The Houston Astros had a disappointing trade deadline, and the organization is now paying the price.
General manager Dana Brown added three players: Jesús Sánchez, Ramón Urías and Carlos Correa. So far, only Correa has proven to be a worthwhile addition.
While the Astros knew they were taking a gamble with some of their additions, Brown surely didn’t expect things to turn south this quickly.
“Sánchez’s struggles have been so pronounced that his future with the club could be in jeopardy this winter — especially if the Astros plan to play Jose Altuve in left field and entrench Cam Smith as its everyday right fielder,” Chandler Rome wrote for The Athletic. “Sánchez has two more years of arbitration eligibility remaining and will be due a raise from the $4.5 million salary he made this season.”
To go from trade deadline acquisition to not having your roster spot be guaranteed for the following season is unfathomable, but Sánchez is finding a way to make it possible. In his first 132 at-bats in Houston, he is slashing .197/.274/.333 with just three home runs and 10 RBIs.
Pair that with Urías not even taking an at-bat since September 13, and you are looking at a disaster of a trade deadline for the Astros. However, Brown has nobody to blame but himself.
He can’t use the excuse that quality hitters weren’t available; the Seattle Mariners added two of them in Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez. Ryan O’Hearn was also available, but the Astros went for a different former member of the Orioles. Cedric Mullins, Harrison Bader and Willi Castro were all on the table as well.
If the Astros miss the playoffs, it’s their own fault for not doing enough to add to their roster. Brown sat around and watched other teams, particularly the Mariners, be aggressive and did nothing to try and compete with it. Now, the organization will be lucky if the team even manages to secure a wild-card spot after having a 92.2% chance to make it on July 31.
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