Houston Astros GM Hints They'll be Aggressive at Trade Deadline

With the regular season approaching, the Houston Astros' front office is already thinking about moves they might make later in the year.

Much to the surprise of many around the league, the Houston Astros put together one of the best offseasons out of any team in the MLB.

With limited financial flexibility, they were able to trade for a reliever with Major League experience. Then, when the owner opened up his checkbook, they landed superstar closer Josh Hader and extended the face of their franchise Jose Altuve.

The roster is virtually all filled out, with just a couple open positions up for grabs during Spring Training.

That gives the Astros' front office the ability to look ahead to later in the year when they might be able to make some more additions to this roster before the trade deadline.

General manager Dana Brown hinted that they might be aggressive during that time period according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

"We might add something later (at the trade deadline), but right now I think our team's built to win and we're ready to go," he said.

That comes on the heels of Justin Verlander's shoulder issue that will cause him to miss Opening Day after he'll be placed on the injured list to start the season.

This prompted some speculation that they might go after one of the prominent starters still on the market like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, but Brown shut down that notion.

Who Houston might be interested in at the deadline will be dependent upon health.

Right now it looks like starting pitching is a need, but with Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia scheduled to come back during the summer, that could no longer be the case.

The Astros also seem to have tons of offensive and defensive depth pieces on their roster, and others who could contribute if called up from the minors.

What most likely will happen is Houston aggressively pursues bullpen arms.

Despite adding Hader and Dylan Coleman, there are still some questions about how the middle-inning relief staff might look following the departures of Hector Neris, Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek, plus the injury to Kendall Graveman.

If there are struggles early on, don't be surprised if Brown becomes extremely active in his search for bullpen upgrades.