Houston Astros Urged To 'Retool' Before MLB Trade Deadline
The Houston Astros season has been all over the place so far, but the only consistent thing is that they are behind in the playoff race. There's still time to get back into it, but their roster might need some work.
Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly looked around the league to summarize each team's season in one sentence. Here's what he had to say for Houston:
"They might still be able to contend in 2024, but a retooling is in order."
As of right now, Houston stands at 24-32 and 6.5 games back in the AL West after losing three straight to the Seattle Mariners. They're seven games back in the Wild Card race as well.
Seattle and the Texas Rangers having down years has opened up the door for the Astros to come back into it with down years of their own, but they have to take advantage.
There looks to be a lot of roster turnover coming after this season, which could lead to some important decisions to be made.
If they want to compete this season, there are a couple of clear holes that need to be filled.
Houston absolutely needs to add another arm to their rotation before the deadline. Currently, their pitchers rank 27th in MLB with a 4.91 staff ERA. Poor play combined with constant injuries have made it nearly impossible to trust the staff as it is currently put together.
The most consistent pitcher has been Ronel Blanco and even he has faced a suspension. Justin Verlander has had a couple of weak starts, but overall has still been very good.
Some names to keep in mind for starting pitchers would be Erick Fedde or Jesus Luzardo.
They also need to add another bat at first base. Jose Abreu and Jon Singleton simply won't cut it if they want to contend.
The Astros been connected to both Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero as some potential splash additions via trade. Josh Bell makes sense as a better value player, thanks to his recent surge. Paul Goldschmidt could work if they want to take another risk, but his season has not been unlike Abreu's so far.
Now, if Houston decides they are past trying to contend this season, they will still need to be active in the trade market.
Verlander, Framber Valdez, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker are all big names that could very well be in new uniforms next season. They could add a lot to their farm system if they decide enough is enough and call around to check on their value.
Bregman and Tucker make the most sense to trade and would bring in the most in terms of future assets.
DYLAN SANDERS
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders