Five Trades The Astros Can Make Right Now to Contend

#2 The Astros Can Acquire Jordan Montgomery and Jordan Hicks

The Astros need for a starter is obvious, but they also need a reliever that can be trusted to get some big outs to keep innings off of their core four leverage arms.

Why not get both in the same stop? Houston should take Jordan Montgomery and Jordan Hicks off of the Cardinals hands. The Cardinals have made it clear they are going to sell. Houston should buy from them before anybody else. Montgomery is 6-7 in his 18 starts, but deserves a far better record with a 3.23 ERA.

Since Montgomery has been traded to St. Louis, he's gone 12-10 with a 3.19 ERA in 166.2 innings. He'd eat innings and preserve the bullpen down the line, and could work in an extra rest day for Brown and Javier each turn through the rotation.

Hicks would come in and immediately be a weapon for Dusty to deploy out of the pen. His counting numbers are solid (3.96 ERA and 13 strikeouts per nine), but his Statcast metrics are sensational. He possesses an un-hittable fastball/sinker and a sweeper that plays off of it.

Both would be rentals, though re-signing Montgomery in the offseason would be prudent, but each would play a huge role in keeping arms fresh down the stretch. If the Astros arms are fresh in October, very few teams can hang with them.