Houston Astros Rival Whiffs on Dylan Cease After He's Dealt to San Diego Padres

The division seems to be firmly in control of the Houston Astros after their rival was unable to land one of the top starting pitchers on the market.

Entering as favorites because of injuries to many players on other teams in the division, the Houston Astros have remained relatively healthy throughout Spring Training with a handful of their stars boasting some improvements to their games.

An earlier report suggested that the AL West could get a whole lot more interesting for the Astros to win in 2024 based on the Texas Rangers' interest in trading for Dylan Cease.

With Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, and Tyler Mahle expected to be out until around the All-Star break or later, the Rangers will be undermanned to start the year.

Now, it looks like Houston will have a major advantage early as Texas was not able to land the ace from the Chicago White Sox following their decision to deal Cease to the San Diego Padres.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the news with Jon Morosi of MLB Network providing more details about the top prospects involved in the package.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today then released the entire trade that sees the White Sox getting back reliever Steven Wilson and three of the Padres' top 10 prospects in pitchers Drew Thorpe (No. 5) and Jairo Iriarte (No. 8), plus outfielder Samuel Zavala (No. 7).

The only way this truly affects the Astros is because their rivals didn't land the talented starter.

Houston only plays San Diego in one series throughout the entire season, which takes place in the middle of September.

There's a low chance that this matchup will play a major role in anything playoff related for the Astros.

So, despite the rumors that their rivals could have pulled off something to get them back into the divisional conversation, it looks like the AL West runs through Houston once again.