated him a B prospect and number seven in the system.

Brett Phillips, OF, Double A

The crown jewell of the trade. He really took off last year as a prospect. As a high school two-sport athlete, it took a little while for Phillips to develop. Once he was able to focus on baseball only, he was able to take a season to get comfortable and make an adjustment in his swing to help improve his contact and power. He's an above average fielder with a plus arm and plus speed. He can play center but some scouts wonder if he'd be better in RF. Despite high averages in the mid-minors, he's likely a average to above-average hitter with similar graded power. We rated him the top prospect in the system (recent draftees excluded) and a B+ prospect.

Mid-level pitching is a strength in the Astros system and has used three pitchers from that category in two trades this season. Losing pitchers like Hader and Houser don't really sting, especially with the emergence of Joe Musgrove, David Paulino, and Francis Martes this season as solid prospects. The outfield is also an area of strength with other prospects like Teoscar Hernandez, Derek Fisher, Danry Vasquez, Jason Martin, and much further down the line in Daz Cameron and Kyle Tucker.