Jim Crane may have saved Astros from Dana Brown's latest pitching staff whiff

There are a lot of things worth criticizing about the Houston Astros' 2026 trade deadline. The annual feeding frenzy was a mostly quiet affair for the Astros, with the lone exception being the potentially misguided deal that sent Spencer Arrighetti to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Daulton Varsho.

Dana Brown seemed obsessed with finally acquiring an impact left-handed hitting outfielder, which is something that has eluded him for years and was regularly brought up by the embattled general manager as Houston's top need. He got his man in Varsho, but the former Blue Jay was clearly his second choice.

Had Jim Crane not stepped in, Brown would have solved the need in a different way, trading Bryan Abreu to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Trevor Larnach. Larnach would have been the better lefty bat to acquire, but as a left fielder exclusively, he would have been a worse positional fit than Varsho.

Crane vetoed the trade and kept Abreu in the fold. While it's never a great thing to have an owner meddling in baseball operations, his involvement might have been a blessing in disguise, as Abreu has risen from the ashes to become an elite setup man once again.

The Astros would've opened another hole by trading Bryan Abreu for Trevor Larnach

Abreu's start to the season was a horror show for Houston. The 29-year-old opened the year with a 12.54 ERA over the season's first month. He lost his command entirely, walking 15 batters and serving up four homers over just 9 1/3 innings pitched.

The stunning failure left him searching for answers. After being one of the most dominant relievers in the sport for the last few years, he struggled to get outs. That led him to tinker with his slider grip, throwing the slider more than his fastball, and even had him bring back the high-socks look he hadn't rocked in years.

“We can’t fix the past, but we can change the future,” Abreu said via Chandler Rome of The Athletic. “Everything that I’ve been doing was in the wrong direction, so we have to make something different so the future can come in the best way.”

Change the future he has. The right-hander has been one of the hottest relievers in baseball recently. Over his last 11 appearances, Abreu hasn't allowed a run, while also striking out 37.5% of batters he's faced.

That's just the most recent run. Abreu's turnaround actually began earlier. Much earlier. Since May 1, Abreu has thrown 32 2/3 innings with a 1.93 ERA while recording a 30.2% strikeout rate and allowing a .162 batting average. During that span, he gave up just three homers and 15 walks.

The bullpen has been a huge reason for Houston's turnaround, and trading Abreu would have weakened a strength in service of improving an area of the roster that needed help but was not dire. While he might walk away in free agency at the end of the season, the Astros are focused on success in 2026 and 2026 alone, and they're clearly a better team with Abreu than without him.

The larger issue here is that in search of his white whale (a left-handed-hitting outfielder), Brown was willing to sacrifice his pitching staff. He ended up weakening the rotation to get Varsho, but comparatively, Abreu would have been a bigger loss to the pen than Arrighetti was to the rotation.

While one might say it's admirable that Brown held onto the few desirable prospects that Houston has to help secure a brighter future that he might not be around for, he almost made a gaffe that would have negatively impacted the club's ability to return to the playoffs this year. Crane's intervention may have saved the day, but it also proves that he doesn't fully trust the lame-duck executive.

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