The Houston Astros, in any other year, would likely be sellers with their 31-39 record.
Their talented but underperforming roster includes Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña as possible trade candidates.
However, in a weak American League, the Astros are just four games back in the Wild Card.
Therefore, it might be more prudent for Houston to try to buy their way back into the playoff race.
Earlier this week, Houston general manager Dana Brown pushed back against the idea of trading Peña or Alvarez.
On Thursday, Brown said the team will be looking to upgrade its outfield and bullpen, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart.
What Did Brown Say About the Houston Astros’ Deadline?
Despite the Astros’ poor record, it appears the team wants to upgrade at the deadline. They feel that the returns of players from injury could give them a big boost as the deadline approaches.
“If we could find some offensive outfield help at the Deadline, that would be great,” Brown said. “If we could find some bullpen help, that would be great. Those are two big things. We feel like we got some starters coming back [from injuries], whether it’s Hunter Brown, whether it’s [Cristian] Javier, whether it’s [Ronel] Blanco, whether it’s [Hayden] Wesneski. We got that group that’s coming back, as well. So a big focus would be offense in the outfield and getting some offensive production. And if we could firm up the ‘pen a little bit more, because we’re working our ‘pen pretty hard right now.”
Javier and Brown especially would be huge adds to a team that has the worst ERA in the American League.
With a bullpen that has been performing terrible as well, this could be the move to elevate the roster to a Wild Card spot.
Nearly every club needs to upgrade their bullpen in time for the playoffs, but Brown’s comments on improving the outfield are much more consequential.
Why Do They Need Outfield?
Joey Loperfido, Taylor Trammell and Cam Smith are the current starting outfielders for the Astros.
All three of those players have below-average offensive numbers and rank among the worst in the majors, necessitating a move for an outfielder.
However, Smith is still incredibly young and can improve.
“I mean, things could change if, for example, Cam Smith heats up, right,” Brown asked? “Cam Smith, he’s learning right now, and he’s learning at the Major League level. You see clips of coming attractions when he goes on his hot streaks, but we need a little bit more consistency, so that could be something that’s huge for us. … But we need those kinds of things to happen in order to get the offense moving in the right direction, and to get some length in the offense at the bottom.”
But who will be available?
With so many fringe contenders in the AL and few obvious sellers at this point in the majors, it’s difficult to tell who will be available.
Therefore, Houston must play the waiting game and make moves closer to the Trade Deadline.
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