The Houston Astros should be surprisingly buyers at the MLB trade deadline

The Houston Astros seemed completely lost to start the season.

Part of that was because they missed an entire rotation due to injury, literally. Failing veterans and ineffective management.

This was largely due to the sheer challenge they faced in their first 30 games, including several games against the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves.

But now that they’ve won seven of their last 10 games, the bats are coming and suddenly Houston is starting to look like the Astros who have turned into a dynasty over the past seven seasons.

Perhaps it is this turnaround, coupled with the turmoil of the Seattle Rangers and Mariners, that many have changed their minds about Houston and mysteriously stopped calling them “sellers” but now potential “buyers” as of today. this year’s MLB trade limit.

One of those “experts” is Jim Bowden of The Athletic, who now predicts that the Astros will acquire talent at the deadline, not ship them away. But what should they target?

“I think the Astros will enter the playoffs as a division winner or wild-card club and they never doubted themselves despite their poor start to the season,” Bowden wrote.

“Adding depth to the bullpen should be the top priority, as is pitching depth, due to Hunter Brown’s bad year and the ineffectiveness of Spencer Arrighetti and JP France, who played a big role in their slow start. They could notably use another left-handed reliever for the fifth, sixth or seventh inning.

Much of Houston’s problems could be solved by acquiring competent bullpen depth who can help in low-leverage areas. Although they figured out the eighth and ninth innings pretty well, the middle relief role needs to be addressed.

A trade like the one the Baltimore Orioles just completed with the Milwaukee Brewers is exactly what the Astros should consider doing.