Astros quickly pivot from doomed Tarik Skubal pursuit to reliable Giants lefty

While there were certainly whispers that the Houston Astros were looking to trade for Tarik Skubal, that always felt like a pipe dream. The Astros don't have much space below the luxury tax, nor do they have the prospect depth that would have been required to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers' offer.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that Houston needs to add some pitching if they are realistically going to go on a run this year, and it looks like they may have already identified their next target.

According to a report from USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Astros were involved in the Skubal bidding, though how seriously they were part of the discussions remains unclear. Nightengale mentioned, however, that the Astros would love to land Robbie Ray at the trade deadline, and that is very, very interesting.

Astros appear poised to target Giants lefty Robbie Ray at the trade deadline

There are some things to like about Ray as a trade target for Houston. Having another lefty in the rotation would be nice, and Ray won the Cy Young Award five years ago. He's in the middle of a pretty solid season for San Francisco.

In 22 appearances this season, Ray owns a 3.08 ERA across 122.2 innings with 107 strikeouts. That'll play, especially since he would be a rental and wouldn't cause the Astros payroll headaches beyond 2026.

However, Ray also has his warts. He required major elbow surgery in 2023, and his stuff has noticeably dropped off since his return. His 4.36 FIP also suggests that Ray has been a bit lucky on balls in play and could be due for some regression.

Also, while Ray is a pending free agent, he's still making $25 million this season in the last year of his deal. Given Jim Crane's stance on the luxury tax, that could complicate any deal unless the Giants are willing to eat a good chunk of his remaining salary.

The fact that Nightengale specifically mentioned that the Astros would be "quite pleased" to land Ray at the trade deadline does suggest that there is a framework for a deal that could be feasible to get a trade done. Houston has limited farm system depth, so they will need to be careful not to overpay for a rental. However, amongst the Astros' pivot options, they could do a lot worse than Ray.

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