The Houston Astros currently sit in first place, but don’t tell that to Astros GM Dana Brown, as he has been wheeling and dealing throughout the trade deadline. The biggest news is the homecoming for Carlos Correa. To see Correa back in an Astros uniform will be surreal and something that nobody could have envisioned once he left Houston in 2021. Correa may have been the big fish that has been landed so far, but some other deals will help the Astros down the stretch and into hopefully what will be a World Series contender type of year.
The Astros have been missing their slugging DH Yordan Alvarez, and the fact that they still sit in first place after his absence is pretty remarkable. The good news is that Alvarez seems to be ramping up to come back to the team sometime around mid-August. Dana Brown picked up a reinforcement from the Marlins in Jesus Sanchez. Sanchez is not Alvarez in any way, shape, or form, however, he provides some power against right-handed pitchers. He is going to be strictly a platoon-type player as he does not hit lefties well at all and strikes out at around 27 percent of the time. What he does offer is some power to a lineup that has had quite a lack of it with Alvarez’s absence. In acquiring Sanchez, the Astros parted with infield prospect Chase Jaworsky and outfield prospect Esmil Valencia. Jaworsky, during his time in the minors, has not looked like an impact bat, as his career batting average of .240 and seven home runs over three seasons indicate. The jury is still out on Valenica as he is only 19 years old but has started his career fairly well for as young as he is with a lifetime batting average of .269 and nine home runs.
The Astros traded for the Orioles’ Ramon Urias on Wednesday. Urias looked to have been the third baseman for the Astros until they acquired Correa. To get Urias, the Astros sent Twine Palmer to the Orioles. Palmer is a young arm who only pitched two games last season in Fayetteville and had an ERA of 11.57. This season, he seems to have figured it out, as in thirteen games in Fayetteville, he sports a 2.13 ERA. Nobody knows what a young prospect is going to do, but what is known is that the team is in first place and looking to compete now, so this was a good trade for a depth piece. Isaac Paredes tore his hamstring, and he will likely miss the rest of the season. Adding depth is never a bad thing, especially with how hard the injury bug has hit the Astros this season.
Throughout this process, one thing is sure: GM Dana Brown intends to go all in. This has been a very active deadline for the Astros and one that most likely will not be forgotten by Astros fans anytime soon. The Astros look serious about competing for a World Series Championship. Wouldn’t that be a story after losing Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman? The Astros find a way to add a championship number three to the fold. Will it happen this season? We will find out in a few short months. One thing is sure: it is always lovely to see your team wanting to compete at all costs year in and year out. Most teams around the league do not follow that philosophy, but in Houston, we do not have that problem.