You must really hate Houser to trade for Kepler to use as a platoon. Houser to me has more upside as he refines his pitching. Nah, I just don't see the upside in Houser at this stage. I like him just fine. He didn't really take the step forward that I thought he might this season. Obviously the GB% is great, but to me he's not more than the role he's been in: back end starter or bullpen arm. I actually think he might play better as a full time bullpen arm. Kepler is nothing special either but his upside is a 30+ HR bat who can handle RF and CF if needed. He's at least an avg defender and not a negative on the bases. In the same sense as I can see some potential upside in Houser yet, I think there's a fraction of potential upside in Kepler with the amount of contact he's able to make. In my book, it's a pretty even swap at a position of relative depth for each team. That's fairly nuts to say you don't see more upside. He had a 4BB per 9. Reducing that to a realistic number of 3.3-3.5 will mean he's a better pitcher. Burnes went from 3.6 and 3.7 to 1.8. Woodruff went from 3 to 2.2. Peralta has lowered his every season. Houser putting less men on base with free passes as a pitcher to contact will lower the runs he allows. Say he even increases his KS per 9 then even more to a larger degree. Those 2 combined could vault him over Woodruff quality. You would have to believe cleaning up some walks per 9, would lead to batters chasing and striking out a little more. I'll harp to a guy I championed for a few offseasons ago. One Lance Lynn who was coming off a kind of season Houser just had. 3.8Bbs per9 and 7.4Ks per 9. Dropped that walks per 9 2 years later the Ks increased and he's about to finish a 3rd straight season a top 5 Cy Young vote getter. That's some pretty big upside if you ask me. Woodruff and Houser I've believed and said before are Lance Lynn body types and hard throwers. The Brewer duo though actually mix more pitches in than Lynn who was almost just a FB pitcher with occasional slider, to now a 60s/30s mix of the 2. Kepler is a big no for me if putting Houser as the trade offer.