Five Trade Targets Who Could Propel the Astros to the Postseason

After a horrific start to the season, the Houston Astros are coming out of the All-Star break in a great position to reclaim the AL West. In order to accomplish that, GM Dana Brown is going to have to make a move or two to solidify the roster.

Not that long ago it was looking like the Astros could find themselves as sellers and moving upcoming free agent Alex Bregman. Well, that isn’t going to happen now. They are all in for this season and focused on getting to their eighth-straight ALCS.

Going all in is more than likely going to have to look a little different than it has at times for Houston. Owner Jim Crane wants to keep riding this incredible wave of winning but has also expressed his desire to ultimately cut payroll in the years to come. Specifically getting under the luxury tax threshold is something that the organization would like to achieve.

Trading for help at the deadline requires an adequate number of prospects with the occasional big leaguer sprinkled in depending on who the target is. Houston has shown their willingness to move big league talent over the years and that might come in handy this year.

With the Astros farm system ranked toward the bottom of every major ranking system, Brown is going to have to get creative in making deals happen.

All stats were taken prior to play on July 19th

What the Astros Need at the Trade Deadline – Pitching

Like most teams that are still in contention this time of year, the Astros need more pitching. The truth is, they have needed more pitching all season long. With all of the devastating injuries to their starting rotation, it is a wonder that they find themselves only one game back of Seattle for first place in the AL West.

Houston for sure needs one starter, if not two, before the trade deadline. They are hopeful that they will get some quality innings out of Justin Verlander in the second half. He is still nursing a sore neck and has been out much longer than many first anticipated.

Both Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia are supposed to be back as well, but their road to recovery has been a bumpy one. At this point the team should be looking at contributions that they receive from them as a bonus and not part of the plan to get to the postseason.

One of the many rental pitchers that has been linked to the Astros is Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi. He is a lefty that has decent numbers this year and last year, but has struggled mightily since June 1st.

In his last nine starts he has a 6.00 ERA and has a slash line against of .289/.339/.511. That isn’t the kind of guy that you want eating innings for a team right now unless there is something that they have seen that they feel like they can tweak.

Lesser Need at First Base

First base has obviously been a huge issue for Houston this year. Anytime a team has to cut a veteran like Jose Abreu with a year and a half and $30 million remaining on his contract, you know things went sideways.

Jon Singleton has stepped in admirably and is hitting at a league average level, even though his defense is lacking. Will the Astros be looking for a first baseman to trade for?

Absolutely they will. But most of the top guys that could actually help out are either not rentals and will cost a ton or they are on teams that are still very much in contention themselves.

Pete Alonso and Christian Walker would both be huge additions from a rental standpoint, but the Mets and Diamondbacks are both in the heat of the NL Wild Card hunt.

Toronto is going to be a seller and has expressed the willingness to trade controllable pieces such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. But with the price going to be high, and a lack of farm system depth on the Astros side, that deal could be hard to get to the finish line.

The Astros lineup is tough already. Adding another piece would be great, but not as important as adding pitching depth. Kyle Tucker is getting closer to coming off of the IL, which will give an already formidable offense even more fire power.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the top pitching trade targets that can help Houston get to the postseason and beyond.

Jack Flaherty

Last season was a rough one for Jack Flaherty. He was part of the disappointing 2023 St. Louis Cardinals team that underperformed every step of the way. He was thus traded to the upstart Baltimore Orioles at the deadline last year. His struggles continued.

Fast forward to 2024, and Flaherty is back to his dominate self. He signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Tigers in the offseason. The Tigers aren’t a terrible team, but are still looking more like sellers than buyers at the deadline

Flaherty looks to be one of the top rental pitchers on the market. He would be a solid piece to drop into the rotation for the Astros. In 17 games this year across 100 2/3 innings pitched, he is 7-5, has a 3.13 ERA, 3.18 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, and has recorded 119 strike outs to just 16 walks.

Even as a rental, the price for a pitcher of Flaherty’s caliber is going to be steep. Detroit will no doubt be getting numerous offers on the big righty and will end up taking the one that makes the most sense to them. If Houston can nab him, it would be huge.

Tyler Anderson

One of the top pitchers that could be on the move this month is crafty left-hander, Tyler Anderson. The Angel pitcher has been posting solid numbers all season despite not breaking any radar gun records.

In 19 starts and 118 innings pitched, Anderson has a 2.97 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 1.169 WHIP, has stuck out 81, and allowed 47 walks. His stuff doesn’t scare anyone, but it is extremely effective.

