Astros' reported trade market shift could confirm fans' worst offseason fears

When the Houston Astros basically came right out and said that their goal was to target controllable starting pitchers this offseason, there was a fair amount of understandable skepticism. The goal was fine, but the fact that the Astros had neither much room in their payroll nor much depth in the minor leagues made that desire look particularly difficult. However, after the Mike Burrows trade, it looked like Houston had found a path forward this offseason, but that may be short-lived optimism.

Understandably, the Astros have not been mentioned pretty much at all when it comes to the top of the pitching market. Barring shedding Christian Walker's contract or another significant source of payroll, Houston isn't going to be able to play in that market. However, striking another trade, given that they didn't have to give up too much in the Burrows swap, for the Marlins' Edward Cabrera felt like a realistic possibility.

Sadly, it was not to be as it has been reported that the Astros have bowed out of Cabrera trade talks along with the Orioles. Just like that, it feels as though Houston may be running out options for another impact rotation arm.

Astros reportedly are no longer pursuing an Edward Cabrera trade

This isn't the first time that the Astros have been connected to Cabrera, although this is the first time that their strong interest this offseason was acknowledged. However, it sounds like the Marlins are really holding the line in terms of their asking price for all of their starters and probably view themselves as fringe contenders.

Unfortunately, this could simply be the logical conclusion of fans' concerns from the start of the offseason. We knew that the Astros didn't have much in the way of prospects and the top names they have, they would probably strongly prefer to keep. Houston also can't even pretend to be willing to take on payroll to offset that deficiency since they don't have much free cash laying around. With few prospects and little money to work with, the Burrows trade may have been the Astros' one real swing.

If that seems underwhelming, that is because it is. Burrows is a fine player and he brings real upside to an organization that is uniquely good at pulling the best out of players. However, the odds that he is more than a solid backend starter aren't all that high for now. For an Astros team that needs a real shake-up, them leaving the bidding for Cabrera already may be a signal that that shake-up isn't coming.