The Houston Astros are 27-34 so far in the 2024 MLB season. It’s their worst start in the last decade and they don’t look like a playoff contender through the first two months of the season. Things just have not been going Houston's way in 2024.

However, Astros general manager Dana Brown remains confident and sees the team being buyers at the trade deadline. “I don’t see any scenario where we’re sellers,” he said, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic.

Brown also pointed to how many times teams go on late-season runs. But he also said that he thinks the team will have a winning record eventually. Teams with less talent have certainly pulled off crazier feats, though that may not be the best strategy to bank on.

“I’ve seen teams blow leads from five games up to seven games up in September. In Atlanta when we won the World Series, we didn’t get to .500 until game 100,” Brown said, via The Athletic. “I don’t foresee us being sellers at all. We’re going to grind it out. I think we’re going to get back to .500 before people know it and we’ll be back in the race.”

What will Astros do at 2024 MLB trade deadline?

The Astros' woes come mostly from their pitching. While it wouldn’t hurt to shake up the group of position players, the core in place is mostly doing really well.

Although Houston isn’t a juggernaut at the plate, the hitting from Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Jeremy Peña and Jake Meyers has been good enough to get the team up to an OPS+ of 112, tied for the fifth-best in the majors. If even just one of Alex Bregman, Yainer Diaz and Chas McCormick bounce back to being an above-average bat for the season and they can find a suitable replacement for Jose Abreu, the Astros will always be a threat to launch the score sky-high.

However, the Astros' OPS+ of 91 is the seventh-worst in the majors. They are one of four teams to allow a 10.0 percent walk rate to opposing hitters and their strikeout rate is just a hair above the league average. Ronel Blanco has been really good and Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez (save for one really ugly blow-up start) have mostly been fine. But without those two being at a high level, Houston's pitching has not been dominant.

Jose Urquidy could be headed for a second Tommy John surgery and Cristian Javier is still on the mend with a forearm injury. Josh Hader hasn’t been as lights-out as in years past. The bullpen overall has been alright. This is where the moves are bound to come from.

While the Astros are third in their division, they are not far out from the top spot. The Seattle Mariners' lead is just seven games with just over 100 games left to play and the Texas Rangers have not been very good, either, though their troubles are due in large part to a large myriad of injuries. Still, Houston is not far out of the race, especially if the front office can make a mid-season splash.

The MLB trade deadline is July 30 at 6:00 P.M. EST. The Astros will surely make a move or two as they try to remain in championship contention.