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Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers equal a two-to-three-win upgrade for Astros

The Astros capitalized on the collapse of the Mets' trade for Carlos Gomez, nabbing the talented center fielder along with cheap back-end starter Mike Fiers for a package of prospects that sends just one impact guy to Milwaukee.

Gomez has been a six wins above replacement (WAR) player over each of the last two years who is having a disappointing season at the plate and in the field, getting a little impatient and losing some power and hard contact. But at 29 he has shown no physical reason why he can't get close to the player he was the past two years, assuming the hip issue that scotched the deal with the Mets but didn't bother the Astros isn't holding him back. With George Springer out for an extended period and Jake Marisnick hitting just .235/.272/.370, Gomez is a substantial and immediate upgrade for now, and creates an opportunity for the Astros to move some younger assets now or in the offseason because he's under contract for 2016 as well. Beyond that, Houston has a small army of outfielders coming, mostly corner guys like A.J. Reed and Derek Fisher, so if Springer can return to center in 2017, they'll still have one of the top outfields in the game.