Houston Astros: Team can learn from last two World Series champs trades

The Houston Astros need for another starting pitcher has been talked about since the Winter meetings in the off-season. While the team has been able to overcome the multitude of injuries they have suffered in the rotation, the trade deadline is a way to not just improve for the regular season, but with an eye on October as well.

The Houston Astros will, in all likelihood, make the playoffs. And much like the 2015 World Series champion Kansas City Royals and the 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs, the Astros need to improve themselves at the trade deadline despite the stranglehold they have on their division and owning the best record in their respective League.

The baseball season really comes in three parts. The first half where teams play as constructed going into the season. The second half where after the trade deadline the team who made the best move (New York Mets of 2015 trading for Yoenis Cespedes or the Houston Astros of 2004 trading for Carlos Beltran for examples) becomes the best team in the league despite what the win-loss column says. And then the third part of course is the post season where the team who addressed their most glaring holes in their overall roster has the best chance to win it all.

The Astros are clearly on their way to winning the first half of the season with their sparkling 53-26 record and a nearly double digit lead in the American League overall. However we don’t want to get complacent and think that just because we have a commanding lead we don’t need to improve. If other teams make deadline deals and we don’t, while they may not catch us even for best record in the AL, they could be a better team come October when we face them head to head in a best of five or best of seven game series.

When you look at the last two World Series champs (The Royals and Cubs) they made deadline deals despite the fact they were on their way to the best record in their respective leagues. When the Royals traded for a half season of Johnny Cueto on July 26th in 2015, they were 59-38 and had a seven and a half game division led and a four game lead in overall American League record.

The Royals made that trade not because they needed Cueto to hold onto their division title. They made that move for when October came to strengthen the weakest part of their team which was the starting rotation.

When you look at the last two World Series champs (The Royals and Cubs) they made deadline deals despite the fact they were on their way to the best record in their respective leagues.

On July 25th of last year the Chicago Cubs traded at the deadline for a half season of Aroldis Chapman. While the Cubs had slipped from their lofty perch as the clear favorites to win the National League outright at this point, holding only a game and a half lead over the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants, they certainly weren’t in danger within their division, holding a seven game lead over the second place St. Louis Cardinals. It was a move made to strengthen the one sore spot on their roster which was the bullpen for October.

The Astros offense needs no upgrades. That much is clear. And with a healthy Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. we do have two aces at the top of our rotation. But that’s if those players are healthy and we’ve seen over the last two seasons those two have injury issues. Even if healthy, it can’t hurt to have Gerrit Cole or Jose Quintana as your number three starter.

The team also has a need for another bullpen arm, especially a left handed reliever. Tony Sipp unfortunately has not been the same since that disastrous eighth inning of game four of the 2015 American League Division Series. Unfortunately Luke Gregerson and Ken Giles have been inconsistent making it seem like the team may need just another solid reliever in general, regardless of which arm they throw with, potentially supplanting Giles as the closer if Giles can’t consistently close the door in the ninth inning come October.

This is all to say, do not think that just because the team is doing so well in the first half they suddenly have it on easy street. While a playoff berth seems like a certainty, we’ve also seen as recently as 2015 how quickly a division lead and nearly a playoff berth can slip away. Remember when the Texas Rangers traded for Cole Hamles on July 30th of 2015? They were in 11th place out of 15 teams in the American League, facing an eight game deficit in the American League West. The Hamels trade was seen as a move for the future. Instead?

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The Rangers supplanted the Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros as foes fighting for the division lead and instead forced the two to battle it out for the wild card spot. A spot the Astros earned by a solitary game.

The Houston Astros have won the first half of the regular season. That much is clear. But if they don’t make a move looking towards playoff baseball to solidify and address the holes the team has, they will be looking at an early exit. No team is perfect. And the Astros clearly have areas they can improve in.

October baseball is managed completely differently than the regular season. We saw that with how Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman were utilized in the postseason, pitching anywhere, anytime in a game and for multiple innings. The more depth you have, the more versatility you have, whether it’s players in your lineup who can play multiple positions or different types of relievers whose pitching styles fit each and every scenario you could face, the better chance you have to advance.

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Accounting for the minutiae of the game is what will make a team a World Series champ. It’s seeing where you, and your competitors, will be roster-wise come October. Seeing that your opponents will possibly be the powerful offenses of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, you need to look NOW at how to beat them when the time comes. The Astros are on a similar pace to the last two World Series champs. They need to complete the pattern by making a deadline deal when the time comes, even if they are the best team in the league right now.

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