Houston Astros Rumors: Team had as many as three reliever deals lined up

The Houston Astros have been criticized, including myself, for not doing enough at the trade deadline but apparently they did swing for the fences.

Sure we’re all disappointed that the Houston Astros didn’t make a deal of substance before the deadline but they were able to acquire left-handed pitcher Francisco Liriano from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Nori Aoki and Teoscar Hernandez.  There are a lot of question marks for Liriano, who has a 5.88 ERA through 18 starts this season.  But the team plans to not put in the starting rotation but to use him out of the bullpen, particularly against left-handed batters.

That plan certainly has a lot of hope attached to it because nobody knows exactly how he’s going to perform when he’s out there on the bump.  But if his innings of work are reduced, it’s quite possible he’ll produce.  This is similar to how Brad Peacock has progressed this season with his workload gradually increasing.  Peacock has proven time and again that he can stand up and answer the call when needed.

But here’s the latest wrinkle to the team’s trade deadline woes.  According to the Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Astros were effectively pursuing deals for three reliever pitchers, a notion the club had continued to reiterate before the deadline.

This is understandable considering the club’s confidence in their starting rotation.  Reinforcing the bullpen is a shrewd move as it would allow us to be even more competitive to the opponents that we’d face and even more lethal at the start of the postseason.

The team, as expected, was high on Zach Britton but as we all know the Baltimore Orioles pulled back on a potential deal before the deadline.  Here’s what Jim Crane told ESPN 97.5 Radio in regard the situation with the Orioles:

"“We had a couple of other deals on the plate,” Astros owner Jim Crane said. “They were agreed on in principle. Then medicals were exchanged and they got vetoed at the top.”"

Rosenthal mentioned that the Orioles owner Pete Angelos has a reputation for being a “stickler” for clean medicals and had concerns about a prospect that the team was wanting to deal for.  As a result, the teams could never come to an agreement to deal Britton.

After all, they had already dealt for Jeremy Hellickson and Tim Beckham and are closing in fast for one of the AL Wild Card spots.  They didn’t have to make the move to deal Britton but listened to the Astros because of their top-notch farm prospects.

Outside of Liriano and Britton, Rosenthal also mentions there was a third “mystery” reliever that was a “high-end” type that would’ve “surprised the industry.”  Who that guy was is in interesting notion.  It’s certainly a guy we thought that wasn’t available but had suddenly been put on the market because of the Houston Astros persistence.

As you know, the Houston Astros did also pursue Yu Darvish and Brad Hand but the package that the Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres wanted were apparently unreasonable.  Although the Astros felt they offered a competitive package for Darvish, Rosenthal mentions that the Rangers thought what the Astros offered was “non-competitive.”

So what does this all mean?  It means that the Astros swung for the fences but because of the reluctance to deal top prospects, they were left on the outside looking in.  My stance still hasn’t changed, the team could’ve done more but I understand why the decision was made.

I don’t want to deal Derek Fisher and Kyle Tucker if I’m not getting a significant haul back.  These two are game-changing players that would make an immediate impact to whatever franchise they were traded to.

Thank goodness they’re still with the Astros and that’s likely going to sure bet moving forward.  I continue to applaud Jeff Luhnow and his staff for the work they’ve done to quickly turn us into a contender and making this team fun to watch.  So am I disappointed too?

Next: Astros Vs. Rangers: A renewed battle for ultimate pride

Yes but it doesn’t change the fact that I love my team and we’ll still find a way to remain competitive.  But let’s just hope that this inaction doesn’t haunt us later down the road.  The window to seize these opportunities is mighty tight, especially when you’re not big spenders like the Astros.  So we’ll see and let’s hope for the best.

Go Astros.