No one said a repeat was going to be easy. The reigning World Series champion Houston Astros have gone through more than their fair share of adversity so far this season, with injuries to Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Michael Brantley, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy and more key contributors. And yet, look up and there they are, in control of the second AL Wild Card spot at 55-43 and just three back in the loss column of the Texas Rangers in the AL West.
You know Houston would love to become baseball’s first repeat champs since the 1999-2000 New York Yankees, in a stacked AL, they’ll need to do some work to bolster their roster at the trade deadline. What might DM Dana Brown have in store? Let’s break it all down.
Astros trade deadline preview
Needs
It’s jarring to say this out loud, considering their pitching staff has been the envy of most of the league for years on end now, and yet: The Astros could really use some rotation depth. Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. are out for the year, Urquidy remains a question mark as he recovers from a shoulder injury, Cristian Javier has struggled mightily of late and Hunter Brown, while showing flashes of superstardom, has been as inconsistent as you’d expect a rookie to be. Framber Valdez is a workhorse’s workhorse, and J.P. France and Brandon Bielak have filled in admirably — through all those challenges, Houston ranks fourth in starter ERA in all of baseball. Still, there are more questions here than we’re used to, especially come playoff time.
Beyond that, the only real area to target would be left field, where Brantley’s status remains unclear and the team would certainly like to avoid playing Alvarez as he recovers from an oblique injury.
Potential Targets
Marcus Stroman, Chicago Cubs
If your rotation needs a shot in the arm, you couldn’t do much better than Stroman, who’s been dynamite atop the Cubs’ rotation all year — and boasts a sparkling ERA+ of 134 across 110 starts since 2019. Chicago doesn’t seem likely to be buyers given their start to the second half, and with Stroman likely opting out of his player option for 2024, they seem likely to move on from the righty at the deadline.
Cody Bellinger, Chicago Cubs
Of course, if you’re already on the phone with Chicago, why not throw Bellinger’s name into the mix? His elite outfield defense might be wasted on the Crawford Boxes, but he’d be a much-needed left-handed compliment to Kyle Tucker in that lineup, and he’s been surging of late (1.182 OPS over his last 23 games). The batted-ball metrics are somewhat troubling, but even if Bellinger regresses a bit, that’s still a very useful player — and one who can let Alvarez serve as a full-time DH or even spell the moribund Jose Abreu at first.
Eduardo Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers
The Tigers haven’t fully committed to selling yet — they keep hanging around the dreadful AL Central — but come on now. The 30-year-old lefty is almost certain to utilize the opt-out in his contract this winter amid a career season in Detroit in which he’s posted a 2.69 ERA across 14 starts. The Tigers would do well to cash in before he elects free agency, and the Astros figure to be interested in a guy who’d slide in nicely next to Valdez.
Trade chips
If you want outfielders, you’ve come to the right place. Last year’s first-round pick out of Tennessee, Gilbert tore the cover off the ball in High-A this year and earned a promotion to Double-A. He’s a standout performer in center field with some upside in his bat. Speaking of upside in the bat: Justin Dirden just turned 26 and has never been that highly regarded as a prospect, but he hits everywhere he goes and is off to a solid start in Triple-A. Names like Jacob Melton, Colin Barber, and Ryan Clifford also figure to be of interest to sellers, although after Brown there’s not a lot of young pitching talent to pull from.
