The Houston Astros have reportedly engaged the San Francisco Giants in trade talks for left-handed ace Madison Bumgarner, but Andy Martino of SNY is reporting that the Astros are “more” on Cleveland Indians righty Trevor Bauer than Bumgarner.

While Bumgarner is unquestionably the more valuable of the two starters, his price tag would almost certainly be higher than Bauer's, which would explain Houston possibly favoring trading for Bauer.

Through 24 starts this season, Bauer has gone 9-8 with a 3.79 ERA while allowing 127 hits and striking out 185 batters over 156.2 innings of work. He has, however, issued a league-leading 63 walks while also hitting 14 batters, more than any other pitcher in baseball.

Bauer was originally selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the third overall pick of the 2011 MLB Draft and made his big-league debut with the club in 2012, starting four games before being traded to the Indians that ensuing offseason.

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The 28-year-old only made four starts with Cleveland in 2013 before becoming a full-time member of the rotation in 2014, when he went 5-8 with a 4.18 ERA while surrendering 151 hits and fanning 143 hitters across 153 frames of action.

Bauer was nothing more than a middle-of-the-road starter over his first few years with the Indians, as he registered ERAs over 4 in each of his five seasons with the club. However, in 2018, Bauer broke out, going 12-6 with a 2.21 ERA and giving up just 134 hits while racking up 221 strikeouts through 175.1 innings, leading to an All-Star appearance. He also finished sixth in American League Cy Young award voting.

The Valencia, Ca. native owns a lifetime ERA of 3.92.