Astros injuries are quietly threatening to wreck Dana Brown’s trade deadline plans

The Houston Astros have a comfortable cushion in the AL West. With the All-Star break in the rearview mirror, Houston can now focus on the second-half of the 2025 season and the upcoming MLB trade deadline. But the Astros' lengthy injured list could give GM Dana Brown some anxiety before the month is out.

Houston is currently dealing with injuries to Luis Garcia, Spencer Arrighetti, Christian Javier, and J.P. France. That's the bad news. The good news, however, is that that all four are expected to return later this season. But the timing of their impending returns could not be worse.

According to The Athletic, all four pitchers are likely to return after the MLB trade deadline this month. That means that Brown and Co. have to make a decision — will they bank on the quartet of injured starters giving them a boost or make a move to improve the rotation ahead of the trade deadline?

Astros injuries are quietly threatening to wreck Dana Brown’s trade deadline plans

Garcia and Javier have already begun rehab assignments at the team's facility in West Palm Beach. Once they've made progress there, Astros fans should expect to see both hurlers head out to one of Houston's minor league affiliates. Arrighetti and France are a little behind the other two, but should be leaving Florida in the coming weeks and head out on rehab stints of their own.

But will any of them be the same player they were before the injury? Don't forget, both Garcia and Javier are returning from Tommy John surgery and have been sidelined for over a year. To expect either pitcher to come back and be a key piece of the rotation is a lot to ask.

This is where Brown needs to hedge his bets. Though Houston has the 1-2 punch of Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez atop the rotation, everyone behind them is a gigantic question mark. The Astros' chief decision-maker may have add at least serviceable starter at the deadline in order to give Houston a realistic chance in the postseason.

Brown is not in an enviable spot at the moment. If he sits on his hands at the deadline and none of the Astros injured starters perform up to their abilities, he'll look foolish. But if Houston rolls the dice and snags a starting pitcher at the deadline only to see all four pitchers return to form, Brown will have traded away some top prospects for a player who wasn't necessary.

Brown is in a tough spot when it comes to evaluating the Astros current injury situation and the starting rotation, but his decision making at the deadline could be the difference between a deep playoff run or an early-exit.

More Houston Astros News and Rumors