3 big Roadblocks to the Astros Continuing their streak as Division Champs post trade deadline, and 1 hope

Roadblock 3 - Middling Teams

There is no doubt that this years trade deadline had one of the lowest total selling teams.  There have been a few big trades but mostly role players have been swapped and the result will be a very competitive race to the finish for the division and wild card.  Teams thought to be sellers turned into buyers and costs were high.  The Astros had a tough time adding any players, and those middling teams are why.  

The Cubs and the Padres turned into sellers and added players rather than trading key prices thought to be for sale in mid July.  Not only do the middling teams hurt sales but they also will be more difficult to play for the remainder of the season, as so many are fighting for a playoff spot.  The Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, Rays, Rangers, and Angels all added players and will make the American League playoffs a tough slog.  

As it stands the Orioles have the top spot in the American League but 3 teams in both the AL East and West are in the playoff hunt and the Astros will be competing with all of them for 3 Wild Card spots and 2 of them for the AL West crown.  The Mariners have also been playing well and are in the hunt so the Astros will not have any games off over the next few months, they will need to play very well to make it into the post-season.