Houston Astros: 3 Reasons Josh Bell Should Be Top Trade Target

Josh Bell should be the Houston Astros’ top trade target before the August 2nd trade deadline.

The Houston Astros have come out of the all-star break hot, sweeping the New York Yankees in a doubleheader and the Seattle Mariners in a three-game weekend series.

These weren’t just statement series, but exclamations. The Yankees have had the best record in baseball all year and the Mariners were on a 14-game winning streak. Essentially, Houston swept the best team and the hottest team in baseball in a span of four days.

It’s clear that the Astros, as constructed, are good enough to win their division and possibly even overtake the Yankees for the number one overall seed in the American League. But, with the possible moves their challengers may make at the deadline, the Astros have to address their biggest weakness as a team to counteract any additions other contenders may make to exploit their biggest holes.

There are three primary reasons that Washington Nationals first baseman Josh Bell makes the most sense for the Astros over any other trade target:

Josh Bell would be insurance against an extended Yordan Alvarez/Michael Brantley injury.

While it may be uneasy to think about either of those players being out for an extended period of time, Michael Brantley’s shoulder injury has taken longer than expected to heal and it’s the same injury that cost him a lot of time during his days in Cleveland.  What was initially day-to-day, then a 10 day IL stint, is now coming up on a month and there is still no timetable for his return.

And while Alvarez has been lights-out when he’s in the lineup, he seems to have a nagging wrist injury that no matter how much rest he gets, is still flaring up.

Trading for Josh Bell would be a solid insurance policy if either or both of those players end up needing extended time on the IL.

A left-handed power bat to fill the gaping void left in the Astros’ offense when Yordan sits out would be a great addition to the team. It would afford the Astros more rest days for Alvarez, Brantley and the aging Yuli Gurriel.

But even supposing everyone is healthy come October, here’s why Josh Bell makes sense in that scenario too.

Josh Bell would provide lineup depth on a completely healthy Astros team.

The Houston Astros, for the first time in their golden era, are weaker offensively than they are at pitching. After witnessing some historic offenses in the past five years, they are now relying on their rotation and bullpen to win games whenever their offense sputters.

The seven through nine hitters of their lineup have been less than stellar this season. Whether it’s a combination of Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers or Aledmys Diaz, they’ve just not performed well enough for a team with championship aspirations.

The addition of Bell would lengthen the lineup and put these players in the positions they should be in: as defensive replacements, pinch runners and pinch hitters, not starters.

This is what the Astros’ lineup could look like, completely healthy, with Bell:

1. Jose Altuve 2B
2. Michael Brantley RF
3. Alex Bregman 3B
4. Yordan Alvarez LF
5. Kyle Tucker CF
6. Yuli Gurriel 1B
7. Josh Bell DH
8. Jeremy Pena SS
9. Martin Maldanado C

Bench: Jake Meyers OF, Chas McCormick OF, Aledmys Diaz UTIL, Jason Castro C

This is not how I would make the lineup but I’m just guessing what it would look like based off of manager Dusty Baker’s penchant for lefty-righty alternating and having contact-heavy guys at the top of the lineup.

That said, if the Astros are fully healthy with Josh Bell, they’ll have talented hitters from the one through the eight slots in the lineup. Defensively, they do get worse with Alvarez in left, Brantley in right, and Tucker in center. But, the impact offensively will far outweigh any defensive deficiencies this team suffers.

And as for the last reason Josh Bell makes sense: the cost it would take to acquire him.