Houston Astros: Seven Major League Trade Assets

The Houston Astros have had a hot start to the season. After going 7-9 in their first 16 games, they have since gone 17-5 as of this writing including an 11-game winning streak.

They’ve played well in every aspect of the game from defense to hitting to pitching. The pitching in particular has been outstanding throwing six shutouts in their last 16 games.

The Houston Astros have a lot of depth in two areas on the major league level that they could trade from to improve their roster in preparation for October.

It’s never too early to look ahead to the playoffs to see what moves you could make that separate you from other World Series contenders. With that in mind the Astros have plenty of assets that are already in the major leagues they could use to make small or large additions to their roster. Here is a list of the potential Astros trade bait that doesn’t include their minor league prospects.

Jose Siri

As mentioned earlier the battle for playing time in center field is about to get even stickier and the Astros have the luxury of too many players at a premium position. All three are great defenders with room to grow their offensive potential.

Whereas Chas McCormick is a consistent, steady, even-keeled player, Jose Siri is the flamboyant, fiery, energetic, and sometimes overly aggressive player who takes risks that can make or break a game.

Siri’s energy and reckless abandon style of play is in stark contrast to Chas McCormick. Both are not spring chickens as McCormick is 27 years old and Siri is 26, but Siri plays like he’s still a kid with a ton of flash and showmanship.

Siri may have slightly higher trade stock than McCormick in terms of what he could fetch, though it’s not by much.

It’ll be interesting to see which (if either) of these players gets traded.

Jake Meyers

While he’s still recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered in the 2021 ALDS, Jake Meyers is yet another possible trade piece from the Astros centerfield core. It will depend on how he performs when he’s back and healthy so right now his value is limited at best.

His numbers from 2021 are quite similar to Chas McCormick’s though in a smaller sample size. It is important to note that he won the starting center field job when it came to who would man the position come October which shows the Astros belief in his major league potential.

What value he can bring back is a little more questionable at the moment as he has to prove he can return to form coming off his injury so right now he is not viable as a trade option, or at least not an attractive one.

It will be important for him to bounce back in a big way to extract the most value out of him from another team should the Astros choose to move him among their three center field options.

Now on to the big pieces in the starting rotation.

Jose Urquidy

The other position the Astros have tons of depth at is starting pitching. And there are four options but we’ll start with Jose Urquidy who right now the Astros need but when Lance McCullers Jr. comes back, one of the starting five will be expendable.

Urquidy has struggled with consistency and health issues over the past couple years. He is also not a big strikeout guy so his value isn’t super high though he is capable of putting on stellar performances dating back to his game four start against the Nationals where he threw 5.2 innings of shut out baseball on the road in the World Series.

He would be a great addition to a team looking for depth in their rotation and it would be interesting to see what his value is on the trade market and what the Astros would get back in return.

Considering their needs seem to be an upgrade in center field and possibly getting a more offensively adept catcher, it also wouldn’t be surprising to see the Astros trade Urquidy and perhaps a prospect or two for an upgrade in the rotation.

Jake Odorizzi

Jake Odorizzi was dealing before suffering an unfortunate and seemingly random lower leg injury. While his first three starts of the season were nothing to write home about, he turned it around with his last four starts.

Odorizzi had thrown 22.2 innings across his last four starts allowing only two earned runs before getting hurt. When he does come back he will have to keep up that performance to either stay in the Astros rotation over going to the bullpen when Lance McCullers Jr. returns OR so he can be traded and net the Astros their highest value.

He’s a veteran pitcher and while he can’t go deep into games as he struggles third time through the order he has shown that he still can get major league hitters out.

He would most likely be tossed in rather than be the centerpiece of a trade, but it would be interesting to see if there’s any value for him on the market as well.

Cristian Javier

If the Astros were going to go after a big fish like Juan Soto or Willson Contreras, Cristian Javier is a solid young piece to include in a trade. The Astros have said they see him long term as a starter but there’s no place for him in the rotation right now and there definitely won’t be one when Lance McCullers Jr. returns.

As a young, talented pitcher who would be under team control until 2026, the Astros would not have to give up much more in the prospect department considering Javier has proved his abilities at the major league level and in the postseason.

While he still has his blow-ups as we saw in his most recent start against the Washington Nationals where he yielded seven earned runs in 3.2 innings, he is still very young and talented and unlike our previous two pitchers mentioned, has great strikeout stuff having struck out 30 batters in 25.1 innings this season and 214 batters over 181 career innings.

Javier’s value could actually put the Astros over the top in a deal for a top tier player that would be more than a rental but will the Astros part with someone who could step into the rotation next year with the impending departures of Jake Odorizzi and possibly Justin Verlander? That remains to be seen.

And finally…

Luis Garcia

While he is currently a strong contributor to the Astros pitching rotation, he is still young and would be a great way to pry away more established talent without having to give up much more in the way of prospects.

He finished second in the rookie of the year voting in 2021 and has tons of potential which is why it would be hard to part with him, but the Astros have Hunter Brown waiting in the wings, Cristian Javier in the bullpen and Lance McCullers Jr. coming back from the IL.

The Astros have the luxury of depth at starting pitching most teams wish they had. He could be flipped for a more established pitcher with team control but it would have to be someone top tier to let go of a guy who already has shown he can pitch at the major league level and with so many years of team control.

I don’t see the Astros trading him barring a season ending injury to an impact player causing them to need an upgrade at a fielding position. And any trade involving Garcia would have to be for someone who is more than a rental.

In other words, only if an absurdly talented player with team control is available would the Astros even consider dealing him. But he is only in his second year and it still remains to be seen what kind of pitcher he will be consistently throughout his career. There’s no guarantee that he will continue the pace of his rookie season. One need only look at Randy Arozarena’s struggles this season to see that a young player’s success can be short lived and their value can plummet quickly.

Either way the Astros are fortunate to have so much depth to trade from giving them plenty of options in the way of manufacturing a package for an impact player that could get them to where they haven’t been since 2017.