No holding back
All-in mentality required as trade deadline approaches
They are still the best team in baseball. They’re 7½ games ahead of the $200 million Boston Red Sox.
They’ve exceeded all internal and external expectations through mid-June while turning the Rangers and the rest of the watered-down American League West into an afterthought.
And it still feels like these Astros need to make a major move (or two).
Life at the top is never as easy as it appears. And the countdown clock to MLB’s trade deadline is already rolling, despite 46 days still remaining on the calendar and a shaky market for season-changing starters. “We need some pitching.” That was the main sentence that stood out at Minute Maid Park mid-week as the Astros (45-22) fought off a three-game sweep from Texas’ other baseball team by relying on two recent minor league callups (Francis Martes, Derek Fisher) and a 19-hit, 13-run outburst Wednesday in the face-saving series finale.
Add in “extra” between “some” and “pitching,” and that has been one of the main themes that has surrounded this club since life began again in February in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Brilliant starts from ace Dallas Keuchel (9-0, 1.67 ERA) and sharp No. 2 Lance McCullers (6-1, 2.58) perfectly fell
in line with everything that went so right for the Astros when 2017 officially began. Charlie Morton was healthy and throwing heat, allowing us to forget about MIA Collin McHugh. Even when Joe Musgrove or Mike Fiers stumbled, the deepest lineup that general manager Jeff Luhnow has ever put together carried a club that ranks first in MLB in batting average (.277) and second in OPS (.813) and is tied for second in home runs (103).
DL epidemic
Then Keuchel joined McHugh on the disabled list. Then Morton was injured again. Then Musgrove, Keuchel (again) and McCullers all appeared on the DL, somehow leaving the teflon-like Fiers (4-2, 4.29 ERA) as the most dependable starting arm on the best team in baseball.
It’s amazing that the Astros still hold that mark. And the fact this team has already been forced to call up David Paulino, Martes and Fisher tells you all you need to know about the expert guidance that third-year manager A.J. Hinch has provided yet again.
“Everybody’s going to do this,” said Hinch, referring to the injuries that set up his team’s recent 3-6 skid. “I mean, this is sort of our stretch that’s tough to navigate. But find me a team that hasn’t gone through this already. And if they haven’t, I wish them well when they go through their stretch. Actually, I don’t wish them well if they’re in the American League.”
You can say it’s too early to start breaking down the July 31 trade deadline and potential available names. (It is.)
The optimist proudly wearing a Yuli Gurriel wig would point out that Musgrove takes the mound Sunday against overpaid and underperforming David Price, the injuries to Keuchel and McCullers appear to be minor, Morton has started throwing again, and McHugh should return after the All-Star break. (The optimist in the orange wig would be correct.)
I’ll take a different route. And I’m sure it’s the one already rolling around in Luhnow’s head.
Others will be bold
If the Red Sox were 4522 but down four starters in mid-June and entered April with serious questions about their rotation depth, a major trade would be guaranteed.
If the Dodgers, Nationals or Yankees are shadowed by glaring issues as the deadline approaches, they’ll address them.
Will the big-city, majormarket Astros?
The 2016 version still had a shot at the AL West at the end of July, did nothing to improve the team, and eventually faded away in August, content to let a season that started so poorly end as it began.
There was some wisdom in that. The clubhouse felt let down, but last year’s team was never a true World Series contender, and the Rangers again ended up with little to show for their all-in approach.
Sixty-seven games into a new season that’s not even at its midway point, we already know this could be a special year in Houston. And if there’s one thing the 2017 Astros have already proved, it’s that this team deserves every shot to compete for the pennant and do what’s been done only once before in franchise history.
This could be a World Series team. But like all in recent years, it’s going to need fortune and luck — especially when it comes to the health of Keuchel and McCullers — and it’s going to require new blood at the perfect time.
Jim Crane and his GM have spent 5½ years constantly rebuilding and recreating just to get to this point. Now that they’re here, idleness is a sin.
Talk radio and Twitter have already turned from the NBA Finals to theoretical baseball trades. July 31 will be here faster than you think.
If there’s a major move to be made — and there almost always is — this franchise can’t hesitate this time.
The best team in baseball deserves the support.