Astros insider hints that Jim Crane could again be an obstacle at trade deadline

Houston could be hamstrung by their owner at the trade deadline.

Eric Cole

Houston Astros Press Conference / Bob Levey/GettyImages

Everything about the Houston Astros right now screams "buy" at this year's MLB trade deadline. Importantly, the Astros lead the American League West and have some very obviously roster needs that GM Dana Brown could (and should) address in order to shore the team up for the stretch run later this summer. Unfortunately, the presence of owner Jim Crane could be an impediment once again.

While certainly not the worst owner in baseball, Crane has certainly caused the club problems at times. He ran James Click out of town, took over Houston's personnel decisions — which was a disaster — and then made Brown clean up his mess. More than that, though, is the fact that he's extremely hesitant to pay any luxury tax penalties.

Crane's view on the luxury tax threshold presents a real problem and, as Astros insider Chandler Rome of The Athletic correctly noted in his Astros trade deadline primer (subscription required), it could keep Houston from doing what they need to do at this year's MLB trade deadline.

Jim Crane's hesitance to exceed the luxury tax could doom Astros at the MLB trade deadline

No one should be arguing that Crane is cheap, per se, as the Astros can and do spend money in free agency and with contract extensions. If you want to find the real cheapskate owners, go look at the A's, Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Colorado Rockies for starters. However, Crane has only paid luxury tax penalties once. That came last season, which is where things get sticky.

If Houston were to exceed the luxury tax in 2025, the Astros would have to pay a tax of 30% on any overage as a repeat offender — that is money right out of Crane's pocket. The Astros are extremely close to the luxury tax threshold — between $2 million and $4 million away depending on where you look — which creates an extremely tough balancing act between finding help at the trade deadline and keeping the big boss man happy.

So yes, the Astros could use at least one more left-handed bat. Adding some pitching depth would be nice to guard against even more injuries the rest of the way. Finding someone who can provide value at second base would be lovely. Unfortunately, they may not be able to afford to do anything about it without having to cut costs elsewhere.

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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.