The Houston Astros have underperformed this season. That does not mean they are going to sell before the MLB trade deadline and rebuild, however. MLB insider Bob Nightengale shared a report on Houston's potential trade deadline plans during a recent appearance on Foul Territory.
“Teams have inquired and said, ‘Hey, you gonna move some of these guys? We're interested.' And they said, ‘No,'” Nightengale said. “Look at the standings right now, they're just three games back in the division, two games back in the Wild Card… Jim Crane's as aggressive an owner as there is out there. He says, ‘As long as I own the team, there will be no rebuild.' So, they're going after this thing.”
Yordan Alvarez has continued to play well. Alvarez would be one of the top trade candidates in the sport if he were to be made available. According to Nightengale, though, the Astros are not planning to sell.
At 37-42, Houston is not in the best position. The ball club is currently in fourth place in the American League West standings, but they are only three games behind the Seattle Mariners for first place in the division. The AL West is a winnable division to say the least. Meanwhile, they are only two games back of an AL Wild Card spot as Nightengale mentioned.
The Astros seem to feel that they can compete and make a postseason push despite their overall underperformance. Houston obviously has work to do in reference to becoming a legitimate contender once again, but the team is in the postseason conversation at the moment.
