Advertisement

Astros follow up Carlos Correa blockbuster with trade for underrated Marlins slugger

Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Climbing Tal's Hill

Miami Marlins v Milwaukee Brewers / Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins/GettyImages

After swinging the most shocking trade of the trade deadline for Carlos Correa, no one would have faulted the Houston Astros for calling it there. Yes, there are still some roster questions, but Correa is a massive investment and you can't have everything you want. However, Dana Brown clearly wasn't having and he just secured the left-handed bat he coveted mere minutes after the Correa deal was revealed.

The Astros' need for a lefty bat got decidedly less picky as time went on. At first, the hope was that they could find a second baseman that could hit left-handed. However, the market didn't develop the way they hoped with guys like Brandon Lowe getting essentially pulled from the market. They expanded their search and most thought that search ended with Correa.

It did not. Following up the Correa blockbuster, the Astros just traded for Jesus Sanchez as well and got the left-handed pop they have coveted ever since Yordan Alvarez went down with a hand injury.

Astros announce themselves at the trade deadline Jesus Sanchez trade following Correa blockbuster

While not the infielder some may have been hoping for, Sanchez gives the Astros what they need right now. He can hit for power, mashes righties which is a massive plus, and has generally been a reasonably productive player on what has been some truly terrible Marlins teams.

In exchange, the Astros had to give up Ryan Gusto which is a bit of a bummer. Despite having some issues and struggles lately, Gusto provided the Astros some much needed stability in their pitching staff when they needed it most early in the season. He goes to a Miami team that, while not there yet, do seem like they are trending in the right direction at the moment despite the trade deadline sell off.

For the Astros, that concludes their major offensive shopping list items. It is entirely possible that they turn their attention now to their ailing pitching staff or perhaps they double down and keep adding offense. Whatever the plan, it seems very clear that betting on the Astros to be done would be an unwise bet to make.

More Astros News from Climbing Tal's Hill

Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.