Anderson knows how to induce weak contact as he doesn’t overpower anyone.

According to Baseball Savant, he ranks near the bottom in fastball velocity (2%) and yet near the top in hard hit percentage (84%) and average exit velocity (86%). His pitch mix mainly consists of an 89 mph four-seam fastball (yes 89 mph and not 99 mph) that he throws 40.3%, changeup at 36.6%, and cutter at 19%.

Anderson does have one more year of control and thus wouldn’t be a rental. The 34-year-old is on the books for $13 million again next season. It will be the last year of his three-year deal he signed with the Angels before the 2023 season.

Even if he didn’t fit into the Astros long-term plans, they could use him for their playoff push this year and then trade him this offseason to another team that is looking for starting pitching for 2025.

Erick Fedde

A change of scenery is sometimes just what a ball player needs to find themselves and their untapped potential. And sometimes, as was the case for Erick Fedde, that different place can be in a faraway country.

Fedde was selected 18th overall in the first round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Washington Nationals. Made his major league debut on July 30, 2017, but never quite figured things out in his time with Washington.

After the 2022 season Fedde decided to take his glove and spikes to Korea and play in the KBO league. All that he did there was recreate his pitch mix and win the KBO MVP award. That success prompted the Chicago White Sox to sign him to a two-year, $15 million contract before this season.

With one year at $7.5 million still under contract for 2025, Fedde isn’t a must for the White Sox to move at this time. But with his stock as high as it has ever been, they would be silly to not trade him if they get close to what they want in return.

His numbers this year have been outstanding. In his first 19 starts and 111.1 innings pitched, he is 7-3, has a 2.99 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.132 WHIP, has struck out 99 and walked only 30.

He is now a true four-pitch pitcher, which the Astros organization likes in their starters. The sinker and cutter both hover around the 30% usage mark. The sweeper and changeup both come in around 20%.

Trevor Richards

A bullpen arm that won’t alone be a needle mover but could help add some depth to the squad is Toronto’s Trevor Richards. He would be a rental which will help with the price tag. His fastball and changeup arsenal is doing quite well this year.

Over 49.2 innings, Richards sports a 3.62 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 0.946 WHIP, and has 48 strikeouts compared to 19 walks. With his plus plus changeup, Richards splits against lefties is as good or better as it is against right-handed batters.

His OPS allowed to right-handed batters is .568 while to left-handed batters it is only .498. Left-handed hitters have a higher batting average at .182 compared to .143, but the biggest difference is in the slugging percentage. Righties are slugging .327 while lefties are only slugging .260 against Richards.

Having another veteran arm for manager Joe Espada to call on that can get batters out from either side of the plate would be a nice addition. As mentioned earlier, this add would be a bonus and doesn’t in any way lower the need for starting pitching.

Andrew Heaney

Perhaps the juiciest of the trade targets in this piece is Andrew Heaney. Could the Lone Star State rivals actually make a trade with each other? The better question is would they.

It is one thing to trade within the division to a team that isn’t a rival, but when you trade directly with a team that both fan bases dislike, it can get a bit complicated. Or is it?

At the end of the day, MLB is a business and if both teams are able to get what they want out of a deal, they shouldn’t hesitate in pulling the trigger. The risk is that you trade away the next Babe Ruth to your arch nemesis, but isn’t that the case with every deal?

Heaney is a lefty that would give the Astros the ability to get innings out of him as a starter until some of the injured pitchers come back and then he could easily be shifted to a swingman role. He did well in both of those parts last season during the Rangers World Series run.

This year Heaney has been extremely unlucky from a run support perspective. But controlling what he can, has put up good numbers. In 95 innings, Heaney has a 3.79 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.253 WHIP, has 97 strike outs, and 26 walks. The left-handed veteran recently just picked up his 1,000th career strikeout which shows that he has been around for a while now.

It is sure to be a battle of wits if indeed the Astros and the Rangers were to make a deal for Heaney, or any of Texas’ other available pitchers. That could make for an exciting narrative, but also help Houston in the area that they need it most.

Astros GM Dana Brown Has to Make a Move

Sitting tight isn’t an option for the Astros this year. They have been scraping by with their lack of healthy starting pitching all season long. In order to make the postseason, they will have to add at least one arm to the rotation via a trade.

The window of opportunity for this Houston dynasty is closing and there is little room for error. If Brown can add a bat along with a pitcher or two that would be great, but if they are unable to secure at least one quality starter, their chances of repeating as AL West champs diminishes greatly.

The phones are bound to be busy over the next few weeks as the trade deadline quickly approaches.