Houston Astros Named ‘Ideal’ Trade Partner for Intriguing National League Team

The Houston Astros continue to be linked to numerous different trade rumors with less than a month to go until the 2024 MLB trade deadline.

Nobody knows what Dana Brown and the Astros are going to do. They could buy talent and try to compete this season, and at the same time, they could trade talent and retool for the future.

With that in mind, many teams around the league are hoping Houston will choose to trade. The Astros have plenty of talent that could be of interest to teams hoping to contend.

One such team could be the St. Louis Cardinals, who are quietly becoming a National League title contender.

Josh Jacobs from Redbird’s RantsA Cardinals website on FanSided listed Houston as a potentially perfect trade partner for St. Louis.

Jacobs mentioned several different players. The two names he suggested are starting pitchers. Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez are the two names suggested as trade targets by the Cardinals.

Valdez, in particular, is someone he believes is at the top of St. Louis’ wish list.

“The biggest fish the Cardinals would likely like to add to their rotation is left-hander Framber Valdez, who posted a 3.68 ERA this season and has another year of control after this season. Valdez has been with the Astros for years now and is accustomed to the high-stakes environments of October and has found himself in the Cy Young race multiple times in his career.”

It seems highly unlikely that Houston would want to trade Valdez. He has become a key part of the rotation and is still in his prime at age 30.

However, most players come at a price. If the Cardinals were to be extremely aggressive, they could convince the Astros to bring in Verlander or Valdez.

This is of course pure speculation. There has been no concrete information that these two teams are interested in a commercial partnership.

That being said, Houston must first decide whether to trade talent or try to acquire it. If they choose to sell, the Astros could be a very good fit for St. Louis in potential trade discussions.